A rare example of a 15th-century Portuguese gold coin taken by Vasco da Gama to India has been discovered at a rural tourist facility in the United Kingdom. Now it goes to auction.
A “Portuguese” coin, valued at 20 to 30 thousand pounds (22,400 and 33,600 euros), valued at 10 cruzatos by London auctioneer Noonans.
It was discovered in early July by 62-year-old Mick Edwards at a country lodge in Achilhampton, 150 kilometers west of London.
Before breakfast, around 6 a.m., the Briton was testing a metal detector in the field when the equipment gave a signal, digging a 25-centimeter hole and finding a gold coin 36 millimeters in diameter and weighing 35 grams.
“I was looking at the coin in a daze, breathless. I saw the cross on the coin and thought it might be Spanish, but I later found out from a king named Manuel that it was Portuguese,” he said. Statement from the auctioneer.
According to the Casa da Moeda, D. Manuel I’s Portuguese was the largest circulating Portuguese coin in the world due to the country’s commercial importance at the time.
The coin was minted in almost pure gold and was made from gold that Vasco da Gama had taken to India in his ships and brought back to Portugal from his voyages to Africa and India.
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