California Couple Unearths Pot of Gold
February 26, 2014
A husband and wife have disclosed that they have discovered a fantastic hoard of gold in their back yard in northern California. The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, were walking their dog when they noticed something shiny on the ground and began digging. They eventually unearthed 8 metal cans containing 1,427 gold coins, all in uncirculated, mint condition.
Numismatists, that is, rare coin experts, characterized the discovery as the largest of its kind in U.S. history. The coins, most of which were minted in San Francisco, are in $5, $10, and $20 denominations. They date from between 1847 to 1894. Authorities speculate that the individual who buried them sometime after 1894 died without revealing their location.
The face value of the coins is $27,000, a princely sum at the turn of the last century. Experts believe that at auction they could fetch as much as $10 million. Just one of the coins–an 1866-S No Motto Double Eagle in uncirculated condition–is valued at as much as $1 million. (Numismatists believe that there are probably only 200 examples of the No Motto Double Eagle in existence, most of which are heavily worn or “bagmarked,” that is, dinged or scratched by friction in bags used to carry newly minted coins. Even the Smithsonian specimen shows “slight wear.”) After paying some household bills, the couple plans to donate much of their “pot of gold” to charity.
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