They Discovered a Locked Box Beneath a Trapdoor in Their New Home What Lay Inside Is Amazing

They discovered a locked box beneath a trapdoor in their new home. What lay inside is amazing. A stack of abandoned furniture, a worn out carpet, or a faded shade of paint, newly purchased homes often hide fragments of their past lives and hints of forgotten histories. However, it is exceptionally rare for a newly bought house to hide a box of treasure. But that is exactly what happened here, much to the surprise of the home's new owner, Imgur user Tzarmat. After all, Tzarmat had completely missed the movable panel in the floor of a closet during his no doubt chaotic move. In fact, it was Tzarmat's wife who spotted the offending panel. Did you know we had a trapdoor? She asked him one day after noticing a square outline in the Oh, Tzarmat reported on Imgur. Hopefully no dead bodies down there. Still, dead bodies or not, what else could they do but take a look? So, Tzarmat lifted the trapdoor to find a shallow, hidden compartment. Fortunately, it was far too small to hold any corpses, and aside from being dusty, dirty, and lined with black plastic, it also appeared to be empty. What a disappointment. But wait, what's that in the corner? A box? What could it contain, and why was it stashed under the floorboards? Tzarmat retrieved the intricately crafted wooden chest from its secret cubbyhole and noticed that it felt unusually weighty. It's locked tight and who knows how old it is, wrote Tzarmat on Imgur. I'm afraid to force it open and risk ruining the box itself. Fortunately, Tzarmat had a locksmith buddy who could probably get it open in no time in exchange for some beers, so he made the call. However, the locksmith declined the invitation, and Tzarmat had to resort to other methods to try and open the box. First, he tried and failed to pick the lock with a paperclip, then he readied his screwdriver and hammer. Luckily, though, the lock was already broken, and Tzarmat simply slid a flat-headed screwdriver under the lid and carefully pried the box open. At last, then, he would get to see the contents within, and he managed to do it without damaging the beautiful box. No wonder the box was so heavy, wrote Tzarmat. Tons of coins. And next to them, a second wooden box, a box within a box, contained another mystery begging to be unraveled. First, though, he began examining the original box's contents piece by piece. The variety of coins was impressive. There were copper, brass, silver, and nickel pieces from all around the world, coins that had undoubtedly changed hands countless times. Now, though, they were in a mysterious wooden box under Tzarmat's floorboards. One of the coins was a well-preserved Morgan silver dollar from 1904. A nice find. Such a coin could, depending on where it was minted, be worth anything from $25 to around $2,000. Perhaps, then, it's no wonder that its former owner protected it in a little baggie. Still, the very oldest coin in the collection was apparently this Canadian one-cent piece from 1859. Its condition was far from perfect, but at the very least, it's worth a few dollars. Not a bad appreciation at all. But coins weren't the only thing that Tzarmat found in the box. For example, hidden in the felt lining was an old collector's card depicting a metallic-skinned superhero instantly recognizable to Marvel comic fans. Behold, the Silver Surfer. Okay, coins and Silver Surfer, I guess, wrote Tzarmat on Imgur. But what about the other curious little box nestled next to the coins? Bummer, wrote Matt. Looks like it's outfitted with the latest in tiny lock technology. Alas, it seemed that a screwdriver would not work here. But luckily, there was no need to use the hammer. Behold, wrote Tzarmat, my wife found the key buried under the coins. What a relief. Now we can finally see what's inside. Tiny body bags, wrote Tzarmat. Well, notwithstanding the remote possibility that they contained elven corpses, the little bags were certainly an intriguing find. And whatever they contained, the former owner had clearly wanted to protect them. Mercifully, there were no tiny bodies, but there was an intriguing collection of antique pocket watches. Well-preserved in their protective bags, the timepieces were large and small, and some of them were beautifully engraved, too. Such character, such style, but did they still tick? On closer inspection, Tzarmat found that two of them certainly did. Thus, the watches were not only a potentially tasteful addition to any hipster's waistcoat, but also practical and functioning, and possibly worth a few bucks. The final bonus prize was this signet ring with a Girl Scouts of America logo. What a haul! Coins, watches, a ring, and a silver surfer card. It's not every day that you find such extraordinary buried treasure in your home. But not everyone is impressed by such things. Take Tzarmat's dog, who looked on from the sofa with some apparent disdain. Dogs aren't interested in shiny objects, after all. They're interested in food. Perhaps it's time to pack up the plunder and feed the pooch.