The sunken treasure found in Lake Merritt by a group of Oakland schoolchildren back in March has found its rightful owner. According to Oakland police, the two sacks of jewelry, coins, medallions and silverware have been identified by an anonymous owner, meaning the kids from St. Paul's Episcopal School in Oakland won't be able to pawn it all off to fund an elaborate middle school production of The Music Man or what have you.

Oakland PD apparently got over 100 calls from locals eager to claim the treasure as their own, but only one man was able to correctly identify the items found in the lake. While the cops couldn't say just how his antique goods ended up in the lake or how much the cache is worth, they did say he hopes he can do "something nice for the school."

The kids don't sound too bummed about losing their discovery, however, and it seems like the excitement of finding treasure while cleaning up cigarette butts and discarded potato chip bags was payment enough for these sixth graders. As 12-year-old Emily Klyce told the Chronicle, her group still holds the record for "coolest" find on cleanup duty. While the other groups have been bragging about old credit cards and soggy dollar bills, Emily's group is all, "Oh, well, that's cool."

CBS5's video report has more:

Previously: Oakland Schoolchildren Discover Sunken Treasure In Lake Merritt
[Chron]