Community Corner

$10 Million Gold Collection Found in Bay Area Now On Sale

The first coin fetched $15,000, according to reports.

Members of the public had  their first chance this week to see and buy gold coins from a massive hoard of buried treasure discovered by a couple walking their dog on their property in California's Gold Country last year.

 A collection of coins from the "Saddle Ridge Hoard" went on display Tuesday in the Old Mint in San Francisco in an exhibit hosted by the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society.

[RELATED:  Gold Rush! NorCal Couple Finds $10 Million in Coins in Backyard]

The 1,400-plus Gold Rush coins from the Saddle Ridge Hoard are estimated to be worth at least $10 million. The discovery is believed to be the largest find ever of buried treasure in the U.S.

"Many coins in the group that are finer than anything we've ever seen before," said David McCarthy, a senior numismatist at Tiburon-based Kagin's Inc., a firm of rare coin experts that is handling the collection's sale.

McCarthy was the first coin expert to examine the coins, which had been buried in decaying metal canisters.

"I picked up one of the coins and looked at it, and underneath the dirt, I could see it was essentially perfect," McCarthy said. "I almost fell out of my chair."

The coins were minted between 1847 and 1894 and McCarthy said 95 percent of them were struck in the San Francisco Mint. Most coins of the Gold Rush-era were heavily used and handled, but these coins appear to have been buried when they were brand-new, likely the cause of their pristine condition, McCarthy said.

The treasure collection's first coin was sold at auction at the Old Mint event Tuesday for $15,000, according to CBS San Francisco.     It was valued between $3,000 and $4,000, according to McCarthy.

It was the only coin that will be sold at auction.

The 1874-S $20 coin was one of the first struck at the Old Mint and its sale will benefit the Old Mint's restoration, according to Lisa Bower, administrative and volunteer manager with the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society.

The bulk of the rest of the collection went on sale Tuesday night on Amazon.com and Kagins.com.

In total, the collection includes 1,373 $20 gold pieces, 50 $10 gold pieces and four $5 gold pieces, all of which were struck between 1847 and 1894, and believed to have been buried for more than 100 years, according to Kagin’s Inc.

The couple that discovered the coins is remaining anonymous. They will keep some of the coins for themselves, McCarthy said.



–Bay City News Service contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here