
“I love treasure hunting, I think it has huge benefits,” Whitehead said. “It’s like a bolt of electricity goes through you,” Whitehead says when describing what it was like to find one of his first treasures.īut despite all of his successful finds, Whitehead estimates that of all the large-scale treasure hunts he’s participated in more than 50 per cent have ended in some sort of “strange” manner. Whitehead’s interest in treasure hunting began as a child when he took part in “Masquerade.” Since that time, he says he’s competed in more than 30 treasure hunts and has won more than $100,000 worth of prizes from hunts, including a solid gold casket from a hunt called Quest, to a literal pot of gold (a pot filled 200 one pound coins, to be exact). “So people saw it as a bit of a money spinner, which it clearly wasn’t.” “Everybody thought that because “Masquerade” was successful, anybody who wrote a treasure hunt would be successful,” says Shaun Whitehead, a British engineer who considers himself one of the world’s foremost experts in treasure hunting. In the 27 years that the treasure has been hidden, the search for the golden owl has attracted lawsuits and concerns over the authenticity of the hunt. Valentin has since passed away and the solution for the hunt is reportedly in his family’s possession. To this day, the hunt’s buried golden owl prize has never been found. In 1993, French author Max Valentin published a treasure hunt of his own, “Sur La Trace de La Chouette d’Or” (The Hunt for The Golden Owl). The grand prize of $500,000 was ultimately given to charity in 1989 as no one had succeeded in solving the hunt to that point.
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But two years after it’s release, Intravision was $600,000 in debt, and by 1987 copies of the book and movie had stopped being distributed due to low sales numbers. released an elaborate treasure hunt called “Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse.” The clues to the hunt were sold in the form of a book, movie and CD, and led to a golden horse buried somewhere in the U.S. In 1984, American company Intravision Inc. But “Masquerade’s” boom was never matched and this flooding of the market led to a number of hunts that ended in bankruptcy, controversy, or with prizes that have remained unfound for decades. Attempting to ride this wave of popularity, many publishers around the world attempted to recreate its success by releasing their own treasure hunt books. “Masquerade” was a sensation when it was first released, with more than a million copies of the book sold worldwide. Treasure hunts have resulted in serious damage to property, nature and in the case of Fenn’s hunt, even death. This type of fishy or troubling circumstance isn’t uncommon. In fact, the previously mentioned “Masquerade” hunt that kick-started this hobby for many was contentious itself, as it was won by a man who had inside information as to where the prize was hidden. “My daughter and I called it our Goonie adventure when we first went out together because that was exactly what we were doing, we were living this adventure,” she says.īut while many like Nardelli take up treasure hunting as an exciting hobby, there’s a dark side to the world of armchair treasure hunts that can often lead to hunts ending in controversy or unsatisfactory circumstances.
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Most consider the origin of this hobby to be “Masquerade“ a 1979 picture book that contained a series of clues in its images leading to a pendant of a golden hare buried in the U.K., worth $35,000.įor Nardelli, going on that trip in 2015 was a way to experience a childlike adventure first hand while bonding with her daughter. Armchair treasure hunts are purposefully organized scavenger hunts with clues and puzzles that can be solved from one’s home, eventually leading to a prize.


Though it may sound similar to the search for One-Eyed Willy’s hoard, Fenn’s hunt is the most famous contemporary example of armchair treasure hunting, which has become a modern hobby for many around the world. After a decade-long search, early in June, a man who did not want to be identified, but who Fenn said was from “back east” finally found the treasure. In his memoir, “The Thrill of the Chase,” Fenn published a poem that contained clues to its whereabouts. Nelika and Bre drove from Calgary through Montana and Wyoming to search for more than a million dollars worth of antique treasures that Fenn hid somewhere in the American west back in 2010.

In 2015, she and her 15-year-old daughter, Bre, joined many thousands around the world in the search for Forrest Fenn’s hidden treasure. Nardelli has been an “armchair” treasure hunter for the past five years.
