Every so often, amateur treasure hunters stumble onto something spectacular: the missing centrepiece of Henry VIII’s crown, a trove of silver and gold Viking Age objects, or Bronze Age axes. Now, a Civil War coin hoard that may have been buried to protect its contents from Confederate raiders is joining the ranks of these fascinating finds.

The 700-plus gold coins were unearthed in a cornfield in Kentucky earlier this year. They date between 1840 and 1863 and include $10 gold coins featuring a bust of Lady Liberty, rare $20 gold Liberty Double Eagles minted in 1863, and $1 coins known as Indian Princess Dollars. To authenticate his finds, the man turned to specialist rare coin dealers and the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC).

The details of the coins’ burial remain unknown. But an educated guess is that their owner hid the trove as an “insurance policy” during the chaos of the Civil War. By the time the conflict ended in 1865, the individual may have died or forgotten exactly where the hoard was buried.

It is believed that the total value of the Great Kentucky Hoard exceeds $2 million. The importance of this discovery cannot be overstated, as the remarkable number of over 700 gold dollars represents a virtual time capsule of Civil War-era coinage. Finding one mint-condition 1863 Double Eagle would be an important numismatic event. Finding so many terrific examples is hard to comprehend.

Closer to home, we have the legend of the Kruger Millions. According to this lore, there is an undiscovered cache of gold allegedly hidden by President Paul Kruger between 1899 and 1902. In an attempt to prevent the gold from falling into the hands of the invading British forces during the Second Boer War, it is said that the treasure consisting of gold bars, coins, and diamonds worth up to $500,000,000 in today's terms was taken out of Pretoria by train and hidden before Kruger was exiled in 1900.

Several caches of Krugerrands have been located over the years, including a stash found in the Swiss bank. Could this be all of the Kruger treasure caches, or are there more out there waiting to be found? What do you believe?