CARSON CITY, Nevada (AP) — A substitute teacher from
California was found to be the only heir to a fortune of gold coins
discovered by a cleaning crew in the home of a reclusive cousin who
quietly stashed away a treasure of more than $7 million before he died
this year.
A court hearing in Carson City is scheduled Tuesday,
when a judge is expected to certify first cousin Arlene Magdanz as the
lone heir to the treasure valued at $7.4 million found in the home of
Walter Samaszko Jr., Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover told the
Nevada Appeal.
Samaszko, 69, lived a quiet life in Nevada’s
capital city since the late 1960s and no one apparently knew of his
wealth. Records show he withdrew just $500 a month from his stock
accounts to pay modest bills, said Glover, who was handling Samaszko’s
affairs as public administrator.
Samaszko apparently had no living
family in Carson City, so genealogical researchers went to work to find
relatives elsewhere. They found Arlene Magdanz is the only living heir.
Magdanz could not immediately be reached for comment.
A crew
hired by Glover to clean up the man’s house discovered the eye-popping
stash: boxes of gold coins and bullion in the garage. More boxes were
later found, and Glover said the gold coins, some neatly wrapped in foil
and plastic cases, were enough to fill two wheelbarrows.
"You name it, (he) had it," Glover said.
Since
Samaszko was found in his home, Glover said he and experts brought in
to help with the case have made progress in appraising the fortune and
disposing of some of the other property, including the house, which sold
for $112,500.
He said he is taking Samaszko’s 1968 Ford Mustang
California Special in for servicing this week or next to get it ready
for sale. The classic is appraised at about $17,000.
Samaszko also
had money market, stock and bank accounts totaling $165,570 and $5,330
in other property in the home. But the vast majority of the fortune was
in gold coins. Appraiser Howard Herz filed his report several weeks ago
listing a total of 2,695 coins appraised at more than $7.4 million.
"What some individuals have called a hoard of gold is, in fact, a quite
well-thought-out investment in gold," he wrote.
Once
the gold and other property is sold off and the taxes and expenses
paid, the proceeds will become the sole property of Magdanz. Those
expenses include the appraisals, storage of the gold and other property,
legal fees and 2 percent of the eventual proceeds that, by law, go to
the public administrator who handled everything.
Glover said there
have been a few callers trying to claim some or all of the gold is
theirs — one of them annoying enough that Glover got a court order
blocking him from further communications. None of the callers presented
any evidence to support their claims, he said.
"If they have a true claim, they’ve got to file court papers," he said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
