C. Boaz Whitfield Gold Hoard, Unearthed in Jefferson, Alabama- 1926
JCH22
Posts: 214 ✭✭✭✭
During the Civil War, C. Boaz Whitfield buried a large hoard of gold coins on his “Shady Grove” plantation, near Jefferson Alabama. It was believed he buried the coins to conceal them from Union Troops. He passed in 1906.
He left directions about the location of the treasure among his papers. It was not until 1926 that an heir came across that info. The search and recovery of that hoard is detailed in the below June 24, 1926 article from the Belington Progressive of West Virginia (redaction was of racial language). Given the value of gold in 1926, the number of coins, although unstated, must have been immense.
7
Comments
Yes, sadly Jim Crow was alive and well then, even in the papers. Would be interesting to know how the coins were disbursed (via auction, dealers, etc.)
10,000 Double Eagles or thereabouts....WOW !!...that's a HUGE hoard dwarfed by only a few famous bank hoards.
You don't see individual hoards of this quantity or money value.
Hope the 35 "workers" got to tuck a coin or two in their britches. That's a lot of gold!
BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52, LukeMarshall, coinsarefun, MichaelDixon, NickPatton, ProfLiz, Twobitcollector,Jesbroken oih82w8, DCW
ALOT of money for that era.
Growing up, I dreamed of working for Mel Fisher.
A buddy always wanted to go look for the Hunley.
Used to blackwater dive in rivers with a lot of Revolutionary and Civil War history. Just a simple river made the logistics and natural elements challenging. Imagine diving in a cup of coffee with tannins giving you 1 foot visibility. Dangerous with sunken shad nets, hangups, occasional critter. Never found much.
To walk a field and strike it rich must have been glorious. Even if it was for just a day until the authorities intervened.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Bit esoteric, but if you are interested in the cross over between numismatics and archeology, the University of South Carolina published a number of articles about its excavations of Charlesfort/Santa Elena (Paris Island). It covered the period between the Plantation Era and U.S. Marine Corps Maneuver Grounds to the early 20th century. Findings were also made relating also to early Spanish occupation.
Number of coins founds were not great, but the excavation process was interesting
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/do/search/?q=Numismatic &start=0&context=2098895&facet=
"It consists of $20 gold pieces, minted in 1850 and before" I'd like to know about any from "before".
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
So would I!😉
Perhaps it was meant to read “1860” instead.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Maybe the 2nd missing 1849, or more than the 2 reportedly minted!