A house refurbishment in northern England has uncovered a trove of gold coins, which could be worth up to £250,000 ($290,000) at auction next month.

The discovery is one of the biggest hoards of 18th century English gold coins ever uncovered in Britain, according to auction house Spink & Son in a press release sent to CNN on Thursday.

The cup, described as being no larger than a soft-drink can, contained more than 260 gold coins dating from 1610 to 1727. The stash of coins has an estimated value of £100,000 ($116,00) in today's spending power, auctioneers said.

Gregory Edmund, an auctioneer with Spink & Son, said the remarkable trove is unlike any find in British archaeology or like any coin auction in living memory.

"It is a wonderful and truly unexpected discovery from so unassuming a find location," Edmund said in the press release.

"This find of over 260 coins is also one of the largest on archaeological record from Britain, and certainly for the 18th century period," he added.

"The coins almost certainly belonged to the Fernley-Maisters, Joseph and Sarah who married in 1694," reads the press release.

According to Spink & Son, the Maisters were an influential mercantile family from the 16th century to the 18th century. They traded iron ore, timber and coal from the Baltic states and several generations took up posts as lawmakers in the early 1700s.

Their family line dwindled soon after the couple died, which is presumably why the coins were never retrieved, the auction house added.

To read the complete article, see:
Coins worth up to $290,000 found under kitchen floorboards(https://www.cnn.com/style/article/gold-coins-england-kitchen-intl-scli/index.html)
Couple find £250,000 in coins hidden under home they've lived in for 10 years(https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/31/yorkshire-hoard-of-centuries-old-coins-worth-250000-found-under-home-17277535/)