A rhetorical ethical dilemma for the ages: What would you do if you found a similar hoard of ancient gold and silver coins-- or anything of similar value-- on the job? What would you do with such a thing that nobody even knew was there, and something that hasn't been seen in a millenium or two?

I caught this headline on AOL Welcome page when checking my email tonight. It certainly does beg the eternal ethical dilemma I pose above.

It also makes me green with envy: Why have I never worked somewhere like that?

The closest I come to finding such treasures is scouring pocket change, and getting rolls of coins (NOT NEW ONES) from my financial institution $25, $50 or $100 and perhaps while watching TV or on a rainy day, scouring the rolls for anything interesting, whether it be a unique variety, year, mintmark -- or these days more than ever, those 1964 and earlier SILVER COINS!

Here's the link to the story:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/11/tanja-hols-janitor-coins_n_1142049.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk2%7C119290

For those who prefer to read it right here, I've pasted it below, giving full credit to the Huffington Post for the story (just an FYI -- there's also a video at the link above):

"Library janitor or Indiana Jones?

Tanja Höls, a custodian at the Passau state library in Germany, stumbled upon a box full of coins while on the job last week. Turns out, those coins are thousands of years old and could be worth millions.

"The box itself was fairly unspectacular, it looked like a big jewlery box, with lots of little drawers inside," she told The Local.

When she told her bosses at the library, they were stunned. The library believes that the collection likely belonged to local prince-bishops, who hid the treasure in the library in the early 19th century to avoid paying taxes.

The gold and silver coins can be traced to ancient Rome, Greece and Byzantine, according to the German Herald.

Höls, who had walked by the unassuming box many times before daring to open up, will be rewarded for her curiosity. A spokesman for the library told Der Spiegel that "she was very honest, a brilliant historian and a great detective. We are certainly going to promote her to the curating side of the museum and we're discussing a suitable reward for her.""