“Things that only happen in dreams.” Kentucky man who found a treasure full of gold coins tells his story on KET

A man who found a stash of more than 700 rare Civil War-era gold and silver coins in a Kentucky cornfield last year tells his story for the first time on KET.

A special episode of “Kentucky Life,” premiering May 11 at 8 p.m. on KET, takes a closer look at the so-called “Great Kentucky Hoard.”

“I first found the 1856 Seated Liberty Half Dollar probably 20 to 30 feet from where the treasure was kept,” the farmer told Kentucky Life, according to KET. “I never would have believed what happened next. Things that only happen in dreams. As I walked along, I saw the glint of gold – a thick fluted edge.

“When I pulled the coin out of the ground, I was amazed to realize I was holding a $20 Double Eagle from the 1860s. After I turned over the first clod of dirt, more and more coins kept coming over the next 45 minutes to an hour. I knew there were hundreds.”

Neither the identity of the man who unearthed the coins nor the location of his find have been made public.

Chip Polston, host and producer of “Kentucky Life,” said in an interview that it was important to him that his show respected this.

“I completely understand why he wants to remain anonymous,” said Polston, who was the face of the Kentucky Lottery for years and knows the pressures that come with sudden wealth. “He doesn’t want to open his blinds on a Saturday morning and there are 70 people standing there with shovels and metal detectors. … What would happen to his farm?

“This could be a huge mess for him.”

Jeff Garrett, a rare coin expert from Lexington, worked with the man who found the hoard to bring the Great Kentucky Hoard to retailer GovMint.com for sale. The hoard contained $1, $10 and $20 gold coins, including rare 1863 Double Eagles.

Polston said he first approached Garrett, who granted him an interview in which he recounted how the farmer initially sent him a grainy photo of a coin and how they arranged to fly the multimillion-dollar collection to Florida, where the coins were prepared for sale last year.

Garrett, who founded the Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries in Lexington, helped Polston contact the farmer.

Polston said he sent the farmer six written questions, not knowing if he would receive a response.

After several months of “back and forth,” the farmer finally sent him, according to Polston, “three single-spaced typewritten pages” in which he described “how the whole thing came about.”

“It’s a remarkable story,” Polston said.

He said the man told him he was walking across a freshly plowed field when the sun fell just right on a coin in the ground.

“He caught a glimpse of something golden and metallic,” Polston said.

After finding the first one or two coins, Polston said the farmer took out his phone and started filming as he discovered more and more coins.

“He digs in the ground and the gold coins literally fall out,” Polston said of the footage.

He said the farmer “has very vivid memories of him and his grandmother walking through creek beds” looking for arrowheads and other interesting things.

“He did that as a child,” Polston said.

Polston said when the story about the treasure broke last July, he knew “it was perfect for our show.”

“This story captured so much imagination,” he said. “I just knew we had to try to tell it.”

Polston said Kentucky Educational Television’s Facebook page asks viewers how they think the gold got into the ground in the first place.

He said Kentucky Life interviewed five people for this episode and “every single one of them has a different answer.”

The dates on the coins, between 1840 and 1863, coincide with the time when raiders led by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan were active in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

One theory, Polston said, is that a wealthy landowner buried his coins to keep them safe.

Or maybe, he said, the money was stolen and buried by someone who wanted to come back and get it but never did.

Polston said the man who found the coins sold most of them but kept some, including one with the faint imprint of a burlap sack.

After Saturday’s broadcast, the episode of “Kentucky Life” will be available on YouTube and will be shown several times over the next week on KET, KET2 and KETKY, according to Polston.