This Man Was Surprised By The Things He Found Hidden In His Grandparents Old Farm House

This man was surprised by the things he found hidden in his grandparents' old farmhouse. The passing of a loved one is never easy. For the man at the heart of this story, he found out that his grandparents had passed away and left behind a dilapidated farmhouse. The man who inherited the farmhouse had no idea that there was something very precious resting just under his feet. He had big plans for fixing the house up and selling it to make a bit of a profit. It was during the renovations that he'd find something completely unexpected. This find would affect him for the rest of his life and completely change it. In Tennessee, there are plenty of old farmhouses and farms where people have worked the land for a generation. Our story takes place in rural Tennessee, where a young man inherited his grandparents' dilapidated old farmhouse. For many years, the grandparents of a Reddit user named Eric had farmed this land. They'd raised their children here and didn't want to leave. It was only when tragedy struck that the elderly couple was forced to finally leave their homestead and move on to a home that was more manageable for their age. So, their beloved family farmhouse stood empty. And as the years rolled on, it was all but forgotten. Eventually, the owner passed on and their beloved farmhouse was left to their young grandson, Eric. Obviously, being fresh out of college, their grandson didn't know much about farming and by that point, the once-loved family home had fallen into disrepair. The home had been empty for decades and no one had been around to take care of it. As time marched on, the farmhouse was left behind and while Eric had some great memories of the old house, the house of his memories was now falling apart. When he heard about his grandparents' passing, he never assumed that he'd be the one to inherit the land. When Eric found out that he had, he knew that he would have a lot of work ahead of him. He headed out to the farm and began to assess the existing structures. It was clear that he had his work cut out for him. The reason that the farmhouse was in such a state of disrepair was that Eric's grandparents had been struck by tragedy twice. Eric's grandfather had always been a healthy man until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After a lot of debate, his grandfather and grandmother knew they could no longer live remotely. They needed to be able to go to the oncology unit of a hospital in the city and they would need the support of their family during this time. Thus, in 1997, the pair left the farmhouse, moved the city, and never returned to their land. Time would only tell what would happen to their old house. As soon as Eric's grandparents left the farm for the city, it became clear that no other family members were interested in running the farm. The family decided not to sell it until they knew how his grandfather was responding to treatment. There was a chance that he would recover and be able to return to the place he loved most. While Eric's grandparents were away, the farm remained neglected until eventually the structures began to fall apart. The farm was largely forgotten by the family for about three decades. One more tragedy would strike which would finally land the farm in Eric's hands. Eric's grandfather did not recover from his cancer and he passed away from it. Then, about a decade later, Eric's father suddenly passed away in 2009. His grandmother had passed shortly after his grandfather. It was a tough couple of decades for the family. Nobody knew what to do with the farmhouse but Eric's father had willed it to him upon his passing. Now it was up to Eric to completely overhaul the house and see what he could salvage. What was waiting for him would be more valuable than anything else on the property. His grandparents had given him a real gift, except Eric didn't realize it yet. As Eric grew up, there was one book that his grandparents loved to read to him. It was the classic Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Eric's grandfather had once been a seaman and he loved to tell tales of his time sailing the seven seas. He even claimed to have once encountered pirates and those memories of listening to his granddad tell him tales of pirates and conquest are some of the fondest Eric had ever had. Eric always thought that these stories were exaggerations used to entertain him as a child. It was actually much closer to reality than he could ever imagine. Once Eric had decided to head to the farm and begin renovating it, he knew he'd have the sad task of going through all his grandparents' old things. It was a hard thing to do because he really missed them so much. The whole drive to the farmhouse Eric thought about all the great times he had with his grandparents and at the house. When Eric arrived at the house, it was worse than he had imagined. Everything his grandparents had ever collected still stood in the dusty old home and decades of dust and cobwebs coated every surface. Some parts of the wooden house had begun to rot away and the house looked incredibly neglected. Eric wandered around the premises and decided if he was going to be able to sell this property, it would need some TLC. But would Eric have the strength to part with his family's old home? Before Eric could begin to fix up the house, he needed to take stock of what was in the rooms. He was hoping there might be a few antiques that he could sell or refurbish. Eric was sure that there might even be some objects that his grandparents had hidden around the house. Often his parents and uncle had teased about his grandfather's old treasure hidden. Was it real? Did his granddad really take the time to hide something in the old house? So Eric decided he would take the time to search and in a way, it was like one final adventure with his granddad, just like all those old pirate stories his granddad used to tell him. Eric knew that his grandparents were creative and liked to collect odd things like antique firearms and other items of importance. There were only a few places in the house that would be worth examining. The first would be the closets and the second would be the floor space on the first floor of the house or the basement. These were all places that could easily hide some objects. All Eric would need to do is search. As Eric started to search for the first possible hiding place, his heart began to race with excitement. Eric was in luck as immediately he noticed something useful. Some closets can have false panels in them which can easily be removed. Behind these panels, hidden passages or compartments can be used to store hidden treasure or move around the premises unseen. Upon close examination of one of the closets, Eric was unable to find any hidden compartments. Just as he was turning to leave, an idea popped into his head. He had searched everywhere except the closet floor. Eric swung around and immediately started lifting the dusty carpet that covered the floor of the old cupboard. As the carpet lifted, Eric noticed something unusual hidden beneath. Eric had found what he was looking for. There beneath the carpet was a strange square of concrete and in the center of that was what looked like a brass door. Elated, Eric sprung to his feet in search of a brush to dust away from the layers of dust and expose the strange find. As the decades of grime and dust were removed, it was clear that this was actually an old safe and what he thought was a brass door was a brass cover that hid the locking mechanism. Suddenly, it dawned on Eric that without the combination of the safe, he'd never be able to access it. The only people who had known the combination were no longer here. Eric realized he would need to bring in some reinforcements if he was going to get that safe open. There was only one person he could call who might know the combination. The only person Eric could think of who might know the combination is, and if it was indeed a safe full of hidden treasure, after a few rings, Eric's mom picked up the phone and told her what he had found. After listening to him, she told him about how his grandparents had mentioned that they had a hidden safe in the house. She also had an idea for what the combination might be. As the only child, Eric's father had always been doted on by his parents. They had given him everything they had in their power to offer, and this included willing him their land and property which would then pass to Eric. After Eric called his mom, she suggested that he try to use his father's birth date as the code for the safe. It seemed logical that they would use the birthday of their beloved son as the key to their treasure. However, like many things in life, logic had nothing to do with it. After numerous attempts at opening the safe, Eric finally had to accept that he just didn't know the right code, and that the locking mechanism might have been faulty after so many years. He decided to bring in a safecracker to open the safe, and finally see what it contained. As the safecracker worked on the lock, Eric tried to wait patiently. As he stood there, a million things were running through his head. There were just so many possible things that could have been hidden down there. Finally, there was a single click that broke the silence. The safecracker looked up at Eric and exclaimed, Eric drew in a breath and nodded to the safecracker, who carefully opened the safe before stepping back. After days of waiting, Eric was finally looking at the open safe. For quite some time, Eric stood over the safe, looking in. Finally, he plucked up the courage to bend down and reach inside. With his hands, Eric could feel lock boxes and paper. Eric pulled out the first thing he could grab, and then he began to pull out what looked like a series of old books. He had been hoping to pull out rare artifacts or antique firearms that could be worth a lot of money at auction. Instead, he was greeted with a bunch of dirty old books, which didn't even have titles. He'd need to open up these books to find out what the real treasure was. Hopefully, the rest of the safe's contents would be more exciting. Eric opened up the book and found himself staring down, not at pages, but instead at plastic sleeves with rare and unusual coins. While the outside of the book was worn and tattered, the coins inside sparkled like a lost treasure. At first, Eric didn't realize what kind of coins they were, but after a quick Google search, he saw that they were precious. Barely any of these coins existed, and that meant that they would fetch a pretty good price once they were cleaned up and auctioned off. It suddenly occurred to Eric that he had dozens of identical books piled on the floor. Was it possible that they, too, would be filled with rare coins? As Eric dug deeper and deeper into the safe, he realized that his grandparents had not only purchased a lot of collector's edition coins, but they'd also bought silver bars. He was confused, though. These didn't look like the kind of silver bars you see in the movie. They were smaller and had pictures printed on them. He would need to scrutinize these and possibly bring them to a historian to find out what they are. Each of the silver bars had a date printed on them. This signified when the state was created in the United States. They're precious because they commemorate a critical time in American history. However, they were not the most valuable thing in the vault. There was something much more precious just waiting for Eric to find it. All he needed to do was dig a little deeper. There was one box left, and Eric knew he had to get it open. The box contained his grandmother's jewelry, which, while not worth much in terms of money, was worth a lot in terms of sentimental value. Eric hadn't known his grandmother very well, but he'd always remembered her as a kind old woman. She and his grandfather had left him a treasure trove in the safe, which he truly appreciated. Eric thought he'd finally reached the end of the safe when he came across a coffee table with a locked drawer. Inside that drawer was yet another safe. He figured that this safe would contain the most valuable items of all and could not wait to get it open. Within that safe was a collection of antique firearms. Eric couldn't believe his good fortune. This house literally had a pirate's worth of treasure stashed in it. There had been a collection of rather sodden bills in the safe, which Eric didn't think were particularly valuable, until he noticed one thing. The bills had Joseph Barr's signature on them. He'd only been in office as United States of America's treasurer for a month, which meant very few of these dollar bills had ever been circulated. If they could be preserved, then these too would be worth something. With his treasure trove spread out before him, Eric knew that he would need some expert advice on how much each of the individual pieces was worth. Because Eric had been sharing his story with the Reddit community all this time, he decided to ask them if there were any experts in the audience. As soon as he posted the question, he was flooded with responses and comments. The community would help him price it all out. All the coins in the banknotes were incredibly valuable. It turns out that coins in banknotes kept in a safe tend to be in better condition than most, which actually makes them worth more. A Redditor explained this to Eric. Even if a coin or bill is slightly damaged, it can still be worth significantly more than one simply found on the earth. They've been preserved by people who know how much they're worth. All in all, the coins, firearms, jewelry, and dollar bills were worth tens of thousands of dollars. It's unclear if Eric's auctioned everything off yet, but he's definitely going to make a lot of money when he finally does. He also has the house and the property to sell, which will set him up with a nice sum of money for when he decides to go and buy his own place. It's all thanks to his treasure-collecting grandparents. It's not every day that you hear of someone finding a bunch of treasure, especially in an old farmhouse in Tennessee. Eric's story is unique and one that caught the attention of the Reddit community and then the world. He was thrilled to share his findings and he encouraged other people to always check out their older homes for hidden treasure. You can never know what's hiding behind a fake wall panel or under a rug. The memory of Eric's grandparents will live on through their refurbished home and the treasure they collected. Eric will probably keep some of his grandmother's jewelry as the sentimental value is worth a lot to him. Maybe when he gets married he can give some of it to his partner and they can keep the memory of her alive that way as well. We like the idea of Eric keeping a part of his family. If you're looking for a property in Tennessee then you may want to check out Eric's. Well, it might be up for sale now and who knows if he's found all the treasures on the property. Someone with a metal detector might be able to wander around and unearth even more treasure. Eric may have already done this himself but you can never know what'll be found. Maybe you should check your own property.