The Saddle Ridge Hoard was a coin hoard discovered in Northern California in 2013 by a couple known only as Mary and John. It is the largest recovery of its kind in the United States.
What Coins were in the Saddle Ridge Hoard?
The Saddle Ridge coin hoard held 1,427 gold coins minted between 1847 and 1894. Most of the coins were $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagles, although there were also $10 Liberty Gold Eagles and some $5 Liberty Half Eagles. The full breakdown of coins found in the Saddle Ridge Hoard included:
- 1,373 $20 Liberty Gold Doubles Eagles with a $27,460 face value.
- 50 $10 Liberty Gold Eagles with a $500 face value.
- 4 $5 Liberty Gold Half Eagles with a $20 face value.
Among the coins were more than one dozen of the finest or tied-for-finest specimens of gold coins graded by the Professional Coin Grading Services (PCGS). Those coins included the:
- 1866-S $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagle with no motto (Valued at $1,000,000)
- 1866-S $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagle with motto graded as MS-62+ (The finest known specimen of its kind)
- 1877-S $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagle graded as MS-65 (Tied for finest known specimen)
- 1888-S $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagle graded as MS-64 (Four of these were found in the hoard and all four are tied for the finest known specimen)
- 1889-S $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagle graded as MS-65 (Two of these were found in the Saddle Ridge Hoard and are tied for the finest known specimens)
- 1894-S $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagle graded as MS-65 (The finest known specimen of its kind)
How Much were the Coins in the Saddle Ridge Hoard Worth?
The face value of the coins was $27,980. But these historic coins were remarkably well-preserved and their total assessed value was $10 million.
How was the Saddle Ridge Hoard Found?
Buried treasure is the stuff of legend. By the twentieth century, much buried treasure had been recovered and few people would have believed they would find millions of dollars in historic gold on their property. Perhaps fewer people would have guessed a couple would find historic gold coins near a path they regularly walked, but that is what happened in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California.
John and Mary had regularly walked a path on their land for several years. Throughout that time, they noticed distinct features, like a unique rock on the hill close by, prompting them to name the area Saddle Ridge. A tree on Saddle Ridge held a suspended can that had been there for so long that the tree had grown around it.
Finding Cans Full of Gold Coins
On a fateful day in 2013, John and Mary were walking their dogs along the familiar path near Saddle Ridge. They turned from their path toward a body of water and as they crossed the hill between them and the water, they noticed a metallic object peeking out from beneath the ground. It looked like a gallon paint can that was turned sideways and was too heavy to lift. While the couple did not have any tools on hand, they used a stick to dig around the can until it was fully exposed.
When the can was fully exposed, the couple thought it held lead because of how heavy it was. Nonetheless, they decided to carry the can home and along the way, John dropped the heavy can, which then burst open and revealed the reeded edge of a gold coin. They returned to the site with hand tools to search for more buried items, and to their surprise, they found another can just one foot away from the first can. The second can was decomposing and rusted but held more gold coins.
John and Mary kept returning to the site and began using a metal detector, finding eight cans of gold coins. They kept the coins hidden in an ice chest, which itself was hidden underneath a pile of wood. They kept the nearly 1500 coins hidden there while they conducted preliminary research on them and eventually contacted Kagin’s numismatic firm in Tuburon, California, who assisted them with the coins.
Where is Saddle Ridge?
John and Mary, whose surname remains anonymous for their privacy, no longer live on the land where the coins were found. They want to keep the location as private as their name so the current landowners can enjoy their property.
Where did the Saddle Ridge Hoard Coins Come From?
Theories emerged speculating the hoard was from a 1901 robbery of the United States Mint at San Francisco by Mint employee Walter Dimmick. Mint officials and numismatic experts like Kagin’s staff concluded it was not a stolen hoard, because of the diversity of coin types and years of issue present. Some of the other theories that have been proven incorrect include contentions that the hoard was plunder from Jesse James stagecoach robberies. The most widely accepted theory today is that the gold coins were buried by an individual who simply chose to store their gold underground instead of in a bank.
