The Hackney Hoard - Interesting story of 80 double eagles buried in an English garden!
Goldbully
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From the British Museum............
The Hackney Hoard
Coroner to rule on unique and historic
treasure case
On 18 April 2011 the Coroner for Inner North London will resume an inquest in relation to a hoard of American gold dollars found in Hackney in 2007. The hoard consists of 80 coins which were minted in the United States between 1854 and 1913. They are all $20 denominations of the type known as ‘Double-Eagle’ and the find is totally unprecedented in the United Kingdom.
Treasure registrar, Ian Richardson holds one
of the coins from the Hackney Hoard.
The hoard was discovered in the back garden of a property in Hackney and reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme but in a unique twist to the story a likely descendent of the original owner of the coins has been found.
The coins are thought to have been buried in 1940 when Mr Martin Sulzbacher and his family were resident in the Hackney property. A German Jew who had fled persecution in Nazi Germany, Mr Sulzbacher was interned as an ‘enemy alien refugee’ first in Seaton, Devon. He was then sent to Canada on the ill-fated “Arandora Star” but the ship was torpedoed on the way. Rescued after many hours in the water, he was then sent to Australia on the “Dunera”. At the end of 1941 he was sent to the Isle of Man and eventually released. His wife and four children were sent to the Women’s Internment Camp in the Isle of Man.
The remaining members of the Sulzbacher family continued to live in the Hackney house. The gold coins had originally been kept in a safe in the City of London but after 1940 Mr Sulzbacher’s brother took the precaution of transferring the coins from the city safe and burying them in the back garden. At the time the threat of invasion was at its height and the family feared the Germans would break open safe deposits as they had done in Amsterdam should the invasion be successful. His brother told a family friend what he had done and the friend had asked him to let him know the exact spot in the garden where the coins had been buried. He replied that since there were five family members who knew the spot there was no necessity to reveal the location of the coins. Unfortunately, on the 24th September 1940, the house received a direct hit in the Blitz and all the five members of the family were killed.
On his release Mr Sulzbacher went to the safe in the city and to his horror found that the safe was empty. The family friend then told him what had happened and so he arranged for the garden to be searched but without success, he was unable to locate the coins. However, the current case represents a second discovery of Martin Sulzbacher’s savings. In 1952 as work commenced on a new building on the site of Mr Sulzbacher’s house, a hoard of 82 $20 American gold coins dating to 1890 was discovered in a glass jar on the same site. The hoard was awarded to Mr Sulzbacher by the coroner at the time.
If the Coroner decides that Mr Sulzbacher has a superior claim to the current coin hoard they will not qualify as Treasure according to the terms of the Treasure Act 1996, on the grounds that in order for objects to be classed as such, their owner or his or her heirs or successors must be unknown. Mr Martin Sulzbacher passed away in 1981 but the coroner’s office, the British Museum and the Museum of London have worked together to track down his son, Mr Max Sulzbacher who lives abroad, as do his siblings.
Mr Sulzbacher said ‘I am surprised but delighted by the recent discovery, which has come to light almost 70 years after the coins were buried. I am very grateful to the finders for reporting the coins to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Museum of London, and to the member of the public who alerted the coroner to the 1950s discovery’.
Max Sulzbacher has generously agreed that the hoard can remain on public display at the British Museum (Room 41) for a further week, giving visitors a further opportunity to see the coins. He hopes to donate one coin to the local Hackney Museum and though not obliged to do so, he has agreed to give an ex-gratia payment to the finders in recognition of their contribution to the discovery. It is anticipated that the remainder of the coins will be sold.
This represents the first time since the Treasure Act came into force in 1997 that an original owner or direct descendent has lain successful claim to an item that would otherwise have been ‘Treasure’ and the property of the Crown.
Dr Roger Bland, head of the department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum, said ‘The case of the Hackney gold coins is one of the most unique and compelling stories that we have been involved with. There is an incredibly human element to this story that is absent from many archaeological finds and we are pleased to see the coins reunited with their original owners after so many years. The finders are to be congratulated for acting responsibly and helping to add further vital information to the corpus of material about the Second World War, Jewish immigration, and the history of Hackney borough.’
Archaeologists from the British Museum and University College London have investigated the site to ensure that no further deposits remained.
Link
Link2
The Hackney Hoard
Coroner to rule on unique and historic
treasure case
On 18 April 2011 the Coroner for Inner North London will resume an inquest in relation to a hoard of American gold dollars found in Hackney in 2007. The hoard consists of 80 coins which were minted in the United States between 1854 and 1913. They are all $20 denominations of the type known as ‘Double-Eagle’ and the find is totally unprecedented in the United Kingdom.
Treasure registrar, Ian Richardson holds one
of the coins from the Hackney Hoard.
The hoard was discovered in the back garden of a property in Hackney and reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme but in a unique twist to the story a likely descendent of the original owner of the coins has been found.
The coins are thought to have been buried in 1940 when Mr Martin Sulzbacher and his family were resident in the Hackney property. A German Jew who had fled persecution in Nazi Germany, Mr Sulzbacher was interned as an ‘enemy alien refugee’ first in Seaton, Devon. He was then sent to Canada on the ill-fated “Arandora Star” but the ship was torpedoed on the way. Rescued after many hours in the water, he was then sent to Australia on the “Dunera”. At the end of 1941 he was sent to the Isle of Man and eventually released. His wife and four children were sent to the Women’s Internment Camp in the Isle of Man.
The remaining members of the Sulzbacher family continued to live in the Hackney house. The gold coins had originally been kept in a safe in the City of London but after 1940 Mr Sulzbacher’s brother took the precaution of transferring the coins from the city safe and burying them in the back garden. At the time the threat of invasion was at its height and the family feared the Germans would break open safe deposits as they had done in Amsterdam should the invasion be successful. His brother told a family friend what he had done and the friend had asked him to let him know the exact spot in the garden where the coins had been buried. He replied that since there were five family members who knew the spot there was no necessity to reveal the location of the coins. Unfortunately, on the 24th September 1940, the house received a direct hit in the Blitz and all the five members of the family were killed.
On his release Mr Sulzbacher went to the safe in the city and to his horror found that the safe was empty. The family friend then told him what had happened and so he arranged for the garden to be searched but without success, he was unable to locate the coins. However, the current case represents a second discovery of Martin Sulzbacher’s savings. In 1952 as work commenced on a new building on the site of Mr Sulzbacher’s house, a hoard of 82 $20 American gold coins dating to 1890 was discovered in a glass jar on the same site. The hoard was awarded to Mr Sulzbacher by the coroner at the time.
If the Coroner decides that Mr Sulzbacher has a superior claim to the current coin hoard they will not qualify as Treasure according to the terms of the Treasure Act 1996, on the grounds that in order for objects to be classed as such, their owner or his or her heirs or successors must be unknown. Mr Martin Sulzbacher passed away in 1981 but the coroner’s office, the British Museum and the Museum of London have worked together to track down his son, Mr Max Sulzbacher who lives abroad, as do his siblings.
Mr Sulzbacher said ‘I am surprised but delighted by the recent discovery, which has come to light almost 70 years after the coins were buried. I am very grateful to the finders for reporting the coins to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Museum of London, and to the member of the public who alerted the coroner to the 1950s discovery’.
Max Sulzbacher has generously agreed that the hoard can remain on public display at the British Museum (Room 41) for a further week, giving visitors a further opportunity to see the coins. He hopes to donate one coin to the local Hackney Museum and though not obliged to do so, he has agreed to give an ex-gratia payment to the finders in recognition of their contribution to the discovery. It is anticipated that the remainder of the coins will be sold.
This represents the first time since the Treasure Act came into force in 1997 that an original owner or direct descendent has lain successful claim to an item that would otherwise have been ‘Treasure’ and the property of the Crown.
Dr Roger Bland, head of the department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum, said ‘The case of the Hackney gold coins is one of the most unique and compelling stories that we have been involved with. There is an incredibly human element to this story that is absent from many archaeological finds and we are pleased to see the coins reunited with their original owners after so many years. The finders are to be congratulated for acting responsibly and helping to add further vital information to the corpus of material about the Second World War, Jewish immigration, and the history of Hackney borough.’
Archaeologists from the British Museum and University College London have investigated the site to ensure that no further deposits remained.
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Comments
I knew it would happen.
When I was a kid I excavated the cold frame of the older house that we were living in at the time looking for buried treasure. Found nothing. Even today I want to dig up the old outhouse in my back yard for older bottles.
<< <i>Wow, they look like nice n' crusty BU! 9.7 on the coolness scale. >>
Yes, but will RYK be impressed???
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
<< <i>Interesting to note that a German Jew refugee had the opportunity to obtain 162 U.S. Double Eagles abroad during WW II. >>
They likely acquired them before the start of hostilities, there were plenty of double eagles in Europe.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Looking forward to an update on the dates, mint marks and conditions of the coins.
Gold coins returned to family of Jew who fled Nazis
A hoard of gold coins smuggled to London by a Jewish man who fled Nazi Germany will be returned to his descendents, a coroner has ruled.
Max Sulzbacher's family buried the jar of "double eagle" gold dollars in the garden of their home in Hackney.
But they were killed when a bomb hit their house during the Blitz, taking the details of where the coins were with them.
The coins, now being sold, are expected to fetch £80,000 at auction.
They were minted between 1854 and 1913, and will be available to bidders at Spink auctioneers in Bloomsbury, London.
Ill-fated
The coins were found wrapped in greaseproof paper by Terrence Castle of Stoke Newington, north-east London, in the summer of 2007 while he was digging a frog pond in the garden of the property with three other people.
Mr Sulzbacher, 81, a retired chartered accountant who lives in Jerusalem, said that he would be using the proceeds of the sale to give the finders of the coins a reward and to restore his family's gravestones at Enfield cemetery, north London.
He said he was "surprised and delighted" by the find.
Mr Sulzbacher's father, Martin, smuggled the coins to England, having sold all of the family's possessions in Germany.
He was sent abroad to Canada at the outbreak of war, but when then the ill-fated Arandora Star he was on was torpedoed and sunk, he was sent to Australia.
His wife and four children, including Max, were interned on the Isle of Man.
His mother and father, brother Fritz, his sister and sister-in-law remained in London and buried the coins, before being killed by a German bomb.
On his release, Martin Sulzbacher unsuccessfully had the garden searched.
Some identical coins were found at the property in 1952 and he was able to claim them.
It was that information that helped the British Museum, the coroner's office and the Museum of London to trace Max Sulzbacher this time.
Unique and compelling
The coroner for Inner London North, Andrew Scott Reid, ruled the coins were treasure and that Max Sulzbacher, as an heir, was entitled to them.
The coins are on display at the British Museum until the end of the week and one will be donated to the Hackney Museum.
British Museum's head of the department of portable antiquities and treasure, Dr Roger Bland, said the find contributed to the story of Jewish immigration to Britain.
"The case of the Hackney gold coins is one of the most unique and compelling stories that we have been involved with.
"There is an incredibly human element to this story that is absent from many archaeological finds and we are pleased to see the coins reunited with their original owners after so many years."
Martin Sulzbacher ran a book shop in Golders Green, north London, and died in 1981.
BBC Link
On another note, I loved SanctionII's comment: "It sure would be fun and exciting to be part of a find like this [the person who discovers the buried jar containing the coins, the persons who investigate the history of the find and who discovers the "heir" to whom the coins belong, the person who gets to review, inspect and catalogue the coins and the "heir"]"
This is truly a numismatic human interest story!!!!
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>How many forum members would keep it a secret from the government if they found these coins? I can think of at least one.
I'd be #2 i reckon.
siliconvalleycoins.com
<< <i>
<< <i>How many forum members would keep it a secret from the government if they found these coins? I can think of at least one.
I'd be #2 i reckon. >>
This is definitely an I.Q. test.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Can't take 'em with you!
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>How many forum members would keep it a secret from the government if they found these coins? I can think of at least one.
I'd be #2 i reckon. >>
This is definitely an I.Q. test.
Are you going to share the joke or laugh in the corner by your wee self perry ?
<< <i>Are these fresh? >>
Yes! And there are some dirty ones in the pile.
<< <i>
<< <i>Are these fresh? >>
Yes! And there are some dirty ones in the pile.
Good eye, RYK!!!
<< <i>Who can pass up fresh and dirty??? Are we still talking about coins? >>
Not me and yes.
Love the look of those $20 Double Eagles!!!!
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Hackney hoard of gold coins fails to count as treasure, court rules Finders fail to become keepers as £100,000 worth of American money is returned to the family of its original owner
Alex Hocking
Monday 25 April 2011
The glass jar contained 80 American coins dating from 1854.
Photograph: Hackney Council
A hoard of gold coins found in Hackney by a local resident in 2007 does not qualify as treasure and should be returned to the descendent of the man who originally buried them, ruled an inquest last week (Monday 18 April).
In 2007, Hackney resident Terence Castle was digging a frog pond with three others in a back garden in Stamford Hill when they struck suddenly struck gold, discovering a glass jar containing 80 American coins dating from 1854 and worth around £100,000.
“I unwrapped the greaseproof paper the coins were wrapped in and saw the statues of liberty marching into my face in gold relief… I knew it was something special.” He took the coins to his office and contacted the British Museum. He insisted that they collect the coins because “otherwise I might have just run off to Rio with them.”
A treasure inquest was opened to determine the value and provenance of he coins. If coins less than 300 years old are gold or silver and appear to have been deliberately concealed, the law states that unless a superior claim is made the finder may receive a reward equal to the treasure’s value.
The complete hoard consist of 80 coins, minted in the United States between 1854 and 1913. They are all $20 coins known as ‘Double-Eagle’ and the find is totally unprecedented in the United Kingdom.
In a unique twist to the story a likely descendent of the original owner of the coins has been found.
The twenty dollar gold coins are known as ‘Double-Eagles’.
Photograph: Hackney Council
A claim was made by Max Sulzbacher whose father, Martin, was a German Jewish banker living in Frankfurt who fled persecution from the Nazis in 1938 and moved to live with his family in Hackney, bringing the valuable coins with him.
Martin Sulzbacher was interned as an ‘enemy alien refugee’ on the Isle of Man. He was then sent to Canada, but his ship was torpedoed by a U-boat off the Irish coast. Over half the passengers and crew perished, but Mr Sulzbacher survived only to be sent to Australia aboard the Dunera. Conditions on the Dunera were so appalling that several crew members were court-martialled.
Meanwhile, Sulzbacher’s family stayed on in Hackney. Fearing that German troops might invade and steal the gold from the safe in the City, they buried the coins in the garden. Unfortunately, the house took a direct hit from a bomb in 1941, killing all five family members.
Sulzbacher’s streak of bad luck continued when upon release in 1941 he was unable to find the coins among the rubble of the family home. He went on to open a bookshop in Stoke Newington and died in 1981.
The current case represents a second deposit of Martin Sulzbacher’s wealth. In 1952 as work commenced on a new building on the site of Mr Sulzbacher’s house, another hoard of 82 $20 American gold coins dating to 1890 was discovered in a glass jar on the same site. The hoard was awarded to Mr Martin Sulzbacher by the coroner at the time.
On 18 April 2011 the Coroner for Inner North London resumed an inquest in relation to a hoard of American gold dollars found in Hackney in 2007.
The coroner decided that Mr. Sulzbacher has a superior claim to the coins meaning that they will not qualify as Treasure according to the terms of the Treasure Act 1996, on the grounds that in order for objects to be classed as such, their owner or his or her heirs or successors must be unknown.
Mr. Martin Sulzbacher passed away in 1981 but the coroner’s office, the British Museum and the Museum of London worked together to track down his son, Mr. Max Sulzbacher, who lives abroad.
Drawing on evidence from the case where 82 similar coins found on the same property in 1952, Coroner Dr Andrew Reid ruled that the coins should be returned to the descendents of the family who buried them.
Reid stated that Mr Sulzbacher would consider offering a reward to the finders, but that he was under no obligation to do so.
Mr Castle – presumably speaking in jest – told his two children outside the court that “Honesty doesn’t always pay.”
It is believed that the coins were sent from America as part of the Dawes Plan to help Germany pay reparations after World War One. The Sulzbachers have donated a coin to the Museum of London and also to Hackney Museum.
Mr Max Sulzbacher said: “I am surprised but delighted by the recent discovery, which has come to light almost 70 years after the coins were buried. I am very grateful to the finders for reporting the coins to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Museum of London, and to the member of the public who alerted the coroner to the 1950s discovery.”
Mr Max Sulzbacher agreed to give an ex-gratia payment to the finders in recognition of their contribution to the discovery. It is anticipated that the remainder of the coins will be sold.
This represents the first time since the Treasure Act came into force in 1997 that an original owner or direct descendent has lain successful claim to an item that would otherwise have been ‘Treasure’ and the property of the Crown.
Dr Roger Bland, head of the department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum, said: “The case of the Hackney gold coins is one of the most unique and compelling stories that we have been involved with. There is an incredibly human element to this story that is absent from many archaeological finds and we are pleased to see the coins reunited with their original owners after so many years. The finders are to be congratulated for acting responsibly and helping to add further vital information to the corpus of material about the Second World War, Jewish immigration, and the history of Hackney borough.”
Archaeologists from the British Museum and University College London have investigated the site to ensure that no further deposits remained.
Link