Boys Find Treasure In Park At Dunedin

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28794, 15 January 1959, Page 7

Boys Find Treasure In Park At Dunedin

(New Zealand Press Association)

DUNEDIN, January 14. The “play-way” of finding treasure was demonstrated by two youngsters in Dunedin today when they unearthed a bottle containing .60 golden coins—sovereigns and half-sovereigns—from the bank of Lindsay’s creek at Chingford Park. With the official bank value of sovereigns at £2 18s each, the boys—H-year-old Allan Booth, of 26 Ainsley place, and 10-year-old Ramon Duff, of Bluff, who is on holiday with a neighbour of the Booths—stand to gain about £ll6 from the find, if all goes well. They will split the booty between them. Allan explained that they were “bombing” with stones a “battleship,” a matchbox floating in the creek) when a bottle was noticed in the bank. It had been unearthed by erosion. “Halfpennies" They thought they saw some halfpennies in the bottle, but when they looked they found 60 old golden coins. The bottle was broken in the excitement and the boys returned to their homes—as Mrs Booth put it—“almost as dirty as the coins.” Only recently Allan had gone

home and told his mother that he had found gold in the river—but lost it again. It was probably only a small piece of brass filing. Most of the coins are from the reign of Edward VII and Queen Victoria, and include a few Australian half-sovereigns. The oldest was dated 1869. A police officer said such a find would probably be regarded as lost property rather than treasure trove. Once the police were notified of the details of the discovery they would make inquiries and providing no trace could be found of an owner, the coins would belong to the finders. Normally the police retain unclaimed property for three months before giving it to the finders. In Ground for Years The hoard had evidently been in the ground for years. Word went round the neighbouring children of the discovery, and a minor “gold rush” occurred in Chingford Park, but no other buried treasure was discovered near the creek. In the meantime, Ramon is dreaming of a bicycle he would like to have and Allan is just dreaming.