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A treasure trove was accidently uncovered by two hikers in the Czech Republic. During a walk in the woodlands around Zvičina Hill in the Krkonoše Mountains near Poland's border, they discovered an aluminum can and an iron box sticking slightly above the surface in a stone mound. The containers had around 600 gold coins and a magnificent collection of gold items. The discovery of this treasure worth more than $340,000 has piqued the interest of academics, raising concerns about both the coins' origins and how they ended up in such a distant place.
Tracing the origin of coins
Vojtěch Brádle, a numismatist from the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, reported that most coins were struck between 1808 and 1915. They originated in the Austria-Hungarian Empire, primarily during the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. Some of the coins bear countermarks struck in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The 598 coins span a vast historical era, including coinage from France, Belgium, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia. The variety of provenances makes it impossible to determine how the coins arrived to where they are, or why they were stored at all. "It is difficult to say whether it was Czech, German, or Jewish gold," Petr Grulich, director of the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, told Dailymail.
Theories about the hiding place
There are several ideas and speculations as to how these coins and artifacts were buried in such a distant place. One idea holds that the goods were secreted during Nazi Germany's conquest of Czechoslovakia.
Following the Munich Agreement of 1938, many Jews and Czechs fled their homes in the annexed Sudetenland to avoid persecution. Some historians believe the wealth was buried at this time to safeguard it from the invading Nazi armies.
