Imagine a time of war. Raiders from an army will come and steal your valuables. You hide them. But you never get back to those valuables, even your gold, and so they stay there in the unmarked ground for, say, 150 years or so.
In 2023, a Kentucky man was digging in his field when he found a cache of 700 gold coins dating from 1840 to 1863 — the American Civil War era.
During the Civil War, Kentucky had a changing relationship with both the Union and Confederacy. According to one conflict archaeologist, given the time period of the coins and their location, Kentucky was probably neutral at the time. The coins may have been buried in advance of Confederate John Hunt Morgan's July 1863 raid in the area, according to Live Science.
Historical finds on private land do not need to be reported or revealed to an archaeologist or the government, except for taxes, of course.
The coins have been authenticated and sold. While the selling price has not been revealed, the Numismatic Guaranty Company estimates the value at about $2 million. About 95 percent of the cache was gold dollars. Just one $20 Liberty coin from 1863 can go for more than $100,000 at auction. The hoard had 18.