‘Exceptional’ rare coin dating back 400 years with royal links is found… and now it’s set to sell for eye-watering price

A RARE coin dating back to the 1600s is set to sell for an eye-watering price at an auction this month.

The 'exceptional' Exeter shilling dates back to 1644 and is believed to have been meticulously created by hand during the Civil War.

It features a portrait of King Charles I on one side and the Royal Arms on the other.

The auctioneers estimate the coin will sell for between £4,000 and £6,000 when it goes under the hammer next week (7th March).

The coin is said to have royal links and can be traced back more than 100 years to 1920 when it was in the Bruun collection and auctioned by Sotheby's in 1924.

Lars Emil Bruun became famous for having the largest private collection of Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and British coins and medals in the early 1900s.

This coin is well-struck, showing all the detail to the features of the portrait and is now beautifully patinated with nearly four hundred years’ ageing.

Richard Gladdle

Richard Gladdle, British coins specialist at Baldwin's Auction was impressed at the coin's preserved details and markings.

"It is a particularly fine example of an Exeter shilling," he said.

Richard explained: "These coins were struck by hand.

"At the end of the day, the minters would have been getting tired and a little weak in their striking.

"This coin is well-struck, showing all the detail to the features of the portrait and is now beautifully patinated with nearly four hundred years’ ageing."

It comes after a hoard of rare coins believed to be from 1066, sold at an auction for an eye-watering £325,560.

The collection of 122 Anglo-Saxon pennies was discovered by two metal detectorists near Braintree in Essex.

The coins were traced back to 1066, the year of the battle between English and Norman armies for the throne of England.

An expert said there was a "tantalising possibility" that the reason they were not retrieved at the time was because their owner died in battle.

And a rare coin found in a bag donated to an Oxfam charity shop is set to sell for a whopping £7,000.

John Turner was volunteering at the charity when he discovered the valuable coin which dates back to 1813.

Auctioneers identified it as a 15 Pence coin from New South Wales.

These coins are believed to be the first to be struck in Australia, with surviving examples highly sought after.