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When a man was cleaning out his late grandmother's home art room, he expected to find some colored pencils and crafty creations. Instead, he found a weird box in a cabinet. Once he opened it up, his whole family experienced the change of a lifetime...
Buried Alive
Some people have a really hard time letting go of their belongings, and one Imgur user named Todirerl saw the effects firsthand. His grandmother had passed away and left behind an art room filled top to bottom with forgotten items. Among them, Todirerl noticed something that seemed rather unusual...
Closed Cabinet
Despite the whole room being covered in junk, there was one clean spot, and that was the cabinet. The brown cupboard was closed, cleaned, and completely empty inside. To our hero, it didn't make any sense. Then, he looked a little closer and noticed something off...
Uncovered Covering
Upon closer look, Todirel noticed that the little tile at the bottom of the cabinet wasn't just a decorative choice. It was removable! He decided to pull it up and see what was underneath, expecting to find some sand and gravel. What was underneath was certainly not just dirt though...
Locked Safe
It wasn't dirt or sand, it was a locked safe underneath that cabinet tile! The first order of business was to jiggle the lock, which obviously didn't open. He had to bring the safe outside and open it some other way, but this was gearing up to be no easy task. After all, how does one get into a locked safe?
By Force
Since Todirel didn't have the actual combination, he asked his father to give him a hand with cracking it open by brute force. His father agreed, and using some high-level power tools, the two got to work. It wasn't easy, but eventually, the dynamic duo managed to crack open the case and see what was hidden inside...
Cloth Covering
When he looked inside the safe, he uncovered a black cloth. There, a white symbol displayed on the outer area. Research showed that the phrase translated to "double happiness". The phrase is most often used for weddings...interesting...just like the riddle written on top!
Riddle Me This
At first glance, the inside had a scrap of paper included. The message "Abandon All Regret Ye Who Enter Here." This is a line from the novel Inferno, a famous medieval book by the Italian writer Dante. Specifically, this is what Dante says is written at the gates of Hell... kind of spooky...
Bundle Up!
There were a lot of things jingling and making noises in the bundle, so Todirel and his father opened it up. Inside was an array of goods such as a photograph of a woman, a gold pen, a lamp, and a curious pouch that had the year 1776 inscribed on it. His father recognized the woman as Todirel’s great-great-grandmother...
Picture Worth 1000 Words
A picture is worth a thousand words, and in this one, Todirel got an entire novel! One online user commented that the picture must have been almost a century-old based on certain markings and styles. This simple silhouette leads to something more valuable than just a glance into the past though...
Pouch Time
Todirel wanted to fish out the rest of the items, so he unlatched the pouch to reveal a golden watch inside! This family heirloom is also seen in photos of his great-grandfather as a young man. He must have hidden it as he aged, and forgotten to find it again once his children were grown! There was so much to see in the safe...
War Memorabilia
Perhaps the most fascinating to Todirel was his great-grandfather's medals from the First World War. Certain ornate medals, according to one WWI researcher, were gifted to soldiers from the British Commonwealth who had served in the war. Clearly, this medal was something of high honor and esteem...
Stamp Collection
For some, stamp collection isn't being smart about postage, it's a hobby to be proud of! Obviously, this former veteran was a big stamp collector. It's also most likely the most expensive thing from this bundle, considering several of them were decades old and some from countries that no longer exist. There were still more things to unpack...
Magic Stone
Do you believe in magic? Well, Todirel didn't either until he saw this thing! This is the bird's eye view of a rusty old lamp that looks like one a genie might pop out of to grant three wishes. Although this lamp was more likely used for incense and practicing meditation, maybe there was something special to it...
Coins Galore!
Some spare change is always good to keep around the house... but in a locked safe? These are actually old, rare coins from places like southern Rhodesia (which is now Zimbabwe), New Zealand, Australia, the USA, Jamaica, Pakistan, Cuba, United Arab Emirates, and even Venezuela! He was buying around the world...
Another Treasure?
The most unusual thing in the safe was a key that was to...something else? There was no indication of another item to open or unlock, so this key is still a mystery to the family. The only mystery left to solve would be who really was the man behind all these fascinating heirlooms?
Old Man Todirel
According to the family, this is the only photograph they have of the great grandfather. He's a dapper young man with a rich history wait for him! Overnight, his face and the contents of his hidden safe became a viral sensation with the online forums...
Very Unsafe
Another Reddit user experienced a very similar story when cleaning out his grandparent's home. In one closet, he noticed a rug that hadn't been lifted in forever. Once he picked it up and moved the carpet over, he saw a safe lying just underneath the surface! He had to get in...
Collector Items
"My Grandfather was an avid sportsman and enjoyed collecting various firearms. My Grandmother was a collector of coins and other antiques and curiosities," wrote the user on his online page. People were eager to find out what was hidden in the safe, and it was pretty fascinating...
Lucrative Locksmith
It was when the family called their local locksmith that they finally were able to handle the task of opening the corroded safebox. Inside was an important treasure, and thousands of Reddit users were eager to see his haul. The first items they pulled out were rather interesting...
Rare Collections
When the crew opened up the safe, they discovered everything from pocket watches, weathered cash, cases of jewelry, and loads and loads of rare coins. "I knew my Grandmother collected coins, but I thought we had found all of them!" wrote the Reddit user underneath of the photos.
Leaking Locked
A good deal of moisture managed to leak into the safe due to a flood that happened in the area several years ago, damaging a few of the items. Thankfully, a good deal was still salvageable and identifiable thanks to fellow Reddit users. And the adventure of history didn't stop there...
Damage Protection
The items were thankfully protected by the locked safe to some degree. Even better was the economic value! Thanks to some of the other online forum users, salvaging the silver coins and preserving their amazingly high value. The cost was good!
Treasure Island
"Funny that as a boy, in that very house, my Grandma read me Treasure Island,” the amazing treasure hunter wrote. “And I always dreamed of finding something like this!"
Well, the dream came true! Just like another dream...
Garden Party
When Wayne Sabaj decided to pick some veggies in his father's garden, he wanted to find broccoli and bell peppers. He found something much more valuable in the yard though, something better than spinach or asparagus. It was enough to change his life...
Bag of Bills
When he went to pick up a piece of produce, he actually produced a bag of bills. The sack contained tons of $20 bills found in McHenry County, Illinois.
"I walked in, showed my dad, and said, 'Now we're in trouble,'" Sabaj said in an interview with the Northwest Herald.
Money Troubles
"It wasn't my money," said the lucky (or unlucky) treasure hunter. "What am I going to do? I don't know where it came from. With my luck, it came from a bank robbery, and I'd be charged with bank robbery."
Certainly a risky situation...
Scared Savings
Sabaj has no savings, so he would have been ecstatic to keep the cash, but he was more fearful than grateful. He worried that whoever left it there might come asking for it back. With no other place to run or hide the cash, he called the police for assistance...
Police Get Involved
McHenry County Undersheriff Andrew Zinke was the first one on the scene, and more importantly, he was the one who found a secret additional bag of money hidden in the garden. Together, the bags added up to $150,000, but would they really send him to jail for the discovery?
Safe For Now
He was safe! The police were sure he wasn't involved in the theft.
"We are speculating that it was taken from a residential or commercial burglary," said officer Zinke at the time. "But there haven't been any reports of large thefts in the area."
Cash Kept
Unfortunately, there was still the discussion of whether or not Wayne was allowed to keep the cash he had found. The police determined that there were no other clues. Sabaj has contacted an attorney so that he could potentially take home the cash he found. But he was able to get one thing out of the deal...
Neighbor's Claim
When the news started picking up, his neighbor came to the conversation. He claimed that it was actually his money, on his property, and Wayne was the one who stole from him. Delores Johnson said she had dropped the money in the yard to get it out of her yard. The reason was that it was cursed!
Cursed Coins
Delores Johnson believed that the money was bad luck, even cursed. She might have been right because she died shortly after Wayne found the money in his own backyard! Maybe he should have known about that before taking it on himself. See, things didn't work out great for Wayne...
Teeth Upgrade
Wayne Sabaj was planning to use his new winnings to fix his teeth, which were missing and crooked in various spots. He even fundraised some coinage just in case the settlement for the money fell through. Unfortunately, something else fell through first...
The Curse Continues
The money might actually have been cursed. Aside from Dolores passing away, our hero Wayne Sabaj also passed away at age 51 only months after finding his winnings. Doctors said it was a complication with his diabetes, but maybe it was something worse...
Local Liqour
A local liquor store owner had also filed a claim on the money, saying the same amount of cash had been stolen from his store in 2010. Though, maybe in light of the events, it's best to consider that money gone for the better. Who knows what else could happen if he got it back!