It sounds like a dream or an adventure movie: about 13 years ago, a married couple in Northern California was walking their dog when they stumbled upon a buried treasure that experts later valued at $10 million.
This treasure represented the largest discovered hoard of gold coins in the United States. The couple, referred to in the media as “John and Mary,” took great care to keep their identities private, including their place of residence, to prevent treasure hunters from flocking to the site where the were found.
David McCarthy, a senior numismatist and research associate at Kagin’s, was well aware of the couple’s story. He helped the lucky finders assess and eventually sell their .
How It Happened
“One day, while they were walking along their usual path, one of them looked down and saw a can. They were used to finding cans, nails, bullets, and other oddities from the 19th century on their property, so they had a habit of digging them up because they loved history,” McCarthy recounted to reporters in 2014.
The couple tried to open the artifact with a stick, but it didn’t work. So, they took the find home. Eventually, they pried off the lid and saw the edge of a $20 gold coin sticking out.
Excited, the couple returned to the discovery site to see if they could find anything else. They ended up uncovering another can.
The Search Continued
For two weeks, “they kept returning to the site and found more and more assorted items.” Then the couple scanned the area with a metal detector and ultimately unearthed eight cans filled with coins, McCarthy said.
In total, the couple found 1,411 coins with a face value of about $28,000, according to Popular Science. Of course, the modern value was significantly higher—partly due to inflation and partly because many of the coins were in pristine condition and highly sought after by collectors.
Unsure of what to do with such a large treasure, the couple reached out to Kagin’s, a company specializing in the appraisal and sale of rare coins, including Mr. McCarthy.
Where Did These Coins Come From?
The exact origin of the coins has yet to be determined. However, according to McCarthy, there are several clues that might help unravel this mystery. The cans containing the coins showed varying degrees of damage. While the coins were minted between the 1860s and 1890s, mostly in San Francisco, many of them were in excellent condition, meaning they had never been in circulation.
It appears that someone buried the coins in the same area at different times. The relatively close proximity of the treasure to the site of the California Gold Rush is another potential clue.
According to McCarthy, burying gold was a common practice in Northern California during the 1800s. Many people at that time lived far from banks. If someone had $10,000, $20,000, or $30,000 in gold accumulated over the years, they wouldn’t keep it at home. “If you don’t have a bank to store your treasure, the only logical option is to bury it in the ground. That’s pretty typical human behavior,” the expert added.
Researchers speculate that the person who buried the coins died before they could spend them and did not inform their closest relatives about the stash.
What Happened to the Coins?
John and Mary decided to sell most of the coins. Most of them were available to buyers on Amazon. Notably, this was the first instance of a large collection of found coins being sold through this online marketplace.
The couple used the proceeds to pay off debts and also made charitable donations. They donated two coins to the Smithsonian Institution and kept a few as family heirlooms.
