May 10, 2014 Gold and silver coins on the construction site

Seven years ago, gold and silver coins were found during excavations in Prague 12. Their value was initially estimated by experts at about three million crowns. The excavator, the deputy mayor and officials all claimed their rewards.

The treasure weighed almost seven kilos. The coins were probably owned by the Jewish family that owned the land in question in the past. The depot is called the Modřany Treasure. It contained 351 gold and 417 silver coins of various values and ages. The oldest dates from 1771, the youngest from 1937. In addition, several silver jewels were also found on the site.

The first person to notice the coins in the excavation was Daniela Černá, the head of the investment department at Prague 11 City Hall, who was inspecting the site during the inspection day. She immediately called archaeologists to the site, who counted the coins and recorded everything. They placed the treasure in a bank box and after examining it they handed it over to the museum.

The exact location of the discovery was not disclosed by the town hall to prevent curious onlookers from flocking there. The treasure was eventually acquired by the Prague City Museum. Experts also later said the depot was worth 1.8 million to the finder. The treasure was found by digger Miloš Závora, who demanded a reward.

"I consider myself the main finder. I dredged the treasure. It's clear that as an excavator engineer, I look where I dig with a spoon and I couldn't fail to see it. I saw the treasure when I picked up the spoon," Závora justified his position.

But along with him, the deputy mayor Jiří Fremr and two officials, the aforementioned Černá and the technician from the investment department Zdeněk Šulc, also wanted the reward. If the foursome split the money equally, each was entitled to CZK 456,000. The redistribution of the remuneration was to be decided by the municipality, or rather by the councillors. But they delayed the payment.

Everything was chopped up only in 2017. In the end, all four of them divided the treasure among themselves, because the digger backed out. He said he wouldn't have gotten anything otherwise. So the four of them drew up a declaration that they were joint finders.

"I feel cheated, but otherwise I wouldn't have got anything. I'll never accept that. Two of the claimants didn't see the treasure at the time. I feel it's unfair because if I hadn't been there and dug up the treasure, nobody would have got anything. And I, who found it and dug it up, get a quarter and they get three quarters, even though they didn't find the treasure," Závora lamented.

Sources: www.praha12.cz, www.denik.cz, www.aktualne.cz, www.rozhlas.cz
Photo: www.praha12.cz