It sounds like a made-up legend or the plot of a movie: A crew cleaning up a Nevada man’s home after his death came across a buried treasure. A fortune of rare coins were found packed in ammunition boxes in the man’s garage. Included in the collection were 880 $20 gold Saint Gaudens gold pieces and other gold bullion from the United States, Austria and Mexico.
Walter Samaszko Jr. was a known hoarder who had lived in the small home in Carson City since the 1960s. The cleaning crew found records of his coin purchases dating back to 1964. He made good investments in gold at a time when gold was still under $500 an ounce, in the early 1990s.
Recently, the $20 gold pieces were sold at auction, selling for more than $3.1 million. The bullion, sold back in February, were sold for an additional $3.5 million.
So, who gets all that money? After taxes, the fortune will go to Samaszko’s only surviving cousin, Arlene Magdanz, a substitute teacher in San Rafael, California. Samaszko did not leave a will, but Magdanz was tracked down using a funeral program in his home, dating back to his father’s death in Chicago in the 1960s.
It might be time to see how much your old collectibles are worth!
Courtesy of Fox News