$7M in gold coins found in intestate man's garage will be auctioned at courthouse
A reclusive Nevada man who died without a will last year has left some unusual issues for a court in Carson City to deal with.
One of the biggest: What to do with the gold coins found in Walter Samasko Jr.’s garage, among cans of tuna fish? Although he had only $200 in the bank and lived modestly on the income from less than $200,000 of stock investments, according to the Daily Mail, the 2,695 coins are worth an estimated $7.4 million.
On Tuesday, a Carson City judge OK’d a plan to have much of the booty auctioned at the local courthouse, with extra armed guards stationed around the courtroom for the event, the Las Vegas Sun reports. Bidders will be seated in the jury box.
The first $800,000 will go to pay inheritance tax. The rest will go to Samasko’s only living relative, a first cousin who works as a substitute teacher.
A reserve will be set, based on the market price of gold on the day of the auction, Feb. 26.
Carson City Clerk Alan Glover is the administrator of the estate. He used a wheelbarrow to get the gold coins to his truck after they were found last year, so they could be safely deposited, then tracked down Samasko’s sole heir from a list of attendees at his mother’s funeral, an earlier Las Vegas Sun article explains.
Nobody had any clue he was hoarding the gold,” Glover told the newspaper.
