SECRET HOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23858, 12 July 1939, Page 12

SECRET HOARD

HIDDEN BEHIND STOVE £3OO IN GOLD AND NOTES MIDDLEMARCH MAN’S DISCOVERY A remarkable discovery was made by the tenant of a property in Middlemarch a few days ago, when he unearthed from behind a stove in a disused hut a tin containing a large number of bank notes of various denominations, as well as a handful of sovereigns and half-sovereigns. The total face value of the find amounted to £285 10s. The tenant had decided that an old stove in a hut at the rear of the house should be removed, and during the dismantling process he found a battered tin which, on being opened, was fouud to contain a large amount of money in gold and notes, representing, at the present price of gold, over £3OO. The find consisted of:

One hundred and ten Bank of New Zealand £1 notes.

Twenty-five Bank of New Zealand £5 notes. One Bank of New Zealand £lO note. Thirty-six sovereigns. Nine half-sovereigns.

The tin also contained a cheque book, an unemployment levy book, and a letter, all of which established conclusively that the owner of the money was the original tenant of the property who had died four years ago. On the death of this tenant the estate was administered by a local trustee organisation, which sold the property in 1935. Since that time five tenants have occupied the property, but the range in the hut remained undisturbed until the present occupant decided to remove it. and thereby disclosed the hoard. Immediately the money was discovered the finder handed it as well as the documents over to the Middlemarch police, and the matter is now in the course of adjustment.