This Guy Purchased A Tank On Ebay, But Didn’t Know It Contained A Fortune

Tank Battles in Iraq

It’s also important to understand where the tank has been, and how it could have possibly become the repository for millions of dollars worth of gold bars. Tanks really did play an important role in the Iraqi conflict, and historians have said that poor use of tanks in battlefront activities was a contributing factor in the heavy losses on the Iraqi side.

In one battle alone, the coalition forces destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks. The distance the tanks traveled was also not extensive. With such short-range battles at play, it’s not really that surprising that the Russian T-54 tank had only 1,500 miles on the odometer when Nick Mead purchased it from Joe Hewes.

Live Ammunition in the Tank

When Nick Mead took on the Russian T-54 tank from Joe Hewes, you’d expect that the tank might require some maintenance. Every vehicle does at some point, and the tank was probably built in the 1980s. It’s unclear what other maintenance was done up to the point when Mead added it to his fleet of military vehicles.

But, when Mechanic Todd Chamberlain first started working on the tank, he uncovered a stash of live ammunition, which they promptly reported to the authorities. So, the Russian T-54 tank was obviously used as a repository to hide things. He couldn’t have known just how many treasures (millions of dollars worth of gold) he really would unearth.