The United States farmer, while working his fields, made an incredible discovery. Glimmering objects came to the light as his plow turned the soil, protruding out of the ground. Digging into it, you’d find out that there are more than 700 gold coins from the time of the Civil War being buried underneath. Nearly $2 million of one of their denominations.
The farmer tells his tale to Kentucky Life, telling how he saw an 1856 Seated Liberty half-dollar coin while walking across his freshly plowed field some 20 to 30 feet from the remaining treasure. ‘It felt like a dream,’ he said in his own words, ‘what happened next.’ He dug first up a gold Double Eagle $20 coin from the 1860s, then in just 45 minutes he uncovered hundreds of coins, all made of gold. Now he can’t remember how many coins he dug up.
2 million dollars in 700 gold coins
The farmer wondered back on that day and ruefully recalled his girlhood walks with his grandmother along stream beds seeking interesting bits and pieces and never imagined such a generous bounty arriving. Special one-dollar, ten-dollar, and twenty-dollar gold coins were included that are rare or even very highly prized by collectors.
But these Double Eagles are worth as much as $4,000 a piece. He rushed to assist once he sent a nearly indiscernible photograph of one of these coins to Jeff Garrett, who was an expert rare coin dealer. The valuable finds were subsequently prepared for sale by a numismatic company.
How this treasure got to this farmer’s field
The farmer has not revealed how far he lives from where he found the coins, nor his name, presumably so as not to invite treasure hunters and metal detectorists to invade his land. The origin of this treasure is unknown. The coins were struck from 1840 to 1863, when raiding forces of John Hunt Morgan continued to plunder Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana as Confederates.
Some think a rich landowner buried them for protection; others think a thief simply buried them and never returned. Some coins now may have no legal tender value, but pleased holds are in great demand in numismatics—the study or collection of coins, paper money and similar objects. Finally, in a nutshell, the older coins—everything apart from else equal—could be worth more to collectors.
Conclusion
Finally, despite garnishing a farmer with unexpected wealth, the discovery of more than 700 Civil War-era gold coins lends a bit of Civil War-era history into the equation. The coins represent a rare treasure of a bygone age that, in times of tumultuous change, had been buried for safekeeping or, because of history, lost to history—but nonetheless even carry significant value in the numismatic world.
With these finds destined to cause a ripple in the collecting community and the venerable appeal of rare coins enhanced once again by the prospect of hidden treasures that lie just below our feet, these finds are being analyzed by experts.
FAQs
Q. What did the farmer discover while working his fields?
A. While plowing fields, the farmer discovered more than 700 gold coins from the Civil War era worth almost $2 million.
Q. How did the discovery happen?
A. A discovery took place when the farmer noticed glittering objects as he turned his soil with his plow. He dug around a little more and found a veritable fortune in gold coins—including a Seated Liberty half-dollar from 1856.
Q. What types of coins were found in the treasure?
A. Special one-dollar, ten dollar and twenty-dollar gold coins like the Double Eagle $20 coins from the 1860s can be worth up to $4,000 a piece.
Q. Why is the origin of the treasure unknown?
A. That the farmer has refused to divulge the location of his find and his name as he did not want to attract treasure hunters and metal detectorists. The coins date back to the Civil War and, like most Civil War burial stories, there are many theories about them.
Q. What is the significance of this treasure in numismatics?
A. Older coins are also highly sought after by the numismatic community, so the discoveries of these Civil War-era gold coins give that community something to admire.