18 yaşında bir çocuk da dahil olmak üzere inşaat işçileri, iş yerindeki duvarlarda 10 milyon $ altın buluyor. Ama ganimetler onlarda kalabilir mi?

Construction workers, including an 18-year-old, find $10M of gold in the walls on the job. But can they keep the spoils?

Thomas Kent

Wed, August 19, 2026 at 1:35 PM GMT+3 5 min read

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A crew of construction workers arrived to install sewer pipes and left with a claim to a buried fortune (1).

The workers were renovating a former brewery in Belgium when they uncovered gold bars, coins and nuggets sealed inside a cellar wall. The stash is estimated to be worth €9 million, or approximately $10.4 million.

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Among the crew was Kobe, an 18-year-old student working a summer job. He initially thought they had found ordinary change.

"At first I thought they were €1 coins," Kobe said. Then the crew spotted a gold bar and realized they had stumbled onto something far more valuable.

The workers called the police, who cataloged the gold and moved it to a high-security federal vault.

Their discovery sounds like the beginning of an instant riches story. Whether any of the workers will actually receive a share remains an open question.

Can the construction workers keep the gold?

The treasure was discovered beneath a property in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, about 19 miles northwest of Brussels.

The building was originally constructed for brewery owner Theophilus Van Assche (2) in the late 19th century. Brewing continued on the site until 1970. The property is now owned by the social welfare organization CAW East-Flanders, which was renovating it to create new offices and housing.

Authorities must first determine where the gold came from and whether it was stolen or connected to criminal activity.

If the treasure belonged to the Van Assche family, descendants could attempt to claim it. The property owner and construction company may also have competing interests in the discovery.

Belgian law (3) generally gives a possible owner five years to come forward. If nobody establishes ownership, the finders could eventually be entitled to a share alongside the property owner. The unusual circumstances could still lead to a complicated civil dispute.

Kobe said the size of the haul made handing it over an easy decision: "€9m — you simply can't keep that hidden."

"If it had been a few coins, maybe not," he said. "But maybe we'll get some kind of finder's reward eventually."

The gold appears to have been deliberately hidden inside a bag and bricked into the wall, where it may have remained untouched for decades.

No matter where it's been, though, gold holds its value and that's why investors tend to hold on to it. The precious metal is often used to diversify a portfolio and potentially provide protection during inflation, market volatility or economic uncertainty.

Read More: Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here's where their money is actually going

Add physical gold to your retirement plan

Americans interested in owning gold have more practical options than hiding bars inside their homes. One approach is opening a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.

A gold IRA is a type of self-directed individual retirement account that can hold certain IRS-approved precious metals. It combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the potential protective benefits of investing in physical gold.

The gold must generally satisfy IRS purity requirements and be stored by an approved custodian. Gold IRAs may also carry storage, insurance and custodial fees, so investors should understand the expenses before moving part of their retirement savings.

Priority Gold can walk you through the process and provide a free information guide explaining how gold IRAs work. The guide also includes details on how qualifying purchases could receive up to $10,000 in free silver.

Deciding to invest in gold is only part of the equation. You'll also need to determine how much you can comfortably hold without becoming overly dependent on a single asset.

Find an advisor who can balance your investments

A financial advisor can crunch the numbers and help build a plan around your income, retirement goals and comfort with risk.

Hiring an advisor can become a lifelong relationship, which makes finding someone reliable especially important. Advisor.com connects you with a financial professional near you at no cost.

The platform vets advisors based on their track records, client ratios and regulatory backgrounds. Its network includes fiduciaries, who are legally required to act in their clients' best interests.

Enter a few details about your finances and goals and Advisor.com's AI-powered matching tool will connect you with a qualified expert suited to your needs and preferences.

Finding the right advisor can take some comparison shopping. Advisor.com lets you arrange a free initial consultation, with no obligation to hire, so you can decide whether the match works for you.

A $10 million discovery inside a wall requires extraordinary luck. Building a diversified retirement portfolio is much more achievable and you don't have to wait five years to learn whether it truly belongs to you.

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