Treasure found in the wall of a house

Piles of old coins worth as much as $200,000 were found in a long-abandoned Windber home, including scores that the owner had apparently thrown down a hole in the wall.

Jeff Bidelman, owner of Rare Collectibles near Johnstown, said he was helping the family clean out the house after the deaths of the owners, who had not lived there for two decades.

He was dragging a bag of old coins down the steps when he noticed a hole in an upstairs wall.

Within minutes of tearing down the first-floor wall below the hole, Bidelman was wading in piles of old coins.

Some were minted as long ago as 1793 and are worth about $8,500 each.