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Subscribe to RSSA Champagne producer struck gold when a flood of U.S. gold coins rained down on workers remodeling a building on his property, the Agence France-Presse reported. The coins had been tucked away in the building’s rafters.
François Lange, who heads the Champagne house Alexandre Bonnet, said on Tuesday that workers recovered 497 gold coins worth about $980,000. The coins were minted between 1851 and 1928, according to the Agence France-Presse.
"One of the workers was pounding on the building's ceiling with a crowbar when gold coins started to rain down on him, followed by sacks of gold," Lange told the Agence France-Presse.
Where the gold coins originated is unknown, but the building was formerly a grape-drying facility that had belonged to a wine producer who traded with Britain and the U.S. in the 1930s. The Champagne house is located in Les Riceys, a village in north-central France that is dotted with Renaissance churches and known for its rosé.
Lange told the Agence France-Presse that the gold coins will be divided between the workers and the owner of the Champagne house. He said they may produce a special vintage in honor of the found treasure.
This article includes reporting by msnbc.com staff and Agence France-Presse.
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I like how the money will be divided.
If it was the USA the property owner would have been greedy and demanded to keep it all... and it really doesn't matter their politics. If anyone thinks a "lefty" would share with the workers they claim to care about, they are out of their minds and do not know reality. I've worked for snobby liberals...they are the WORST.
You're an idiot. How the h3ll do you drag politics into this story?
Probably an unhealthy obsession with politics and his political views. People like this knob can turn any story into political mudslinging. Its a story about some very lucky workers who stumbled upon a lost treasure. nothing more nothing less.
Probably someone who has been repeatedly attacked by political idiots.
Hilarious...I'm sure that somehow it's Obama's fault.
No kidding! The liberal progressives I have known are all too willing to redistribute everyone's wealth but their own. The hypocrisy is mind-blowing.
Angus..this stream is getting more hilarious by the minute...thanks for playing! lmao! Like BadgerBoy points out...how the h3ll do you drag politics into this story?
I'm always amazed at stupid comments like this on stories that have nothing to do with politics. You sound like an old person blabbering pointless racist rants at a local morning buffet.
Jack...that's a hilarious visual! lmao I can absolutely see it happening!
@WilliamJenkins_III
You do know people in Europe are FAR FAR FAR more liberal then your average American, right? So if you want to turn this into a liberal vs conservative argument... it would actually be the more liberal people giving the money away to the workers in Europe. If your saying an American would do it, then it would be because that person is more conservative.
But I guess you don't care to know much about the rest of the world and their politics. Its people like you who are whats wrong with this country, and who make Americans look like idiots to the rest of the world.
We talking about France here, a picture of Obama world. Once the feds get their fair share, a glass of wine and free healthcare are all each worker gets.
Ah, I love to go back and see the hilariously ignorant comments from people who seemed butthurt over what I said.
JohnS why are you bringing up EUROPE when clearly I said "IN THE USA".
And why are you defensive liberal-types crying about me mentioning liberals when I said "it really doesn't matter their politics"??? I SPECIFICALLY mentioned liberals because that is the group of people who always claim that they are special and wouldn't engage in such behaviors but they most certainly do...and from my personal experience they are worse.
Don't give me some lame response that from your personal experience some religious right wingers were more selfish than liberal-types. I have a job that deals with everyone and I doubt most people who make excuses for the left really do otherwise they'd know the truth.
A company I worked for did a study and determined that they are 70% more likely to be sued by someone who affiliates themselves with the democrats vs. republicans. I don't know where they came up with this info, but they did.
William, you still managed to prove you are just another ignorant American who probably loves his bible thumping Republican politicians. You say politics do not matter but immediately bash the left. O yes, I must’ve forgotten just how snobbish the left is… let’s see
Well according to this, the word sounds more like a person on the right than anything on the left. Synonyms of the word include, aristocratic and elitist which describe those of the 1% you all on the right so highly support. Hey, I’ve worked for ignorant conservatives who spew hate and racism every chance they get... THEY are the WORST.
And actually, the personal political beliefs of a person have nothing to do with whether or not that person will be kind hearted and share the horde of gold with his employees. I think the word we are looking for here is called ‘morals.’
ThAt's where my father hid the money in WW11. ;-p
Next time try using the letter I instead of the number 1 when abbreviating "world war two".
picky, picky, picky. I've seen it both ways.
World War 11? Geeze, I missed 9 of them. :)
starbuck..certainly not to pile on, but if you've previously seen WWII expressed as WW11...it was a mistake then as well.
I don't know... WW8 and WW9 were pretty horrible, and we shouldn't try to diminish the horrors of WW11, either.
Somebody better tell the Iranians and Israelis that it's World War 12 they're thinking about starting.
Why can't we all just play nice. You learned every thing you need to know about life in kindergarten. Apparently that training has a very low success rate. lol
You guys are funny, stupid , but funny
News for world war 11
Sydney Morning Herald
Wall Street Journal - 9 hours ago
google world 11, you will find it. I have seen it both ways.
.
starbuck..nice that you're a good sport here and appreciate the humor in all of this. Frankly, I'm still googling like mad to find out who won in WW 7......................
News archive results for world war 11
Apr 11, 1951
MacArthur's Fabulous War Record Ends in Sudden Dismissal in Tokyo
Los Angeles Times (Pay-Per-View) - all 703 news articles »
Oct 11, 2002
Salon.com News | Sept. 11 and wars of the world
Salon - all 705 news articles »
Mar 7, 2003
Cards on the table - OpinionWebDiaryArchive2003 - www.smh.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald - all 1040 news articles »
There's a lot more listed like that.
starbuck..if you run across anything related to WW 7 in your search..be sure and pass it along..I'm having a devil of a time finding any concrete information!
Starbuck: The beauty of Google is that it anticipates common misspellings, much like WW11.
don't vote recklessly
starbuck..certainly not to pile on, but if you've previously seen WWII expressed as WW11...it was a mistake then as well.
There are a lot of (so called) MISTAKES in google.
Jack Colton
I just made the statement that I had seen it printed both ways. I could have said (The Great Patriotic War) but I don't think to many would have even heard that ter,/
Damn lucky workers! If I were to jump into a barrel of French Perfume it would turn into Sh^t before I could get even a whiff. Sigh.......
Well I do believe WW11 is a typo but should be written as WW(1+1).
Whadabout WWF and WWW?
You people need to get a life! No need to start WW111!
I bet a $20 US Gold Piece that not all the Gold Coins got turned in. Got to love those French.
Either way, WWII was in the 1940's, not 1928-30. So, shouldn't that be WWI?
There may be a hidden tragedy in this gold find. The last mint date of 1928 suggests possibly a holocaust connection. I'm sure the lucky finders will not worry themselves with this little quibble of morality. The location of the Champagne house Alexandre Bonnet had a Jewish population before the Nazi invasion and occupation. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened to them. I am a bit stunned at the lack of understanding of history and the dismal quality of journalism these days. It's the obvious question to ask. How could someone forget about 497 gold coins. Maybe the owner and his entire extended family were exterminated by the Nazi's:
"...Jews from Alsace and Lorraine established a community in Reims in 1870. However,
in 1941, on the eve of World War II, the 200 families who lived here were all
deported by the Germans on a single day..."
If WW11 = World War Two
THEN
How will we abbreviate World War Eleven?
Food for thought.
After the next world war, any wars after will be fought with sticks and stones, if anyone is left.
Evidently their cleaning lady did not do "rafters"!
daehttub2000
"I am a bit stunned at the lack of understanding of history and the dismal quality of journalism these days. It's the obvious question to ask. How could someone forget about 497 gold coins. Maybe the owner and his entire extended family were exterminated by the Nazi's:"
The 1928 date on the coins doesn't suggest anything about the Jewish Holocaust. The persecution and exodus of Germany's 525,000 Jews began almost as soon as the Nazis came to power on January 30, 1933. It could be that these coins were held in bags up to 1933 and then hidden for that reason. But it could be just as likely that they were placed in the rafters in 1928 or 1929 for any number of reasons not associated with the Holocaust. Until the mystery of why they were hidden, and when, then their connection to anything is nothing more than speculation.
The coins and sacks of coins rained down from the ceiling - causing lots of damage to their value. While there is a lot of intrinsic value in the precious metal, the greater value is the collectible nature of the coins. These are 90% gold coins, very soft, and easily nicked, scratched, and scuffed. The high prices realized by rare coins are mostly because of condition, condition, and condition.
Never touch the surface of a collectible coin - the surface is easily damaged and any defect can destroy much of the value.
The coins are probably duff.
If they were in mint condition I'm sure somebody would have noticed and they would be valued for more than their metal content.
mailman8: That is the first thing I thought of when I read the report. I can't think of any coin metal being damaged worse than gold when falling from ceiling height onto the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if all they did was weigh the coins to determine the value. It could take quite a bit of time to figure the collectors value of that many coins.
I like the generosity of the owner to share amongst the workers. Most likely wouldn't happen here...if this happened here the worker would probably file a workers comp suit for injuries inflicted by falling gold.
There are many companies just like this in the USA where the owners share the profits of the company. I worked for such a company who did just that for almost 25 years. In good years we got a lot and in bad years we got less but the company was always profitable and everyone shared this.
In fact I suspect this is MUCH MORE COMMON IN THE USA AND NOT FRANCE.
Good thing the suspicions of a moron are more frequently wrong than correct. Come back with evidence.
I agree with you. The owner is very generous. Technically, that's what he should do. Unfortunately, it's difficult for most people to say what they WOULD do, if left in that position.
Those are mine!
My precioussss..
Funny it doesn't say "Divided equally."
Since whoever bought the building owns the coins...I thought it was a good gesture to share them with the workers.
nope not in France: There is an automatic finders fee for anybody finding any kind of valuable anywhere. It used to be 15% min and up.
So for example: you find a wallet with 200euro in the street, bring it back to a police station and give your info, and you are automatically entitled to 15% (30 euro).
It is probably gold coins used by american merchant to buy french booze during the prohibition era...
It'd be interesting to find out, probably 50 % for the house and 50% for the workers. it would be more interesting to find out the story of the coins and associated people. Those rascal French, they are so debonair.
Does that 15% finder's fee apply even when the coins were found in the guy's own house?
Now how cool is that.
To be divided.
Well done Mr. Owner.
The owner was familiar with Abraham Lincoln. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Keep the employees happy or the rest of the building will fall.
....and since the roof is apparently falling apart, its good he took extra measures by sharing! haha
To some of the poster what does any of this has to do with politics? No. Really?
Are there people paid here to insert political commentary at every turn. Maybe even persuade and create a political image?
It's about a lucky find and the owners sharing it.
I'm more interested to find out where the money came from, was it part of a failed bank Ron heist?, any descriptions of the gold since it is of a significant and strange find.
I am willing to be that 3 coins went as finders fees. 497.....right.
GREAT, Now maybe those rifle dropping cheese eaters will finally pay back some of the WW2 debt. they still owe us for rebuilding their country................
LOL good one
Sure, right after USA pays back to France the total amount of monies loaned by King Louis XVI to George Washington to wage his war of rebellion against Great Britain.
Sure, right after USA pays back to France the total amount of monies loaned by King Louis XVI to George Washington to wage his war of rebellion against Great Britain.
I believe if Europe spoke German as the official language then the A-bomb would have been German first and America would have spoken German too, with Hitler sitting in the White House.
Write anything about France and there will always be someone opening his fat mouth to say something stupid. Don't get me wrong, not all Americans are like that of course. But the most disengaged, the ones who never fought anything, not to even mention a war, are the most willing to bash for reasons they don't even understand themselves.
I have met many war veterans of WWII, some were stationed in France at that time, and I have never ever heard them saying a bad word about France or any other European country. This taught we that bravery comes with dignity.
The Roscoe2u and Ruppert Jenkins of this world have neither.
On a related side story not published in the states headlines read"
"Future United States Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, wants gold coins back after dodging IRS"
Since countries maintain national and/or regional registries of land ownership, I'll hazard a guess that there are a lot of folks in the region having a quick browse to see if they have/had any relationship to whomsoever was the owner of the property back in the 20's/30's - I know if I was a possible relative, I'd be taking a damn good look.
Finally, at last, the lost gold coins of my American uncle have turned up in the Champagne region of France!Roscoe2u: UR in desperate need of a brain transfusion. We didn't rebuild France; we wrecked France. We pulverized the beautiful medieval city of Caen in Normandy to dust. Also St. Malo and Brest in Brittany. UR a day late and a dollar short. When the French knew the Nazis were coming they had to put gold coins somewhere and not in a bank. Usually, they buried the gold. It is found from time to time. Hiding the coins in an attic is a different strategy. Don't worry Uncle Jean-Pierre! I am coming for the gold!!!
@Big Black Dog, Go back to school and pay attention this time. Who do you think put up most of the money to rebuild Europe after WW2???? Not to mention the fact that if not for us they'd all be speaking German now..................
The Marshall Plan = best investment Americans may have done in history, with he highest ROI ever. Where do you think the economic boom of the 50s and 60s came from? At the time Europeans were buying American goods and services by the boat load. Money has been repaid by the millionth. Americans like Cornfeld made billions out of the Marshall plan.
If not for the brave American and British soldiers and French resistants, the US would have been nuked to the stone age by the Germans. Check your history books, the US supported Nazi Germany (Henry Ford, Prescott Bush, etc.. check complete list in the 1942 Roosevelt Trading with the Enemy Act.) untill they realized the guns were being pointed back at them and they learned about the final solution and the Aryan plan.
The origins of WWII are complex but they all point to the failure of the allies to reconstruct Europe, and particularly Germany after WWI and the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles. The failure to create Wilson's League of Nations (today the UN, that conservative French bashing Americans denigrate), have led to the collapse of the German economy and the rise of Hitler. This to say that the Marshall Plan has benefited Americans as much as Europeans.
So many blank pages in American history books.
@Peter, Nice post. I do take exception to the "If not for the brave American and British soldiers and French resistants, the US would have been nuked to the stone age by the Germans".
Germany isn't even the size of Texas so there is no way the U.S. would have been nuked to the stone age. They didn't have the A-Bomb, the man power or the materials of this country, not to mention that Russian problem they had at the time. Our entry into WW2 is what turned the tide to the Allies favor plain and simple and no type of revisionist history can alter that fact.
Take the coins to "Pawn Stars" and watch the owner (Rick) give them about 25 cents on the dollar.
Good for the owner and the workers if the story is true.
We've all heard of pennies from heaven, but this is craaaaazy!
Good thing it didn't happen in the good old US of A - where one of the workers would doubtless have claimed he was injured by a falling moneybag and now must file a Workman's Comp claim...or sue...
At which point the good ol' boys from Treasury would swoop down and all the pretty pretty gold would go *poof*...
How many US gold coins from that time are around? Didn't the Treasury Department call them in?
Nobody really knows how much gold coin, gold certificates, and bullion went under mattresses, in cans buried in the backyard, or hidden in the rafters of homes and barns.
After Executive Order 6102 was enacted in 1933, making it illegal to own gold, it was met with resentment. Most citizens who owned large amounts of gold had it transferred to countries such as Switzerland, Mexico, South America, etc. Since this article deals with French gold coins, the confiscation of gold in the US would have no authority anywhere else.
Then they all got drunk on the champagne & spent all the gold --- End of Story
Considering how our banks are greedily screwing their clients, I would assume that this type of "savings" may be becoming popular once again.
Just think of the CEO bonuses this could have helped defray from their retirement payouts from defunct savings institutions in the past....
Split between the workers and the owner! Hope it works. Sounds fair. Decent solution. But- in the US the money would go to lawyers, the workers would get nothing and the building owner would be bankrupt.
Actually in the US, as someone above mentioned, the gov't would have confiscated them. The same thing happened to an elderly lady around a year ago who found some in her dead fathers effects and then wanted to sell them. The gov't swooped in and made off with them like the bandits they are. I'm rather pleased that this happened in another country so that they can be privately owned and possibly displayed.
Theres GOLD, I SAY GOLD! from them thar rafters! Split the pie or we will die! HAH! HAH! HAH! WOOHOO!
"Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven......." :)
The IRS will find a way to get their share of the gold coins
@ doogie60 From France?
Every time it rains it rains Pennies from Heaven...........