Imagine buying a piece of rusty military history on eBay, only to discover it contained a fortune that could change your life forever. Then imagine handing it all over to the police and receiving nothing but a scrap of paper in return. This is the precise and verified reality faced by Nick Mead, a British military vehicle enthusiast who stumbled upon a life-altering treasure, only to watch it vanish into the evidence locker of the authorities.
A Heavy Metal Bargain
In 2017, Nick Mead, the owner of a company specializing in military vehicles, made a curious acquisition. He browsed eBay and successfully negotiated the purchase of a Type 69 tank—a Chinese-manufactured copy of the Soviet T-54. This specific 36.5-tonne (40-ton) behemoth had served in the Iraqi Army and participated in the Gulf War in the early 1990s.
Mead did not pay cash for the vehicle. Instead, he bartered for it, trading an ex-Army truck and an Abbot self-propelled howitzer, a deal valued at approximately £30,000 ($37,000). His goal was simple: restore the tank to working order for his collection. He had no idea that the steel armor concealed a secret far more valuable than the tank itself.
Hidden in the Diesel
During the restoration process, Mead and his mechanic, Todd Chamberlain, began stripping down the vehicle. They discovered machine gun ammunition inside, which raised safety concerns. Worried they might find illegal firearms, Mead decided to film their inspection as a precaution to prove they were not the original owners of any weapons.
While removing the heavy diesel fuel tank to check its condition, they noticed it felt unusually heavy. They reached inside, expecting more discarded munitions or perhaps simple sediment. Instead, Chamberlain pulled out a gleaming gold bar. Then another. And another.
In total, they extracted five solid gold bars. Each bar weighed approximately 5 kilograms (11 pounds), bringing the total haul to around 25 kilograms (55 pounds). At the time of the discovery, the bullion was valued at roughly £2 million ($2.5 million).
The Call to Authority
The origin of the gold seemed clear to the restorers. During the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraqi forces looted vast quantities of gold from the country’s central bank. It appeared that soldiers had hidden this specific stash inside the fuel reservoir of the tank, likely intending to retrieve it later, but never returned.
Faced with £2 million in stolen bullion, Mead made a fateful decision. As he later explained to reporters, “You can’t exactly take five gold bullion bars down to Cash Converters without questions being asked.” Fearing charges of handling stolen goods, he contacted the local police.
Officers arrived, confiscated the five bars, and provided Mead with a simple receipt. They took the gold into custody to investigate its origins and attempt to trace the rightful owners in Kuwait.
A Bitter Aftermath
Years passed without a resolution. In January 2024, nearly seven years after the discovery, Mead revealed the disheartening conclusion of his story. He had not received a single penny. The authorities did not offer a finder’s fee, nor did they return any portion of the gold.
“I regret handing it in,” Mead admitted in a candid interview. “I should have at least got a finder’s fee for it but I got absolutely nothing.”
The gold remains with the authorities, and Mead is left with only his tank and the memory of the day he held a multimillion-pound fortune in his hands, only to let it go.
Nick Mead bought a tank on eBay and found £2 million inside.
It should have been the jackpot of a lifetime.
Instead, he ended up with absolutely nothing.
This is how a military collector held a massive fortune in his hands and then watched it vanish…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/0Eya5SXHLA
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) November 26, 2025