Saddle Ridge Hoard Mystery: New Theories On The Buried Gold Stash

Many mysteries, like the Loch Ness Monster, seem supernatural, or myths, and don’t bring anything to touch and hold like the Saddle Ridge Hoard. In that case, a buried treasure find was real, tangible, touchable, and worth a fortune. But, it’s an enduring mystery. Nevertheless, there were some updates about it in recent years. Read on to find out more.

Finding Treasure Without Even Trying

Many people stop dreaming about treasures and do so something about it. Which explains why Curse of Oak Island still remains popular. But mostly, the hunt for treasure ends with an old soda can cap and an expensive metal detector dumped in the garage. However, a lucky couple in California literally stumbled upon a collection of coins worth about $10 million. Known as The Saddle Ridge Hoard, it’s the most mysterious gold coin find stateside.

A couple who remain anonymous, weren’t even looking for anything special. Well, All That’s Interesting reminded mystery fans that they were simply walking their dog in February 2013. Then, they stumbled across a stash old gold coins.

One metal can got them curious, and in total they recovered eight of them. Inside, the coins were seen to have been minted between 1847 and 1894. Never in circulation, it seems that they disappeared without most of them ever being handled by anyone other than a mysterious person who buried it. Oh, and there was also some gold dust and a few nuggets as well. 

Some Updates

Some coins got sold off, and initially, the Saddle Ridge Hoard wasn’t valued as high as it is today. Recently, North Central Coins pointed out that the face value was only about $28,000. However, the market value skyrocketed because of their pristine condition. According to the report, experts speculated that the hoard “could be worth up to 20 million” today. Why? Well, it’s because of the changing value of gold which is in very high demand. Plus, the rarity of the perfect find adds more value.

Obviously, the biggest question is how the coins ended up there. For years, the theory that took hold referred to a heist in 1901. That happened at the San Francisco Mint and an employee named Walter Dimmick was the prime suspect. But, it should be noted that recent research seems to have dropped that ball.

Buried Because Of Mistrust?

These days, some experts think that the coins probably didn’t come from the heist. After all, the dates on the coins don’t add up to that. Instead, a new theory points to someone who simply didn’t trust banks and stashed the coins in the earthly equivalent of under the mattress. Then, they probably died and now their secret might never be solved.

In a way, it seems a bit sad that the mysterious coin collection was broken up. Some of them ended up sold through Amazon and Kagin’s. That was a first because until then, major treasure finds weren’t sold off online.

Fortunately, while most of the coins ended up in private hands, two valuable ones are preserved in the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection. If nothing else, they pique curiosity as visitors ponder the origin and the person who once handled them as a personal possession.

Guesses Keep Coming

When North Central Coins shared a video a few years ago, the comments revealed that the mystery still grips the imagination of folks who try and guess at the origins. One viewer penned, “The reality is most [treasures] are found by stumbling around and not by purposefully searching.”

Here are a few more responses from the discussion:

• So very odd the original owner hasn’t been identified.
• They were not stolen from the mint… These spanned many years and types of coins.
• Wish I had a time machine…
• …since probably the onset of WW2 a lot of people hid coins and such in this manner because they believed the [Germans] were coming. Of course there’s also the possibility that these coins were from a bank robbery. The finders are really smart to remain anonymous; it helps protect them from lawsuits from the gold diggers.

What are your thoughts? Did you know about the mystery of the Saddle Ridge Hoard? Let us know in the comments below, and remember to come back here often for more news and updates about the unexplained.