The self storage industry has proven to be quite a reliable investment since the economy started to go south. Some might consider it gold; others might just consider it smart investing. There have been stories about people finding treasures that are as good as gold to them, but in the case of a self storage unit a San Jose man recently bought the meaning “good as gold’ is literal.
The man in question has only been identified as “John” and with good reason—he probably doesn’t want people to know that he has found an actual pirate treasure!
The bidder in question bought the storage unit at auction for $1100. Inside he found either an actual treasure chest or just a rubber maid container (depends on the outlet reporting the story). In the container were gold doubloons valued at approximately half a million dollars.
According to an expert that was consulted, the coins are Spanish gold dating back to the 1500-1800s.
"With a discovery this large, I would bet we have not heard the end of the story. Details about the original owner may emerge, and then we will see some twists. One thing is for certain, storage auctions are bound to become even more crowded as new buyers flock to them in an effort to find treasures like this one," said Bradley Caricofe, an editor at Storage Auction Central.
Dan and Laura Dotson of Storage Wars fame broke the story about the discovery on their twitter feed earlier this month when they tweeted:
"SOLD his way! Congratulations John of San Jose on your $500k pcs. of Eight GOLD find! 2 units same tenant $1700 & $1100. Photos coming soon."
If you peruse the internet enough you will find a number of stories about people finding interesting things in self storage units. It’s almost amazing what people will put into self storage and forget about. From a live grenade to a lawyer’s office to a NASA countdown clock and a hapless burglar, you name it and it has probably been found in a self storage unit.
Another man had similar luck at an auction in Virginia earlier this year. He bought a pair of storage units for $27,000. Inside he found various antiques and historical memorabilia including a cane once used by President Harry Truman, some Civil War items, documents from several other Presidents and much more.
Sources Used:
“Man Finds $500,000 in Gold at Storage Auction.” SFGate.com; 16 November 2011.
“Pair of Storage Units Auctioned for $27,000.” PRWeb; 09 November 2011.