Dendermonde PoliceThe provenance of the dozens of gold bars and thousands of gold coins found inside the house in Dendermonde remains a mystery for now.
Usually, in order to conduct renovations on a building, money needs to be poured into the project — not the other way around. However, construction workers renovating an historic house in the Belgian city of Dendermonde were recently shocked to discover a huge cache of money just waiting to be taken out of the building.
Concealed in a chest built into the wall of the cellar, workers found more than 40 gold bars and at least 4,000 gold coins, valued in total at roughly $10 million. Now, Belgian authorities need to figure out where it came from — and what to do with it.
The Discovery Of $10 Million In Gold During House Renovations In Dendermonde
First reported by the Flemish news site VRT NWS, the discovery was made at a building in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde, East Flanders, that is currently owned by the social welfare organization CAW Oost-Vlaanderen.
Before they took ownership, the building was the home of a brewer who set up shop circa 1900, which opens up interesting historical possibilities related to the gold.
Dendermonde PoliceThe building became the residence of a prominent brewer circa 1900, but there is no evidence linking him to the gold.
The construction company De Brand was conducting renovations at the site when the hidden gold was first discovered.
Eighteen-year-old worker Kobe Philips told VRT NWS that when the crew found the gold, their first reaction was disbelief.
“We certainly hadn’t expected to find gold,” Philips said. “We stumbled across it while carrying out groundworks to lay a pipe for the sewerage system.”
Even after spotting the glimmering cache, Philips said the crew still believed the coins were ordinary.
“At first, I thought they were €1 coins. But then we also saw a gold nugget lying there. That’s when we realized it was something bigger,” Philips said.
VRT NWSThe site manager remarked that the construction team was in disbelief after discovering the gold.
The site manager, Mario, told VRT NWS that as they kept looking, more pieces of gold and many bars were found.
“After 33 years in the construction industry, this is the first time I’ve experienced anything like this,” Mario said. “I don’t think it will ever happen again.”
After letting the discovery sink in, the team called the local authorities.
In the end, the cache of gold contained at least 4,000 gold coins and more than 40 gold bars, as well as multiple ingots, although no exact inventory has been released.
In total, the estimated value of the gold is around $10 million.
The Mystery Of Who Left These Coins And Bars In The House — And Why
The police took the gold into custody and brought it to a secure location. The East Flanders prosecutor will conduct an investigation into who the gold belonged to and why it was placed there.
In a statement, the local police have also warned treasure hunters away from the site, due to it being an active construction zone.
Dendermonde PoliceLocal authorities are currently investigating the source of the coins, considering both historical angles and criminal ones.
“At present, it is not known where the gold came from, nor, from a legal perspective, to whom it belongs,” a government spokesperson said to VRT NWS.
Because the gold was secured in a chest built into a cellar wall, it is reasonable to believe that whoever put the treasure there did so deliberately and with a goal of making it hard to find.
Archaeologically speaking, groups of coins or other valuables hidden together are known as “hoards,” which are often deposited during periods of war and economic or political instability.
But, in this case, it is too early to say whether this discovery is linked to a tumultuous historical event, or perhaps a more modern-day crime.
“For all we know, this discovery is the result of some kind of fraudulent activity and the gold has been hidden there,” Geert Hillaert of CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, the organization that occupies the building now, said to VRT NWS.
VRT NWSThe house in Dendermonde where the gold was found.
Local authorities have not released any official identification on the individual coins’ minting, dating, iconography, or origins.
The property’s former use as the home of a brewer in the early 20th century could be a potential line of investigation, but there is currently no evidence that links the former owner to the gold.
In fact, the authorities currently have no idea who will ultimately end up with the gold.
Hillaert said that if CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, the social services organization that currently owns the building, received the gold, the money would be used to support their work in assisting homeless and otherwise vulnerable populations in East Flanders.
As Hillaert said, “That would be a very welcome gift to help address the enormous need we experience on a daily basis.”
After reading about the $10 million in gold found during building renovations in Belgium, read about this hidden cache of century-old coins found in Russia. Then, learn about three World War II bunkers unearthed in a Belgian park during dune restoration.
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