It seems it's not just trail hazards and waymarkers you should keep your eyes peeled for on your hikes abroad: two walkers in the Czech Republic have made an incredible discovery while taking a short cut in a wooded area of the Podkrkonosí Mountains.
After spotting an aluminum can protruding from a stone wall they inspected closer, only to find it, and a metal box nearby, full of coins, ornate jewelry and cigarette cases – all made from precious metals..
The male hikers took the hoard, said to be worth more than $340,000, to the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové where head of archaeology Miroslav Novak was staggered at the find.
Novak said: "To store valuable objects in the ground in the form of treasures, so-called depots have been common practice since the prehistoric times," the Daily Mail reports.
"At first, religious movements were more common, later it was property stored in uncertain times with the intention of returning later for it."
However, there is another theory, that it was hidden following Nazi Germany's annexation of parts of the former country Czechoslovakia. It could also have belonged to Germans who were forced out by Stalin's communists at the end of the war.
Museum director Petr Grulich said: "It is difficult to say whether this is the gold of a Czech who had to leave the occupied territory after the Nazi invasion of 1938, the gold of a German who feared displacement after 1945, or Jewish gold.
"It could also be stolen goods from an antique shop, but we are not inclined to this option."
Posted by muzeumhk.cz on
In a Facebook post (above) museum officials share photos of the loot, which weighed 15lb (6.8kg), showing ornate cigarette cases, bangles and solid gold coins. They clarify that the discovery was made on Zvičina hill.
"The aluminum jar sticking out above the surface of a shaft contained a total of 598 gold coins divided into 11 columns and wrapped in black fabric," the post says. "In a metal box found about a meter away were objects made of yellow metal – a total of 16 tobacco bags, 10 bracelets, a bag made of fine wire mesh, comb, chain with key and a powder coating."
The coins found were dated between 1808 and 1915, while several were from the 1920s and 1930s. They were from a variety of places, including France, Austria-Hungary, Belgium and the Ottoman Empire.
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