Hidden treasure: rare coin collection found behind painting sells for nearly $3.5 million

For years, Paul Narce lived quietly in a small village in southwest France. He rarely traveled, had no descendants, and few, it seems, ever knew of his obsession: rare coins. But this week, the secret he took to his grave turned out to be worth $3.48 million.

Narce died in 2024, leaving behind an unremarkable house and an astonishing surprise inside. When a notary entered the empty home to settle his affairs, they found more than 1,000 gold coins hidden in the wall... concealed behind a painting in a store room.

According to auction house Beaussant Lefèvre & Associates, which confirmed the story to CNN, the coins span centuries, from ancient Macedonian currency dating back to 336 BC to near-complete collections from the reigns of French kings Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. Some were even bundled into ten packages, each containing 172 gold 20-franc coins – the equivalent of gold ingots.

Narce, said expert Thierry Parsy, spent every spare cent on this collection. “He didn’t see much of the world,” Parsy noted before the sale. “But he quietly amassed one of the most extraordinary private coin collections we’ve seen.”

The final haul fetched over a million dollars more than expected, blowing past the €2 million ($2.43 million) estimate. It could easily have stayed hidden forever – but thanks to one persistent notary, Narce’s lifelong passion didn’t die in the wall.

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