Coin Cache Unearthed

Jack Suneson bought a downtown property on Commerce Street thinking it was a good spot for tourists to part with their money.

But someone had already parted with a stockpile of coins at the site — nearly 130 years ago.

Suneson is a businessman from Nuevo Laredo who owns Marti's, a Mexican arts and crafts store. On Monday, a construction crew was digging up dirt to lay a foundation for Suneson's new store at 310 W. Commerce St.

A backhoe uncovered about 200 U.S. quarters, half dollars and silver dollars dating between 1852 and 1880. The crew also found a gold coin from that era.

The value of the coins largely depends on their condition, and many are green with corrosion. Suneson said he doesn't expect to make a fortune selling the hoard. He's more interested in the mystery of how the coins wound up underground, forgotten.

"We theorize these were buried under some sort of floorboard or something," Suneson said.

The hoarder might have lived around 1880 because the most recent coin was a Morgan silver dollar dated that year.

"Usually, people hide coins like that because it's an illegal stash, or they're afraid of putting their money in the bank," said Ron Guth, president of Professional Coin Grading Service in Newport Beach, Calif.

The stash included about 100 Morgan silver dollars, which are named after the coins' designer.

Butch Muennink, owner of Alamo Heights Coin Shop in San Antonio, said a well-preserved Morgan silver dollar could probably fetch between $12 and $18 today. It might be worth more depending on other factors, such as where it was minted.

If corrosion "pitted" the coins — or ate away at the metal — the value would be drastically reduced, Muennink added.

Harry Shafer, a retired archaeology professor from Texas A&M University who was hired by Suneson as a consultant, said finding buried money at a construction site is unusual.

"Listen, I've been in archaeology for 45 years," Shafer said. "I've done lots of projects. But I've never come across anything quite like this."

Suneson imagines that someone tucked away coin after coin over the years, making sacrifices to save for the future. "It's really tragic that they might have passed away and never told anybody," he said. "And the family never got to use it."

Suneson said he plans to clean the coins that can be saved and display them in his new store.