A man from Spain had an unexpected surprise during the renovation of an abandoned house.
While carrying out repairs to his new property in the city of Lugo, located in northwest of Spain, Tono Piñiro discovered six old Nesquik cocoa boxes, hidden in the walls of the building. To his astonishment, they contained banknotes worth 47,000 pounds, the equivalent of about 62,000 US dollars.
However, his joy was shadowed when he realized that the money was in Spanish fits, a coin that was withdrawn from circulation in 2002, with the adoption of the euro. Some of the banknotes were so old that they could no longer be converted, but Piñiro managed to change a considerable amount-about 30,000 pounds-which he used to repair the roof of the house.
The house where the treasure was found had been abandoned for almost four decades, until Piñiro discovered a Facebook sale announcement. After the purchase, the renovation works on his own began and, during the demolition of a wall, came across the rusty metal boxes, carefully hidden in the structure of the masonry.
“At first I thought they were empty or full metal pieces, but when I opened one and saw the banknotes, I was speechless,” said Piñiro for the Spanish press.
The man immediately contacted the authorities to find out if the money can be converted. The central bank of Spain transmitted that only the banknotes issued after 1939 are eligible for exchange, the oldest being considered “without monetary value”. However, collectors were interested in some of them, which offered an additional chance to capitalize on the discovery.
Tono Piñiro says that, despite the fact that some of the money is worth nothing, he is grateful for the luck had: “It is as if this house wanted to thank me because I saved it from the ruin. I cannot complain.”
His case has gone viral on social networks and in the Spanish press, being considered one of the most fascinating examples of “hidden treasures” accidentally found in recent years.
