Trending: California Couple Stumble Upon $10 Million in Gold

By Renee Schiavone

It was just a normal day for one Northern California couple who were out walking their dog on their property in California's Gold Country when they spotted something unusual last year.

While on a trail they had walked nearly every day for years, they spotted a partially buried can, and decided to pry it out of the earth with a help of a nearby stick.

"The can was unusually heavy, but nothing could have prepared them for what they would find when they pried the lid open: mixed in with dirt and stones, they could see the edges of numerous U.S. $20 gold pieces—a literal pot of gold!" an announcement from a Tiburon rare-coin agency representing the couple said Tuesday.

Upon discovering the gold, the couple headed back out to the site to see if lightning could strike twice-- and it did, seven more times.

"... immediately [they] located the remains of another can, buried a bit deeper and about a foot to the left of the first can,"  the announcement from the numismatic firm said.   "Rust had consumed about half of the can’s sides, exposing another cache of gold coins.  Repeated trips to the site (and the help of a metal detector) eventually uncovered a total of eight cans filled with over 1,400 rare U.S. gold coins."

In total, the couple had found almost 1,400 $20 gold pieces, fifty $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.

“What’s really significant about this find,” noted Donald Kagin Ph.D., president of Kagin’s Inc. of Tiburon, “is that unlike other hoards and treasures, this one includes a great variety of dates, many of which are in pristine condition; add to that a wonderful human interest story: this family literally found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Kagin believes this is the largest buried treasure ever unearthed in the United States.  Though the face value of the coins is approximately $28,000, experts say the collection could go for more than $10 million.

Kagin's agency isn't saying exactly where the couple lives or when they found the treasure, as the man and wife wish to remain anonymous. 

The find has been dubbed the "Saddle Ridge Treasure," named after a feature on their property in Northern California. 

Approximately 90 percent of the coins will be sold through Amazon’s collectibles store at a later date, in an exclusive partnership with Kagin’s, Inc, the firm said.

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