In February 2025, two hikers in northeastern Czech Republic stumbled upon a mysterious treasure hidden in a stone wall, sparking an investigation into the origin of the treasure. The treasure was found inside a metal box and included ten gold bracelets, 17 cigar boxes, a powder box, a comb, and 598 gold coins, with just the gold value of the coins reaching up to $360,000, excluding their collector’s worth.
The question of who hid this treasure, when it was hidden, and why the owner chose to do so has generated much discussion. One thing is certain: the treasure could not have been hidden for more than approximately 100 years as one of the coins bears the date 1921.
The treasure has now been received by the Museum of Eastern Bohemia. A complete historical assessment is still ongoing, with two of the cigar boxes still tightly sealed and unopened.
According to a report by CNN, numismatic expert Vojtech Bradle from the museum estimated that the total metal weight of the gold coins is 3.7 kilograms, or 8.16 pounds, with just the metal value of the coins amounting to 8 million Czech crowns (approximately $360,000).
Miroslav Novak, head of the archaeological department at the museum, told CNN in an email that the discovery is likely connected to the turbulent period before the start of World War II when Czech and Jewish people were leaving border areas, possibly related to the departure of Germans in 1945.
The discovery has piqued the interest of the surrounding community. Novak mentioned that the museum has been receiving calls regarding various local rumors and hopes these rumors might help unravel the mystery of the coins’ origin.
Proposed theories include ownership by affluent families in the region such as the Sweerts-Spork family, owners of the Kuks estate overlooking the Elbe River, or that the hidden items belonged to Czechoslovak legion soldiers as war spoils.
Mary Heimann, a modern history professor and Czechoslovak history expert at Cardiff University in the UK, highlighted the significance of the newest coin dating back to 1921. She noted that 1921 was a year of the end of the Polish-Soviet War with the signing of the Treaty of Riga and a year when Czechoslovakia faced financial crisis amidst economic downturn and widespread unemployment, making the decision to bury gold not uncommon.
She suggested that the individual who hid the coins might have been a collector, a museum worker, or someone who stole the items from elsewhere, considering the region’s historical context as a border area between present-day Czech Republic and Poland during ongoing post-World War I repercussions.
Surprisingly, none of the 598 gold coins are of local currency, sparking speculation and adding complexity to the situation. Novak mentioned that half of the coins are from the Balkan region and the other half from France, with no German coins but the finding situated on the former ethnic border between Czech and German populations.
Novak pointed out that such discoveries are uncommon in the region, citing a previous finding of a batch of 12th-century denarii silver coins from ten years ago.
Bradle, the numismatic expert, also found the composition of the gold coins unusual. He noted the absence of German and Czechoslovak coins typically discovered in the region from the 20th century, with the majority of items in the treasure not directly transported to Bohemia. Some coins bear countermarks of former Yugoslavia, indicating a post-stamping on the coins in the 1920s or 1930s.
According to Czech law, the discoverers are entitled to receive 10% of the total value of the treasure as a reward, pending confirmation of the treasure’s total value.