For most of us, stepping on a dollar bill is enough to thank our lucky stars.
But that’s peanuts compared to the treasure these guys chanced upon.
Stroke of luck? More like a tidal wave of fortune if you ask me!
Prepare to drool over the 10 Luckiest Discoveries that made People Rich!
What's up, fact-natics! This is Discovery Amuse, serving up your daily dose of the most
outrageous, outlandish, and out-of-this-world fun facts!
Stay tuned because our number one pick literally struck gold!
Let’s get digging!
#10. Financial Independence
Let's kick off the countdown with the story of an old, torn landscape painting found at
a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. I know what you're thinking, it's a classic
case of forgotten art that turned out to be a highly valued masterpiece. Well, not exactly.
Because it is what’s hidden behind the painting that actually made it a priced possession!
In 1991, an anonymous man brought the unassuming painting for 4 bucks at the said flea market
mainly for the wooden frame. Chalk it up to incredible luck because when he came home
and dismantled his find, he found a piece of linen paper measuring 15 by 19 inches that
turned out to be a rare first printing of the Declaration of Independence! In pristine
condition! The historical artifact, which is 1 of only 200 official copies,
was printed on July 4, 1776. When the lucky man had it appraised,
the auction house estimated its value between 800 grand and 1.2 million dollars!
Keep watching, because our number 1 pick might have you scouring the
internet for your next lucky find, just like what he did!
#9. Drunk in Luck
If you haven’t gotten around to doing your spring cleaning, this story might
be the shot of inspiration you need. In 2012, while Missouri man Bryan Fite
was doing some of the work himself installing an air conditioning system on his 1850s house,
he uncovered what might as well be considered liquid gold. When he pried oven the floorboards
of his attic, instead of pipes, what he found were 13 sealed bottles of whiskey,
distilled in 1912 and 1913, and bottled in 1917! For perspective, a rare bottle
of whiskey can be sold up to 200 grand these days. So imagine having a baker’s dozen of ‘em!
Who knew saving up on labor could actually make you rich! Cheers to that!
#8: Brushstroke of Luck
An Indiana man initially bought an old painting with some flowers in it to cover
up a hole in the wall. Years later, while he was playing a boardgame called Masterpiece,
which featured pictures of some precious artwork,
one of the cards looked eerily similar to the one he hung on his wall.
After some online digging, he realized that the quote unquote “old painting with some
flowers in it” looked so much in the style of 19th century American still-life artist Martin
Johnson Heade (Heed)! When he had the Kennedy Galleries in Manhattan check out his painting,
the curator confirmed that it was indeed a Heade original, called” Magnolias on Gold Velvet Cloth!”
In 1999, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston paid him a cool $1.25
million for the Heade, and just like the magnolias in the painting,
the Indiana man must be lying on his own gold velvet cloth as we speak.
#7: Bag from the Moon
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
And a boatload of cash for one lucky lady!
In 2003, authorities seized an unidentified bag from the garage
of a man accused of stealing and selling museum artifacts. Since the bag looked meh,
the US Marshalls Service put it up for auction. And in 2015,
a Chicago attorney named Nancy Lee Carlson bought the plain-looking bag for $995.
Because the bag was labeled “lunar sample return,” Carlson sent the bag to NASA for
authentication. And you’ll never guess who the bag originally belonged to.
No other than Neil Armstrong! Apparently, he used it to collect samples from the moon! What’s more,
the bag still had moon dust traces inside!
In 2017, the purse from outer space was sold at an auction for a whopping $1.8 million!
#6 Ancient Coins
In 2019, couple Adam Staples and Lisa Grace were training their friends to use metal detectors in
a farmer's field in Somerset, South West England, when their devices started going off like crazy.
Fifteen years into their hunt for treasures, they finally hit the jackpot and unearthed more than
2,500 silver coins… but these are no ordinary pennies. The coins date back to the Battle of
Hastings in 1066 and depict the defeated King Harold II and the triumphant conqueror William I.
Five hours later, they dug up all the silver coins - most of them
in mint condition and valued at around 1,000 to 5,000 pounds each! In total,
the centuries old coins are believed to be worth about 5 million pounds, or 6.5 million dollars!
Honey! We’re getting us some metal detectors!
#5: Egg-ceptional Find
In 2014, an American scrap metal dealer found the granddaddy of all Easter eggs!
While searching for scrap gold to trade, the man discovered the golden egg with a watch and
some gems tucked inside it, and bought it for 14 grand hoping to make a quick buck out of it.
But when he couldn’t get a buyer for it, he did some online research to find out
more about the curious egg. To his utter shock, he learned that the oval shaped
artifact could possibly have hailed from the court of imperial Russia!
When the man had it appraised by an antiques dealer,
he confirmed that the golden egg was actually crafted by the House of Faberge
between 1886 and 1887 for the Russian Tsar Alexander III as an Easter gift to his wife.
The estimated price of the Faberge egg? A royal $20 million!
#4: Sedimental Value
In 2002, a down-on-his luck Aussie miner who prefers to go by ‘Bobby,’ decided to sell his
mining equipment and brought home his last ever bucket of rocks from the mining site.
One of the grimy rocks proved to be so much more when he saw hints of
green and gold while he was rubbing it. It took him two years to finally take away the muck
covering the stone, which turned out to be an ultra-rare 306-carat black opal!
It took a while for him to let go of the precious gem. After 14 years in his possession,
he finally parted with the precious stone and entrusted it to Katherine Jetter,
a jewelry designer with extensive experience in opal trade.
The green and gold rock nicknamed “The Royal One” was valued at $3 million,
and dug the miner out of his rut.
#3 Rare Comic Book
Who knew that Superman also helped out people in real life?
In 2013, Minnesotan contractor David Gonzalez and his wife bought a fixer-upper in Elbow Lake,
Minnesota for just a little more than 10 grand. But when he was tearing out the insulation in
the garage, he noticed some old newspapers and comic book pages. Guess what was hiding among
the old prints? It’s not a bird, it’s not a plane, but a first edition Action Comics!
Any comic book fan worth his salt would know that Action Comics #1, published in 1938,
is Superman’s maiden voyage. In 2014, one pristine copy of it fetched more than $3 million!
However, Gonzalez's copy had a detached back cover, so it was only sold for 175 grand.
Still, that’s 17 times more than his investment on the fixer-upper!
#2: Nugget of Wealth
The Aussies sure are a lucky bunch!
One night in 1980, Australian man Kevin Hillier dreamt about finding a weird-shaped
gold nugget. Two weeks later, lo and behold, his dream became a reality he and his wife,
Bep, took their new metal detector for a spin and uncovered a 61-pound golden nugget!
To date, the nugget, dubbed the Hand of Faith, is still the biggest golden nugget to be discovered
using a metal detector. It’s now on public display at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
The treasure made the couple a million dollars richer, and gave the couple a new lease on life.
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#1 Treasure Tank
In 2017, British tank enthusiast Nick Mead got more than what he bargained for
when he went on the Internet to look for a new addition to his growing collection.
After an eBay transaction, Mead obtained a Russian T54/69 tank in exchange for two
armored vehicles. Little did he know that the tank was hiding something more.
When Mead's team started working on the restoration to bring back the tank to its
former glory, his team found out that one of the tank's fuel canisters was not
working. Curious, they removed it and carefully went through the inside,
not knowing they were about to pull out not one, not two, but five golden bars!
Each bar weighed up to 12 pounds and Mead estimated the entire stash to be worth 2
million pounds! Who knew his passion for restoration was worth its weight in gold!
There you have it! Our countdown of the 15 Luckiest Discoveries
That Made People Rich! Which of them do you think got the luckiest break? And did you get
some ideas for your next treasure-hunting? Let us know in the comments section below!
Take home any of our exclusive gear by browsing our merch shelf,
or clicking the link in the video description! And while you’re at it, take our quiz to find
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Still feeling unlucky? Then get inspired by our list of the 20 Luckiest People caught on Camera!
‘Til then, stay optimistic, fact-natics! And see you in the next video!