Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-10-13
MYSTERIOUS FIND.


days ago, Of a number Of old English,
Spanish and Portuguese coins by Me-
gro named Fred Wallace, has aroused
considerable interest not only here, but
wherever the story is spreading. The
incident is interesting, not only be-
cause Of the value Of the coins; but
also because of the mystery that sur
rounds their possession.
The coins were first heard Of IN York
Vile on Tuesday. The Negro was mere
with them. He had them in an old
purse. Just how many there were
cannot be stated definitely. A number
Of prominent citizens were allowed the
privilege Of looking at them; but the
owner appeared to be rather suspicious
like. He appeared to feel as Il some
body might be coming. He would all
low the examination Of one coin, and
would reach out his hand for It before
giving up another. The coins ranged
in size from a $3.50 gold piece, up to
something less than q $40 gold piece.
Some were English, some were Spanish
and some were Portuguese. People
who saw them estimated that there
were 1S or 20 Of them. AL were much
thinner than American coins Of corre-
|sronding denomination. The dates
ranged from 1874 to about 1755. The re-
porter saw one Of the first named date.
No one else recalls an earlier date. The
coin seen by the reporter had on the
diverse side a medallion and the In
|scription, "IoANNEs. v. D. g. PORT
EFT. ALG. REX" On the reverse side,
was the Portuguese coat-of-arms. The
date was 1874. This coin was about an
inch in diameter and quite thin as
compared with American gold coins.
The mintage however, showed up clear
ly and sharply.
The owner Of the coins was not dis
posed to give out much information
as to how they came into his posses
sion. He told the reporter nothing;
but to several other gentlemen, he said
that he found the money In his pig pen.
His story was that on going to feed
the pig he saw something bright in the
trough. Further examination showed
the bright object to be gold coin.
There was on the coin mark Of the
pigs tooth, indicating that tie animal
had rooted the gold from the ground.
Investigation led to the discovery Of
several other coins, lying about, and
with mattock the Negro claimed to
have uncovered the balance.
This is the story as the Negro told It;
but during Wednesday, and Thursday
the few struggling coins were rnagni-
fed into keg full, aggregating In val
ue many thousands Of dollars. The ac-
tual value Of the coins exhibited by the
Negro was not less than 500, and It
may have been as much as $500.
From such information as the re-
porter has been able to gather, the pig
pen story Is not to be accepted as eb-
solutely reliable. It can be stated ais q
fact that Wallace told one gentleman
Of his neigh5orhood that he found the
money in the forks of the road, and to
another gentleman he stated that he
got it from the fork of a tree. These
stories, taken in connection with the
peculiar action Of the Negro, generally
indicate that while there Is no doubt Of
the fact that some long hidden gold has
been unearthed somewhere In some
manner, the exact facts as to its re-
covery is still matter Of. mystery.
Wallace lives on Clark's Fork, with
In about mile Of Scogg1ns,s mill.