Student digs a sewer and finds a treasure worth millions of euros
Photo: police documenting the discovered treasure (Facebook / Local Police of Dendermonde)
An 18-year-old Belgian student, while laying sewage pipes on the site of a former brewery, came across an unusual find. Initially, he thought he had unearthed ordinary one-euro coins, but among them he found a gold bar — and more than one, according to The Guardian.
At first, the find did not seem extraordinary to the student. According to him, he thought they were one-euro coins.
"At first I thought it was €1 coins. So we started digging them up. Then we saw a gold bar. It turned out to be a bit more than we thought," the young man said.
It eventually turned out that the discovered gold could be worth around €9 million.
Where the treasure was hidden
The find was discovered on the grounds of a former brewery, approximately 30 kilometers northwest of Brussels. The treasure consisted of gold coins and numbered gold bars. They were found in a bag that had been walled up in the basement of a large villa.
The house was built in 1899 for the brewery owner. The site is currently being redeveloped by a social welfare organization, with plans to build offices and housing there.
Gold was handed over to the police
Gold coins found by a Belgian student while digging sewage pipes (Facebook / Local Police of Dendermonde)
The student and his colleagues immediately notified the police and representatives of the organization carrying out the reconstruction. The treasure has already been moved to a secure location in Brussels. Authorities must now conduct an official investigation to determine its legal owner.
The East Flanders prosecutor's office noted that the origins of the gold must first be verified — specifically, whether it was stolen or obtained through criminal activity.
Additionally, several parties could lay claim to the treasure: the construction contractors, the charitable organization, and possible descendants of the brewery owner's family.
Belgian law provides for a minimum five-year waiting period, during which potential owners may assert their rights to the find.
Will the student receive a reward?
The student himself acknowledged that he and his colleagues immediately understood that such a find had to be handed over to the authorities.
“If it had been a few coins, maybe not," he said.
At the same time, the young man hopes that whoever finds the treasure in the future will still receive some form of reward.
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