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VRT News reported that employees of the De Brand construction firm from Baasrode near Dendermonde came across the trove on Van Langenhovestraat in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde while renovating a building belonging to social welfare organisation CAW Oost-Vlaanderen. The haul consisted of more than 40 numbered gold ingots and around 4,000 old gold coins sealed inside a chest within the cellar wall, according to Arkeo News. Upon realising the value the team immediately contacted their client and authorities rather than attempting to remove any items from the site.
Eighteen-year-old student Kobe, who was completing a work placement on the project, described the initial moments to VRT News. “Our first reaction was actually disbelief, amazement. At first I thought they were €1 coins. But then we also saw a gold nugget. That’s when we realised it was something bigger,” he said. Site manager Mario added that with so many coins and bars it would have been almost impossible to retain any portion, noting that doing so would have amounted to theft.
CAW Oost-Vlaanderen director Geert Hillaert expressed surprise at the discovery inside a property used to deliver social support services across East Flanders. “The gold consists of numbered gold ingots and old gold coins, hidden in a chest in the cellar,” Hillaert told VRT News. The welfare organisation indicated it hoped any funds eventually allocated to it could help address daily operational needs for its clients.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of East Flanders confirmed that all the gold was transferred to a secure location while investigators determine its origins and whether it connects to any criminal activity. Local police updated their Facebook page with an image of a gold coin and voiced hope that the treasure would end up in the right place to change lives for the better. Officers also cautioned the public against visiting the renovation site during the ongoing inquiry.
Belga News Agency reported that under Belgian civil law a treasure found by chance on another’s property is normally divided equally between the finder and the landowner if the original owner does not claim it. The rightful owner has five years, or up to 1,823 days, to come forward with evidence of ownership, according to multiple accounts of the applicable framework. Legal analyses cited by the International Numismatic Council note that this 50-50 split has been the standard approach in Belgium for such chance discoveries.
The Sun reported that the building had previously operated as a brewery, adding context to questions about how the chest came to be concealed there. A separate 2019 Belgian case detailed by AS USA involved demolition workers who found nearly 70 gold coins in a jar and later faced theft accusations after dividing them. In the current instance the prompt reporting by the De Brand crew has kept the process within official channels from the outset.
