$160 Million Gold Treasure Found After 50 Years Hidden Underground

A staggering trove of 15,000 rare coins, hidden from the Nazis and lost to history for over half a century, has reemerged — and it’s valued at more than $100 million USD (around $160 million AUD). Dubbed the Traveller Collection, this extraordinary cache is about to rewrite numismatic history.

((Hidden from Nazis, Sealed in Cigar Boxes, Buried and Forgotten))

The Traveller Collection began in the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, when a European collector and his wife embarked on a decades-long journey through Europe and the Americas. Their mission: acquire the rarest and most historically significant coins on Earth.

But as World War II loomed and Nazi forces advanced, the collector made a drastic decision. Rather than risk losing the collection, he buried it. Packed into cigar boxes and aluminum containers, the entire treasure was hidden underground — and the man himself vanished into history.

((The $160 Million Collection Returns to the Light))

More than five decades later, the collector’s heirs recovered the treasure and brought it to the world’s attention. The auction house Numismatica Ars Classica (NAC) is now preparing to unveil it, with the first sale scheduled for May 20, 2025. According to NAC director Arturo Russo, this will be “the most valuable numismatic collection ever to come to auction in its entirety.”

The auction will mark a major moment in high-stakes coin collecting, offering coins of such rarity and quality that many haven’t been seen for over 80 years — and some were never previously documented in official numismatic records.

(A 50 Toman coin, which forms part of an “exceedingly rare” set of Tomans minted in Tehran and Isfahan in the late 18th and early 19th century. Credit: Flint Culture)

((Coin Giants: Gold Titans of European Royalty))

At the heart of the collection lies the 100 Ducat gold coin of Ferdinand III of Habsburg (1629). Weighing 348.5 grams of fine gold, it’s one of the largest European gold coins ever struck, with an estimated value of $1.35 million USD.

Another gem is the 70 Ducat coin of Polish King Sigismund III (1621), tipping the scales at 243 grams, and valued around $471,700 USD.

(Among the items going under the hammer is a 100 ducat gold coin of Ferdinand III of Habsburg, which was minted in 1629. Credit: Flint Culture)

Never-Before-Seen Coins Set to Headline 2025 Auction The inaugural auction in May 2025 will focus on British machine-struck coins, spanning monarchs from Charles II to George VI.

The auction is part of a three-year series, — the collection is expected to draw international interest from both historians and high-net-worth collectors.

(This five guinea of George III, dated 1777, is valued at just about $340,000 (300,000 swiss francs). Credit: Flint Culture)

Ref: $160 Million Gold Treasure Found After 50 Years Hidden Underground Photo Credit- Flint Culture