Rare Coins Set to Spark New California Gold Rush This Weekend

This Saturday, treasure hunters can put their skills to the test by searching around San Francisco for 10 hidden coins worth more than $50,000 combined.

San Francisco with Golden Gate bridge in the distance

The original California Gold Rush began in 1848, and the news of the discovery of gold brought approximately 300,000 people from the rest of the United States and abroad to California. However, this weekend's 'gold rush' is of a rather different nature.

Hosted by local coin shop Witter Coin for the third consecutive year, the scavenger hunt’s pièce de résistance will be an 1851 gold coin worth a whopping $25,000.

The store's owner, Seth Chandler, started the hunt as a way to honor San Francisco’s role in the California gold rush and, of course, create some handy publicity. “This city was built around the pursuit of gold,” he told local media. “We wanted to create something that brings that spirit back. Something real, tangible, and rooted in San Francisco’s history. These aren’t replicas. These are genuine, high-value coins.”

The Gold Rush-era coin worth $25,000 | Seth Chandler

Participants can check Witter Coin’s Instagram page the day of the hunt starting at 7 a.m. PT - clues and riddles about the coins’ whereabouts will be posted there “every hour on the hour.” The marketing publicity extolls: "Don’t be a spectator, be a prospector!"

Happily for both prospectors and local residents, all of the hidden coins will be accessible to the public in safe locations around the city, no digging or trespassing required.

“We spend every day talking about the value and history of these coins,” Chandler said. “This time, we’re putting them back into the city where the gold rush began.”