gold jackpot found
Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:14 am
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/french-offici ... 35355.html
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Fri, 16 April 2021, 3:51 pm·3-min read
The surprise discovery of three jam jars filled with gold bars and hundreds of gold coins in an old building marked for renovation has left a mountain community in eastern France perplexed and celebrating.
The mayor of Morez, a small industrial town in a picturesque valley in the Jura, said the value of the find was more than €600,000 (£520,700). Town hall staff first found three jam jars of gold bars and coins worth €500,000 at the back of a dusty shelf, then opened a safe hidden behind boxes in a wardrobe to find up to €150,000 in gold coins.
The mayor, Laurent Petit, said the three-storey building in the town centre had been lived in by four brothers and sisters without children. When the last died in his 90s last year a relative offered to sell the building to the town hall for €130,000. Morez, like many other towns in France, was seeking to buy up and renovate old buildings to attract families back to its emptying centre.
“The house was packed with objects and furniture,” Petit said. “There had been several generations who didn’t throw anything away, kept everything and lived really frugally. I agreed we’d buy the property as it was and we’d gradually empty its contents ourselves.”
When Covid-19 struck last spring and France was locked down, the east of France was heavily hit and plans for workmen to tidy the building were put on hold. But Morez, near the Swiss border, had a glorious past as a historic manufacturing centre for clocks and spectacles and officials wanted to check if any items were of historic interest. Senior staff, including the mayor, the head of services and the local museum head went in themselves. They followed social distancing rules, taking one floor each, and carefully sorted through boxes and cupboards.
“Three jars full of gold bars were sitting behind lots of other objects on a shelf,” the mayor said. “There was surprise and stupefaction. None of us had ever held a piece of gold. I’d only ever seen gold bars in photos, and thought they must be huge. But these were small, weighing 1kg and the size of a cigarette packet.”
The five gold bars and more than 1,000 gold coins were estimated to be worth €500,000.
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Fri, 16 April 2021, 3:51 pm·3-min read
The surprise discovery of three jam jars filled with gold bars and hundreds of gold coins in an old building marked for renovation has left a mountain community in eastern France perplexed and celebrating.
The mayor of Morez, a small industrial town in a picturesque valley in the Jura, said the value of the find was more than €600,000 (£520,700). Town hall staff first found three jam jars of gold bars and coins worth €500,000 at the back of a dusty shelf, then opened a safe hidden behind boxes in a wardrobe to find up to €150,000 in gold coins.
The mayor, Laurent Petit, said the three-storey building in the town centre had been lived in by four brothers and sisters without children. When the last died in his 90s last year a relative offered to sell the building to the town hall for €130,000. Morez, like many other towns in France, was seeking to buy up and renovate old buildings to attract families back to its emptying centre.
“The house was packed with objects and furniture,” Petit said. “There had been several generations who didn’t throw anything away, kept everything and lived really frugally. I agreed we’d buy the property as it was and we’d gradually empty its contents ourselves.”
When Covid-19 struck last spring and France was locked down, the east of France was heavily hit and plans for workmen to tidy the building were put on hold. But Morez, near the Swiss border, had a glorious past as a historic manufacturing centre for clocks and spectacles and officials wanted to check if any items were of historic interest. Senior staff, including the mayor, the head of services and the local museum head went in themselves. They followed social distancing rules, taking one floor each, and carefully sorted through boxes and cupboards.
“Three jars full of gold bars were sitting behind lots of other objects on a shelf,” the mayor said. “There was surprise and stupefaction. None of us had ever held a piece of gold. I’d only ever seen gold bars in photos, and thought they must be huge. But these were small, weighing 1kg and the size of a cigarette packet.”
The five gold bars and more than 1,000 gold coins were estimated to be worth €500,000.
