Receiving an inheritance from someone you love is always a special, bittersweet experience.
After all, it's a rare opportunity to really understand that person.
Hand-me-down jewelry and furniture has a way of revealing secrets, as we saw with this beautiful silver locket that doubled as an urn.
There's also a tiny spark of excitement whenever you handle antique or vintage items; you never know what you can find!
For example, one young man recently hit the cool-discovery jackpot when he noticed something funny about a carved wooden wardrobe he inherited from his granddad.
Inside, one of the drawers seemed loose, and after some poking and prodding, he discovered an entire hidden compartment concealed from sight.
As if a secret drawer isn't cool enough on its own, the compartment also hid some fascinating bits and pieces of family history.
Scroll through below to learn more about the compartment, and what he found inside!
A young man in Europe posted pictures to Imgur late last year, showing a beautiful antique cabinet handed down from his grandfather.
He explains that he actually inherited it a few years ago, but hadn't given it a thorough, deep cleaning.
He doesn't explain in the post, but it's likely that he was preparing the cabinet for restoration.
When he opens up the cabinet doors, you can see that it's a solid wood hutch, currently being used to store glassware.
The inside is unfinished, or old enough that it appears unfinished. So it definitely seems like it needs a good scrub and perhaps a new coat of finish.
He starts clearing out the drawers, and notices something odd: The board at the back of the drawers is a bit loose.
In fact, the board that separates the two boards isn't really fixed into place; he can pull it straight out.
And when he goes ahead and slips the divider out of the wardrobe, he discovers that it's actually another, hidden drawer.
The drawer divider is fitted with a small compartment that is pushed to the very back of the cabinet.
When he pulls it out, you can see that its a "T." The hidden compartment is so narrow, most of us would probably never notice that the drawers aren't as deep as the wardrobe.
It's the perfect place to hide stuff that you'd rather keep away from prying eyes.
And that's exactly what this young man's grandfather did. You can see a few objects tucked away in the secret compartment.
All told, he finds three mysterious objects in the drawers.
At first glance, it's pretty hard to tell what any of the objects are.
They're clearly old, but well-preserved, and, as it turns out, mostly objects that aren't as commonly used anymore.
The first object he finds is a strange system of metal levers.
It might look like an old-timey version of a nail clipper, but instead it appears to be a device for pressing out buckshot pellets.
Buckshot, made in the 1800s from soft lead, was made by pressing scrap lead into a mold like this one.
And if you want to see what antique buckshot looks like, look no further!
There's also a supply of buckshot in the secret compartment, in a small leather pouch.
Now, folks use shotgun shells, but buckshot pellets were once loaded into shotguns loose.
And the last item tucked into the drawers? A tiny King James pocket bible.
It's marked "Carlsbad 1859," which is probably the year and location the owner acquired the bible — Carlsbad is now called Karlovy Vary, and it's in the Czech Republic.
Given how old everything is, we're guessing this young man's granddad may not have even known this stuff was in there; maybe his great-grandpa or great-great-grandpa is responsible!
Have you ever discovered a secret compartment? Let us know in the comments!
And don't forget to SHARE with everyone who loves antiques and history.
