World News for Students of English

21-07-2015 07:00

An amateur archaeologist struck gold when he came across a hoard of old coins in northern Germany. Florian Bautsch uncovered 10 gold coins last October using a metal detector and on examination of the scene, professionals found 117 more.

The coins are of French, Belgian, Italian and Austro-Hungarian origin and date from 1831 to 1910. They’re believed to have been buried during the Nazi era or shortly after the Second World War.

Two aluminium seals featuring swastika crosses, eagles and the words “Reichsbank Berlin 244” were also in discovered in the same field. Researchers think the coins were part of the German central bank’s gold reserves and were probably stolen.

The hoard has been valued at around 45,000 euro, but unfortunately for Florian Bautsch, it’s not finders keepers. He reportedly receives a relatively modest finder’s fee of 2.5 thousand euro, and the coins will go on display at the local museum next week.

Difficult words: strike gold (to become rich, happy, or successful), hoard (a big amount), finders keepers (when someone finds something, he can keep it).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com