Gold coins stolen: researchers

A stash of gold sovereigns uncovered in Albany could be the lost booty of an 1842 robbery in which 250 coins were stolen, two researchers claim.

It is one of several possible explanations for the historic coins which were uncovered at a carpark construction site on Peel Place, the former site of the Freemason’s Hotel and Boan’s department store.

It is estimated about 300 sovereigns dating back to the 19th century were found by construction workers on May 11 and 12 and handed to the property owner.

Police have estimated the coins could be worth as much as $500,000, but that has been disputed.

“Police have not sighted the coins yet, we are conducting inquiries and seeking advice into the legalities of who owns the coins, but we are not compelling the owner to present the coins at this stage,” police spokesman Sergeant Gerry Cassidy said.

But Albany Historical Society chief executive Andrew Eyden believes there is no question about their ownership.

“Unless someone can come forward with real proof stating their great-great-great grandfather buried 300 gold sovereigns there on such-and-such a date…(the property owner) legally owns the coins,” he said.

There are a number of theories about the origin of the coins. Two researchers suggested they might be the 250 gold sovereigns and £200 worth of silver reported stolen from notorious south coast sealer and whaler John Williams in 1842.

John Robertson, who has been researching the history of sealing along southern Australia for the past 12 years, and Jock Beer, who wrote a 2009 thesis about John Williams, both pointed to the 1842 robbery to explain the discovery.

Two men were tried by an Albany magistrate for the crime and sentenced to seven years transportation to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), but the gold was never recovered.

Mr Eyden said the historical society was attempting to determine why they were buried.

“We do have one theory that the gold was buried in response to the threat of Russian invasion in 1885,” Mr Eyden said.

“Bank managers started rounding up the entire town’s money, which was 3000 sovereigns, and transferred them to Perth for fear of invasion. But whether these bank managers decided to hold back 300 sovereigns as a bargaining chip and only 2700 sovereigns went to Perth, we aren’t certain.”

Australasian Numismatic Dealers’ Association secretary Andrew Crellin said the number of coins was “unprecedented”, but their value was unknown.

“Gold sovereigns weren’t made in London until 1817 and weren’t made in Australia until at least 1855 or at the Perth Mint in WA until 1899,” he said.

Mr Crellin said unless they were rare-dated coins in pristine condition, the value of each coin was about $335, or $100,000 total.

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