An elderly man from Somerset, England had perhaps just a bit of a surprise when he discovered that the crown shoved under his bed in a dirty cardboard box is actually worth about $150,000 to $300,000 (£100,000 to £200,000).

According to Daily Mail, the wreath is about 2,300 years old and believed to be ancient Greek—dating from roughly to the Hellenistic period, the time following the death of Alexander the Great (300 BCE).

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, possesses many items from his grandfather, who was a well-seasoned traveler.

"I inherited quite a lot of things from him and I just put this to one side for almost a decade and didn't really think anything of it," he told Daily Mail.

A family heirloom of great value

He decided to have appraisers from Duke's of Dorchester—a nearby auction house—look at a few of the items he had inherited. One of the appraisers, Guy Schwinge, was present at the man rifled through a box filled with crumpled newspaper to bring out the delicate crown.

"When the owner pulled the gold wreath from a tatty cardboard box filled with paper, my heart missed a beat," Schwinge told Daily Mail. "When I went to the cottage the last thing I expected to see was a piece of gold from antiquity."

Despite its age and unusual method of storage (besides being stored under the bed, bits of dirt in the gold suggest it was once buried), the wreath is apparently in marvelous condition.

"It is eight inches across and weighs about 100 grams [1/4 of a pound]," said Schwinge. It's pure gold and handmade, it would have been hammered out by a goldsmith. The wreath is in very nice condition for something that's 2,300 years old. It's a very rare antiquity to find, they don't turn up often. I've never seen one in my career before."