Queen Anne "Vigo"

      An exceedingly rare Queen Anne Gold coin has recently been discovered in a child's money box by a man living in Hertfordshire. The coin, was thought to be something of a copy, and was merely regarded as a token of play for various "pirate" games by the owner who received it from his grandfather and later gave it to his own son. Only as an afterthought did he have it checked by an auctioneer for any possible value.

      As it turns out the coin is of real gold, part of a 7.5lb catch of gold, seized from Spanish Treasure Ships, at the Battle of Vigo Bay, in Spain, also known as Battle of Rande, 23 October 1702. There are as few as twenty coins which were struck the following year, as part of a propaganda campaign, to draw attention away from the British failure at Cadiz. The "Vigo" is a Five Guinea coin, struck to the same pattern as the silver Half-Crown and at the time of their production Sir Issac Newton was Master of the Royal Mint. He is known to have been present upon the arrival of the treasure from the French and Spanish fleets and may well have handled some of the coins on their production.
      The coin will go to auction next month and is expected to sell in the region of £250-300k.