Construction workers renovating a historic brewery in Belgium made the discovery of a lifetime when they uncovered 49 gold bars and approximately 4,000 coins hidden inside the building’s basement walls, with the treasure estimated to be worth roughly $10 million.

The remarkable discovery was made in Dendermonde, in Belgium’s East Flanders region, as workers were drilling through a wall to install new sewer pipes ahead of planned work at the 19th-century brewery.

Among the workers was an 18-year-old summer employee named Kobe, who told Belgian media that the crew briefly considered what it would be like to keep the treasure but quickly realized that concealing such an enormous discovery would amount to theft.

The workers alerted the site manager, and police subsequently took possession of the gold and urged members of the public not to descend on the property in search of additional valuables.

The cache, consisting of 49 gold bars and thousands of coins, is estimated to be worth approximately €9 million, or roughly $10 million.

Under Belgian law, the original owner or legal heirs have five years to establish a valid claim to the treasure. Three people have reportedly already contacted authorities claiming possible family connections to the fortune, and their claims are being investigated.

If no legitimate heir is identified and authorities determine the treasure is not connected to criminal activity, the fortune could ultimately be divided equally between the workers who discovered it and the current owner of the property.

The building is currently owned by a nonprofit organization that plans to use the property to provide temporary housing for homeless people. The structure originally housed a brewery dating back to the 1890s before closing in 1970.

The head of the nonprofit said he hopes any eventual proceeds from the discovery can help fund projects assisting the homeless, while the young worker who helped uncover the treasure said he hopes the crew will ultimately receive a share for turning it over to authorities.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)