Family in Taiwan accidentally discards heirloom gold jewellery worth more than S$8o,000
A family in Taichung, Taiwan almost lost heirloom gold jewellery worth around NT$2 million (S$81,000) after unknowingly throwing away the furniture it had been hidden in.
According to Taiwanese media reports, an elderly relative of a man surnamed Hsieh had kept the valuables in a hidden compartment inside the drawer of a household altar table.
Source: SET News
However, family members who were unaware of this arranged for the altar table to be discarded during a home clean-up.
Fortunately, a local cleaning crew helped the family recover the valuables in full.
Elderly relative hid valuables in altar table drawer
The gold jewellery, which had been passed down through generations, had reportedly been stored in the hidden compartment of the altar table drawer.
Source: SET News
Unaware of the valuables inside, the family handed the altar table over to the Dongshi District cleaning team for disposal along with other bulky furniture.
According to SET News, the elderly relative only revealed where the gold jewellery had been kept after realising that the altar table had already been taken away.
The family then urgently contacted the cleaning team for help.
Cleaning team retrieves valuables within 30 minutes
Thankfully, the discarded furniture had first been placed at a temporary waste furniture storage area.
After receiving the report, the cleaning team checked the bulky waste collection appointment records and headed to the storage area to search through the discarded furniture one by one.
Source: SET News
Within about 30 minutes, they managed to find the altar table and recover all the valuables from inside the drawer.
To ensure that the items were correctly accounted for, the cleaning team notified the owner to go to Dongshi Police Station, where both parties counted the items and completed the relevant procedures.
In total, 27 valuable items were recovered, including gold necklaces, bracelets, rings, and gold bars.
Their estimated market value was close to NT$2 million.
Jewellery was important family heirloom
Mr Hsieh said the gold jewellery was an important dowry that had been kept by the family for generations.
Beyond its monetary value, the jewellery also held great sentimental and historical significance to the family.
He expressed his gratitude to the cleaning crew for their quick assistance and warm service, which allowed the precious valuables to be recovered.
Following the incident, the Taichung City Environmental Protection Bureau reminded members of the public to double-check drawers, cabinets, and hidden compartments when disposing of bulky furniture or tidying their homes.
This is to ensure that valuables have been properly removed, and to avoid mistakenly disposing of items that carry important memories or are of high value.
Also read: Man in Thailand seeks help after mother with dementia accidentally throws away gold bars worth S$80K
Man in Thailand seeks help after mother with dementia accidentally throws away gold bars worth S$80K
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Featured image adapted from SET News.
