All in all, it was hiding behind just another brick in the wall.
A collection of rare gold coins nearly lost to history after its owner passed away has fetched nearly $4 million at auction.
The gilded stash had been amassed over a lifetime by numismatist Paul Narce, who lived in Castillonnès, France, until his death last year at 89, the Times of London reported.
“I have never seen such a major collection go on sale from the point of view of quantity and quality,” coin expert Thierry Parsy said in a statement ahead of the sale, which went down at the Beaussant Lefèvre auction house in Paris, CNN reported.
“Narce, who lived a modest life and didn’t see a lot of the world, spent all of his money on his collection,” said Parsy.
His rare prizes were meticulously labeled — the collection reportedly numbered more than a thousand pieces, some dating back centuries.
These included pieces from the Kingdom of Macedonia, dating to 336-323 BC, and nearly complete sets of coins exchanged during the reigns of French Kings Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI — including some minted just before the latter’s execution by guillotine in 1793.
Parsy said that Narce clearly “knew what he was buying,” which seemed unusual given that he was an unknown.
In fact, the coin expert said that the treasure trove “could have remained undiscovered forever” — had the notary in charge of the deceased’s estate not heard of Narce’s unique hobby from local villagers.
The elderly collector had no children or heirs and had moved to a nursing home after his sister Claudette, with whom he collected the coins, passed away a year prior.
Along with the aforementioned collection, they found “masterpieces of gothic art” and ten cloth pouches, each containing 172 “Napoléons” (golden 20 franc coins) — amounting to an ingot of gold.
After an extensive search of the property, the notary finally located the treasure chest — hidden behind the picture on the wall of a storage room.
The coin collection went under the gavel for an eye-popping $3.8 million, far exceeding the pre-auction estimate of around $2.3 million.
Meanwhile, the francs, valued at around $115,650, will be auctioned off separately.
The money will reportedly go to distant cousins of Narce.
Pierre Sicaud, mayor of Castillonnès, couldn’t believe that the senior and his sister had amassed such an incredible collection under the radar.
“They were very polite, very modest people who lived in an ordinary house,” he explained.