The two people who found the 1,427 uncirculated mint-condition gold coins want to remain anonymous. The value of the “Saddle Ridge Hoard” treasure trove the couple found buried in the shadow of an old tree, according to the Huffington Post, while out walking their dog, is estimated at $10 million or more.
It has been reported that some of the coins are so rare that coin experts say they could go for nearly $1 million apiece, according to the Daily Mail UK. Because paper money was illegal in California until the 1870s, it is very rare to find coins from before that of such high quality.
The coins were recently authenticated by David Hall, the co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana. Hall has reported that almost all of the 1,427 coins, which date from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition. The face value of the gold pieces adds up to about $27,000.
Don Kagin, veteran numismatist who is representing the husband and wife who made the discovery reported, “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,” also saying that as for the middle-aged couple who has lived on the rural property for several years, they have no idea who put them there, he said. ‘It’s like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.’
ABC News has reported that the couple said that, “We’d like to help other people with some of this money. There are people in our community who are hungry and don’t have enough to eat. We’ll also donate to the arts and other overlooked causes. In a way it has been good to have time between finding the coins and being able to sell them in order to prepare and adjust. It’s given us an opportunity to think about how to give back.”
In 1974, more than 400,000 in silver dollars were found in the home of a Reno, Nevada, man who was recently deceased. Huffington Post reported that the coins were later sold intact for $7.3 million.
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