Box Filled with 100-200 Year Old Gold Coins Discovered... $500,000 Treasure Found by Hikers

Containing 598 gold coins, bracelets, and tobacco pouches
"Gold coins minted between 1808 and 1915"

Czech hikers have attracted attention after discovering a box filled with gold coins and treasures while hiking in the mountains. The box is believed to have been buried underground for over 100 years.

According to reports from foreign media outlets such as the New York Post on May 1 (local time), two hikers stumbled upon a small aluminum can and an iron box while hiking in a thicket near the Podkrkonosi Mountains in northeastern Czech Republic this past February. The identities of the hikers have not been disclosed. Believing the items they found to be of significant value, they brought them to the East Bohemia Museum for appraisal.

598 Gold Coins Found Inside Aluminum Can. Screenshot from the Facebook page of the East Bohemia Museum.

The aluminum can contained 598 gold coins, organized into eleven bundles wrapped in black cloth. Inside the iron box, which was found about one meter away from the can, there were sixteen tobacco pouches, ten bracelets, a chain bag woven from wire, and a metal chain with a key. Most of these items were made of yellow metal, and the exact composition of the metal is currently being analyzed.

Miroslav Novak, the head archaeologist at the East Bohemia Museum, said, "My jaw dropped when I first opened the box containing the treasure." He explained, "The coins are definitely pure gold. The rest require further analysis, but the value of this discovery is at least $340,000 (approximately 480 million won)." He also stated, "These artifacts have been buried underground for at least 100 years, and their historical value is immeasurable. Burying property during uncertain times, especially during war or persecution, has been a common practice since prehistoric times."

Treasures buried for over 100 years in a mountain in the Czech Republic. Screenshot from the East Bohemia Museum Facebook page.

Vojtech Bradle, a coin expert, revealed, "The gold coins are dated from 1808 to 1915." He added that the coins appear to originate from the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the reign of Franz Joseph I. Some speculate that the treasures may have been buried by Czechs or Jews fleeing Nazi persecution after 1938, or by Germans who feared forced relocation after 1945.

The hikers who discovered the treasure box are expected to receive 10% of the value of the find as compensation, in accordance with Czech law. The East Bohemia Museum plans to publicly exhibit the treasures in the future.