Sure it's for real. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I personally know of two similar stories. One work related and one neighbourhood related... well, neighbourhood... area, it happened in a village nearby.
One day at work we got a call from someone who wanted to invest a rather large amount in investmentfunds and put another amount on a savingsaccount.
They asked us to send someone over becouse they rather closed the deal at home. Two of us went over and when we got there we got the whole story. Aparently that couple had been taking care of the mentally ill daughter of an auntie. They couldn't have children and helped raise that girl like if it was one of their own. When auntie died she left them a lot of "things". Including the "junk" on the attick of the old house. A couple of chests/baskets with old letters, old medaillons, ... lots of things what people keep as emotional reminders but that are just old stuff to other people. In two of those chests/baskets there was old clothes. The couple had no idea what to do with those and decided to donate them to charity. But first they wanted to clean it ofcourse. While going through it they found differend pairs of socks. Who seemed to be stuffed. When they turned the socks inside out lots and lots of the notorious (in Belgium) 10,000 BEF bill fell out.
Seems like old auntie, who was a loner, had hidden her fortune there. Maybe it was her way of thanking them for taking care of her daughter. Auntie herself never cared about her daughter very much. She couldn't deal with the fact that she gave birth to a "disabled" child. - Is what the couple told us.
They had found over ( exchange of today) 20,000 US $.
Half they put on in long time investmentfunds. The other half was put into a savingsacount that can only be used for the daughter of that auntie. Last thing I heared when I was in that office is that they legally want to adopt the girl.
And after meeting them I don't think it's about the money. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
The other story is about a guy who bought an old farmhouse with surrounding grounds in a village nearby. It was "in fashion" for awhile in Belgium to buy old farmhouses and turn them into homes, with lots of gardens around it. Getting rit of old stable buildings for gardens or ponds, or turning them into garages fi.
That guy was demolishing one of the old stables close to the house when he discoverd an iron (little) chest under the wooden floor. The chest was filled with bronze, silver and golden coins. He reported it to local authorities. The works in and around the stable ware put on hold for awhile while scientists and historians searched for more. What he found ware coins from the Roman time. He put an ad in newspapers, looking for family of the people who previously owned the farm. - The story had made newspapers anyway.
No one replied. And after no more was found he was declared legally owner and "sold" the treasure to the goverment (they take and leave you with leftovers <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />). He prolly didn't had a choice anyway. They prolly claimed it as national heritage. Some of the coins are on display now in differend musea around the country. I'm sure the goverment made good use of the rest. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
- on a side note
@gal
You should take people to the Gallo-Roman museum in Tongeren. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The oldest city of Belgium. Remember?
I only remembered becouse I know a few of those coins are there. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />
And that while the village I live in is build on an acient Roman site too. And we have the remains of 3 cassles and one abbey from the middle ages here. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />
But a little village doesn't has the funds to restore those, let alone turning them into toerist atractions.
