Two hikers were strolling in the foothills of the Krkonose Mountains in the Czech Republic in early February when they noticed something shiny peeking out of a stone wall. They pulled out what turned out to be an aluminum can, looked inside and found a small fortune.

Inside was a treasure trove of 598 gold coins, neatly organized into columns and wrapped in black fabric, said Miroslav Novak, the head of the archaeological department of the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, which later took possession of the stash.

A few feet away, the hikers unearthed a second cache: a metal box containing gold items, including 16 snuffboxes, 10 bracelets, a comb, a chain with a small key and a powder compact.

The discovery of the treasure, worth as much as $680,000, has set off a search among historians and amateur sleuths to figure out who might have hidden the riches.

While archaeological discoveries are fairly common in the region, with many dating back to the Bronze Age or medieval times, the newest coin in this collection was from 1921, indicating that the treasure had been hidden within about the past century.

That relative recency has offered a tantalizing lead to researchers, who think they may be able to track down the owner of the treasure through archival research and solve the mystery of why it was hidden.

"It's possible that someone might come across some information, perhaps in the newspapers of the time, that someone robbed a jewelry store or something like that, and suddenly it might lead us to a clue," Dr. Novak said.

The coins offer perhaps the best - yet most confounding - clues.

None of the money circulated in the area where it was discovered. Roughly half the coins are from Western European countries, including France and Belgium. The rest are from regions around the world, including the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Tunisia and other parts of Africa.

The Balkan coins have holes drilled in them, indicating that they were most likely used to adorn the headbands or necklaces that were part of folk costumes or wedding attire, Dr. Novak said.

Online, some suggested the gold could have been the collection of a guard at a prisoner-of-war camp, while others were sure it was hidden by a local dentist.

"The problem is that there are a huge number of possibilities," Dr. Vesely said. "Central Europe was swept through by a huge number of people in various directions back and forth during those years, so anything could have happened."

The personal objects found with the coins, including the snuff boxes and compact, may be key to resolving the mystery. The stash contained a mix of items used by both men and women, and given how many items were included, may have been buried by a group rather than a single person, Dr. Vesely said.

To read the complete article, see:
Hikers Stumble Upon a Pile of Gold Coins, Igniting a Historical Hunt(https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/world/europe/czech-treasure-gold-discovery.html)