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$10,000,000 in Gold found under old brewery in Belgium
Tomthemailcarrier
Posts: 803 ✭✭✭✭✭
Tomthemailcarrier
Posts: 803 ✭✭✭✭✭
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https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1124941/gold-find-in-belgium
Wow
The round-mark "RMR" (Rothschild Metal Refinery) bars have the year stamped on them.
I see "1957", "1960", and "1961".
So the hoard is from the 1960s or later.
I saw that! If I was part of that construction crew, I would say: Boys, let's have a little meeting....
100% Positive BST transactions
As Ben Franklin once said, "Three can keep a secret if two are dead."
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 know nothing, Sgt Shultz
Incredible find. My guess is whoever owns the property owns whatever is on the property. I don’t thing finders keepers applies.
i wonder if theres a finders fee that could be in place for the finder?
Surprised that the Nazis did not know about this gold during WWIi
The bars are dated circa 1960.
Then I should rephrase my comment to “surprised Charles DeGaulle of France did not know about this gold in 1970 and 1971.”
I'm confused. The coins were found in Belgium.
My guess is that it was a stash from organized crime, a US repositioning of funds in the event of a Soviet invasion of Europe (we hid money and weapons around Europe), or possibly even prepositioned assets by the Soviet Union to fund revolutionary activities.
I think that’s where rainbows end
As I believe at least one of the articles about this find describes, under Belgian treasure law, the "original owner" of the gold have five years to come to the authorities with proof of their claim. If no-one comes (or if no-one can provide such proof to the authorities' satisfaction), then the "finders" (the construction crew) and the "landowner" (the charity that owns the building) get a 50:50 split.
As for the age of the hoard, besides the dates on some of the gold bars, the bucket of gold sovereigns shows coins with Queen Elizabeth II's portrait - so the hoard includes coins dated from the 1950s and/or 1960s as well, definitely well after WWII (as "hiding gold from the Nazis" would probably have been everybody's first instinct as to explanation) Overall, the hoard looks very much what I would expect a "gold buyer in Europe in the 1960s" might have managed to acquire.
People in these countries generally don't take the underhanded path when it comes to finding "lost treasure". Why? Because countries like Belgium provide that legal pathway to acquiring full legal title to the found treasure, without any need for secrecy or skullduggery. It may take a long time (5 years!) but at the end, the gold is either returned to its actual rightful owner or the finders get to keep their share, fully in the clear without anyone needing to resort to crimes. If they simply "stole" it without reporting it or telling anybody, then the government would probably come snooping around asking questions about where the sudden bank deposits or gold transactions came from.
In short, in terms of Belgian treasure laws, both the carrot is generous and the stick is quite menacing, so everybody takes the carrot.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.