Man buys 125-year-old chest in sale — then he heard a rattling noise and discovered incredible treasure

Discovering a hidden treasure may or may not give a person an adrenaline rush. However, a retired marketing director felt the thrill when he experienced something similar during an estate sale. In 2015, the retired man, Emil Knodell, had bought a chest from a man's house who had died in Missouri City, Texas. The furniture's marble top was the reason Knodell wanted to buy it. He never thought there was going to be a hidden drawer in it. Also, he did not know what was going to be inside the drawer until he heard a noise, per ABC News.

Knodell went to the estate sale from his house in Bellville, Texas, and paid $100 to buy that chest. He used to buy antiques and collectibles as a hobby and was impressed by the chest with a marble top and three drawers. Knodell thought that it would look great in his dining room. The furniture had also been discounted on the third day of the sale, as there were no takers. "Because it has a nice marble top, I hope to use it in my dining room," the then-67-year-old pointed out. Knodell bought it and was loading it in a vehicle with the help of a staff member at Premiere Estate Sales Network when they heard metal sounds from the chest.

"He asked for help loading it. As soon as we laid it down, it started making all this racket on the inside. Obviously, we were very intrigued by what was happening with the dresser. There were rings, diamonds, gold and all kinds of stuff. It was a real adrenaline rush. Both of us were in shock for a second," Jeff Allen, the staff member who was helping Knodell, recalled. "When you look at the front of it, it looks like it has three obvious drawers with molding on the base, but the bottom has a secret drawer that opens up," Knodell continued. There were several things inside the drawer, such as money, jewelry with emeralds and diamonds, military dog tags, a lock of hair and some Civil War memorabilia. However, Knodell knew he was not going to keep the items inside the chest he had just bought.

"I bought the chest drawers. I didn't buy those things. If I kept them, I would never feel right about it. There would be a cloud over the whole thing. It's a feeling more than anything else," Knodell shared. "I'm an old ex-Marine, and I try to do the right thing. Jeff, also, the man in charge, his immediate reaction was, 'Let's call the owner.' There was never a question of anyone keeping it; it was: 'This is fantastic. Let's call the owner and get the stuff back to them.'" Allen revealed that the chest might be from around 1890.

Allen called the estate executor, the son of the man who died and told him about what they found inside the drawer. "He remembers that dresser in a house in Michigan when he was a little child — in his grandfolks' house. And he had no idea there was a hidden compartment," Allen revealed. All the items inside the drawer were eventually returned to the rightful owner, who was glad to have them back, per ABC 7 News.