California Man Finds $500k Worth of Bullion in Abandoned Storage Locker

Talk about a once in a lifetime event!!

An anonymous California man recently found $500,000 worth of gold doubloons, old Spanish coins from the 1600s along with assorted array of other gold and silver coins in an abandoned storage unit in Contra Costa, California.

The man won the storage unit in an auction held by Dan and Laura Dotson…for $1100!! Now that’s an investment that really paid off.

You may be familiar with Dan and Laura – they’re the auctioneers featured in A&E’s hit reality TV series Storage Wars. Unfortunately for millions of fans, the cameras weren’t rolling at this particular auction.

The husband and wife duo says the gold coins and other bullion were in a Tupperware container that weighed “…about 250 pounds and took three guys to pick up.” The box was so heavy in fact the buyer of the unit didn’t attempt to move it or look in it until he had gone through the entire locker.

Such a large find wasn’t expected for the unit, which was rented by a now-deceased woman who paid the $300-$400 rental fee each month with a credit card. When the payments stopped, the unit was put up for auction.

“I’d heard it was just old ladies clothing, and older woman stuff like kitchen utensils,” says Laura.

But when the swashbuckler stash was found, the winning bidder was sure to let Dan & Laura know. The auctioneers typically don’t hear about what was found in the units – if someone busts, they generally don’t tell many people. The anonymous bidder was mainly happy that one of the heavy-weight bidders featured on the show (Dave, Jarrod, Darrell and Barry) didn’t get the locker.

“It’s [bidding on storage lockers] a little like Vegas and if you lose, you don’t tell anyone,” explains Dan.

This incredible story should serve to make one point though – be careful where you store your valuable gold bullion, silver coins and other precious metals. You want to pass your bullion on to your heirs in the event something happens to you.

If you want to be sure valuables like these stay in your family once you’re gone, don’t leave them in an abandoned storage locker. If the bill doesn’t get paid, someone may just stumble into a find of a lifetime and likely pay way less than what you paid for the metals.