What would you do if you saw this on a hike?

And some of the Saddle Ridge Hoard coins were sold accompanied by the cans they were found in!

 

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If you do find gold coins and don't sell them, do you have to pay income tax on the coins?
Put them in your collection untill you forget where you got them.
I would think that you would when you sell them. With the new IRS laws about paying taxes on coins when they are sold, they would be taxed. I think the new law starts when you sell more than $600. I'm a retired accountant, but I work with government accounting, so I didn't have to work with taxes, except for the meager amount the state pays their accountant.
So your saying the government doesn't account for anything, but you should.
Anyway, If the find was significant, I probably would definitely keep my mouth shut, not even to my accountant or lawyer because they are required by law to report an violation.
Bingo
I found 2 $20 bills on the ground when I left a friend's wedding. My dilemma is, my wife saw me pick them up and I want to look good in her eyes. So, I went back to the reception and asked the father of the bride to let me know if anyone reports loosing 2 $20 bills. My wife was still watch me, so I put the 2 $20's in with the rest of the gifts.
So..
Do you tell your wife if you found a hoard?
Sure she knows when to SSS.
How many of you with wifes that have a best friend? Does the best friend have another best friend? And on and on it goes

 

If you find them on your own property, they are yours, unless they are robbery loot. Gold coins are considered collectibles in the eyes of the IRS, so you would have to pay capital gains tax when you sell them. The (anonymous) owners sold them openly through Kagin's on Amazon, so I'm sure they paid tax on the sales.

 

Those "value" estimates are rather like the reportage on large drug busts. They can quote ludicrous "street-value" prices because it's not up to them to sell it - and the higher they can claim the value to be makes them look more courageous and exceptional for having made the bust.
Those reporters claiming a value of millions of dollars don't have to actually do all the work involved to sell them and realize the highest returns, etc. - all they have to do is write a huge figure and no one is holding them to stand behind the claim.
Talk is cheap (buy some!)

 

Found on public, .gov, or my land: Tell nobody except my wife and come back with the metal detector.

Found on private land (assume I have permission to be there): Talk to the landowner directly - it's theirs - and let them decide what to do, offer to come back with the metal detector.

Either way, I'd keep an eye out for the leprechaun that put it there lest I receive a brutal shillelagh beating!