Kentucky Man Unearths Civil War-Era Treasure From His Cornfield

A Kentucky man made a life-changing discovery while digging in his cornfield earlier this year, unearthing over 800 rare Civil War-era coins from the ground.

In collector circles, the discovery has come to be known as the "Great Kentucky Hoard," which was comprised of mostly U.S. gold pieces dating from between 1840 to 1863, as well as a few silver pieces mixed in. The man's identity and location where he found the coins has not been revealed to the public, for reasons that are fairly clear.

In a video he recorded in the midst of finding the coins, the man can be heard calling his discovery "the most insane thing ever." "Those are all $1 gold coins, $20 gold coins, $10 gold coins," he said. "And look, I'm still digging them out, there's one, two, three, four, five, six. Six more gold coins. This is un-fucking-real."

According to GovMint, which has facilitated the selling of the coins, 95 percent of the hoard consisted of three different varieties of U.S. Gold Dollars with a date range of 1854 to 1862. And while those may sell for a couple hundred dollars each, that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Also discovered among the lot were 20 pricier $10 Liberty gold coins with a date range of 1840 to 1862 and eight $20 Liberty coins dated between 1857 and 1862. However, the "most amazing discovery" found amongst the hoard were eighteen $20 Gold Liberty coins from 1863. In addition to being one of the rarest in the $20 Liberty series, just one of the 1863 $20 Gold Liberty can fetch six figures at auction.

Rare coin dealer Jeff Garrett, a leading expert in US coinage who was contacted to certify the coins authenticity for Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), called the discovery one of the "highlights of his career."

“The importance of this discovery cannot be overstated, as the stunning number of over 700 gold dollars represents a virtual time capsule of Civil War-era coinage, including coins from the elusive Dahlonega Mint," Garrett said. "Finding one Mint condition 1863 Double Eagle would be an important numismatic event. Finding nearly a roll of superb examples is hard to comprehend."

As LiveScience points out, the hoard can also help us learn about America's history during the Civil War.

Although Kentucky remained neutral during the conflict, many wealthy residents of the state were believed to have buried large sums of money to prevent it from being stolen by the Confederacy. Given the time period and general location, it's very possible that the coins were buried due to Confederate John Hunt Morgan's raid on Indiana from June through July in 1863, which began in Tennessee but also swept through Kentucky.

But as fascinating as that slice of U.S. history is, the finder of the coins is probably more concerned with the fact that he is now a very rich man.