More than 500 Anglo-Saxon coins from a private collection were sold in London for £ 856,000 ($ 1.2 million) during the auction organized by the auction house Spink & Son, TASS reported referring to The Times.

Part of the collection of Yorkshire Numismatic Society president Tony Abramson, who began collecting coins in the 1950s, was on sale. In just 70 years, he acquired 1,200 banknotes, including those rare ones that could adorn any museum collection.

The main lot of the auction was the 7th-century gold shilling, which depicts King Edbald of Kent. It was sold for a record £ 40,800 ($ 57,500) for coins. Another gold shilling with the face of the first Bishop of London, St. Mellitus, was purchased for £ 34,800 ($ 49,000). The coin depicting the Roman missionary Paulin of York, the first Bishop of York, went under the hammer for £ 30,000 ($ 42,200).

Auction house Spink & Son will auction the rest of the collection this fall.