You’d think that finding millions in gold and silver coins would be good news for investors who were short-changed on what was supposed to be guaranteed profits.

Sure, a good thing — unless those same incensed investors were out between $12 million and $13 million.

In an odd twist of events, the estranged wife of the investment banker who headed up the scheme discovered the coin cache in the basement of their home. (Not the kind of change you’d find between the couch cushions, obviously.)

It raised the hopes of investors who’d sunk a bundle into what they were told would earn huge profits. One investor was told she’d earned more than $11,000 on coins she’d bought from the banker.

Remember the old axiom, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is?” This is the kind of situation that gave rise to that phrase.

The feds have stepped in and they’re sorting through the coins in the basement. The ones that can be ID’d are being returned to their owners. But the bulk of the not-so-petty cash will go on the block, with profits to be divvied up among the empty-handed investors.

The odds of recovering their stake looks pretty bleak for the investors.

The investment banker’s former employer is taking it on the chin, too, as several of the disgruntled clients have filed suit against it.

One of the reasons the scheme collapsed upon itself?

Apparently, the investment banker didn’t show much business sense. He was selling some of the coins — at wholesale prices, after he shelled out retail bucks for those same items.

Tags: banker, coin, investment, scheme