Wotton Auction Rooms, an auction house based in Gloucestershire, England, recently came across an old coin when evaluating items brought in from a private vendor.

Auctioneer Joseph Trinder said the coin is a continental dollar measuring 38 mm across and is made of pewter, minted in 1776, according to SWNS.

"This coin represents a discovery that is in the top five of my career to date, and the sort of thing every auctioneer up and down the country hopes they'll find," Trinder also said.

With its rarity top of mind, the coin was taken back to the United States for authentication by the Numismatic Guaranty Company based in Sarasota, Florida - and confirmed to be real.

"It was examined by a committee of specialists and X-rayed and put through other scientific tests, and we were delighted to receive a notification a few days ago to tell us that it is genuine," Trinder said to SWNS.

The coin was one item found in a bin of knickknacks, such as jewelry, carved stone and fossils, SWNS reported.

"We had a jolly good look through and made sure we got to the bottom of everything inside," he said.

He added, "There were some really interesting pieces like gold coins and some other valuable items - but languishing at the bottom of this tin of treasures we found this amazing continental dollar coin."

The coin will go up for sale at Wotton Auction Rooms on Oct. 3.

To read the complete article, see:
Rare coin from 1776 found in bottom of toffee tin to sell at auction(https://nypost.com/2024/09/03/lifestyle/rare-coin-from-1776-found-in-bottom-of-toffee-tin-to-sell-at-auction/)

He noted that collectors believed for many generations that the Continental Dollar was made in the US in 1776.

"Extensive research in the last few years by my friends Erik Goldstein and David McCarthy has suggested somewhat conclusively that these coins were minted in the UK, potentially as souvenirs!" said Bennick.

The Continental Dollars previously racked up a high price tag, with one selling at an auction record of $230,000 in 2009.

"This is a very controversial coin, especially for those who paid $100,000 and up for an example years ago," said the expert.

More recently, one of the coins sold for $39,600 in August this year.

Bennick estimated that the coin would sell for $26,000 to over $39,000 at the auction in October.

"This is because the coins' originality as a piece of numismatic Americana have been in question since the Goldstein/McCarthy articles came out," he said.

Greg adds:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
COLONIAL CLASH Exact date on 'controversial' coin found inside toffee tin could make it sell for $39k in auction expert predicts(https://www.the-sun.com/money/12359418/controversial-coin-toffee-tin-continental-dollar-exclusive/)

On the Google Colonial Coins group, Jeff Rock wrote:

NOTES ON THE ORIGINS OF THE CONTINENTAL DOLLAR(https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n41a16.html)
CONTINENTAL DOLLARS REVISITED(https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a13.html)

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
GOLDSTEIN AND MCCARTHY ON THE CONTINENTAL DOLLAR(https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n21a21.html)
NEXT STEPS FOR CONTINENTAL DOLLAR RESEARCH(https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n28a19.html)