Building renovators in Belgium found gold bars and coins worth over $10.4 million walled up in a basement.
The crew was working Tuesday at a former brewery in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde near Brussels, when the treasure appeared.
“At first, I thought they were one-euro coins, lined up neatly. We started pulling it out further, and then it turned out to be quite a bit more than we thought. … Of course, you don’t expect that when you’re just at work on a Tuesday morning,” worker Kobe, 18, who did not provide a surname, told the local newspaper.
Gold dealer Jan Van Cutsem told the outlet that the oldest marked date on the ingots is 1957, with some of the bars dating back to before years were systematically marked on them.
The coins, he told them, are primarily British pounds dating as far back as Queen Victoria’s reign, which ended in 1901.
The gold was taken into Belgian federal custody following the find, the local police said on Facebook.
The building belongs to the social work organization CAW East Flanders. The organization’s director, Geert Hillaert, told the public broadcaster VRT, “Surprise and amazement were the first reactions. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The local prosecutor’s office is determining the provenance of the gold and to whom it rightfully belongs. Mr. Hillaert told VRT that if the gold goes to his organization, it will be used to help the homeless, among others.
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