While digging a sewer pipe in Belgium, construction workers discovered a huge cache of rare coins and gold bars. The discovery, which was uncovered during routine subterranean pipe replacement work in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, some 30 kilometers northwest of Brussels, was valued at about 9 million euros (roughly Rs 98 crore), according to The Guardian.
On Tuesday, Kobe, an 18-year-old summer employe, found it. He said, “We suddenly saw something lying there,” in an interview with the Belgian network VTM. I initially believed it to be €1 coins. Next, we noticed a gold bar. It was a little more than we had anticipated. The 18-year-old student was working on the site alongside coworkers, according to the article.
Beneath a magnificent home constructed in the late 19th century for brewery owner Theophilus Van Assche, the treasure, which included gold coins, nuggets, and numbered bullion bars, was concealed within a sack sealed within a bricked-in cellar wall. “It’s just not something you expect on a regular Tuesday morning,” Kobe remarked, noting that the hoard seemed to have been purposefully hidden.
The location was used for brewing from 1899 to 1970. The social welfare organization CAW Oost-Vlaanderen is currently completely renovating the listed property, which still has the initials “VA” on its wrought-iron gates, in order to build new offices and residences.
“The Brouwershuis was a stunning structure, but it is being totally demolished. In the end, only the walls will be left,” CAW’s Geert Hillaert told HLN.
The treasure was swiftly moved to a secure facility in Brussels as authorities swiftly secured the location. In order to ascertain legal ownership, officials are currently looking into its origins.
Investigators must first confirm that the gold was not stolen or connected to criminal activity, according to Hanne Ollevier of the East Flanders prosecutor’s office, cautioning that the case could lead to a complicated civil fight. The building builders, the charity organization, and the Van Assche family’s descendants are all potential claims. Anyone who finds treasure in Belgium is required by law to wait at least five years for the true owners to come forward.
Regarding the employes, Kobe acknowledged that they were aware that such a substantial find needed to be turned over. “Maybe not if it had only been a few coins. However, we might eventually receive a finder’s award of some sort,” he remarked.
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