Gold Treasure Tales in
El Dorado County

It has been said that there is a jar that is full of gold coins that was buried close to Placerville and which caused the death of two men. These gold coins were said to have been hidden on a ranch north of the town off of Highway 49. Supposedly the man who buried it was killed by bandits that were looking for gold.

Years later there was a man that owned became the owner of the ranch and that found the jar and buried it again. This man was also killed by bandits. Some people believe that the gold coins are cursed and are a little hesitant about looking for it; the gold coins were never found.

Another tale tells about a miner from Coloma that was said to have buried $75,000 in gold coins close to the town of Lotus on Highway 49. Supposedly he buried the gold coins because he did doubted Wells Fargo transporting it to a bank in San Francisco because of all of the hold ups that occurred. 

Another lost treasure story tells of a man who was making a good living off of the diggings near Placerville who was shot and killed while in the middle of an argument. When the man died, people ran to his cabin to see if they could find the gold but it was never found. Most people believe the man must have buried it like a lot of people did.