07 Mar California Buried Treasure: Half to IRS, And Who Owns It?

A fascinating tale of excitement, buried treasure and a true legal thriller. John Grisham’s latest pirate adventure? Nope, just a couple who found $10 million of gold coins buried in their yard in San Francisco recently. The gold, according to The San Francisco Chronicle, is believed to be what was then $30,000 of gold reported stolen from the San Francisco Mint way back in 1900. So who owns it? What taxes does the couple, who is remaining anonymous, have to pay? We answer these here because of the immense clamor of interest in this amazing news.

Well, it’s pretty much “finders keepers” according to California law, says the ABA Journal. They found it on their own property. Plus, whoever stole it doesn’t seem likely to show up to claim it, as they are criminals, and in all likelihood rather dead. Taxes? Well, shockingly it appears about half of the value of the find will be paid to the US Government in taxes. I guess they’ll have to sell some of it to pay the taxes. Or maybe they can trade it for bitcoin!

It is a reminder of the development of monies and currency and how not that many centuries ago all business was done through barter, and then the value of gold and silver gave way to modern currencies, electronic transfers and yes, the crypto currency sweeping the world as we speak. What will you find in your backyard? Maybe let the dog do the digging…