A California family made a staggering discovery in their crawlspace when they found a stash of rare coins worth millions of dollars.
The family, who wishes to remain anonymous, was renovating their home in San Francisco when they stumbled upon a wooden box hidden under the floorboards. Inside the box were hundreds of gold coins dating back to the 19th century.
The coins are believed to be part of the Saddle Ridge Hoard, a treasure trove of 1,427 gold coins that was unearthed in 2013 by a couple in Sierra Nevada. The hoard was valued at $10 million and is considered the largest known discovery of buried gold coins in U.S. history.
The family contacted Kagin’s Inc., a numismatic firm that specializes in rare coins and currency, to appraise their find. According to Kagin’s, the coins are worth at least $2 million and could fetch much more at auction.
“This is one of the most exciting discoveries I’ve ever been involved with,” said David McCarthy, senior numismatist at Kagin’s. “Not only are these coins extremely rare and valuable, but they have an amazing story behind them.”
McCarthy said the coins were minted between 1854 and 1894 and are in pristine condition. He said some of the coins are so rare that only a handful of them exist in the world. For example, one of the coins is an 1866-S No Motto $20 gold piece, which is worth about $1 million by itself.
“These coins were clearly meant to be hidden and never spent,” McCarthy said. “They were probably buried during a time of economic or political turmoil, such as the Civil War or the Panic of 1893.”
McCarthy said the family plans to sell some of the coins and keep the rest as a family heirloom. He said they also intend to donate some of the proceeds to local charities.
“They are very grateful for this unexpected windfall and want to share it with others,” he said. “They are truly living the American dream.”
