A routine renovation in Dendermonde has become a high-stakes ownership mystery after workers uncovered a fortune in gold sealed inside a cellar wall. The discovery is striking not only for its value, but because no clear claimant has yet emerged.

The two accounts agree on the essentials: roughly 50 gold bars and a large quantity of coins were found during building work, with the hoard valued at about nine million euros, or $10.4 million. The more detailed report says the property belongs to CAW East-Flanders, a local charity, while police moved the trove into a federal high-security vault. ¹

The contrast lies mainly in emphasis. One account presents the find as a chaotic, almost cinematic surprise for construction workers; the other foregrounds the scale of the discovery, describing the stash as $10.4 million in bars and coins. ² Neither resolves the central legal question. Ownership could depend on the property's history, the identity of whoever hid the gold and Belgium's rules governing discovered valuables.

For now, authorities appear more concerned with securing the site than encouraging treasure hunters. Police said the gold was “inventoried and secured as quickly as possible” in a government vault, while warning curious visitors that returning to the fenced-off site was pointless. ¹

The workers’ reaction captured the human side of the story: “Our first reaction was actually disbelief, amazement,” one worker, identified as Kobe, told Belgian broadcaster VRT. ¹ But amazement does not establish ownership. Until investigators determine where the hoard came from and who can lawfully claim it, the gold remains less a windfall than evidence in an unresolved case.