Random Thoughts On Treasure

The problem I have with treasure marks on stone or anywhere else is that unless you know the author of them, their meaning cannot possibly be determined. Even with a cryptic cross reference, you really can't determine if it translates as treasure information or simply says "Henry Loves Rosemary."

Some intellectual thinking about treasure signs should be done by everyone who searches for treasure. By that I mean you should sit down with a nice serving of your favorite beverage and think about what you would do if you were to hide a treasure. First, you have to decide if you are the one to recover it later or your trusted friends/descendants. If you, then the marks you make will be unique to your own thoughts on the matter and will definitely not be obvious. An arrow, for example, would not mean an arrow lest anyone with casual access to those signs will be able to find and take your treasure. Thus, an arrow can mean anything but probably not "go this way." The same goes for any other symbol you use.

If the treasure is for your friends or descendants, then you need a code that they will be able to figure out but nobody else can determine. An obscure reference to the family Bible might lead your family to a chart of translation. In all cases, the treasure signs will be useless to anyone like us coming along looking at the carvings. This supposition game can be frustrating but unlike in the movies where the hero manages to figure out each clue accurately every time, we are doomed to wonder while the treasure remains hidden.

A better option for all treasure hunters is to look in places that offer concealment without easy access but can be watched. It's a tried and proven method. Anyone who buries treasure would like to keep tabs on their booty while keeping it concealed. Nobody hides tons of gold when they are fighting a battle or fleeing one except by pure abandonment either. All this nonsense about the Japanese or Confederates taking the time to bury or conceal treasure in the form of one of the heaviest substances known to man is laughable. A bag of gold coins with a value of $20,000.00 would weigh 20,000 ounces which is over 1000 pounds.

I recently read a treasure story about a stage coach robbery where payroll funds of $20,000.00 was in a box near the driver and he tossed it down to the robbers. He did what? The box didn't break when it hit the ground? Pity the horse that had to carry that load off to be buried later.

The failing of the logic behind all of these so called lost or buried treasures is that they all occurred because of some urgency on the part of the owner to do something else in which they happened to die or suffer memory loss. Think about that for a while. Does anyone really believe that nearly everyone who buried a treasure died or suffered complete memory loss about where it is now?

I propose that almost all buried treasure worth finding is in the form of small caches rather than huge piles of gold bullion. Except for accidental shipwrecks or land based catastrophes, treasure in huge quantities is just a lovely story with no happy ending. Finding a cache is something that some have done and not even realized it. A recent post here where 75 silver half dollars were found scattered on the beach is clear evidence of a cache. The finder might have done well to research the possible source of those coins rather then simply revel in the find. Perhaps he has. If so, he will no doubt find another cache of them nearby.

Cache hunting has a much greater payoff for effort than any other form of treasure hunting besides just wandering about using a metal detector. I admit to finding bucket loads of coins and jewelry over the years in parks, beaches and other areas and far fewer numbers in caches. However, the caches always contain coins and items of much greater value. Thus, the return on invested time and effort is much greater overall. I also admit that not every cache story or lead sends me to a buried or hidden cache. Sometimes they fizzle out. Sometimes I discover that I was not the first to see the clues. Such is life. The real fun is in the hunt.

Keep looking for those clues but don't waste too much time on finding those fairy tale treasures. The stories amuse and entertain for certain yet fail all tests of logic and investigation. Besides, a treasure buried 300 years ago has had 300 years of searching done before you even heard of it. It's truly hard to imagine that a treasure could withstand that much searching only to land in your hands because you managed to scrape in the right spot by design. More than likely, you will discover more by accident.

Just my random thoughts after many years of hunting both for legendary treasure and caches. Guess which I have found more of?

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GoldDigger1950, I have to say I think your random thoughts on Treasure are well thought  out.   It seems to me that a large cache is going to be found on or near a place frequented by someone who a) had reason not to trust banks or others and b) was in the same location for an extended period of time and finally c) had the cache somewhere where he or she could keep a regular eye on it without either disturbing the cache (except when making "deposits" or "withdrawals") or arousing suspicion.   That would seem to indicate the odd "hermit" or the isolated farm/plantation treasure cache tale would be more likely to pan out than the cache hidden in flight from pursueing armies.    Which isn't to say there aren't plenty of true examples of those around (check some of the documented caches found by GIs during/after WWII), but some one in a hurry isn't generally going to have the time for either elaborate hiding places or for a long series of "mysterious" direction markers.......At least that's where logic would take you.

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Hello All

All your thoughts have been very interesting posts.

I think if you have an idea of the events to why a person would conceal treasure would help. Either it be from war, miss trust of banks or proceeds of crime etc

And how and where a cache is concealed depends on the ingenuity of person,time needed to conceal, size of the hoard and circumstances on why he or she buried it there.

Understanding the person if possible may help unlock the location of the treasure.

Hardluck 

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		Quote:			Posted by oldcoon
	I think spending a treasure is more fun than hiding it, and worse, later forgetting where you hid it. It is reputed Frank James spent some of his last years hunting some of the old James Brothers stomping grounds for buried loot.  From the accounts I read years ago in magazines it is doubtful Frank ever found anything except an old coffee pot as his life style and finances never changed for the good.    I guess even he believed  some of the buried treasure stories.

OOOPS!

Maybe, just maybe, I know something about Frank James that you never heard! He made a trip to Salspring Island in BC's inner channel islands, to visit somebody in the Afro-American colony, there.

Well, why?

Travel may have been cheaper, in those days, but not free.... he had to have some money to do that.

Was he looking for someone who may have known about a cache?

He was here in BC, it is a recorded fact.

goldigger

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   I don't know about Goldigger1950, but as for me, it is not that I question people hiding fortunes (some of them very sizeable).   What I find questionable is the elaborate markings people make as guideposts for finding the treasure.   It especially becomes problematic when everyone is using variations of the same symbols.....It's almost like saying "I'm going to hide my money so know one can find it, but here are all the clues you need to get to it".   
   If I was going to hide my wealth, I'd hide it where I could keep an eye on it regularly without arousing suspicion and I sure wouldn't blaze a trail for everyone else to follow -- UNLESS I wanted to mislead them into looking in the wrong place.
   Other concern brought up in the thread is the size of the treasure is often unrealistic when one applies logic.   In most of the cases, there could very well be a treasure that was buried under the basic circumstances of the legend, but with the years and the number of retelling, a strong box becomes a wagon load and a pound becomes a ton.

    But then again, there are always exceptions.    And the right exception could make you really rich.   



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