San Francisco's Old Mint To Hold Rare Coin Exhibit & Auction For New Museum
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— While someone in San Francisco won the $70 million SuperLotto prize this weekend and the mystery tweeter is planting hidden cash about the Bay, one California family is ready to cash in on its own buried treasure.
The Saddle Ridge Hoard has been heralded as the greatest buried treasure discovery in the history of the country. This Tuesday night the first coin from the hoard is set to go up for auction.
One year ago, a Sierra Nevada couple found eight cans in their backyard that were stuffed with 1,400 19th century gold coins. Rare coin expert, David McCarthy with Kagin's, who specializes in early and rare U.S. coins, has been helping the couple to prepare their treasure trove for auction.
"The group of coins, all told, is actually worth in excess of $11 million," McCarthy said.
McCarthy said there will be a viewing of some of the coins Tuesday night at the Old Mint in San Francisco.
San Francisco's Old Mint To Hold Rare Coin Exhibit & Auction For New Museum
"We're actually going to have 60 coins on exhibit available so that anyone who goes to the event can actually see them and that's actually the largest number of coins that will ever be on exhibit in one place at one time," he said.
One coin will be auctioned to benefit the effort to turn the Mint into a museum.
The still anonymous couple is reported to be selling the rest online.
