Bet on raindrops at stately home that was paid in 5,000 farthings 123 years ago bears fruit for descendants when coins are sold for £65,000 The wager was made between an aristocrat and his friend at a stately home Two men bet £5 on which drop would reach the bottom of the window first The farthings the loser paid out have now reached £65,000 at auction A bet on two raindrops on a window pane that was made 123 years ago has now netted the family of the winner almost £65,000. The wager was made between an aristocrat and his friend during a rainy day at a Dorset stately home in 1890. The two men bet £5 on which one of two drops would reach the bottom of the window first. Windfall: A simple bet on two raindrops on a window pane that was placed 123 years ago has now netted the family of the winner almost £65,000 Bet: The wager was made between an aristocrat and his friend during a rainy day at a stately home in 1890 Bitter at losing, the disgruntled friend marched straight to the bank to withdraw the money owed in the lowest denomination possible at the time - 4,800 farthings. But now the descendants of the winner have had the last laugh after the existing 2,794 farthings, dated 1890 and still in mint condition, sold at auction for £63,440. The cache of unused bronze coins, wrapped in tissue paper, represents two pounds, 18 shillings, one penny and two farthings - the equivalent of £220 today. The huge sale price means each coin is worth almost £23, around 22,000 times its original value. Each 0.8-inch diameter coin features the head of Queen Victoria on one side and Britannia on the other. Single farthings commonly command between two and £10 at auction. Experts had tipped the collection to fetch £14,000, but were astounded when it sold for more than four times the amount to a UK coin collector. Stored: The coins had been stored in boxes at Crichel House, near Wimborne, Dorset, home of the Alington family and where the original bet was made The estate remained in the Alington family for 300 years until the death of Mary Marten OBE, goddaugher of the Queen Mother and child playmate of Princess Margaret, in 2010 aged 80 Beauty: The garden at Crichel House. The house itself was featured in the 1996 film Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow The coins had been stored in boxes at Crichel House, near Wimborne, Dorset, home of the Alington family and where the original bet was made. The picturesque 18th century manor house was featured in the 1996 film Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The estate remained in the Alington family for 300 years until the death of Mary Marten OBE, goddaugher of the Queen Mother and child playmate of Princess Margaret, in 2010 aged 80. Silver screen: Actress Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1996 adaption of Jane Austen's Emma, which featured the estate It was passed down to her six children - Victoria, Charlotte, Georgina, Amabel, Napier and Sophia - before being sold to an unknown buyer in April 2013. The family has now sold off the coins. Lucy Chalmers, of auctioneers Woolley and Wallis in Salisbury, Wilts, said: 'This collection is very rare for a number of reasons. 'Farthings themselves aren't that rare but it is pretty much unheard of to have this number of mint condition farthings altogether. Secondly, to have such great provenance adds to the value, and finally it is rare to have such a good story behind them. The story of the bet is stuff of family legend and has been passed down through generations of the Alington family. Sadly no-one knows who the bet was between - but the loser was so upset he marched straight to the bank and withdrew the five pounds in the smallest change he could. All this time later the joke is on him. We knew there was going to be a lot of interest in these coins from all over the world but the sale definitely exceed our expectations. Daniel Fearon, a coin expert who valued the collection, added: 'Every now and then odd things crop up and this collection was one of them. 'The best way to describe the coins was 'extraordinary cache'. The strangest thing about this story is the length the loser has gone to get five pounds in farthings - a huge a amount of coins that many banks would not have stocked. He went to great lengths to be a bloody nuisance. Nowadays farthings are extremely common in average condition but a collection of so many, all with the same date and in mint condition, is unheard of. The collection was very hard to value - in fact I was a little concerned I might have overvalued the coins prior to the auction. I was relieved and delighted when they sold so well.