Storage Wars: Man Finds $500,000 In Gold and Silver After Purchasing Abandoned Storage

For those who haven’t caught Storage Wars on A&E, the premise of the reality show involves people bidding on abandoned storage units at auction in the hopes of discovering high dollar items after the renters of the units have defaulted on their monthly payments.

American Auctioneers is the company featured in the show. At a recent AA auction, a man identified only as John, purchased an abandoned unit for $1000 in the hopes of recouping his investment and finding some treasure and turning a profit. It turns out that John hit it big, as the original owner of the contents of the storage unit apparently didn’t trust traditional security storage methods like bank safe deposit boxes, opting instead to hide his (or her) precious metals at a storage facility typical of any American city.

Unfortunately, no cameras were present for the auction or to capture John when he found what amounted to a gold mine in a blue Rubbermaid container. According to reports, the container held about 16 gold Spanish coins, silver Spanish dollars, and several gold and silver bars.

The estimated value of the find is around $500,000.

Note to readers: If you’re going to hide your gold or other personal items in a storage unit, don’t forget to pay your rent!