More Than 800 Gold and Silver Coins Found in Kentucky Cornfield

A Kentucky man hit the jackpot when he uncovered money in a cornfield.

The unidentified man unearthed 741 $1 coins along with a number of $10 and $20 pieces. There were more than 800 coins in the hoard with a face value of well over $1,000.

Oh, and the coins were gold and silver, so they are worth many times more than that today.

The coins are from the Civil War era with dates ranging from 1840 to 1863.

A Lexington coin dealer said, “The importance of this discovery cannot be overstated.”

The stunning number of over 700 gold dollars represents a virtual time capsule of Civil War-era coinage.”

There is some speculation that the coins were buried prior to Confederal Gen. Joh Hunt Morgan’s raid in the summer of 1863. Wealthy Kentuckians reportedly buried large sums of money to hide it from Confederate troops, according to LiveScience.com.

James Langstaff left a letter saying he had buried $20,000 in coins on his property in Paducah, William Pettit buried $80,000 worth of gold coins near Lexington, and Confederate soldiers quarantined for measles reportedly stole payroll and hid it in a cave in Cumberland Gap. None of these caches has ever been recovered.”

Now imagine for a moment that these folks had buried paper currency. It would be virtually worthless today. But because they buried real money – gold and silver – the hoard is worth thousands of dollars just based on the value of the metal. When you factor in the historical significance of the find, the coins are reportedly worth millions.

Gold and silver have served as money for thousands of years. The metals possess all of the characteristics of money Aristotle listed 2,000 years ago. The philosopher said sound money must be durable, portable, divisible, and have intrinsic value. You can check off all four of these characteristics for gold and silver.

We see the durability of gold and silver in this find. After more than 150 years buried underground, the coins just needed a good cleaning.

Try that with your paper dollars.

You can also add a fifth characteristic to Aristotle’s list. Sound money cannot be easily manipulated by central bankers – i.e. created out of thin air. That’s why the yellow metal has held its value over time while fiat currencies have fallen in value.

Confederate dollars have no value, and US dollars aren’t worth a whole lot more. But these gold and silver dollars stood the test of time.