200-year-old coins with George III and VI on back found in Whitby sweet shop

The surprise discovery was made by the owners of Hunter’s sweet shop on Church Street while carrying out some recent renovations.

Owner Tracy Sanderson said some work was being done where the old shop counter was and they discovered the coins when they took apart the casing of an old till drawer.

One of the coins is a silver half crown with King George III on the back of them – the monarch reigned from 1760 to 1820 – while another is a silver crown from the time of his successor, King George VI.

The other coin, a copper-coloured one dating back to 1799, appears to be a halfpenny, again from the time of George III.

While plenty of coins have exchanged hands in the shops down the years, few could have expected that the shop would have been home to ones dating back from the 18th and 19th Centuries.

"It was a bit of a surprise,” said Tracy, whose family has owned the shop for around 40 years.

"We never thought about having them valued, but we might get round to it but it’s not a case of selling them, we will put them on display in the shop.”

Commenting on social media, Kath Allison said: “My Granny Hunter owned the shop until about 1951 when she died.

"It’s a wonderful find, imagine all the people who’ve handled them.”