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Monday, 8th June 2009 (1460 views)

Gold jewellery that was intended as a gift to Pope Pius IX has gone on sale in the UK.

A total of four gold chains were bought at auction by Corby jeweller Bill Robertson, after they were salvaged from a 140-year-old shipwreck, the Northants Evening Telegraph reports.

The handmade items were being carried aboard the General Abbatucci when it sank in 1869, with half of the 108 passengers and crew dying.

Having been retrieved, the chains are now on sale and Mr Robertson described them as "unbelievable stuff".

"It's amazing that it's so old and has never been worn," he was quoted as saying. "The workmanship is astounding. I have certainly never seen anything like it before."

Gold coins thought to be around 400 years old and worth a total of £50,000 are going on sale in London this week, with each of the 57 pieces being sold separately by Morton & Eden.

 

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