Great find for the lucky people BUT, here comes the gubmint.
I will bet these people will regret the day they found those coins and will be paying a HEFTY tax on their new found “INCOME”.
... and all the “new” freinds that will be hounding them and trying to take advantage of them. They should have kept this find as secret as possible; they are in for a hell of a time.
The couple found these coins last April while walking their dog on their property in the California Gold Country.
They had the coins graded by PCGS (Pacific Coast Grading Service) in Orange County. Each coin is then sealed by them in a plastic holder. Coin grading is subjective, but PCGS are the “gold standard” of grading services.
A coin dealer in Tiburon, California (whose family has been in the coin business for 81 years) is representing the couple. The couple, or should I say the coin dealer acting on behalf of the couple, plan to sell these coins on Amazon.
They’re going to keep a few of the coins as “keepsakes”.
Once the coins are sold, I’m sure the couple expects to pay income tax to the federal government and the state of California. After the coins are sold, they are “income.”
There were 1,427 of these coins found in rusting metal cannisters, mostly in uncirculated condition, dated from 1847 to 1894. All were minted in San Francisco, with the exception of one $5 gold coin which was minted in Georgia. Face value of the coins: $27,000.
The couple plans to pay off bills and donate some money to local charities.
This story was on the FOX website yesterday.
I doubt they will regret they found it, as even a 50% tax and 20% for legal help would leave them a substantial amount.
But offshore finds were upheld as belonging to the owner by te Supreme Court, leading to the 2001 adoption of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, protecting of "all traces of human existence having a cultural, historical or archaeological character", which have been under water for over 100 years.
As of February 2014, 45 states are party to the convention.