Two history buffs in England who spend their spare time sprucing up old tanks were shocked to find a hidden stash of gold bars inside one of the old military vehicles.
The discovery was made while Nick Mead and Todd Chamberlain inspected one of their tanks, a relic from Iraq, for old guns and weapons. As is their personal protocol for tanks that have gone to war, they filmed the search.
鈥淚s that what I think it is?鈥� says Chamberlain on video as he pulls out one glistening bar after another.
All in all, five gold bars were recovered from the tank鈥檚 diesel container. Their estimated worth: $3.5 million.
And, in a testament to the men鈥檚 honesty, they called up police and turned the loot over to authorities. It鈥檚 a decision Mead says he鈥檚 gotten some flak over.
鈥淟ots of abuse from all over the world. 鈥楢re you mad?鈥欌�� Mead told 麻豆影视. 鈥淭here were kids running and everything else, the whole world knew about it 鈥� and I was thinking, maybe if I had been all on my own it would have been a different story.鈥�
It鈥檚 unclear exactly how the gold ended up there. The tank was purchased off eBay for more than $50,000, and it鈥檚 believed to have been used by Iraqi forces during the invasion of Kuwait.
鈥淭he most shocking aspect of this find was that, with most of these tanks, all of the goodies have been found by their current owners many years ago. This was the King Tut鈥檚 tomb of tanks,鈥� Chamberlain said.
The unusual hobby is a passion project for the two friends. Mead collects the vehicles, gives them a facelift and even drives his son to school in one of his tanks.
Police picked up the gold bars and gave the men a receipt in return. Mead and Chamberlain don鈥檛 expect they鈥檒l be allowed to keep their findings and suspect the most money they鈥檒l make off the strange discovery could be a finder鈥檚 fee.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Daniele Hamamdjian
