Saddle Ridge Hoard

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The Saddle Ridge Hoard is a stash of 1,427 gold coins found in February 2013 on private land in the northern half of Trinity County, Northern California. The coins have a face value of $27,980 but were assessed to be worth about $10 million. They date from 1847 to 1894 and include $20 gold coins (the majority), plus some $10 and $5 coins. This is the largest buried gold-coin discovery ever found in the United States.

The exact discovery site isn’t public, but it’s in a hillside area less than 200 miles from the 1849 Gold Rush site. The discoverers, a couple who asked to remain anonymous, found the coins while walking their dog on their property. They noticed a rusted can sticking out of the ground and nearby markers—a rock they nicknamed “Saddle Ridge” and a hanging can they believed marked the spot. The coins were buried in eight cans, centered about ten steps from the rock toward the North Star.

After excavating, the couple hid the treasure and contacted the numismatics firm Kagin’s of Tiburon, California. The coins were evaluated, conserved, and authenticated. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) found many coins in mint or near-mint condition, with some pieces so rare they could be worth around $1 million each. Several coins are among the finest-known specimens in PCGS’s records.

Kagin’s has arranged to sell the coins through their exclusive agreement with Amazon.com’s collectibles store. The owners say they will use some of the money to pay personal debts, donate to local charities, and keep some coins as family heirlooms.

There has been speculation about the hoard’s origin, but the U.S. Mint and Kagin’s have ruled out links to the 1901 San Francisco Mint theft or other famous robberies. The Mint stated there is no evidence tying the Saddle Ridge Hoard to any theft. Theories about Jesse James, Black Bart, or secret knightly orders have largely been dismissed.

Before Saddle Ridge, the largest buried coin collection in the United States was a 1985 find in Jackson, Tennessee, with a face value of $4,500; it later sold for about $1 million.

Because treasure troves can have tax implications, the finders’ tax status has been a topic of discussion under U.S. treasure-trove regulations. The couple’s ongoing privacy helps them avoid further treasure-seeking trespass on their land.