Coins found in wall of PA home

Flash · October 26, 2007 9:10AM

News article and video

Russ · October 26, 2007 9:29AM

Cool stuff!

Russ, NCNE

kevinstang · October 26, 2007 9:31AM

I wonder if its another one of those made up stories, didn't see much worth over bullion value in the tray he had on counter- a few frankies,Kennedys and Morgan/Peace dollars, didn't really see much older stuff, cool find if its true.

coinsarefun · October 26, 2007 10:31AM

I was in Somerset county last week on my trip

I didn't see any home with coins in the wall

mrearlygold · October 26, 2007 10:41AM

Eeek, hopefully you know who didn't see that

tmot99 · October 26, 2007 10:41AM

Call me nutty, but they started by saying that there are coins from the start of our country. If that's the case, wouldn't the likely total be much more than $100,000? Of course everything is grade dependent and coin specific, but... First thought was the $100,000 seemed awefully low.

Wolf359 · October 26, 2007 10:47AM

100,000 is just some made up number. I doubt anyone has a clue what the real value is. All-in-all though, I'd like to know more.

MrEureka · October 26, 2007 10:59AM

I wonder if its another one of those made up stories, didn't see much worth over bullion value in the tray he had on counter- a few frankies,Kennedys and Morgan/Peace dollars, didn't really see much older stuff, cool find if its true.

I agree. I can see it now. Ebay auctions of pure crap, telling the treasure story and linking to the newscast to back it all up. I'm jealous. I wish I had thought of it first.

Type2 · October 26, 2007 11:53AM

I'am going to start in the liveing room I'll let you know what I find. Lucky them

19Lyds · October 26, 2007 4:01PM

Interesting that the wall didn't bulge out from the sheer weight of all that coinage.

Assuming 16 inch centers on the studs, at 5 feet high, it seems like that sucker would have started bulging at some point.

ILikeMercs · October 26, 2007 4:35PM

<< Interesting that the wall didn't bulge out from the sheer weight of all that coinage.

Assuming 16 inch centers on the studs, at 5 feet high, it seems like that sucker would have started bulging at some point.

>>

musta been a lot of screws or nails in the stud or they woulda popped out.

Bochiman · October 26, 2007 5:03PM

I'm trying to figure out "20 years ago" and "coin(s) in the 1700s"......

Doesn't sound like just a savings account in the wall....

PerryHall · October 26, 2007 5:17PM

<< I'm trying to figure out "20 years ago" and "coin(s) in the 1700s"......

Doesn't sound like just a savings account in the wall.... >>

Sounds like a bunch of BS to me.

Bochiman · October 26, 2007 5:41PM

From Michigan's thread about the same thing...

<< A coin collectors dream was found buried within the walls of a Windber home: rare coins worth at least $100,000.

The coins spanned five feet of wall space and date back to the 1700s, said Jeff Bidelman, who helped make the discovery.

Bidelman said the family who lives at the home told him about a rumor that coins might be hidden in the walls. He said he went with the family to the house, noticed a hole and began knocking to find a hollow spot. Once he found the spot, he kicked in the wall and cut the coins loose.

“They poured out. The force of them…. Was crazy,” Bidelman said.

He said an older couple who lived in the home 20 years ago used the wall as a piggy bank. That turned into a tradition, with more and more people adding to the wall bank.
>>

Unknown · October 26, 2007 6:04PM

This content has been removed.

oreville · October 26, 2007 6:33PM

I doubt if that much was ever found either.

My own story. I own a building built in 1841. About 15 years ago while reinforcing some old walls, I uncovered a small container holding almost 200 indian head cents, mostly in the 1880's and 1890's in grades up to AU. One of them dated in 1899 was uncirculated which leads me to believe that somebody was saving pre 1900 coins. No larger denominations were saved. Possibly it was too expensive to do so?

I also uncovered late 1928 old newspaper articles highlighting a surge of bank failures in New Jersey due to mortgage foreclosures on houses that were declining in prices. The outcry then? Non-amortizing mortgages in which the buyers put no money down!!!!!!

Eerie, huh?

GFourDriver · October 26, 2007 8:14PM

<<<Forget that I used to be a general contract and that I specialized in restoring old homes. This is imho a total bogus story, motivation to increase the value of run of the mill coins or an attempt to make something legit that isn't. >>>

I totaly agree with you, realone, it sounded totaly bogus to to me too. In addition to what you said, the unknown family wishes to remain annonomous (like private auctions on ebay) and all the coins are being handled and sold by the collectibles store. It also says it became a family tradition for generations to put the coins in there yet all this happened in 20 years. Mighty short life spans!

Just doesn't add up.

pb2y · October 26, 2007 8:33PM

More BS like the Omaha Bank Hoard.

"From original rolls"
"Stored in bank vault for 30 years"
"Purchased from owner on promise of anonymity"

Its a tin-horn trick to sell off common coins as premium pedigrees.

Wake up America !!!!

chiefbob · October 26, 2007 10:07PM

I'm gonna take my chain saw to my log walls and free up all the coins from the early 1980s...

secondrepublic · October 26, 2007 10:15PM

I'm confused... "an older couple who lived in the home 20 years ago used the wall as a piggy bank" and that started the tradition. And there are coins from the 1700s in the there? So back in the 1980s that old couple was just picking out coins dated 1700s from their pocket change?

Yeah right. Tell me another one.

edmerlr · October 27, 2007 12:56AM

Any day now these coins "from the wall" will be appearing on eBay shown as a single lot. For provenance the eBay seller will either quote and/or show the news article.

Then for only a starting bid of $19.95 the seller will ship the winning bidders 2 coins (of the seller's chosing) from this guaranteed unsearched treasure.

...and just to make sure the buyers get their fair share of this treasure, the seller will toss in a Wheat Cent from this fabulous hoard - guaranteed to be pre-1959 (Almost 50 years old and truly a collectable, he will state).

I can't wait for this eBay listing.

I hope I get a chance to bid and win my 2 coins. I will save the coins - along with a copy of the news article - to help pay for my grandsons' future college education.

Bye,

Ed R.

notwilight · October 27, 2007 1:13AM

Another explanation. We all have read articles about events we knew the details and realized immediately that the press blew several of the facts. it could easily be a real event reported badly. --jerry

millennium · October 27, 2007 1:21AM

20 years?.....Sure ain't much of a tradition..I have underwear that old....I smell fish.

ricko · October 27, 2007 1:39AM

Neat story... but it is full of holes. Could be media garble... dates do not add up at all. Lots of discrepancies. I know of 'wall hoards' of coins... that is why I have a special detector for when I get a chance to 'vet' old houses. This story, however, needs much more information. Yep.. watch eBay. Cheers, RickO

tahoe98 · October 27, 2007 2:17AM

Artist · October 27, 2007 2:29AM

Several years ago, the elderly relative of family close to ours to passed away, and as a favor I was recruited to appraise her "Coin Collection."

The thing was huge - boxes and boxes of coins thrown together.

After an exhaustive weekend, I found 1 common date Morgan Dollar, 1 common date Peace doller, 4 40% silver Kennedy's, and 2 or 3 war nickels - the rest was all just regular pocket change.

When I brought the coins back to the family, I said there was bad news and good news: the bad news was that the only collector coins in the collection were worth about $40.00 - but the good news was that the face value of all the other coins came to $1,178.48!

*

Maybe this cache is a quantity over quality situation.

19Lyds · October 27, 2007 3:10AM

First off, before it gets blown way out of proportion, the old couple that did the saving were in the house 20 years ago. The old copule hadn't been in the house collecting for 20 years!

Secondly, hte story never states how long the older couple had been in the house.

Thirdly, the report never states how old the house was.

I guess it would be possible to have some coins dated in the 1700's in there but they might be barely recognizable as a 1700's coins (read AG to Poor).

Realone points out some interesting observations but again, there is no mention of how old the house was or what happened to the old couple. I would expect that had the old couple dies that their relatives, who had been putting coins in the wall, surely would have mentioned this to the estate attorney's.

But then, given today's creative marketer's, I wouldn't put it past the current owner's of the house to have put their own hole in the wall, filled it with common date crap, contacted the coin dealer (who just happened to buy this story hook line and sinker) who then contacts the local news only to eventually put this stuff on EBay for the unsuspecting public!

I got a question: A hole in the wall that folks have been dropping coins into for "generations" would have ended up a fairly sizeable hole just from the wear of all those fumble fingers wouldn't it?

Pentimento · October 27, 2007 3:23AM

Read this version of the story

19Lyds · October 27, 2007 3:35AM

All righty then!

An experienced coin dealer scooping coins into a plastic bag and then dragging them downstairs?

<< “I was upstairs digging around,” Bidelman said. “I found a whole pile of coins.”

Scooping them into a plastic bag, he had to drag the heavy load and was starting downstairs when he noticed a hole in the wall.
>>

Brings up some interesting mental imagery!

eddyemack · October 27, 2007 4:07AM

It's true. I live about 30 minutes away and some of the coins date back to the 1700's. There were always rumors about the former owners using the wall as a piggybank. The new owner is giving them the proceeds. If I find out anymore info, I will keep the board informed.

eddye mack
GO STEELERS

PerryHall · October 27, 2007 4:17AM

<< 20 years?.....Sure ain't much of a tradition..I have underwear that old....I smell fish.

>>

Maybe it's time to wash them.

saintguru · October 27, 2007 5:00AM

All in all it was just a brick in the wall.

19Lyds · October 28, 2007 7:06AM

<< It's true. I live about 30 minutes away and some of the coins date back to the 1700's. There were always rumors about the former owners using the wall as a piggybank. The new owner is giving them the proceeds. If I find out anymore info, I will keep the board informed.

eddye mack
GO STEELERS >>

Better yet, why don't you visit the coin dealer involved and actually 'look' at some of this hoard. He obviously has a shop somewhere close.

mozeppa · October 28, 2007 7:52AM

hmmm.....biddlemans bank?

could it be ?...........nah...surely not!

19Lyds · October 28, 2007 8:34AM

I was thinking the same thing but didn't ask!

Coins found in wall of PA home

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