Woman inherits $7.4M in gold coins

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CARSON CITY, Nev., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Officials in Carson City, Nev., have declared a California woman the rightful owner of $7.4 million in gold coins found in the home of her late cousin.

City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover said a month's worth of genealogical research determined Arlene Magdon, a first cousin to the late Walter Samasko Jr., was the only living relative of the man, who died in May, the Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday.

Glover said the money is likely to be released around the middle of 2013.

Samasko was discovered to have been keeping the 2,695 gold coins, some of which dated back to the 1880s, in boxes in his garage.

Glover said other parties attempting to claim the coins included a Florida man who said he was secret agent who suffered a head injury and only recently remembered he was related to Samasko.