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Two hikers walked in the leaders of the Krkonose -Bergen in the Czech Republic at the beginning of February when they noticed something shiny from a stone wall. They pulled out what turned out to be an aluminum look, looked inside and found a small fortune.
Inside was a treasure room of 598 gold coins, neatly organized in columns and wrapped in black fabric, said Miroslav Novak, the head of the archaeological department of the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, which later took possession of the stock.
A few meters away, the walkers have excavated a second cache: a metal box with gold items, including 16 snuffboxes, 10 bracelets, a comb, a necklace with a small key and a powder compact.
The discovery of the treasure, with a value of no less than $ 680,000, has set up a search among historians and amateur speuzen to find out who may have hidden the wealth.
“What is exceptional in this case is the volume,” said Dr. Novak.
He estimated that the gold coins were worth around 7.5 million Czech Koruna, or around $ 340,000. The other items, if they are solid gold and not only gilded, can be worth another $ 340,000, he said.
But what was really intriguing, he said, was how the items were buried recently.
Although archaeological discoveries are fairly common in the region, with many that goes back to the Bronze Age or Middle Ages, the newest coin in this collection from 1921 was, indicating that the treasure was hidden within the last century.
That relative recentness has offered a tempting lead to researchers, who think they can detect the owner of the treasure through archive research and to resolve the mystery why it was hidden.
“It is possible that someone encounters some information, perhaps in the newspapers of the time, that someone has robbed a jewelry store or something, and suddenly it can lead us to an indication,” Dr. Novak.
He said he had already received a steady stream of suggestions – and a few conspiracy theories – about who could be the owner.
Was it a soldier who returned from a war? A merchant who is fleeing during the conflict? Or maybe the rich heiress of a nearby family?
The coins may offer the best – but most confusing – instructions.
None of the money circulated in the area where it was discovered. About half of the coins come from Western European countries, including France and Belgium. The rest comes from regions around the world, including the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Tunisia and other parts of Africa.
The Balkans coins have drilled holes in it, indicating that they were most likely used to adorn the main tires or chains that were part of folk costumes or wedding clothes, Dr. Novak.
Online some suggested that the gold could have been the collection of a guard in a war prison, while others knew for sure that it was hidden by a local dentist.
Experts in the museum and other historians have looked at the tumultuous history of the region for explanations. Bohemia, which is today West -Czech Republic, witnessed huge waves of migration and forced expansions after 1938.
Before the Second World War, About 120,000 Jewish people Lived in Bohemen and Moravia, now East Czech Republic, which were occupied by Germany in 1938, according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum of the United States. About 26,000 Jews fled the area before 1941 and about 82,000 were later deported.
Other groups also fled during the occupation of Germany, said Martin Vesely, a associate professor of History at Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in the Czech Republic. About 200,000 people moved, including many Czechs, he said.
After the war, in 1945, about three million Germans, as culpable for the war and Nazi crimes, became seen, fled or were deported from the area.
“Maybe the person ended up in a concentration camp, or maybe it was a German who just couldn’t return to pick it up,” said Dr. Novak.
At the end of the war, the territory that is now the Czech Republic has absorbed around 1.7 million refugees from all over Europe, Dr. Vesely, including people from Belgium, Estonia, France, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Spain and the Balkans. Many came to all their belongings.
“The problem is that there are a large number of options,” said Dr. Vesely. “Midden -Europe was implemented back and forth in different directions in different directions in those years, so everything could have happened.”
The personal objects found with the coins, including the snuff boxes and compact, can be crucial to resolve the mystery. The stock contained a mix of items used by both men and women, and seen how many items have been recorded, may have been buried by a group instead of a single person, Dr. Vesely.
The museum has started searching the items for engravings or other markings, but so far they have delivered few hints. However, two of the snuff boxes still have to be opened.
“We will see if the last two help us in any way,” said Dr. Novak.
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