If you’ve ever fantasized about accidentally discovering a fortune large enough to retire on, be prepared to feel consumed with helpless rage now that it’s actually happened to someone else. While walking their dog, a middle-aged Northern California couple stumbled upon millions in uncirculated American currency buried on their property. The pair, who want to remain anonymous, found over 1,400 gold coins dating from 1847 to 1894 in six corroded metal containers. While the coins themselves only add up to roughly $27,000, their age and mint condition could bring in approximately $1 million per piece.
“I don’t like to say once-in-a-lifetime for anything, but you don’t get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever. It’s like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” said numismatist Don Kagin, who is working with the unnamed discoverers and suspects the haul might be the largest in U.S. history.
The couple found the canisters when the female partner bent over to inspect what she believed to be a “rusty can” poking out of the earth, reminding all of us of the numerous times we saw a rusty can on the ground and foolishly assumed it contained nothing but a few moldy Pringles.
