ELLERBY, England — A British couple ripping up floorboards during a kitchen renovation project might decide to buy a new home instead after discovering treasure worth more than $850,000 buried in the dirt.
The couple first thought the bright gold disc burrowed in the ground might have been an electric cable when they found it in 2019, according to Today.
After digging in the dirt, the pair realized they had found over 260 gold coins in the concrete under their 18th-century property, according to the BBC.
The coins were later linked to the Fernley-Maisters — a wealthy family of importers and exporters of timber, coal and iron ore — and date anywhere from 1610 to 1727, according to the BBC.
In August, the coins were valued at just over $280,000 by the London auction house Spink & Son, according to the Yorkshire Post.
The discovery of the coins gained global attention, raising the value of the discovery before they were sold at a London auction.
The coins, separated into lots, were sold to dozens of buyers from around the world for more than $850,000 on Saturday.
The collection is considered “one of the largest hoards of 18th Century English gold coins ever found in Britain,” according to the BBC.