This is why you never tell anyone when you make a find like this. The bloodsuckers come out of the woodwork.
One couple’s gold find could mean a jackpot for the IRS.
The Northern California couple that found $10 million worth of rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree on their property will likely owe about half the find’s value whether they sell the gold or not.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports
that the find is a taxable event under a 1969 federal court ruling that held a “treasure trove” is taxable the year it was discovered.
“If you find and keep property that does not belong to you that has been lost or abandoned (treasure-trove), it is taxable to you at its fair market value in the first year it is your undisputed possession,” the report said, citing the IRS tax guide.
The report says after all is said and done, about 47 percent will go to state and federal tax, or the top tax rate.
An accountant told the paper that the couple can try to fight the tax and claim it was there when they bought the property.
Nearly all of the 1,427 coins that were found, dating from 1847 to 1894, were in uncirculated, mint condition, said David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana, which recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece.
“I don’t like to say once-in-a-lifetime for anything, but you don’t get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever,” said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders. “It’s like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
Kagin, whose family has been in the rare-coin business for 81 years, would say little about the couple other than that they are husband and wife, are middle-aged and have lived for several years on the rural property where the coins were found. They have no idea who put them there, he said.
The pair are choosing to remain anonymous, Kagin said, in part to avoid a renewed gold rush to their property by modern-day prospectors armed with metal detectors.
They also don’t want to be treated any differently, said David McCarthy, chief numismatist for Kagin Inc. of Tiburon.
They plan to put most of the coins up for sale through Amazon while holding onto a few keepsakes. They’ll use the money to pay off bills and quietly donate to local charities, Kagin said.
Before they sell them, they are loaning some to the American Numismatic Association for its National Money Show, which opens Thursday in Atlanta.
What makes their find particularly valuable, McCarthy said, is that almost all of the coins are in near-perfect condition. That means that whoever put them into the ground likely socked them away as soon as they were put into circulation.
Because paper money was illegal in California until the 1870s, he added, it’s extremely rare to find any coins from before that of such high quality.
“It wasn’t really until the 1880s that you start seeing coins struck in California that were kept in real high grades of preservation,” he said.
The coins, in $5, $10 and $20 denominations, were stored more or less in chronological order, McCarthy said, with the 1840s and 1850s pieces going into one canister until it was filed, then new coins going into the next one and the next one after that. The dates and the method indicated that whoever put them there was using the ground as their personal bank and that they weren’t swooped up all at once in a robbery.
Although most of the coins were minted in San Francisco, one $5 gold piece came from as far away as Georgia.
Kagin and McCarthy would say little about the couple’s property or its ownership history, other than it’s in a sprawling hilly area of Gold Country and the coins were found along a path the couple had walked for years. On the day they found them last spring, the woman had bent over to examine an old rusty can that erosion had caused to pop slightly out of the ground.
“Don’t be above bending over to check on a rusty can,” he said she told him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Got Darwin?
Talk about gettimg ripped off
Actually, I’m surprised that the PTB didn’t find a way to confiscate all of it.
Me too Angel.
im sure they are trying to figure that out as we comment.
Yes Paul, I bet they are too.
No shiet moron’s we’ve been telling you that since the story broke 2 days ago….you deserve to have it all taken away because you are dim wits.
I would have only found say,a million in gold,the rest would be buried in other spots,family and friends would find some,and charities would find gold coins in their mail slots,give half to the fed,never!
I like that strategy. 😉
That is a very good idea I think too Angel.
As soon as I heard this story, was thinking uh oh, the tax man is coming. Sure enough. The fantasies I was having had it been me who found this treasure were enjoyable. Would be so fun giving alot of it away. Don’t tell all you know when you find a treasure!!!
their first mistake was to tell anyone about this.
I have always kept my mouth shut when it comes to money (which i don’t have anymore). even with family and friends. You cant trust anybody when it comes to money. and i mean ANYBODY.
Paul you are so right. My Mom always told us to keep our mouth shut, your business is no body else’s . No matter what the subject, money, jobs, gardening, etc. She always told us people will always want what you have so just shut up! I think that goes a long way. Like with getting ready for what’s coming, yes I am a prepper, what do I have? My business, nobody else’s, I can teach you, but I ain’t gonna tell you what I got!!! 🙂 Like Momma always said, shutup!!!
Hey Missy i don’t even tell folks in this area, im a prepper. ya tell one and then a lot of ppl know about ya. as you said “none of your business”. i probably disclose too much on this site as well. Who knows who’s monitoring this place all hours of the day. i was asked several nights ago about who i was. I tried to politely refuse to give out very much info. Just not good idea. some folks have not come to that knowledge yet.
Paul, I agree with you completely. Hubby and I had a rather “heated” run in with that person a while back (before you joined the Trenches). I tried your approach and he just didn’t “get it.” After seeing your interaction, I asked Henry/Admin to explain “discretion” to him. 😉 Hopefully, he has learned. 🙂
Thank you Angel for that reassurance. Your good people. 🙂
That’s what my parents told me as well, Missy.
🙂
Yes Paul, money will corrupt even the best of people.I absolutely hate money – which is why I do hot have any money.
Yes you will truely find out who your real freinds are when ya run out of money. That is why I told most of all my so called friends to F themselves when they found that my money was getting tight. 🙂
Yeptold them all that except for 1 good friend around here in Wi. that knows the BS problems money will cause.
Yes, you will find out just who your friends are when it comes to money. Guarenteed you will have lots of friend when ya got money 😉
agreed brother.
Agreed.
When you’ve got a good thing going, keep your mouth shut! Unloading an ounce here or an ounce there discreetly would certainly enhance the quality of your life where physical needs are concerned. Loose lips…
If you fight the feds saying it was there before you bought the property… then who ever owned the property before you will jump into the ring and lawyer up to get a share. Yes, stupid of them to say they found anything… But the Feds know that paying them 47% will be less hassle than others jumping in the ring.
The first thing I thought when I read an article was “what fools for telling everybody about it.” As the above commenter Cynicles said, “got Darwin?” Not long ago a family lost millions in gold coins because they were minted during a time when the government ordered citizens to turn in their gold so they lost them to a court order. And we know that gold from undersea salvage operations are regularly taxed at least 50%-you don’t cry “eureka!” The US gov. doesn’t have to hunt for gold-it needs only to wait for idiots like this CA couple who wanted to be famous. We don’t have people like this in Texas.
Hey John i remember that. what a tragedy.
Stupid. They are so stupid. Did I say they are terminally stupid? What a stupid couple. I’m thinking about how stupid people can be and this couple fits the bill. Beyond stupid.
If they can be taxed, it will be on face value.