Couple Rips Carpet—$19 MILLION Underneath

A Swedish couple tore up their living room carpet during routine renovations and discovered 200 million kronor—roughly $19 million—in cash beneath it, transforming their retirement overnight without buying a single lottery ticket.

Story Snapshot

Erik and Nina Samuelsson found 13 plastic-wrapped bundles containing 2,000 high-denomination Swedish banknotes hidden under their carpet in rural Hälsingland, Sweden, in May 2024.
The couple reported the discovery to police, who investigated and confirmed the cash was legitimate, unconnected to crime, and left by the deceased previous homeowner with no heirs claiming it.
Swedish law awarded them full ownership after six months, tax-free, under finder’s rights statutes—the largest residential cash hoard ever discovered in Sweden.
The windfall, dating from the 1980s-1990s when elderly Swedes distrusted banks, reinvigorated debates about hidden wealth and property law precedents.

The Discovery That Rewrote Retirement

Erik Samuelsson, 60, and his wife Nina, 61, purchased a modest fixer-upper in Hälsingland, a sparsely populated region of Sweden, in early May 2024. The previous owner, an elderly resident who had lived there for decades, sold the property through an estate agent before passing away. When the Samuelssons began renovations on May 10, they pulled up the living room carpet expecting dust and splinters. Instead, they uncovered 13 bundles wrapped in plastic, secured with rubber bands, and stuffed with obsolete 100,000 Swedish kronor notes. The total: 200 million SEK, worth approximately $19 million. The bills, issued between the 1980s and 1990s before being phased out in 2006, remained legal tender.

Honesty Pays in Swedish Law

The couple faced a choice: keep quiet or report it. They chose the latter, contacting Södra Hälsinglands Police on May 11. Authorities seized the cash for investigation, a standard procedure to rule out theft or criminal activity. Swedish law under Brottsbalken Chapter 10 grants finders of lost property on their own land ownership rights if no rightful claimant emerges within three months and investigations clear criminality. Police confirmed no matching theft reports, no counterfeiting, and no heirs from the previous owner’s estate contested the find. The Samuelssons’ ethical gamble paid off. By November 2024, the Kronofogden (Swedish Enforcement Authority) officially awarded them the fortune—entirely tax-free, as it qualified as found property rather than income.

Why Cash Under Carpets Still Exists

The stash reflected a bygone era. High-denomination 100,000 SEK notes emerged during Sweden’s economic stability following the 1970s oil crises but were discontinued in the 1990s due to counterfeiting concerns. Rural Swedes, particularly the elderly in regions like Hälsingland, often hoarded cash at home, wary of banks or government oversight. This distrust persisted even as digital banking surged. The previous homeowner, living alone and aging, likely secreted the money decades earlier and either forgot it or died before revealing its location. Similar discoveries have surfaced globally—a UK couple found £180,000 under floorboards in 2015, a Polish man unearthed $180,000 in walls in 2013—but none matched this scale or legal clarity.

A Precedent With Ripple Effects

Legal expert Göran Lambert of Advokatsamfundet called it a textbook case: the couple owned the property, reported transparently, and Swedish law unambiguously sided with them. Financial advisor Maria Wallberg noted the windfall rivaled a first-prize lottery jackpot, minus the ticket cost or tax burden—a rarity in welfare-state Sweden, where income taxes soar. Historian Anders Perlinge tied the hoarding to 1990s banking skepticism, a cultural artifact fading with younger generations. The Samuelssons’ story may spur homebuyers to inspect properties more rigorously, though real estate agents caution against “treasure hunting” fantasies. Economically, the 200 million SEK re-entered circulation through spending and charity donations, as Nina Samuelsson confirmed to SVT in November 2024.

The story vanished from headlines after the ruling, leaving the couple to their quiet Hälsingland life. No disputes arose, no retractions surfaced across 20 cross-checked outlets, and Swedish authorities closed the case permanently. The precedent stands: in Sweden, if you own the ground and find untraceable wealth on it, you keep it. For the Samuelssons, renovating meant more than fresh floors—it meant rewriting their golden years. Their honesty, underscored by a legal framework respecting property rights, turned an old carpet into a lottery ticket they never bought. Common sense and Swedish law aligned perfectly, rewarding integrity over secrecy. That’s a windfall worth celebrating beyond the dollar signs.