Hikers Discover Hidden Stash Of Gold On Mountain Trail
Steven59
Posts: 9,877 ✭✭✭✭✭
National News
Hikers Discover Hidden Stash Of Gold On Mountain Trail
By
iHeartRadio
May 20, 2025
Two hikers in the Krkonoše Mountains of the Czech Republic stumbled upon a mysterious stash of gold, including 598 coins, 10 bracelets, and 17 cigar cases. The treasure, hidden for nearly a century, was found in an aluminum box protruding from a stone wall. After discovering the valuable items, the hikers brought them to the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové, where experts are now studying the find.
Miroslav Novak, head of the museum's archaeological department, stated that the coins, dated from 1808 to 1921, are mostly of Balkan and French origin, with none from Central Europe. This suggests the stash may have been hidden during a tumultuous period, possibly related to World War II or the post-war era. The total value of the gold coins alone is estimated at $360,000, but the historical significance is considered priceless.
Theories about the stash's origin range from it being hidden by Jewish families during the Nazi occupation to being war spoils of Czechoslovak legionnaires. According to Czech law, the treasure belongs to the local regional administration, and the hikers are entitled to a financial reward based on the treasure's value. The museum plans to display the items in a short exhibition this fall.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Comments
In other news, local man submits a hoard of gold coins to PCGS.
The good Ole razzle and dazzle
More like the Czech Government submits them! All I know if I find gold coins I sure as Hell ain't telling ANYBODY!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Upcoming from Katz Auctions, the Wall Stash!!
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety," --- Benjamin Franklin
Not even going to tell still alive granny from whom you learned of the family treasure, to include valuable gold coins, being hidden somewhere on the family property by grandpa long ago?
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
I’d like to think I would do the same, but I know by the end of the weekend I’d have my new gold coin discovery plastered all over the Saturday morning coins and coffee thread.
MY GOLD TYPE SET https://pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/complete-type-sets/gold-type-set-12-piece-circulation-strikes-1839-1933/publishedset/321940
LMAO - Same!
BUSTED!
Wow
You know granny got a big mouth!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
If i encounter something of similar circumstances...i'll letcha know.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
A lot of disrespect for cultural heritage...I guess unless you personally profit from it.
Just give granny half of the Susan B's you...found
...and her lips are sealed. Be sure to gold plate them before showing to granny.
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
Would love see inventory list of them. Wonder what kind of shape they’re in. If slabbed get nice grades low pop stuff!
Am sure some world gold specialist may get some (low pop) mark them up accordingly factoring in pop and rarity. One guy I know uses the Sheldon scale in developing markup factors (pop based) to ratchet them up (world) based on grade (grade matrix for world material) for proper retail pricing.
Hadrian called, he wants his sestertius back.
How cool. If I found something like that whilst out hiking around, I'd let you guys know right away.
Curious that there are that many cigar cases. I wonder if it was a high end merchant possibly protecting gold inventory against theft/confiscation. I suppose the spoils of war theory sounds plausible too.
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
Lol. It's not Hadrian but his descendants.
I tried but they got wiped out by the Visigoths. I guess we shouldn't worry about it then.
The Slovaks have the right to "Czech it out" if they want to.
Pete
That's a very nice looking Roman coin.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Lol.
Like i said, no respect for cultural heritage.
But yet you never mentioned anything specific what you meant when you stated: "No respect for cultural heritage"
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
I’ll respect the cultural heritage once my credit cards are paid off.
But the reality is until something like this actually happens to you you really can’t be sure how you would respond.
That is if you have any sort of conscious or moral decency.
I would like to think that I would keep it all for myself and maybe I would. After all it’s been lost for years and doesn’t really belong to anyone still living.
And I could see talking myself into believing it was a gift from the Gods so why on earth would I give it away.
But what if I couldn’t sleep or it was cursed or I got caught…
Right - otherwise you are just another bag of wind trying to change peoples mind with your own beliefs because free will pisses you off!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
As far as "cultural heritage" goes, I would certainly allow a hoard to be photographed and documented as long as the government doesn't steal it from me and the put it in a crate to be stored in perpetuity in some dark basement.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I have the utmost respect for the Visigoths and their descendants.
That was deeply shallow.
Sorry. I didn't think it needed explanation. The people in the original story reported their find and received a finder's fee. People then commented that they would never report a find. The reporting requirement/finder's fees come from "cultural heritage" laws that seek to make sure that historically significant finds end up in public not private collections. [See the last paragraph.] So, all they people saying they would keep the find secret to enrich themselves are showing a lack of respect for the cultural heritage laws and what they are trying to preserve.
Don't worry, I don't think he was referring to you.
It's not about free will. You don't have the right to exercise free will to tag the Washington monument or sign the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives. The point behind cultural Heritage laws is that historical artifacts belong to ALL of the people. Now, you can disagree with that sentiment and exercise your "free will" to melt down that unique Napoleon gold medal you just found on the grounds of Versailles, but that is what you are advocating for the right to do.
To prevent such destruction or loss of artifacts, cultural heritage laws were created. Some of which, by the way, are quite generous to the finders.
Seems they're always finding treasure across the pond in the old world.
I don't think there's much cultural heritage in the states that we need to respect based on the teachings today.
I suppose cultural heritage laws are OK and have their purpose, but not when it comes to items like this that were almost certainly buried/hidden by a private individual. I see no reason why the government should benefit from this. Like others have said, under similar circumstances I would keep my mouth shut.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety," --- Benjamin Franklin
It's more common in the Old World which may be wjy we don't have similar laws here.
Yes and no. This little cache has historical significance as a cache. If sold individually (and possibly scrapped), the individual items have virtually none.
The definition of significance varies from country to country. You could argue that melting 18th century gold does not rob a nation of any cultural heritage. You could also argue that melting 20th century silver does. There's no clear uniform line.
If I found a time capsule in the wall of a commercial building, the individual items probably have little value and are all likely quite common. But as a group, they do have historical significance: why were these particular items chosen? What does that choice tell us about the era? Etc.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Seem to be Swiss 20 franc and maybe Austrian 20 coronas? Any guesses. A very cool find.
A close up shot showing the detail of the coins would have been helpful, or somebody that might have spared a few minutes out of their day to actually look at the coins and offer a description of the country of origin and type (Swiss 20 franc for example).
I suppose it is funner to imagine these coins as rare and precious instead of an accumulation of relatively common gold coins from the era still available to buy on Ebay.
I'm not sure if I'm interpreting this correctly, but It sounds like the potential reward for a find of this nature might actually be the full value of the find (The melt value of the coins alone is $360k). There's subjective terminology that seems like it ultimately can be up to the government to decide what the finders fee is worth, if there's one at all, but I hope there's a follow up on this story.
https://www.arub.cz/wp-content/uploads/Act-20-1987-col.-zakon-o-statni-pamatkove_eng_final.pdf
From section 23:
(2) An archaeological find that was not made during archaeological research must be reported to the Institute of Archaeology or to the nearest museum, either directly or through the municipality in whose jurisdiction the archaeological find was made. The archaeological find shall be reported by the finder or by the person responsible for the performance of the work during which the archaeological find was made not later than on the second day after the find was made or after the day on which he learned of the archaeological find.
(4) If an archaeological find pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 2 above is involved, the finder shall be entitled to a reward which shall be provided to him by the regional authority in an amount equal to the price of the material if the archaeological find is made of precious metals or other valuable materials or, in other cases, up to an amount equal to ten percent of the cultural and historical value of the find, determined on the basis of an expert report. The finder shall be entitled to reimbursement of necessary expenses incurred in connection with the archaeological find. The regional authority shall decide on and provide the reimbursement. The details of the conditions for granting rewards and providing reimbursement to the finder shall be stipulated in a generally binding legal regulation.
Founder- Peak Rarities
Website
Instagram
Facebook
What happened to the other half of the find 😯
It varies by country. But some do try to establish the full value. Some offer a percentage. The less really are trying to preserve finds for the public good not seize assets.
Cynicism noted. It's not really seizing assets if you pay for them.
I assume you want to eliminate all museums and sell off the national numismatic collection.
Was this a serious post? Most of the exhibits in museums were donated or bought by the museum rather than being stolen from someone who had the good fortune to find it. How many artifacts in famous museums were looted from archeological sites located in another country?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Can we go back to the penny conversation? I'm pretty sure that horse is still alive.
Well, I'm pretty sure the people in town who had their houses bought by the government and demolished so the local college could have a larger parking lot (true story, an entire city block), would think their property was seized even though they got paid.
The national coin collection? The one where they only display 1% of it if they display it at all? The one where they harshly cleaned (ruined) many of the coins and still store them improperly? Yeah, the numismatic community would have been better served by selling the collection 100 years ago, but sure, it's for the "public good".
NO! And have you been to the barn to feed and water the horse lately?
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
No! She’s outta town.
You are completely missing the point.
The point was the value of the cultural heritage. To argue that looters should keep their finds assumes that there is no public interest in preserving cultural heritage for the public. Hence there is no need for museums or national collections because they have no value.
If you consider cultural heritage to have value then cultural heritage laws are quite natural as a way to preserve that heritage.
Even in a country like the US where "finders keepers" is the general rule for finding lost treasure, there are recognized exceptions. You can't go digging around a Civil War battlefield or a native archaeological site and just keep whatever you find; these places are protected by federal law, with stiff punishment - including seizing the found items - for anyone caught breaking the law. And if a thief buries a pot of stolen gold somewhere and you go dig it up, you don't just get to keep it - it still belongs to the original owner. I strongly suspect that a great many people in the US who found a random stash of gold like this would indeed contact the police and hand it over to them, on the assumption it was likely to have been stolen.
In the Czech Republic, a country where people have been marching and invading back and forth for a couple thousand years, the entire country is considered a "protected site". Ultimately, it's their country, and their rules. If the people of the Czech Republic don't like it, the Czech Republic is a democracy - they're free to vote for someone who promises to liberalize the rules. It only affects non-Czech citizens if we go and visit the Czech Republic and find stuff or try to take it with us out of the country. Which is why, before you travel anywhere overseas, you should research the local laws regarding antiquities - even if you don't intend on buying any or bringing any home. Because chances are, the local laws regarding finds and antiquities are stricter than they are in the US.
Back to discussing the specific find at hand. The mixture of gold coins, gold jewellery and gold utilitarian items suggests to me it's a "gold stash" - perhaps the "scrap gold stockpile" of a goldsmith or jeweller. Or perhaps even a smash-and-grab theft of a goldsmith store by a Nazi soldier after that piece of the country was annexed back in the 1930s. The large hoard of gold cigar-boxes clearly indicate that it's not simply a single family's treasure: no one family needs that many cigar boxes.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
Nothing to do with coins but sure brings back a memory. Back in the early 1990's we were on vacation in Idaho. Lost in the back country on a gravel road we came across a site that had pictoral pictures declared to be around 8 to 10 thousand years old. There was also a menacing sign that said anyone molesting the site or stealing material would face pretty fierce punishment. half an hour later we ended up at this bar/resturant in the middle of nowheres. It had 4 large chucks of the pictoral site cut out of the site and propped up in front of the bar. go figure. James