"It's pie in the sky!" In 2017, a man in Britain spent 30,000 pounds to buy an abandoned tank. Unexpectedly, when he dismantled the fuel tank, he actually found one gold bar after another......
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Nick grew up with a love for all kinds of military equipment, a love for all kinds of cars as a child, and a special love for the ironclad shapes and powerful firepower of those tanks as a child.
He took this fetish to the next level, and Nick started a company specializing in tank rentals and exhibitions, turning the workplace directly into his beloved tank showroom.
The pavilion is home to a staggering array of tank models that Nick has collected over the years, ranging from miniatures to life-size sizes.
However, Nick still couldn't get enough of it, and he wanted more and more precious physical tanks, until 2017, when he saw someone auctioning an old tank online, the model of which was exactly the Chinese-made Type 69 he dreamed of.
Nick hesitated and finally pocketed it for a hefty £30,000, after all, it was the tank of his dreams, and he was willing to spend as much as he wanted.
When the battered tank arrived at the company, Nick couldn't wait to start a complete overhaul in the hope of getting it back to its best.
No one expected that in the process of cleaning the fuel tank, Nick accidentally discovered a shocking secret - there were 5 gold bars hidden in the fuel tank, weighing a total of 50 pounds!
Nick carefully removed them, and in the sunlight, the bars refracted a dazzling glow.
Nick was at first at a loss as to where this wealth came from, but he soon figured out where the gold came from.
He deduced that the bars were likely looted by Iraqi soldiers during the invasion of Kuwait, and that they hid the gold in fuel tanks to avoid inspection, but the owner was killed in the battlefield and was unable to take the treasure with him.
After Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, the tanks were captured by the British and shipped to the UK.
In the 80s of the last century, in order to resist the invasion of Iran, Iraq imported a large number of Type 69 tanks from China, once reaching more than 2,000 units.
In the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi army also sent these tanks into the war in an attempt to invade Kuwait.
After the end of the war, Iraq, as a defeated country, was captured by Britain and other countries in part of the Type 69 tanks, which may include the one purchased by Nick.
These old tanks were either auctioned, idle, or thrown into the sea to become reefs, but they all witnessed that era of gunpowder.
The 55-year-old Nick, in addition to his collection of old tanks, has 95 tanks and 35 off-road vehicles in his possession, with a total value of up to £2 million. The oldest tank is more than 70 years old, and it has struck through countless smoke on the battlefield.
Nick knew he had no right to the illicit gains, so he called the police and reported his findings. The police arrived at the scene and launched an investigation, which finally confirmed the origin of the gold.
Law enforcement officials eventually decided to confiscate the gold ingots, and Nick said that even if he couldn't get the gold ingots back, he would not be sad because the tank was still there, after all, the gold did not belong to him.
Nick uses his tank collection in a unique way, on the one hand, he uses some of the tanks as exhibits and charges visitors for admission, and on the other hand, he also runs an experience program for tank enthusiasts to try out for themselves and pay by the time.
In addition, he will also buy retired military supplies at a low price, and then rent them out to film and television crews after simple repairs for filming war scenes.
In addition to making profits, Nick also regularly holds tank science exhibitions to educate primary and secondary school students about relevant knowledge for free, and he has also used his own tanks to transport his sons to school to satisfy the children's curiosity and expectations.
"These tanks are like my kids, I know them too well," Nick said. He seems to have woven his life with these chariots of steel, happiness and wealth. And the gold that has seen the light of day has become the best footnote to this legend.
An honest and trustworthy move, a chance luck, and an obsessive heart for tanks, made Nick, an ordinary person living in a peaceful era, have a unique and legendary life of his own.
Resources:
China.com - "Was the gold seized on the battlefield in Iraq seized by the United States or privately hidden by soldiers?"
