Man discovers gold worth $800,000 buried in his garden

A man earlier this year discovered a gold treasure worth $800,000 while digging a swimming pool in his garden in France, local officials have said.

The man informed the local authorities after he made the discovery in May, and they allowed him to keep the gold as it did not come from an archeological site, the council in the eastern town of Neuville-sur-Saone said on Wednesday.

He found "five gold bars and many coins" buried in plastic bags, local newspaper Le Progres reported.

Police found the gold had been acquired legally and had been melted down some "15 or 20 years ago" at a nearby refinery, it said.

Because the gold bars had unique numbers that could be traced, police were able to determine that they had not been stolen, the outlet reported.

According to Le Progres, France's 19th century civil code defines treasure as "any hidden or buried thing over which no one can prove their ownership, and which is discovered purely by chance."

"Ownership of a treasure belongs to the one who finds it on their own property," the code states, according to the outlet.

The previous owner of the garden has died, the town hall said, and how the gold ended up there remains a mystery.

As of Thursday, the price of gold is $4,017.33 per ounce, according to American Hartford Gold. 

Other homeowners have found valuable treasure on their property in recent years. In 2024, a Northern California couple discovered  $10 million worth of rare coins dating back to the 1800s while hiking on their property.

In 2023, a man in Germany found gold bars and coins hidden in his apartment that were valued at over $150,000. The year before that, more than 260 gold coins discovered by a British couple beneath their kitchen floor during renovations sold for nearly $1 million at auction.

• France