Throughout time, people have been fascinated with the concept of “buried treasure.” Today, numismatic coin collecting provides a modern-day twist of these thrilling ventures — coin hoards. Discovering a large group of numismatic coins or paper currency, especially those that still remain in astounding condition, is one of coin collecting’s most exciting possibilities!
While there have been many existing hoards that have already been discovered and dispersed through sales and auctions, there are certainly many more hoards of numismatic coins out there just waiting to be found. Here is a list of a few of the most notable numismatic coin hoards that have come to light in recent years that have compelling backstories to them.
Sundveda Hoard – 2008
Known in Swedish as the Sundvedaskatten, the Sundveda Hoard is a collection of 482 silver numismatic coins dating back to the Viking Age that was found near Stockholm, Sweden in 2008. Even though only 109 of the coins were intact, it is the largest silver hoard that has been found in the region since 1827.
Staffordshire Hoard – 2009
Discovered in Staffordshire, England in 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver numismatic coins ever found. It consists of roughly 3,500 pieces totaling 5.1 kilograms of gold and 1.4 kilograms of silver. Most of these historical numismatic coins date back as far as the 7th and early 8th centuries.
Binion Hoard – 1998
Ted Binion was a professional gambler who was one of the sons of the notorious gambling icon and mob boss in Las Vegas, Lester Ben “Benny” Binion, who also owned Binion’s Horseshoe Casino. After Ted’s premature death in 1998, law enforcement discovered a 12-foot-deep vault on his property in Pahrump, Nevada. The concrete bunker contained over six tons of silver bullion, Horseshoe Casino chips, paper currency, and more than 100,000 rare numismatic coins with an estimated value between $7 million and $14 million. Ted and his family were very famous across Vegas and the worldwide gambling community — having a movie created after their story called “Sex and Lies in Sin City” in 2008.
Midwest Mega Hoard – 1998
On November 17, 1998 the Little Coin Company of Littleton, New Hampshire reported finding the largest-known hoard of any U.S. numismatic coin collector — 950,000 circulated Indian Head cents, 308,000 Liberty Head “V” nickels, and 488,000 Buffalo nickels totaling 7.6 tons. The coin company’s president stated that the numismatist spent over 25 years accumulating the hoard, and the floorboards of his house were sagging from the weight of all of the coins.
Big Sky Hoard – 2011
After spending 30 years hiding in a Montana bank vault, a hoard of over 220,000 Eisenhower dollars was found in 2011 by the Littleton Coin Company. Stowed away for decades by a prominent Montana family, the majority of the numismatic coins in this impeccable hoard were still in their original mint-sewn bags — untouched by circulation in the real world. Referred to as “Ike” dollars during their origination, these coins were commonly used throughout western casinos. Fortunately, this hoard managed to be shipped directly from the Denver Mint to the Federal Reserve Bank in Montana — missing the local banks and escaping circulation.
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