6 Incredible Stories of Lost Coins Found After Decades

Here are six great stories of lost coins that turned up decades or even centuries later. Each tells a fascinating story about life and history.

1. The Lost Confederate Treasury Gold

As the American Civil War drew to a close, it was rumored that the Confederate treasury was moved out of Richmond lest it fall into the hands of Union troops.

For decades, treasure hunters were eager to hear about gold and silver coins buried everywhere in the South. In the early 1900s, many Confederate coins and gold bars were discovered in Georgia and other Southern states.
This fueled speculations that some of the missing Confederate gold is indeed real. Fragments of the fabled treasure continue to surface in the Southern states, leaving behind an enigmatic trail.

2. The Fenwick Hoard

The Roman coins and jewelry were unearthed hidden under what would have been an old home by a construction crew in Colchester, England.

They were building a shopping mall. The artifacts in this group are from the first century and probably buried quickly during Boudicca’s revolt against Roman rule as queen of the Iceni tribe.

The fact that the hoard has been in existence for almost 2,000 years makes it one of the most important Roman finds in Britain.

3. The Liberty Head Double Eagle

The $20 gold Liberty Head Double Eagle coin made by the U.S. Mint was one of the most-wanted coins at the time it was made.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it illegal to own gold so most of the coins were melted and sold.
In 1974, an attic was cleaned in Philadelphia with a collection of Double Eagles by a family among which were several of the rarest types of them.
This made these coins again popularly searched for as a part of the collecting world and people get interested in more searching for more Double Eagles.

4. The East Harptree Hoard

A farmer was working in the field of East Harptree, Somerset in the late 1800s when he came across a pot full of Roman coins dating from the 4th century.

These coins must have been buried to protect them. This probably was done by a Roman soldier or wealthy resident during political upheaval.

Part of the hoard went missing for decades after it was discovered, but later metal detectorists found more coins that put together a picture of life in Roman Britain.

5. The Royal Charter Shipwreck Coins

The Royal Charter, a ship returning to Britain from Australia, sank in a terrible storm off the coast of Wales. It was carrying a lot of gold sovereigns and coins.

For decades, people claimed to have heard tales of gold washing up on shores after storms. The 1960s saw beachcombers starting to find coins from a particularly low tide.

This marked a new wave in the quest to uncover the remains of the lost shipwreck’s gold. Some of the coins that were found sold for thousands, and the story of the Royal Charter still piques the interest of treasure hunters.

6. The Saddle Ridge Hoard

It was rediscovered in 2013 by a couple walking their dog. A couple in Northern California was walking their dog when they noticed a broken can protruding from the ground.

As they dug deeper, they found several cans full of perfect $20 gold coins from the late 1800s.

Because they were so rare and in such great condition, these coins, produced during the era of the California Gold Rush, were worth millions of dollars to coin collectors.

The Saddle Ridge Hoard is one of the most valuable coin discoveries ever made in U.S. history, and many stories about lost gold caches across the West began circulating as a result.

These lost coins did take a significant amount of years, hundreds sometimes, before coming into human eye. Yet one finds an extremely interesting history or the allurion longed lost treasure connected to every recovered coin.

Many such discoveries were able to put these objects and inspired people for treasure hunting.