Buried Pirate Treasure

The Black Flag Cafe is the place travelers come to share stories and advice. Moderated by Robert Young Pelton the author of The World's Most Dangerous Places.

Moderator: coldharvest

Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Kurt » Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:39 pm

Has anyone ever heard of "Buried Pirate Treasure" from, lets say, 1600 to 1800 being discovered?

We know the rumors of Treasure buried East of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, in North Carolina (Blackbeard) and that horrible show about those idiots digging up "Oak Island" in Canada.

But any been found?

Detectorists made some impressive finds of Roman and Medieval era coins in the UK so we know "Treasure" is indeed buried by people and later uncovered but I do not think purposefully buried "PIrate Era" treasure has ever been.

Especially with a Map that leads to an "X".
User avatar
Kurt
In Manus Manus
 
Posts: 21997
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:29 am
Location: New York City

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby vagabond » Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:07 pm

Kurt wrote:Has anyone ever heard of "Buried Pirate Treasure" from, lets say, 1600 to 1800 being discovered?

We know the rumors of Treasure buried East of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, in North Carolina (Blackbeard) and that horrible show about those idiots digging up "Oak Island" in Canada.

But any been found?

Detectorists made some impressive finds of Roman and Medieval era coins in the UK so we know "Treasure" is indeed buried by people and later uncovered but I do not think purposefully buried "PIrate Era" treasure has ever been.

Especially with a Map that leads to an "X".


Ozymandias was in Madagascar - maybe he can let us know if anything turned up. ;-)

Speaking Madagascan treasure, the guy that went there to find parts of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight was being harassed by officials for a while. That's a different sort of treasure.

Anything that was in NC might be washed away by now. The erosion of the beaches there as well as their general shape have changed them since Teach's time. The Graveyard of the Atlantic probably has other interesting things to find, if people want to put in the time and have the equipment.

Wasn't there a recent find of a wrecked Spanish ship? Feel like I saw something on the BBC about it.
"If you were born near someplace called "The Erg of ____" you lost the lottery." - Kurt the Wise

"If you're stupid, the whole world is a dangerous place." - friendlyskies
User avatar
vagabond
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 5342
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:20 pm
Location: LA

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Tarkan » Mon Aug 08, 2022 7:42 pm

The problem with finding buried treasure is keeping quiet so Spain doesn't claim it.
I'd whore myself out just one more time if I knew who to screw to get out of this grind.
User avatar
Tarkan
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 6027
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 3:57 am
Location: Texas

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Kurt » Mon Aug 08, 2022 7:52 pm

Tarkan wrote:The problem with finding buried treasure is keeping quiet so Spain doesn't claim it.


That is possible with maritime salvage laws not covering land (obviously) but it might be claimed by England too or descendants of the pirates if the Letter of Marque would still be considered valid.

So if I find one, I am going to answer "Shipwreck" as to where I found it and the follow up will be "International Waters" But I seriously think I am more likely to win one of those super mega powerballs.
User avatar
Kurt
In Manus Manus
 
Posts: 21997
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:29 am
Location: New York City

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Tarkan » Mon Aug 08, 2022 9:19 pm

Kurt wrote:
Tarkan wrote:The problem with finding buried treasure is keeping quiet so Spain doesn't claim it.


That is possible with maritime salvage laws not covering land (obviously) but it might be claimed by England too or descendants of the pirates if the Letter of Marque would still be considered valid.

So if I find one, I am going to answer "Shipwreck" as to where I found it and the follow up will be "International Waters" But I seriously think I am more likely to win one of those super mega powerballs.


The unfortunate thing about the government seizures is it just makes it much more likely that historically significant finds of valuables will be reduced to melt so the finders can profit or at least recoup their expedition costs.
I'd whore myself out just one more time if I knew who to screw to get out of this grind.
User avatar
Tarkan
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 6027
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 3:57 am
Location: Texas

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby vagabond » Mon Aug 08, 2022 9:47 pm

Kurt wrote:
Tarkan wrote:The problem with finding buried treasure is keeping quiet so Spain doesn't claim it.


That is possible with maritime salvage laws not covering land (obviously) but it might be claimed by England too or descendants of the pirates if the Letter of Marque would still be considered valid.

So if I find one, I am going to answer "Shipwreck" as to where I found it and the follow up will be "International Waters" But I seriously think I am more likely to win one of those super mega powerballs.


In terms of profitability, powerball might be better or, for shits and giggles, just write a book about it like Stevenson.

If you're on land, maybe not so bad - a bit of research and digging tools. On water, research plus some way to see the ocean floor, plus how to bring it to the surface and keep it valuable.

Dinosaur bones or meteorites might be a safer way and you can rip off the rich. Win win.
"If you were born near someplace called "The Erg of ____" you lost the lottery." - Kurt the Wise

"If you're stupid, the whole world is a dangerous place." - friendlyskies
User avatar
vagabond
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 5342
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:20 pm
Location: LA

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Ozymandias » Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:33 am

vagabond wrote:
Kurt wrote:Has anyone ever heard of "Buried Pirate Treasure" from, lets say, 1600 to 1800 being discovered?

We know the rumors of Treasure buried East of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, in North Carolina (Blackbeard) and that horrible show about those idiots digging up "Oak Island" in Canada.

But any been found?

Detectorists made some impressive finds of Roman and Medieval era coins in the UK so we know "Treasure" is indeed buried by people and later uncovered but I do not think purposefully buried "PIrate Era" treasure has ever been.

Especially with a Map that leads to an "X".


Ozymandias was in Madagascar - maybe he can let us know if anything turned up. ;-)

Speaking Madagascan treasure, the guy that went there to find parts of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight was being harassed by officials for a while. That's a different sort of treasure.

Anything that was in NC might be washed away by now. The erosion of the beaches there as well as their general shape have changed them since Teach's time. The Graveyard of the Atlantic probably has other interesting things to find, if people want to put in the time and have the equipment.

Wasn't there a recent find of a wrecked Spanish ship? Feel like I saw something on the BBC about it.


I can confirm that we found no buried treasure on our descent of Madagascar's Mangoky River, unfortunately...
User avatar
Ozymandias
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:07 pm
Location: Maputo, Mozambique

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby vagabond » Mon Aug 15, 2022 7:30 pm

Ozymandias wrote:
I can confirm that we found no buried treasure on our descent of Madagascar's Mangoky River, unfortunately...


Hmm...something someone who discovered buried treasure would say...
"If you were born near someplace called "The Erg of ____" you lost the lottery." - Kurt the Wise

"If you're stupid, the whole world is a dangerous place." - friendlyskies
User avatar
vagabond
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 5342
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:20 pm
Location: LA

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Ozymandias » Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:17 pm

Pirate Captain Kidd's 'treasure' found in Madagascar

Underwater explorers in Madagascar say they have discovered treasure belonging to the notorious 17th-Century Scottish pirate William Kidd.

A 50kg (7st 9lb) silver bar was brought to shore on Thursday on the island of Sainte Marie, from what is thought to be the wreck of the Adventure Galley.

The bar was presented to Madagascar's president at a special ceremony.

US explorer Barry Clifford says he believes there are many more such bars still in the wreck.

Capt Kidd was first appointed by the British authorities to tackle piracy but later became a ruthless criminal and was executed in 1701.

"Captain's Kidd's treasure is the stuff of legends. People have been looking for it for 300 years. To literally have it hit me on the head - I thought what the heck just happened to me. I really didn't expect this," Mr Clifford said.

"There's more down there. I know the whole bottom of the cavity where I found the silver bar is filled with metal. It's too murky down there to see what metal, but my metal detector tells me there is metal on all sides."

The BBC's Martin Vogl tweets that there is much excitement in Madagascar about the discovery and Mr Clifford's team has no doubt that the discovery is genuine.

The team believes the bar, marked with what appears to be a letter S and a letter T, has its origins in 17th-Century Bolivia.

It believes the ship it has found was built in England. However, there is bound to be scepticism and calls for more evidence that the bar was linked to Capt Kidd, our reporter says.

One option would be to take samples of wood from the ship to analyse, he says.

The location of the ship, thought to have sunk in 1698, has been known about for many years but the silver bar was only discovered earlier this week.

Mr Clifford said that while diving in the wreck, his metal detector picked up signals but it was too muddy for him to see anything.

UK ambassador to Madagascar Timothy Smart, who attended the ceremony, said he hoped that Mr Clifford's latest discovery would raise Madagascar's profile as a tourist destination.

The plan is to exhibit the bars in a museum.

https://bbc.com/news/world-africa-32621444
User avatar
Ozymandias
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:07 pm
Location: Maputo, Mozambique

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Tarkan » Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:19 pm

Ozymandias wrote:The team believes the bar, marked with what appears to be a letter S and a letter T, has its origins in 17th-Century Bolivia.


Spain files a claim in 3 2 1...
I'd whore myself out just one more time if I knew who to screw to get out of this grind.
User avatar
Tarkan
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 6027
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 3:57 am
Location: Texas

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby vagabond » Sun Aug 21, 2022 3:38 pm

It's possible. They seem to like keeping a long memory. A friend of mine was able to receive an EU passport because her sister did the legwork to prove they could trace their lineage back to Jews that were kicked out in 1492. Honestly, impressive that the gov't would do that since I think most EU countries limit it to grandparents.
"If you were born near someplace called "The Erg of ____" you lost the lottery." - Kurt the Wise

"If you're stupid, the whole world is a dangerous place." - friendlyskies
User avatar
vagabond
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 5342
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:20 pm
Location: LA

Re: Buried Pirate Treasure

Postby Ozymandias » Thu Sep 22, 2022 12:01 pm

vagabond wrote:It's possible. They seem to like keeping a long memory. A friend of mine was able to receive an EU passport because her sister did the legwork to prove they could trace their lineage back to Jews that were kicked out in 1492. Honestly, impressive that the gov't would do that since I think most EU countries limit it to grandparents.


Yea, one of the contributors to my upcoming Bradt Guide to Tunisia (a Tunisian guy) managed to get a Portuguese passport for the same reason. Great result for him!
User avatar
Ozymandias
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:07 pm
Location: Maputo, Mozambique


Return to Black Flag Cafe

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Majestic-12 [Bot] and 22 guests