A COUPLE OUT walking their dog on their extensive property in northern California stumbled across €7million worth of rare gold coins buried under a tree.
There were 1,427 gold coins dating from 1847 to 1894 – most of them in uncirculated, mint condition according to David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana, which recently authenticated them.
Some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece.
“It’s like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders.
The coins had been buried by a path the couple had walked for years. On the day they found them last spring, the woman had bent over to examine an old rusty can that erosion had caused to pop slightly out of the ground.
“Don’t be above bending over to check on a rusty can,” Kagin said she told him.
The coins were buried in six cans in chronological order, according to David McCarthy, chief numismatist for Kagin Inc.
The 1840s and 1850s pieces went into one can until it was filled, then new coins into the next one and the next one after that. The dates and the method indicated that whoever put them there was using the ground as their personal bank.
The couple plan to put most of the coins up for sale through Amazon while holding onto a few keepsakes. They’ll use the money to pay off bills and quietly donate to local charities, Kagin said.
