Treasure Spots: How To Find New Areas Near You
Want to know how to find new areas to treasure hunt that may be completely untouched? I’ve had luck with this technique in the past and would like to share it with you all. This method works best if you have two metal detectors but can also work just fine with one. Here is the technique:
- Login into Craigslist.org and find your local area.
- Start a post to the “Barter” section.
- Think of a clever title that will grab people’s attention like “Your Property Has Buried Treasure”.
- In the writeup, explain how you are a treasure hunter who follows a digging code of ethics. Explain that you are looking for permission to treasure hunt areas that may have history or large people gatherings. The barter portion comes in when you explain that in exchange for permission to hunt, you will allow the other person to use your other detector and hunt with you teaching them about the hobby.
- Wait for the replies from curious property owners to roll in! TIP: The way you write your ad is very important because you want to pique the curiousity of the reader and help them think about what may be buried on their property.
1892 Virginia Civil War Battlefields Map
1892 map of Civil War Battlefield locations. Click for full screen:
Amber Room: Lost Nazi Treasure
The Amber Room, which is also referred to as the Amber Chamber or in German as the Bernsteinzimmer was a complete room decorated with panels of amber and gold leaf. Originally constructed between 1701 and 1709 in Prussia, it was designed by German baroque sculptor Andreas Schlüter and built by the Danish amber craftsman Gottfried Wolfram. It began in the Charlottenburg Palace but in 1716 was given as a gift to Tsar Peter the Great of Russia as a token of their alliance.
Once in Russian custody, the Amber Room was expanded to more the 55 square meters and contained over 6 tons of amber. This chamber became a massive historical treasure of fine craftsmanship and unique beauty. Unfortunately, during World War II, Nazi Germany looted the Amber Room in about 36 hours under the guidance of two experts and transported it to Königsberg Castle. It is documented that a Nazi by the name of Erich Koch was tasked with removing treasures from Königsberg in January 1945 but nobody knows where or what happened to the Bernsteinzimmer.
Various theories exist as to the current location. Some say it was packed up and loaded aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff which was sunk by a soviet submarine. Still other claim it may have been sent to Weimar, a planned propaganda center.
Other sources say the Königsberg Castle had a massive fire in 1944 in which the Amber Room was packed up and relocated to the cellar and destroyed. Dr. Alfred Rohde, director of art collections in Königsberg, had a conversation with a Berlin history teacher named Mrs. Amm who reports the conversation as such:
“I studied in Königsberg from 1939 untill 1945 and was friends with Lotti, the daughter of Dr. Rohde. Often, I was a guest for lunch. Dr. Rohde told stories about the Amber Room in the castle of Königsberger and since I was interested in art, he promised to show it to me one day, which is what he did. Then the attacks of August 1944 occured and Königsberg was in ruins. After the second night of bombing I went to downtown to look for relatives and friends. Around lunchtime I arrived at the castle and met Dr. Rohde. He looked totally confused and his face was white. We greeted each other and my first question was: “What happened to the Amber Room?” His answer: “Everything destroyed”. He took me into unknown cellars of the castle where I saw something like honey with burned wooden pieces in between. Later on, we never ever spoke about the Amber Room again.”
On the other hand, a group who call themselves the Amber Room Organization claim other evidence disproving the destruction of the Amber Room. You can read those theories more in depth here.
Many people claim to have discovered this lost treasure and according to the Wikipedia article, the last known report was in 2008:
The latest discovery, as reported in February 2008[5], is of a 20-metre pit in Deutschneudorf, a small town near the German-Czech border. The site reportedly matches intelligence from survivors who helped loot the fabled room, and initial probe reports are said to indicate the presence of a large quantity of gold or silver. Hans-Peter Haustein, mayor of the town, said “We’re confident it’s part of the Amber Room”.
Who knows, it may still be out there for you to discover!
Priam’s Treasure
Priam’s Treasure, a large cache of Roman gold, silver, and artifacts, was the result of excavations in the lost city of Troy. A man by the name of Heinrich Schliemann dissected Homer’s Illiad to discover the actual location. Archaeological diggings were already in progress at the site by a man named Frank Calvert although he wasn’t sure what he had discovered. Schliemann took over the Troy diggings from Frank Calvert after proving the archaeological site was in fact Troy. After his wife Sophie wore the “Jewels of Helen” to create public interest, the Turkish government revoked his right to dig and sued him for a share of the gold. Ironically, he and Calvert collaborated and smuggled the treasure out of the country. Some of this “Priams Treasure” was later traded to Turkish authorities for the rights to dig at Troy again and are now located in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. The rest of it made it’s way to the Imperial Museum of Berlin until 1945 when the Soviet Union’s Red Army removed it. During the cold war, the Soviet Union denied it’s existence until it showed up in Pushkin Museum in Moscow around 1993. A treaty was created to return the treasure to Germany but currently Russian museum directors are claiming they are keeping it as compensation for destruction and looting of Russian cities during the reign of Nazi Germany. Interesting huh?
Battle of Belmont: Fields of Treasure
Today I was doing some research on the Civil War and came across a letter written by John C. Fremont to John G. Nicolay (Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary) dated August 6, 1861. It says the following:
Our position in that region good enemy very much superior in force, eighteen thousand between Birds Point and New Madrid, under Pillow and Jeff. Thompson strong in Cavalry and Artillery. We are reinforcing & entrenching Ironton, Cape Girardeau, & Birds Point. Night of my arrival at Birds Point enemy burnt bridges of Fulton & Cairo railroad. We are not losing a moment but distressed by rawness of troops and want of arms shall I give details of relative forces by telegraph.
This letter is in reference to Missouri. John C. Fremont was a Major General serving as commander of the Union Army’s Department of the West and described in his letter two specific places with 18,000 Confederate soldiers between them. According to Google Maps, the distance between Birds Point and New Madrid is about 36.5 miles walking. It borders the Mississippi river and has two notable places in between. The first place, on the Kentucky side of the river, is Columbus. On November 7, 1861 Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant had his first combat test by sailing from Cairo, Illinois downriver to attack the Confederate fortress at Columbus, Kentucky. The next morning he discovered the Confederate troops had crossed the river to Belmont, Missouri. He crossed to the other side and over ran the Confederate camp destroying it. The scattered Confederate forces quickly reorganized and counter-attacked from Columbus with heavy artillery fire across the river. Grant retreated to Paducah, Kentucky. When the Confederates learned of Grant’s departure, they ordered 2,700 men under General Gideon J. Pillow to Belmont.
Why is this important you may ask?
If you go into Google Maps and search for Belmont, Missouri you will get a point sitting in the middle of a field across the river from Columbus, Kentucky. In fact, you zoom out farther and all you get is MORE fields with hardly any houses around at all. This location, with a high potential for thousands of relics both Union and Confederate, is sitting there concealed under corn stalks just waiting for the right people to come along, request permission from the landowner, and find some treasure!
A map in the David Rumsey Collection has a section showing the Belmont battlefield area across the river from Columbus, KY and how it was potentially laid out. Again, I remind you – it is all farm fields now! If somebody is able to go out there or knows more about this area, I’d love to hear about it!
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Recent Rambles
- More Laws Cracking Down on Metal Detecting
- March 2011 Treasures Found
- Treasure Spots: How To Find New Areas Near You
- Guest Story: Funeral Token Goes Home
- 1892 Virginia Civil War Battlefields Map
- Spirit of Giving: $1400 Gold Krugerrand
- How To Clean Clad Coins
- Android Metal Detector: Find Treasure With Your Phone
- Amber Room: Lost Nazi Treasure
- Bushkill Park: Vintage Carnival Sideshow Banners
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Treasure Books
Buried Treasures of the American Southwest
by W.C. Jameson
Confederate Gold: The Missing Treasure
by Bill Westhead
Best Places to Find Cash and Treasure
by
The Modern Goldseekers Manual (Prospecting and Treasure Hunting)
by Tom Bryant
X Doesn't Mark the Spot: Tales of Pirate Gold, Buried Treasure, and Lost Riches
by Ed Butts
