Treasure Hunting

Key West: Someone actually lifted the famous gold bar Wednesday evening from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

The 5-pound bar, from the 15th century Spanish galleon the Nuestra Señora de Atocha that Fisher and his crew found off Key West in 1985, was stolen from its secure Plexiglas enclosure about 5:13 p.m., Key West police said.

Security cameras captured images of two people breaking into the case and taking the bar from what museum director Melissa Kendrick called one of Fisher’s favorite exhibits, because it allowed visitors to hold the same treasure — to “lift the gold bar” — found by his team.

One suspect was described as a white male about 6 feet tall, with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about 5 foot 6 inches tall, reports say, and could be a woman or a man. Detectives were still working on identifying the suspects as of press time Thursday.

According to a police report, a security guard told a museum visitor to “make sure to touch the gold bar,” but when the visitor arrived at the exhibit, the bar was gone. The woman reportedly did not see anyone take the bar or acting suspiciously.

Detectives declined to say how they think the suspects broke into the exhibit, said police spokeswoman Alyson Crean. The FBI is working with Key West police, Crean said. The federal agency also investigates art and jewelry/gem theft, according to http://www.fbi.gov/hq.htm.

Kendrick declined to speculate on the bar’s worth, noting such treasure has an “antiquity value” on top of the actual gold value. A 5-pound solid gold bar would be worth about $98,800 in today’s market, according to gold prices posted Thursday afternoon at http://www.thestreet.com, a financial news website.

The museum is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the 5-pound bar’s intact return, she said.

“This has never happened since we’ve been here,” Kendrick said, referring to the museum’s location at 200 Greene St.

In the 1970s, a group stole a silver bar that weighed about 70 pounds from Fisher, but that was before the current museum with its security measures were in place, Kendrick said. It was never recovered.

Former Mel Fisher diver Don Kincaid, who helped recover many artifacts in the early 1980s, was staggered to hear of Wednesday’s theft.

“To my knowledge, something like this has never happened before,” Kincaid said. “The design of the case that bar was in has thus far been completely successful. The ability to touch that bar was the most common compliment we would get from visitors. It’s one of only a few museums where you can touch history.”

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Saint Louis, MO; For all treasure-hunters, this 16,000-square-foot, interactive exhibition unlocks the real world of pirates, a world which had previously been relegated to movies and books and visually romanticized.

Real Pirates tells the true story of the Whydah- a slave ship turned pirate ship that sank off the coast of Cape Cod nearly 300 years ago. At the core of the exhibition are artifacts painstakingly recovered from the ocean floor, including treasure chests of gold coins, jewelry and the most advanced weaponry of the time.

Metal Detecting Companies such as Kellyco Metal Detectors sell rare coins just like the ones showcased at the exhibit… Start a collection of your own!

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These are the kind of events that makes Metal Detecting a truly honorable hobby.

Black Mountain, Asheville, NC — A group of metal-detecting enthusiasts helped police find some stolen jewelry last week.

The jewelry was stolen in a string of home break-ins last month. Five town residents were arrested in the case. The Police Department approached the metal-detecting hobbyists and gave them the approximate location of where they thought the suspected criminals disposed of some items.

The treasure hunters did the rest of the work.

“They did a good job,” police Sgt. Rob Austin said.

Mike Post, a Swannanoa Valley resident and dealer for Minelab brand metal detectors, recruited members of the Blue Ridge Metal Detecting Club and posted a message on Treasurenet.com, a website for hobbyists. They converged on the site Aug. 5 at the end of Vance Avenue and Montreat’s In the Oaks campus, and began sweeping the area, Post said.

Another man out for a walk discovered some jewelry boxes after the searchers told him what they where looking for. They were able to use their metal detectors to uncover the jewelry hidden beneath the leaves and dirt.

“It doesn’t take long for this stuff to bury itself,” Post said. “It settles once it rains and the wind blows.”

Club members came from as far as Sylva, and one man who was traveling through the area from Illinois made a detour to attend after seeing the post on Treasurenet.com.

“It was a good idea,” Austin said. “It panned out.”

The jewelry is now being processed as evidence. Austin is reviewing descriptions from police reports filed immediately after the break-ins to match the jewelry with the owners.

He said the case underscores the need for homeowners to document their possessions with photographs and record the serial numbers of possessions. Having photos can help homeowners claim their stolen goods if they are recovered, and serial numbers can help law enforcement officials track items through nationwide databases.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - After an Inside Out story profiling Andrew Ostrowski and headlined “A tip of the fedora to Island’s very own Jones” appeared back in March, independent filmmaker and director Paul Vlachos of New York was so impressed by Ostrowski’s unique talents that he asked him to appear in an upcoming documentary about collectors.

Ostrowski, a 43-year-old freelance writer from West Brighton who has come to be known as “The Indiana Jones of Staten Island” because of his unique artifact-collecting hobby and his brave approach to relic-hunting, has somewhat taken on the persona of the Harrison Ford character, replete with fatigue jacket, bullwhip and signature fedora.

“This will definitely be a new adventure for me,” says Ostrowski of his first-ever moviemaking attempt. “Hunting down an ancient treasure in a dimly lit cave is one thing. Now I’ll be in front of a 1,000-watt Tinseltown spotlight,” says he, before adding, “Let’s hope I don’t fall to pieces!”

The film will be a documentary about various collectors across the country. Ostrowski, who seeks out rare antiquities and artifacts all over the world, will offer an in-depth survey of his own collection and will talk about the history, approach and charm of his artifact-collecting skill. “Each relic has its own tale to tell,” he adds. “It is the artifact that defines the collector, not the other way around.”

After he dusts off his fedora, the Indy-like solo adventurer will feature an on-screen sampling of items, dating to roughly 400 B.C. His oldest piece is a Phoenician trinket from the ancient city of Byblos, from which the word “Bible” derives.

Ostrowski notes that Mr. Ford invariably has a ravishing actress for his sidekick.

“The rumor is already out that I’m looking for a ‘leading lady’ to join me,” says Ostrowski, a bachelor. “Hey, all I can say is, if there’s a clone of the 6-foot, sleek and slender blond-bombshell actress Alison Doody hiding on Staten Island somewhere, just ring my doorbell. How can I ever refuse?”

Shooting begins this fall.

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Boston, Massachusetts: In Blackbeard’s day, “coin collecting’’ meant swashbuckling, flying a Jolly Roger flag, and making rivals walk the plank at sword point. Today, it is a little tamer.

A new breed of collectors filled Boston’s Hynes Veterans Convention Center yesterday, traveling from table to table instead of sea to sea. But what they are searching for has not changed at all: treasure. “The fun is in the hunt,’’ said Andy Lustig, 49, a vendor from Nyack, N.Y.

Hundreds of people from across the country came to the World’s Fair of Money to find that something special. For some, that meant unusual coins.

For others, the historical artifacts on display were the true find.Still others sought precious metals they said are more reliable investments than the stock market.

“At first, I couldn’t wrap my head around spending money for money,’’ said Raquel McAninch, 33, a vendor with Colonial Trading Co. of Boston. “But then you come to these things, and you see all these characters, and you realize there really is something here for everyone. They all have their reasons.’’

More than 1,000 vendors set up stands to buy, sell, and trade coins with convention-goers. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History displayed rarely seen gold pieces, and the US Department of the Treasury set up an exhibit featuring an engraver, the design for the new $100 bill, and the largest US note ever printed — the $100,000 bill.

For longtime collectors, such as Sandy Gulde, who traveled from Scottsdale, Ariz., to help run a convention booth, it is the most thrilling event of the year.

“Every day, something is different; it’s so exciting,’’ she said. “From this side of the table, it’s great to be able to hook up a coin with a collector and watch them fall in love.’’

Many vendors selling currency base their merchandise value on various factors: the rarity of a piece, the metal it is made of, condition, and age, among others. Most are happy to talk about their merchandise and answer questions from inquisitive passersby. Some convention-goers, like Michael Moloney, 71, from Miami, like to shop around, chatting with vendors and examining the loot before buying anything.

“When people find something unusual, they just know it; and they want to hold onto what they’ve found,’’ said Moloney, who wears a button saying “I [heart] errors,’’ showing his affection for coins minted with mistakes or imperfections. Others at the show were all business.

“People want to dump their money into something that’s not the stock market these days, so they dump it in gold instead,’’ said Rich Moyer, a coin dealer from Hagerstown, Md., who hardly looked up from the piles of coins he and his son, Mike, were sifting through.

“We check the coin info against the wholesale price sheet and figure out if we can make any money on it,’’ Moyer said. “It’s a family business.’’

For many treasure-hunters, enjoyment comes down to what they walk away with.

“I like this place because there are so many cool coins and stuff,’’ said Lana Taffel, 7, of Belmont. “If you just walk around for a while, you can find what you were looking for all along. It’s like treasure!’’ The convention runs through Saturday. Donn Pearlmann, spokesman for the American Numismatic Association, the World’s Fair of Money sponsor, said up to 15,000 visitors were expected to attend this week.

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The Sofia Echo news page reported later yesterday that archaeologists from Varna discovered one of the largest medieval treasures in recent times. This is also the largest discovery in 2010 during excavation works in the medieval city of Kastritsi in Euxinograd, on August 4, news agency Focus reported.

The treasure was discovered embedded in the floor of a home within the medieval stronghold, the report said.

According to associate professor Valentin Pletnyov, head of the Regional History Museum in Varna, the treasure consisted of a small jug dating back to the 14th century, containing 166 silver coins from the era of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and his son Mihail, Focus reported.

The archaeologists also unearthed parts of utensils and swords.

“We hope that more artifacts will be discovered during the excavation works ahead,” Pletnyov said.

According to the professor, this is one of the biggest medieval treasures found in Bulgaria in 2010.

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This morning, I came across a new event that the website www.welostourgold.com made videos which gives clues to unlock the mystery of where their “buried treasure” is to find.

An individual can now view the first video and unlock one of eight video clues since yesterday. The site claims there is $10,000 in US currency buried in a wooden chest somewhere within the five boroughs. All you have to do is decode the videos, and the treasures all yours.

“We wanted to create a real treasure hunt.” says a message posted by on the site by its creators.”And there’s a chest of “gold” waiting to be found. We’ve always wanted to experience the excitement of searching for pirate treasure, so we decided to give that feeling to everyone else.”

While the website is called “welostourgold.com” the creators say there’s no real gold out there. “The treasure is 10,000 US mint one-dollar coins. Most of them are Sacagawea dollars, or the new presidential one-dollar coins,” is posted in the frequently asked questions on the site. They also note that the new coins are gold colored so it will give you the pirate feel.

The site is leased through godaddy.com, and was created back in October of 2006, no owners are listed and the landlubbers say they are not telling.

We don’t know where the treasure is buried, but we can tell you that it’s not buried in Central Park. The site’s creators say they love the City but don’t want to encourage anyone to start digging up the park or anywhere else.

So you’ll have to trust the three puppet pirates and the ninja, watch the videos, and hopefully uncover the buried treasure hiding under New York City. Or else just be roped into the latest viral marketing campaign

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Glens Falls, NY– The massive hole in front of the Cronin High Rise in downtown Glens Falls is not from replacing pipes or construction. Excavation workers are digging out the remains of an old building that was buried there. It was causing the lawn to collapse in front of the prestigious High Rise.

“We had a lot of erosion and settling,” said Robert Landry, of the Glens Falls Housing Authority. That agency runs the senior high-rise on Ridge Street.

“It was creating sinkholes, and it made it difficult to maintain the lawn. The flagpole was even starting to lean.”

Landry said the city hired an engineer to do a soil test, and it was determined a previous demolition at the site had become unstable, causing the sinking lawn. Services Unlimited was hired to excavate the site, remove the debris of the old building, fill it back in with clean fill and re-tamp the surface.

“We’ll have a new lawn and new landscaping,” Landry said. “Our goal is to be the nicest looking property in downtown Glens Falls.”

He said the excavation work should be complete by mid-August, and the lawn and landscaping should be done by September 1st. The project carries a price tag of about $50,000, which was covered by a Capital Fund grant covering infrastructure improvements.

But just what is it they are digging up? City Historian Wayne Wright said the structure was the home of Dr. George W. Little.

“Dr. Little had a conservatory on the right side of the house where he kept monkeys, birds and all sorts of plant life,” Wright said. “After he closed his practice, he handed out little spoons to the people who were still with him. Some of those spoons are still around.”

Little was eccentric, and his wife moved out of the house in his later years to settle in the Fort Edward area.

“There was a one-story addition built onto the front of the house for a storefront,” Wright said. “The structure came down during Urban Renewal in the early 1970s, and they just bulldozed it under.”

Landry recalls a pool hall at the spot in the ‘70s.

“It was the Chalk and Cue Pool Hall, and it was a popular hangout for St. Mary’s students, and since I was one of them, I used to hang out there,” he said. “Van the Shoe Man and Griffin’s Paint Store were also in this area.”

Robert Landry believes there might be a few interesting finds from this old demolished house, but they still have yet to dig and discover pieces of history. Citing and picture use from Post Star articles.

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Sebastan: Dozens of gold and silver coins hidden nearly 300 years ago were found Friday when a cannon recovered July 11 from a wrecked Spanish ship was being cleaned for preservation, salvagers reported this week.

Divers from the salvage boat “Gold Hound” brought up the ship’s bronze swivel cannon, a rare find in itself, in less than 20 feet of water between Wabasso and Vero Beach, said Anne Kazel-Wilcox, a spokeswoman for 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, a private salvage company based in Sebastian and Jupiter.

A historic bronze cannon found near Sebastian contained gold and silver coins concealed inside, treasure on its way back to Spain before the shipwreck

The heavily-encrusted cannon was taken to the Mel Fisher’s Treasures facility in Sebastian for preservation, Kazel-Wilcox said, “and as workers were conserving it, the cannon became unplugged and coins were found inside.”

In addition to 22 gold coins found near the cannon, 25 gold coins and 63 silver coins were found inside, worth an estimated $500,000 or more.

“This is an amazing historic find,” Greg Bounds of Fellsmere, captain of the Gold Hound, said in a prepared statement. “We found treasure within the treasure. This is right out of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ except this is the real thing. For centuries there has been talk of treasure possibly hidden inside of cannons, but up until today that was only pirate lore. Now it’s the real deal.”

The wreck was part of a fleet of 11 galleons and war ships laden with gold bars, coins, diamonds, emeralds and pearls bound from Havana for King Philip V of Spain. The cargo included the so-called “Queen’s Jewels,” a 74-carat emerald, pearls and diamonds meant for Philip’s new bride Elisabeth, who reportedly said she wouldn’t consummate the marriage until she received them.

The ships sank in a hurricane off the Treasure Coast on July 31, 1715. Last month, 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, a private salvage company, acquired salvage rights to the fleet from the heirs of treasure hunter Mel Fisher, whose family had retained the fleet’s U.S. Admiralty Custodianship of a 300-square-mile stake off Indian River County that extends from the low-tide mark into the ocean. Together with subcontractors such as Bounds, they are searching for a mother lode estimated to be worth $900 million.

By law, the state gets 20 percent of the haul and gets to pick the pieces it wants first. The rest is split 50-50 between 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels and the subcontractors who found it.

Bounds, one of about 15 subcontractors who have worked with Mel Fisher Treasure and continue to work with 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, uncovered more than $12.9 million worth of gold chains, pearls, coins, swords and other artifacts in 2007 from the 400-year-old Santa Margarita site in the Florida Keys.

This article was found from a news blog site the Coin Docere.

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I was researching the internet, and found a answers to questions I have had for a while on NPR’s (National Public Radio) online website. My questions were “Why are gold prices rising?”, “What would be the purpose to store large amounts of gold?”,and Most of all “Why is gold important in international trade?”. This article summed up all my questions into one concise article that answered these questions and more. This article clarifies most questions on why gold is of interest to many.

The IMF is selling off some of its gold stash, and governments and central banks are buying.

The IMF sold about 15 tons of gold in April, Bloomberg News says. With gold trading at about $1,200 an ounce, that’s roughly $600 million dollars in gold.

The fund has been selling some of its gold on the open market this year as part of a plan to create an endowment. In all, the IMF plans to sell just over 400 tons of gold, or roughly one-eighth of its total holdings. That should bring in more than $8 billion in total, the WSJ says.

Meanwhile, central banks and governments have been stocking up. Worldwide, governments and central banks added 425 tons last year to their holdings, which now is more than 30,000 tons. That’s the most since 1964 and the first expansion since 1988, Bloomberg says. Holdings are likely to grow again this year.

The price of gold, of course, has gone through the roof in the past couple years. People say it’s a “store of value”,that is, a place to put your money when you’re nervous about inflation, which drives down the value of paper money.

Treasure hunters, keep this in mind when you find a mint of gold, saving this could be the smartest choice when it could be worth much more in the future.

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