Cash in the attic! $1million in gold coins rains down from the rafters as workers renovate vineyard building in Champagne

• Treasure trove of 497 coins found in former grape-drying facility in village
• Pieces were minted between 1851 and 1928
• Unknown how they came to be in attic but building was owned by wine producer who traded with Britain and U.S. in 1930s
  

By Graham Smith

Last updated at 4:17 PM on 16th February 2012

A team of builders renovating a vineyard facility in France were stunned when U.S. gold coins worth $1million rained down on them from the rafters.

The treasure trove of 497 coins was hidden in the attic of an old building in the rural village of Les Riceys in the country's famed Champagne region.

The pieces, which have a face value of $20 each, were minted between 1851 and 1928 and are the equivalent of 17 kilograms of gold.

Hidden: Champagne producer Francois Lange shows where builders found $1million worth of U.S. gold coins in the rafters of his former grape-drying facility in Les Riceys, France

Haul: The treasure trove of 497 coins, which have a face value of $20 each, were minted between 1851 and 1928 and are the equivalent of 17 kilograms of gold

They are today worth about $980,000 (£622,000).

The building, a former grape-drying facility, is owned by Champagne producer Francois Lange.

Mr Lange, the head of the Alexandre Bonnet Champagne firm, said: 'One of the workers was attacking the building's ceiling with a crowbar when gold coins started to rain down on him, followed by sacks of gold.'

Half the coins will go to the workers and the other half to Mr Lange.

Champagne country: The former grape-pressing facility where workers found the coins

How the U.S. currency came to be in a French attic remains unknown.

However, the building was once owned by a wine producer who traded with Britain and the U.S. in the 1930s.

It is located in Les Riceys, a village known for its rosé Champagne.

So pleased is Mr Lange with the find that he may now produce a special vintage in its honour.

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Handyman finds secret gold stash in kitchen

Published: 14 Feb 12 14:56 CET

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A German handyman renovating the kitchen of a woman who had recently died, opened what he thought was a bag of rubbish to find coins and gold bars worth at least €100,000.

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“I have never held so much gold and silver in my hand before,” he told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung paper on Tuesday.

“I didn’t think for a second about not handing it in. Only when I was talking about the find was I asked over and over again why I gave it in,” said the 38-year-old.

He said he and a colleague had pulled up an old lino flooring of the kitchen of a flat in Hannover and were clearing out under the kitchen units to make space for tiles, when he found a plastic bag.

“We thought it was a rubbish or replacement pieces of the kitchen which had been stored there,” he said.

But the bag was full of Australian golden coins, gold nuggets stamped with Degussa, and a host of silver coins as well as silver cutlery wrapped in newspaper.

“To find such treasure, it is an odd feeling,” said the handyman.

He contacted the property management company which immediately got in touch with the dead woman’s family. Although there has not yet been explicit talk of a reward for the honest handyman, the family have ensured they got his details, the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung said.

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