The 400,000 Silver Dollar Man

This is a fascinating story of a real modern Scrooge. At the time of his death in 1974, Lavere Redfield had accumulated a fortune of more than USD 100 million. When the folks from the IRS searched his house, they uncovered more than 400 bags of silver dollars in a secret basement, hidden behind a fake wall. Since each bag contained a thousand silver dollars, there were more than 400,000 silver dollars in the fascinating Redfield Hoard.

Born sometime at the beginning of the 20th century, Lavere Redfield started out as a potato farmer. Despite his early disadvantage, Redfield's frugality and iron-fisted grip on money ensured that he had more than enough to outlast the rainy days. A hawk-eyed investor, he saw a golden opportunity during the Depression when he moved to California and bought numerous blocks of "junk" stocks. When the economy recovered, Redfield became a very wealthy man.

Later, Redfield moved to Reno where he ventured into real estate and increased his fortune. Fuelled by his rows with the IRS, he developed a strong distrust of banks, detested the government, and banknotes. On many occasions, Redfield would pop into a bank and buy a mint bag of 1,000 silver dollars. In those days, you could buy a silver dollar for a dollar. The casinos in Reno ensured that Redfield would have an endless supply of silver dollars. Then, he would load the silver dollars into his old pickup truck and drive to his stone house where he dropped them into his secret basement. 

If Redfield's house had not been burglarized, the Redfield Hoard would probably count for more than 600,000 silver dollars. While the bulk of the 400,000 silver dollars discovered by the IRS were Morgan dollars, there were some Peace dollars as well. Roughly, the entire lot weighed an astonishing 11 tons! Redfield must have loved the sound of his silver dollars crashing into the basement, one thousand pieces at a time. At the auction, the Redfield Hoard was sold for USD 7.3 million to Steve Markoff. Then, the silver coins were sold to the public over three years. It was revealed that the actual market value of the silver coins was in the region of USD 20 million.

Thinking about the Redfield Hoard, it makes you wonder why a man will stash away such a fortune of silver dollars. At the end of his life, Lavere Redfield still dressed like a potato farmer and drove that jalopy pickup when he could have lived like a mogul. Why? Perhaps, he waited too long for a good silver buyer to pay the best rates for silver. Now, you don't have to make the same mistake. If you want to sell silver, you can get instant cash for silver.