GOLD AND RIP VAN WINKLE
The “Rip Van Winkle Caper” was Episode No. 60 in the original Twilight Zone television series. It first aired in April 1961.
The show centered on the actions of four thieves who put themselves into suspended animation for 100 years, with the intention of waking to the prospect of enjoying, without concern, the spoils of their recent criminal actions.
The “spoils” happened to be one million dollars in gold bullion (bars) which they had recently misappropriated, i.e., stolen.
The entire plan was orchestrated by one of the men, who hired the others to perform specific tasks which depended on the execution of their respective and infamous talents. Now, they were in a cave located somewhere in the desert in the southwestern United States.