Remainder of Carson City recluse’s gold stash to be auctioned

Associated Press

Published Monday, July 8, 2013 | 2:14 p.m.

Updated Monday, July 8, 2013 | 2:50 p.m.

CARSON CITY — An auction is scheduled in August to sell the second half of a gold fortune found in the home of a Carson City man after he died.

The auction will be held Aug. 6 at the Carson City Courthouse to sell off the rest of Walter Samaszko Jr.'s gold coins, the Nevada Appeal reported Monday.

About $7.4 million in gold coins were found in Samaszko's home after he died last summer. A recluse, no one knew of his wealth until a cleaning crew hired by Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover, acting as the public administrator, discovered boxes of coins. There were thousands of coins, some from Austria, Mexico and the United States.

The haul filled two wheelbarrows.

A cousin, Arlene Magdanz of San Rafael, Calif., was tracked down through a funeral bulletin found at Samaszko's home about his father's burial service in Chicago in the 1960s. Newspaper clippings listed survivors.

The first collection batch of gold was sold for just over $3.5 million at a February auction. The bulk of those coins, roughly $2.6 million worth, was purchased by Allen Rowe, a Carson City coin dealer.

Glover said he expects the upcoming auction to fetch more.

"These are the rated coins," he said of the upcoming sale. "They're worth 103 to 109 percent above melt value."

He said the initial estate tax payment of $310,000 was mailed to the Internal Revenue Service after the February auction. He said the IRS has assigned an agent to the case and that he hopes for a full audit so that, after the second auction, the case can be closed out and the rest of the money sent to Magdanz.

Magdanz, who has not appeared at any of the hearings, has already received a substantial amount of money, but Glover said the IRS audit will wrap the case up so she has no concerns about any future actions by the federal government.