English couple gives away gold worth $600,000 found inside a piano

Meg and Graham Hemmings have kept an old piano for three decades at home. But one fine day, they decided to give it away...

And this is what happened.

A piano with something else than history

Once upon a time, an English couple bought an old piano from a second-hand dealer so that their four children could play it. That piano was in their home for three decades.

But after their retirement, Meg and Graham Hemmings donated the piano to their local community college in Shropshire, England. They were completely unaware of what was inside it...

Eight cloth packages full of... moth repellent?

Martin Backhouse, piano tuner, was working on the instrument when he noticed some objects inside it. At the beginning, he thought there was moth repellent. But, when he looked closer, he found eight cloth packages containing more than 900 gold coins dating between 1847 and 1914 and worth over $600,000.

The couple's reaction to the finding

Mr. and Mrs. Hemmings were very surprised to hear about the finding. That piano was in their home for three decades and nobody ever noticed the gold coins! Now, the question is: who is to keep the proceeds?

The Telegraph reported that, according to the Treasure Act, “only the finder of a treasure and/or current owner of the property can share in the proceeds.”

Since the couple's local community college is the current owner of the piano, they don’t get to keep one pound of the treasure. However, they confessed they are very happy for the beneficiaries:

“We support and cherish our local community college. We think it’s something to celebrate.”