66-year-old Austrian plumber strikes gold in renovation gig

An Austrian plumber, aged 66, struck gold while renovating an old villa in Vienna's Penzing district. According to Lenta.ru, he discovered a buried treasure of gold worth millions in a box hidden beneath the basement floor. The plumber first noticed a strange wire sticking out of the concrete. Unable to resist his curiosity, he tried to pull the wire but found it was stuck. Using a shovel, he dug through the concrete floor and uncovered a rusty metal box that had been cemented in place for years.

Just a day earlier, another worker had noticed the same wire coming out of the concrete but did not pay attention to it, reported T24. Other workers in the basement had also overlooked the hidden treasure and went home empty-handed. The plumber's determination led him to the astonishing discovery after others had ignored the rope.

Inside the box, the worker found approximately 30 kilograms of gold coins stamped with images of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, valued at approximately 2.3 million euros, as reported by Lenta.ru. Each coin had an image of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stamped on it. Popular Mechanics noted that the gold coins were dated to before World War II.

Authorities believe these coins were buried during World War II, possibly by wealthy Europeans who hid their valuables in the villa's basement for fear of confiscation or looting, according to T24. The treasure is estimated to be worth approximately 2.4 million euros.

In Austria, treasure finds are usually shared equally between the finder and the property owner, T24 noted. According to Austrian law, the value of the treasure will be divided equally between the finder and the property owner, meaning the plumber may receive half of the estimated value. 

“This is really unbelievable. I've been working on construction sites since I was 15. Occasionally you find coins, but making such a discovery is incredible," the plumber told Austria's 'Heute' magazine, as quoted by Popular Mechanics. The plumber called the incident "fantastic." 

The discovery adds to the list of surprising treasure troves found in Europe. Recently, a group of seven friends with metal detectors discovered 2,584 silver coins in a farmer's field in Britain, valued at $5.6 million. Old coin and ancient coin discoveries happen frequently across Europe, including a recent find of 30,000 ancient coins in the Mediterranean.

Earlier, it was reported that on the island of Pantelleria in Italy, a treasure of ancient coins was found. In Poland, a father and son found a treasure of 16th-century coins. In southwest Germany, a construction worker uncovered 1,600 Medieval coins minted around 1320 AD while planning to lay pipes for a pool, noted Popular Mechanics.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq