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A widow clearing out a shed near Penzanze, Cornwall, was left stunned after an old biscuit tin was discovered, containing more than £113,000 worth of gold coins.
Her late husband had the foresight to invest in gold bullion during the mid-1970s recession when prices were low.
However, he appeared to tell nobody about his purchase, storing 41 South African gold krugerrand coins and 21 gold sovereigns inside the tin for safekeeping.
Hidden away for 50 years, the coins were only unearthed during a clear-out of the couple’s home.
When opened, an auctioneer initially found silver coins on top, discovering the gold hidden beneath only after delving deeper.
The coins were inside their individual packets, alongside original purchase paperwork and a pocket money guide.
With gold values soaring since the 1970s, the krugerrands fetched £100,000 at auction, while the British sovereigns raised £13,000.
Auctioneer David Lay, of Lay’s Auctioneers of Penzanze, said that the 22-carat krugerrands weigh 33.93g each.
The vendor’s husband originally paid between £70 and £80 per coin in 1975.
Mr Lay said: “The lady was thinking of downsizing and I went into her home to look at some items.
“One of the last places I looked was this workshop and there was a biscuit tin inside which was very heavy. I plonked it down and looked inside and saw silver coins.”
After the coins were later shown to Lay’s coin expert, he found the gold coins still in their wrappers.
He said: “It was just astonishing. We have had discoveries before but all that gold was just remarkable.
“Nearly all of the coins were minted in 1975 at a time when the economy was just coming out of recession and inflation was running rampant and people were worried about the stock market.
“Some people would go out and buy gold as a hedge.
“Our client didn’t know that her husband had just gone and spent spent a few thousand pounds on this gold investment and stashed it away and didn’t tell her and he were are today and it is worth £100,000.”
A Lay’s spokesperson added: “You hear about people keeping money under the mattress or under the floorboards because people didn’t trust banks back then but you just don’t expect that to happen now.
“The price of gold has is astronomical at the moment so it was an amazing investment by this man. What a shrewd chap her husband was.”