A family carrying out routine fence maintenance in a garden in Hampshire has uncovered one of the most significant hoards of Tudor gold coins to emerge in decades.

The collection of 69 coins, now formally cataloged and cleared for sale, is expected to exceed a valuation of more than $300,000 when it goes under the hammer on November 5.

The coins, all gold and dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, were found embedded in a patch of clay in the family’s backyard in southern coastal England.

Initial discovery and subsequent reporting to a national antiquities scheme led to an archaeological follow‑up, confirming the scale and rarity of the find and allowing it to be prepared for public auction.

The hoard, known as the New Forest Hoard, spans the reigns of multiple English monarchs from the late medieval and early Tudor periods.

It is described in the auction catalogue as the only complete and fully documented gold coin hoard from the early Tudor era ever to be offered at auction, highlighting its importance both to numismatists and to historians of the period.

Discovery in a Hampshire Garden

The find began as a straightforward domestic task.

While working on a garden fence at their property in the New Forest area of Hampshire, the family uncovered a concentration of gold coins in a clay layer beneath the surface.

A total of 63 coins were recovered during the initial discovery in 2020.

The family then followed established procedures and reported the hoard through an official antiquities reporting channel that records archaeological material found by members of the public.

Archaeologists later visited the property to investigate the surrounding area and to search for additional material.

Their work led to the recovery of a further six coins near the original findspot in 2021, bringing the total to 69 gold coins.

Once the find was fully documented, the collection remained out of public view while assessments were carried out, including cataloging of each coin and evaluation of the hoard as a whole.

With these steps completed and the coins released for sale, the family is now in a position to benefit financially from what began as a routine home project.

Composition of the New Forest Hoard

The New Forest Hoard is composed entirely of gold issues struck under several English rulers during the turbulent transition from the late Middle Ages into the early modern period.

Coins in the group originate from the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry VIII.

Some of the coins also bear the names of two of Henry VIII’s wives.

Others carry the initials of a third, indicating that the hoard spans a sequence of coinage changes tied to evolving royal marriages and political circumstances during Henry’s rule.

This range of issuing authorities gives the collection a chronological breadth that is unusual for a single buried deposit.

Experts have emphasized that such diversity in a compact hoard helps to illuminate how wealth was accumulated, held, and concealed at a time of intense political and religious upheaval.

The catalogue accompanying the sale underscores that no other gold hoard from the early Tudor period with this level of completeness and documentation has previously appeared on the open market.

This combination of integrity, traceable context, and historical scope contributes to the strong pre‑sale expectations for the auction.

Rarity of Gold Hoards in England

Buried hoards of coins are a recurring feature in English archaeological reporting, and silver finds are relatively common by comparison.

Thousands of silver coins have been unearthed across the country over the last half‑century as a result of agricultural work, construction, and the expanding popularity of metal detecting.

Gold coins, however, are significantly rarer in the archaeological record.

This is partly because gold was historically held in smaller quantities by fewer individuals and institutions, but also because gold is more likely to have been recovered or re‑used soon after its concealment.

The New Forest Hoard therefore stands out not merely for the number of coins it contains, but for the fact that all of them are gold pieces.

This elevates the hoard from a routine discovery to one regarded as exceptional in the context of recent English finds.

The Tudor origin of the coins adds a further layer of significance.

While individual Tudor gold coins are known and traded, a sealed group of this size, buried and later recovered intact, is extremely uncommon, especially when associated with a precisely recorded findspot and recovery sequence.

Historical Context: The Early English Reformation

The likely date of concealment places the hoard within the early phase of the English Reformation.

During this period, religious and political changes led to the dissolution of monasteries and the large‑scale transfer of wealth from ecclesiastical institutions to the Crown.

Many monasteries, churches, and religious foundations faced uncertainty over their assets and long‑held privileges.

In this environment, the secret burial of gold or other portable valuables offered a means of safeguarding wealth from confiscation, with the hope of eventual retrieval once conditions stabilized.

The New Forest Hoard is thought to have been deposited in precisely such a climate of risk.

The combination of royal imagery, references to queens, and association with the reign of Henry VIII links the coins directly to the years when traditional religious institutions were being dismantled.

The concealment of coin hoards has been a recurring response to crisis from antiquity to modern times.

The practice reflects a straightforward calculation: burying gold or silver in an accessible yet hidden location can preserve value when official institutions or legal protections appear unreliable.

Although there is no surviving record of the original owner or the exact motive, the context in which the coins were hidden aligns with wider patterns of wealth protection in times of upheaval.

The failure of any subsequent owner or heir to recover the hoard turned what was once a private reserve into a delayed archaeological discovery centuries later.

From Reporting to Market: The Path to Sale

Following the initial discovery in 2020, the family submitted the coins through the recognized reporting framework for finds made by the public.

This process ensures that significant archaeological material is documented, assessed, and, where appropriate, further investigated by specialists.

The subsequent archaeological visit in 2021 extended the search area and confirmed that the hoard was localized, with an additional six coins located close to the original find.

Recording the precise position of each coin and its relationship to the surrounding soil helped establish that they were part of a single historical deposit, rather than separate, unrelated losses.

Once the hoard was fully documented, the coins were made available for professional numismatic study and valuation.

This work led to the decision to offer the New Forest Hoard for public auction as a single, coherent collection, rather than dispersing it immediately into separate lots.

The sale is scheduled for November 5 and is being conducted by a specialist firm focused on rare coins.

Pre‑sale valuations have placed the likely total at above $300,000, a figure that may rise depending on demand from collectors, institutions, and private buyers.

Significance for Numismatics and Social History

The New Forest Hoard holds value not only as a group of gold coins but also as a dataset for studying economic and social history.

The range of monarchs represented, coupled with the appearance of royal consorts on some issues, provides a compressed illustration of shifts in iconography and royal messaging over several decades.

From a numismatic perspective, the presence of multiple reigns in a single hoard helps to clarify the circulation life of different coin types.

Coins minted under earlier monarchs often remained in use for years or decades after new issues entered circulation, and a buried hoard can capture that overlap in a single snapshot.

The hoard also offers insights into patterns of private wealth accumulation during the period.

A deposit consisting solely of gold implies that its owner commanded resources well above subsistence level, whether through landholding, trade, religious office, or another role that generated surplus income.

The context of concealment, likely during a phase of religious and political disruption, connects individual financial decisions to broader structural changes in society.

In this way, a garden discovery in modern Hampshire also contributes to ongoing efforts to reconstruct how ordinary and elite households adapted to the dissolution of monasteries and the reconfiguration of power.

The Role of Documentation and Provenance

One of the distinguishing features of the New Forest Hoard is the thorough documentation carried out after its discovery.

Each coin has been individually cataloged, photographed, and described, and the hoard’s find circumstances have been recorded in detail.

Such provenance enhances both scholarly and commercial value.

For researchers, it allows the coins to be used in analyses of hoarding behavior, circulation patterns, and chronological changes in coin design and weight.

For collectors, a well‑documented hoard offers reassurance that the material has been legally recovered and responsibly processed under current guidelines.

It also ensures that any future study of the coins can trace them back to their origin as part of a single buried deposit found in Hampshire.

The auction catalogue’s characterization of the New Forest Hoard as the only complete and fully documented gold coin hoard of its era to reach the open market rests on this level of record‑keeping.

The completeness of the collection further sets it apart from finds that reach the market after earlier, undocumented dispersal.

Economic and Cultural Impact of the Sale

The upcoming auction is expected to draw interest from multiple segments of the coin market.

Individual collectors may target specific reigns or designs, while institutions and more broadly focused buyers may seek to secure a representative portion of the hoard or, depending on the sale structure, the collection as a whole.

The pre‑sale estimate of more than $300,000 reflects the convergence of rarity, historical importance, and gold content.

Competitive bidding could push the final total higher, especially if multiple bidders aim to preserve a significant share of the hoard in unified ownership.

For the family who discovered the hoard, the sale represents a financial windfall arising from a chance encounter with history beneath their garden.

For the wider public, the publicity surrounding the auction highlights the continued potential for major archaeological finds to surface unexpectedly in familiar places.

The sale also underscores the link between responsible reporting of finds and the eventual economic benefit to finders.

By following established procedures and allowing time for expert evaluation, the family ensured that the hoard could be brought to market with full documentation, maximizing its value and historical contribution.

Broader Pattern of Treasure Finds

The New Forest Hoard joins a wider pattern of coin and treasure discoveries made by individuals in recent years.

Across the country, finds ranging from medieval silver to early modern gold continue to emerge from farmland, gardens, and construction sites.

Many such discoveries involve silver coins and achieve modest valuations, adding incrementally to knowledge of local economies and settlement patterns.

By contrast, large or historically significant hoards of gold, particularly from well‑defined periods like the Tudor era, tend to attract far more attention due to their rarity.

This pattern reflects both the expansion of amateur engagement with landscape exploration and the effectiveness of reporting schemes that encourage finders to declare items of potential significance.

The New Forest Hoard is a prominent example of how this framework can bring historically important material to light while ensuring that finders receive a share of the financial reward.

As each new hoard is recorded, comparative analysis becomes more robust.

Over time, clusters of finds can reveal shifts in where wealth was concentrated, how it was protected in times of conflict, and the extent to which different regions were integrated into broader monetary systems.

Ongoing Procedures and Next Steps

With cataloging complete and the date set, the New Forest Hoard is now in the final stages of preparation for auction on November 5.

The coins will be presented in a sale dedicated to numismatic material, supported by detailed descriptions, images, and historical notes produced during the evaluation process.

Prospective buyers will have the opportunity to examine the coins, either in person or through catalog materials, in advance of bidding.

The auction will determine both the final monetary value of the hoard and its dispersal, whether into a single collection or multiple new holdings.

Following the sale, proceeds will be distributed according to the agreed arrangements between the family and the relevant parties involved in the reporting and assessment of the find.

The hoard itself will transition from a buried cache beneath a Hampshire garden to documented objects in private or institutional collections, with its discovery and disposition formally recorded for the archaeological and numismatic record.