The 21-karat gold figure dating to around 850 to 950 A.D. weighs 4 pounds (1.8 kg) and depicts a woman sitting in the lotus position in Buddhism, is ornamented with jewelry on her body, and wears a headdress.

Now known as the "Golden Tara", after its discovery, it was handed to the former Deputy Governor Bias Baclagon then it was passed to the Agusan Coconut Company, because of a debt.

It was then being sold and was purchased for ₱4,000 by the wife of American Governor-General Leonard Wood, Faye Cooper-Cole, who was the curator of Chicago Field Museum’s Southeast Asian department.

Dr. H. Otley Beyer, known as the father of Philippine Archaeology and Anthropology, tried to encourage the government to buy the artifact however all attempts failed due to lack of funds.

The question of the validity of the purchase of the Golden Tara and whether it was acquired legally if it was in fact originally stolen from Bilay remains a debate of history.