LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Northern California couple went out walking their dog on their property when they stumbled across a modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree.
Nearly all of the 1427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, perfect condition, said David Hall, a specialist, who recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece.
"I don't like to say once-in-a-lifetime for anything, but you don't get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever," said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders. "It's like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
Kagin, whose family has been in the rare-coin business for 81 years, would say little about the couple other than that they are husband and wife, are middle-aged and have lived for several years on the rural property in California's Gold Country, where the coins were found. They have no idea who put them there, he said.
The pair are choosing to remain anonymous, Kagin said, in part to avoid a renewed gold rush to their property by modern-day prospectors armed with metal detectors. They also don't want to be treated any differently. Their concern was this would change the way everyone else would look at them, and they're pretty happy with the lifestyle they have today.
They plan to put most of the coins up for sale through Amazon while holding onto a few keepsakes. They'll use the money to pay off bills and quietly donate to local charities. Before they sell them, they are loaning some to the American Numismatic Association for its National Money Show.
What makes their find particularly valuable is that almost all of the coins are in near-perfect condition. That means that whoever put them into the ground likely socked them away as soon as they were put into circulation. Because paper money was illegal in California until the 1870s, it’s extremely rare to find any coins from before that of such high quality.
I. True or False? Justify your answers with a short quotation from the text. (5 marks)
1. The coins were discovered by the couple’s dog.
2. The coins discovered are still in use in the trade.
3. The discovery is one that is not made very often.
4. The couple who discovered the treasure are both 81 years old.
5. All of the coins will be sold.
II. Find in the text the synonyms of the following words or expressions. (5 marks)
6. REACH: (verb)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. OCCASION:(noun)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. UNKNOWN:(adjective)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. OBJECT(S) KEPT IN MEMORY OF SOMETHING OR SOMEONE:------------------------
10. IMPORTANT:(adjective)------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Complete the chart with information from the text. (5 marks)
IV. Complete the dialogue using one of the following words. (5 marks)
FLASHED, STRETCH, COME ACROSS, TORN, SHINY
Neighbour: How did you…………………16………………………….the treasure?
Finder: Well, we stayed home all day and the dog was feeling fretful, so we decided to go out and
…………………17……………..our legs. As we went past the old cypress we noticed something …………………18…………………….. We decided to check what it was and lo and behold there were all those coins in……………19…………………plastic bags.
Neighbour: What did you think then?
Finder: Thousands of things………………20………..through our minds. We decided we’d better keep our calm though.
Neighbour: You did well. You’re truly lucky!
| STATEMENTS | INFORMATION FROM TEXT |
| 11. This was not legal in California before 1870 | ? |
| 12. Place where the coins were hidden | ? |
| 13. Reasons why the couple who made the discovery doesn’t want to be known | ? |
| 14. The highest amount of money the couple would get if they sold the coins. | ? |
| 15. The image used by Kagin to describe the discovery | ? |
