Since 2024, the Russian media and social networks have been spreading the story of a lucky resident of Kamchatka who accidentally discovered a large treasure. We have verified the authenticity of this information.
As reported in the news, a certain Kamchatka resident went into the forest to pick mushrooms, fell into a hole and discovered an old jug with gold coins from the 18th century. The total cost of 6 kg of coins was 79 million rubles. The man failed to keep the news secret - rumors about the find spread throughout the village, and he had to hand over the treasure to the state. However, the court decided to transfer 25% of the value of the coins to the mushroom picker. With these funds, the man allegedly bought himself an estate and renovated the local temple. The news was accompanied by a photograph of a mushroom picker in the forest surrounded by law enforcement officers, as well as photographs of a broken jug of gold coins.
In 2024–2025, entertainment sites wrote about this (“Peekaboo", Trinixy.ru), Russian regional news resources (for example, some publications from Karelia And Udmurtia), as well as users Instagram, Telegram and other platforms. The news became especially popular on VKontakte, where relevant posts were shared hundreds and even thousands once.
“Verified” studied publications on similar topics that appeared in any authoritative Russian federal and regional publications, but found no evidence of the events described. It is unlikely that the media would ignore the news about the discovery of a treasure worth almost $900,000 at the current exchange rate, especially since it was easy to find out about it from public pages on social networks.
There are other circumstances that raise doubts about the veracity of the viral story. So, according to Russian legislation, for a treasure discovered outside private territory containing products made of precious metals that have historical significance and transferred to the state, 50% of its value is paid (and without the participation of the court). The 25% indicated in the news is norm Soviet times, which became entrenched in the mass consciousness, for example, thanks to the comedy “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia.”
At the same time, if a precious treasure is hidden, which, judging by the text of the news, could have taken place, the violator faces at least administrative, and even criminal liability (for theft items of special value, or for violation rules for the delivery of precious metals to the state). In such a situation, there is no reward for the person who finds the treasure. If a Kamchatka mushroom picker took a jug of coins home, it is not very clear why the photo shows him in the forest surrounded by police. And the jug was clearly photographed against the background of the niche in which it was kept.
If you check the distributed photographs through the reverse image search services TinEye and Google, it turns out that they have nothing to do with Kamchatka.
Pictures with a stone jug appeared on the Internet back in 2018, about six years before the news about the mushroom picker. One of them published, for example, the British newspaper Daily Mail in a note about how in the Italian city of Como, during the demolition of an ancient theater, builders discovered a cache of gold coins from the 5th century. The value of the treasure was estimated at millions of dollars.
In another photo used in the viral news, imprinted not a Kamchatka, but a Kirov mushroom picker, who in 2022 got lost in the forest, spent the night in an apiary, and was found by local police in the morning.
The earliest instance of news publication discovered by “Verified” is dated February 11, 2024, when at 13:32 Moscow time it was posted by the public “Obi» on VKontakte. The post was then shared more than 300 times.
Thus, the story of a mushroom picker who found a precious treasure in the Kamchatka forest is completely fictional. It is not confirmed by third-party sources and is accompanied by photographs taken in other places.
Cover photo: social networks
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