A pub owner is raising a glass to toast his good luck after finding a 364-year-old coin under his floorboards - as it was worth a staggering £12,500.
David Gorton was renovating the Grade II listed pub when he prised up the wooden beams and found what he thought was an old penny in the dirt below.
He’d sucked it up in a vacuum cleaner but got it out and then stuck it in his back pocket to look at later in the day, and when he did he realised it was an Oliver Cromwell silver shilling dating back to 1658.
Further research showed that coins of a similar age have been put up for action for £12,500, and now David believes it could have been dropped by a drinker three and a half centuries ago.
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David, who runs the Old Cottage in Margate, Kent, said: "There was a clunk noise and I thought I’d hoovered an old nut or bolt.
"But I emptied it later and saw it was a coin. I didn’t think anymore and put it in my pocket.
"Five hours later I washed it off and thought ‘Oh my God’, it could be something quite rare."
During the renovation work, David also uncovered a 17th fireplace and some stone cannonballs which date from the 1600s.
David added: "We’ve not done much research yet.
"But it’s easily the oldest relic we’ve come across, excluding cannon balls perhaps."
Similar coins have been put up for action for £12,500.
David bought the derelict boozer - itself dating back to the 1650s - in 2009 and has been restoring it since then.
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