The Guardian World · Aug 14, 2026

Belgian student strikes gold worth €9m while digging a new sewer

Kobe, 18, who made discovery on site of former brewery in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, at first thought trove was €1 coins For a student with a summer job working on a Belgian building site, “money down the drain” has taken on a whole new meaning: excavating the trenches for a sewage system, he stumbled across a hidden trove of gold worth an estimated €9m (£8m). “At first I thought it was €1 coins.