Niamh Spence
Digging for treasure might yield the odd coin, or even old keys or metal, but one couple struck lucky as they hit the big time with an old safe.
James Kane and Barbie Agostini were hunting in Corona Park Lake in Queens, New York City when their magnetic rod picked up more than just some old junk.
The couple, who are 'magnet fishers', use a neodymium magnet attached to a fishing rod and see what they can discover in bodies of water, which is where they found one of their latest unusual finds with an abandoned safe.
Kane told NY1: "We have found plenty of safes before, this is just what a magnet fisher does."
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Yet what they found inside the safe was much more than what they bargained for as they found piles of cash.
Kane continued: "We pulled it out and there were two stacks of freaking hundreds. Big stacks."
Unfortunately for the pair, some of the bags containing the stacks of dollar bills - which is believed to have equated to around $100,000 - had been water damaged and ruined some of their wedges of cash.
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This isn't the first time the pair have picked up random finds, as during the pandemic they picked up their hobby of 'magnet fishing' and have been discovering treasure ever since.
The couple also created a YouTube channel last year called 'Let's Get Magnetic', which highlights some of their best finds, with many coming from lakes, rivers and water in the New York City area.
In one video, they can be seen uncovering treasure including multiple watches, jewellery pieces, old New York City subway tokens and even a small pistol.
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However, this find with the old safe could potentially have landed the pair in a lot of trouble - but thankfully, an investigation by the New York Police Department saw no issue.
Agostini explained: "Obviously, it was a safe that was stolen but there was no crime with us. There was no IDs, no way to find the original person in the safe so they were like 'well, congratulations'."
Agostini added that the police were curious to see what the couple had found, and when the safe was pulled out of the water many officers were at the scene to see the discovery.
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She said that some cops with 18 years under their belt told them that "they have never ever heard of anything like this."