Just part of the incredible ‘piano hoard’ (Picture: Portable Antiquities Scheme/Trustees of the British Museum)
A hoard of gold found inside an old piano has turned out to be a collection of sovereign coins.
When the piano’s new owners in Shropshire had the instrument returned and repaired before last Christmas, they discovered a hoard of gold stashed inside.
Now, an inquest in Shrewsbury has heard that the collection consists of an undisclosed number of coins dating from 1847 to 1915.
Experts reckon they were ‘deliberately hidden’ inside the piano, and could be worth a ‘life changing’ sum of money, the BBC reported.
The oldest coin in the hoard dates back to 1847 (Picture: Portable Antiquities Scheme/Trustees of the British Museum)
The oldest coin in the hoard dates back to 1847, and bears the face of Queen Victoria.
Shrewsbury Coroner’s Court, which also deals with the valuation of treasure, heard senior coroner John Ellery describe the piano’s origins.
He explained that the piano was made by Broadwood & Sons in London, and initially sold to Messrs Beavan and Mothersole from Saffron Walden in Essex in 1906.
However, its ownership from then until 1983 – when it was bought by a family in that area who later moved to Shropshire – remains unknown.
The coroner is now hoping to find out where it was between 1906 and 1983, appealing for information from people from the Essex area.
No one knows the whereabouts of the piano between 1906 and 1983 (Picture: Peter Reavill)
Ellery has deferred the conclusion of the inquest to allow more time for anyone with information to come forward.
If the coroner finds they were hidden with the intent of future recovery, the coins will qualify as ‘treasure’ and become the property of the Crown.
However, this is providing the original owner or their heirs don’t come forward to prove their claim to it.
Peter Reavill, Finds Liaison Officer at the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme at Shropshire Museums, was the first person to find out about the hoard.
He wouldn’t reveal the coins’ true value, but did say they had ‘the potential of yielding a life-changing sum of money’.
‘It’s not the sort of money you would tuck away and forget,’ he continued. ‘It is a lifetime of savings, and it’s beyond most people.’
The inquest will resume on April 20.
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