A decades-old story about money hidden inside a Western Massachusetts house has been confirmed after metal detectorist Keith Wille discovered a lockbox containing $46,000 in cash and silver certificates beneath the attic floorboards.
The family had been trying to sell the 1950s-built property, but a long-running legend that cash was concealed somewhere inside had complicated the process. Carpenters had already opened walls and lifted sections of flooring in an unsuccessful search before the family contacted Wille, a metal detectorist from Groton, Connecticut, who documents his discoveries on his YouTube channel, Rediscover Lost.
The search was reported in April 2021. Wille was asked to investigate the rumour and establish whether the money existed or whether it was simply an old family story that had never been resolved.
He began in the attic, sweeping the floor with a metal detector. After about an hour, the equipment began producing signals from underneath the floorboards. Rather than dismantling the entire area, Wille inserted an endoscope camera through existing gaps in the wood.
The camera revealed a small silver glint. On closer inspection, it was a keyhole.
Wille then worked with members of the family to remove the boards and reach a dust-covered blue-grey lockbox hidden below them. Inside, they found $46,000 in notes dating from 1934, 1935 and 1950.
The cash had been arranged in $500 bundles and was still secured with the original bank straps. Those straps were stamped 12/19/1958 – 19 December 1958 – and also carried a teller number, providing a precise date linked to the money’s storage.
Wille said the box was “packed to the lid”. The discovery included both ordinary banknotes and silver certificates, while the condition of the bills could make the find more valuable than its face value to collectors.
He estimated that the cash would be worth more than $400,000 in today’s money after adjusting for inflation. Its potential value to collectors could be higher still, depending on the condition and desirability of the individual notes.
The discovery turned what had been a long-standing problem for the family into documented evidence that the hidden money had really existed. Wille recorded the search and the opening of the lockbox for Rediscover Lost, transforming a local property mystery into an online account of the find.
“As soon as I cracked the box open I saw the cash. I knew we found the treasure,” he said.
For the family, confirming the story was more important than the publicity surrounding the discovery. A family member who identified herself only as Karen said: “I’m just glad it was finally found.”
Wille said the outcome gave the family the certainty it needed to move forward with the sale of the house.
“The family now has closure on the cash. They can sell the house.”
