Meg and Graham Hemmings picked up a old piano from a second-hand dealer and plunked it down in their English home for three decades so their four children could play it.
Graham Hemmings, 72, told The Guardian it soon became an "item of furniture." Then after their retirement the couple donated the piano to Bishop's Castle Community College in Shropshire, England, Essex Live reported.
About four months ago, 61-year-old piano tuner Martin Backhouse was working on the instrument when he noticed objects inside that he first mistook for moth repellent, the Telegraph said.
Good thing he took a closer peek — because Backhouse proceeded to pull out eight cloth packages containing over 900 gold coins dating between 1847 and 1914. Their total value today? Over $600,000.
Some of the gold coins found inside the piano. (Image source: The Guardian video screen cap)
If you're thinking Meg and Graham Hennings are happy about the find, you'd be right — but not for the reason that's likely crossing your mind.
See, they don't get to keep one pound of the haul.
Under the Treasure Act, only the finder of a treasure and/or current owner of the property can share in the proceeds, the Telegraph said — and the Crown gets the majority of it.
Nevertheless, the couple — who housed the piano for decades completely unaware of what was stashed inside it — are happy for the beneficiaries.
Graham Hemmings told The Guardian that he and his wife are "very pleased" that proceeds will go to "our local community college" — the piano's current owner — "which we support and treasure. I think it's something to celebrate."
Graham and Meg Hemmings are the former owners of the piano. (Image source: The Guardian video screen cap)
Meg Hemmings, 65, agreed with her husband and added that the finder — Backhouse — "has to be applauded for his complete honesty in owning up to it and not pocketing one of the packets," she told The Guardian.
Backhouse told The Guardian that he "could have quite happily swapped them a brand new piano for that one, but that would not have been right or proper."
Piano tuner Martin Backhouse, who found the gold coins. (Image source: The Guardian video screen cap)
But he gets a portion of the proceeds as the finder.
"I am getting older, and I can only give so much money to the church," he told Essex Live. "I can see that I'll be able to do a few things, like retiring a few years early because of my hearing ... work is not easy."
This story has been updated.
(H/T: Heat Street)
