One day when I was a kid, a classmate came to school and pulled out of his pocket a rather large bag of coins, he was very interested. This was despite the fact that the coins were not very good looking. They were dirty, covered in patina, and, most importantly, long past their expiration date. But it was interesting nonetheless. And what was interesting was the legend surrounding the coin. Probably fictional, but still amazing to us kids. He had dug up a German war coin somewhere on the outskirts of our town, and there were still many of them lying around. Everyone wanted those coins, and he even gave some to some of us. But he did not say where this treasure was. In hindsight, it is fair to assume that the fool had simply made it up or greatly exaggerated it.
But another similar discovery was actually made in our country. And it disgusted me very much. As children, we were accustomed to going to unlocked places. In the ruins that were in our village, it was quite acceptable. One day we went up to the attic of a house near the town square. And as we were peeking around, we found a crown on the floor. It was not the kind of thing that was often used as payment in those days, but one that only belonged in my modest coin collection. It was not a coin that belonged in my modest collection, because it was invalid at the time of the currency reform. And guess what happened a few years later?
In almost the same place, not on the ground but behind a beam, the artisans found a bundle of 1000 crowns stashed away. Naturally, it was also invalid. It is assumed that the former butcher had deposited it there because he had made a lot of money by cheating his customers and had no time to spend it due to the unexpected currency reform. Since he could not exchange the money to avoid being arrested, he must have wanted to get something else. He didn\’t. But I was pissed. Because I could have had such a wonderful thing in my collection! If I had taken my eyes off the floor, off that one crown, and looked across the beam! But surely none of the things mentioned were rich then. Unlike now. German coins during the war were worthless anyway, but those bills sold for at least $1,500 in numismatic electronic stores.