The JCB was inches from smashing the empty bottles when workers spotted the gold bottles glittering in the sun in November last year.

Seven bottles were dug up half a mile from the Croome estate, which was once home to the Earl of Coventry.

The bottles bear the seal of the Earl and are believed to have been made in the 1660s, The Times reports.

Alan Blakeman of BBR Auctions, who is selling the items, said that the most intact bottles could sell for as much as £20,000.

He said that finding any items predating 1680 in the UK is extremely rare.