Hikers find hidden treasure from 20th century worth over €300,000 in Czech mountains

Two tourists exploring the wooded southwestern slope of Zvičina Hill in the Czech Republic have stumbled upon an extraordinary find: a treasure trove of gold coins and jewellery valued at over $310,000.

The discovery was made in early February and only recently announced by the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, as reported by Czech media outlets, which is now responsible for analyzing and preserving the artefacts.

The museum is located in Hradec Králové, which used to be part of the Austrian Empire and served as the site for the Batle of Königgrätz against the Prussian Empire that was ultimately lost by the defending forces. According to their historians, the cache consists of 598 gold coins, intricate jewellery, and personal items such as cigarette cases and a finely crafted wire mesh purse.

Together, the items weigh around 7 kilograms, with the coins alone contributing 3.7 kilograms of solid gold. The precise composition of the remaining artifacts is still undergoing detailed examination.

The objects were unearthed beneath a stone embankment, and experts believe they were hidden sometime around 1921—or potentially even earlier.

According to the article, Numismatist Vojtěch Bradle observed that the coins are not the usual currency one would expect from the early 20th century. While most were minted between 1808 and 1915, several feature countermarks—small stamps added in the 1920s or 1930s in the former Yugoslavia—indicating that they remained in circulation or were revalidated after World War I.

The Probing Chamber of the Czech Republic is now carefully studying the artifacts to determine their exact metal content. This process will help guide restoration efforts, assign a market value, and calculate the legal reward for the finders. Novák noted that while the gold content alone could place the market value above $310,000, the true historical significance of the hoard is priceless.

Given the location of the find—near the former border between Czech and German settlements—historians are considering several scenarios for why the treasure was buried. These include:

• The 1938 Nazi occupation and the subsequent expulsion of Czech inhabitants

• The post-World War II expulsion of German residents

• Communist-era resettlement programs and post-1948 currency reforms

Under Czech law, finders are eligible to receive either up to 100% of the market value of precious metals or up to 10% of the assessed historical value, depending on the final expert determination.

By Nazrin Sadigova