Saddle Ridge Hoard
Gold coins shown as found
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| Material | Gold coins |
|---|---|
| Size | 1,427 coins |
| Created | 1847 to 1894 |
| Discovered | Gold Country, Sierra Nevada, California in February 2013 |
| Present location | Tiburon, California |
The Saddle Ridge Hoard is the name given to identify a treasure trove of 1,427 gold coins unearthed in the Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada, California in 2013. The face value of the coins totaled $27,980, but was assessed to be worth $10 million. In total, the hoard contains $27,460 in twenty-dollar coins, $500 in ten-dollar coins, and $20 in five-dollar coins, all dating from 1847 to 1894. The collection is the largest known discovery of buried gold coins that has ever been recovered in the US.
The Saddle Ridge Hoard was discovered in February 2013 on private property located in California Gold Country. Due to privacy concerns, the exact location of the discovery has not been disclosed, other than to confirm that the land is located in a hillside area of Gold Country, near the site of the Gold Rush of 1849. As of 2014[update], the couple who discovered the hoard have chosen to remain anonymous. Known only as John and Mary, the middle-aged, married couple have lived on the rural property for several years and have no idea who buried the coins. They wish to keep their identity, location, and ownership history of their home private, in order to keep treasure seekers from trespassing on their property in an effort to find more gold.
The owners of the property discovered the trove while they were walking their dog on their property. Although they had reportedly hiked the trail numerous times previously, it was not until they spotted a rust-covered metal can poking out of the ground that they chose to explore further.
Before finding the trove, the couple had noticed some unique features of the area. They recalled seeing an old empty can hanging from an old tree. The can had evidently been there so long that the tree had literally grown around it. At the time, the couple surmised that the hanging can had possibly been used to hold flowers and mark a grave. They also noticed an oddly shaped rock on the nearby hill, which they nicknamed "Saddle Ridge". After they found the gold, they realized that the geographical features and the hanging can were probably markers to the site, placed by the original owners. The center of the treasure trove was located ten steps between the jagged rock and the direction of the North Star.
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