It’s the last thing anyone would find in a tank’s gasoline tank.
Nick Mead, a tank collector and military buff, found himself in excitement, confusion, and disbelief when he and his mechanic Todd Chamberlain investigated a tank that they bought from eBay.
Talk about inherent value
Instead of finding relics or rust-ridden parts, they found something that made this tank the most valuable tank Mead ever had to handle.
Nick Mead runs Tanks-a-Lot.
His company specializes in “military tourism”.
Through his sophisticated collection of tanks spanning different wars like the Second World War to the Gulf War, Mead allows his clients to experience what it’s like to be in one of these engineering behemoths.
He also lends some of his machines to film producers so that their movies can involve actual military vehicles of the time.
His collection includes military support vehicles like jeeps, trucks, and armored cars.
These aren’t his prize piece, though.
The cream of his garage is the roster of tanks he currently manages. And from all of those tanks, a Chinese-made T54 tank might be the most valuable.
After buying the tank, he and his mechanic inspected it just in case it contains other things.
Being a vehicle that actually saw war, the T54 can contain equipment that can put Mead and his workers in a very awkward situation.
They even decided to film the entire inspection just in case they need to prove where guns and rounds of ammunition came from.
But they found something else entirely.
We were pretty glad they filmed the operation because when they opened the gasoline tank of the T54, they realized how important their proof will be.
The gas tank had 5 gold bullion bars.
Each bar weighs approximately 12lbs apiece. Giving a quick calculation, Mead mentioned that it has an estimated worth of £2 million.
So how much did he get the tank for? Mead got the tank for about £30,000. But instead of using cash, Mead got the T54 by trading an army truck and an Abbot self-propelled gun.
The team was caught off-guard, especially when they had to figure out what to do with the bars.
“We didn’t know what to do.”
Mead said to The Sun, “You can’t exactly take five gold bullion bars down to Cash Converters without questions being asked, so we called the police.”
Even when they joked about what they could do with the money, Mead decided to surrender the bars to the police. In turn, the police will investigate the origins of the gold bars.
Mead believes that the gold came from Kuwait.
To whether or not the gold owner hid the gold to protect it or that the Iraqis hid their looted valuables in tanks, is anyone’s guess.
Honor before riches
While people commented that he just let a chance of a lifetime slip through his fingers, Mead believed that he did the right thing.
After all, it was the tank that Mead was after.
“Even if I don’t get any of the gold back I will still have my beautiful tank.” He said to The Sun.
Watch this team of restorers strike gold in the video below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
