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A Northern California couple stumbled upon some buried treasure on their daily walk—rare gold coins worth over $10 million. It's basically all our Goonies and National Treasure fantasies in real life form.
David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana, authenticated the coins and says it's the most valuable coin collection found in our nation's history, reported NPR. He announced the couple's discovery of goodies on Tuesday, which include 1,427 mint-condition coins dating from 1847 to 1894, according to the Associated Press and the L.A. Times.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous and are referred to as "John and Mary," unearthed the coins when they were taking a walk with their dog on their Sierra Nevada property in Feb. 2013, reported NPR and CNN. When they saw something glimmering on the ground, they investigated and found eight metal cans full of coins.
"I saw an old can sticking out of the ground on a trail that we had walked almost every day for many, many years," John said in an interview posted on the website of Kagin's Inc., a company that's been in the rare coin business for 81 years and is representing the couple.
John and Mary said they had noticed a rusty can hanging from a tree years ago over the spot where they found the coins. "It wasn’t until we made the find that we realized it might have been a marker: starting at the rock, if you walk 10 paces towards the North Star, you wind up smack in the middle of the coins!" Mary said.
The coin collection also has a great Gold Rush-esque name—The Saddle Ridge Treasure, named after the couple's property name.
The two will be selling off the coins on Amazon, keeping a few for themselves, and donating some money to charity, according to the Associated Press. However, before they pawn them off, the coins will be on display at the American Numismatic Association's National Money Show, which launches Thursday in Atlanta, GA.
Well, we know we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for anything shiny on the ground when we take walks from now on.
