Armchair treasure hunters say it’s all about the chase
Scavenger hunts have become a modern hobby for many the world over
Nelika Nardelli was 16 years old when she went to see what would become her favourite movie, “The Goonies.”
“In that moment it was like, ‘who would not want to be a treasure hunter?’ ” Nardelli says. “Like that’s so far from the world we live in today.”
So when Sean Astin, Corey Feldman and Jonathan Ke Quan came to Calgary’s Comic and Entertainment Expo in 2019 for a “Goonies: panel discussion,” Nardelli lined up to meet them, bringing along her copy of Forrest Fenn’s book “The Thrill of the Chase,” her own treasure map of sorts. “The Goonies” was “something that I related to; a group of kids just out looking for a treasure on their own and being able to discover it,” she says.
Nardelli has been an “armchair” treasure hunter for the past five years. 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. 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 his memoir, “The Thrill of the Chase,” Fenn published a poem that contained clues to its whereabouts. After a decadelong search, early in June, an man who did not want to be identified, but who Fenn said was from “back East” finally found the treasure.
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. 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. 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.
For Nardelli, going on that trip in 2015 was a way to experience a childlike adventure first hand while bonding with her daughter. “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.
But 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. 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. This type of fishy or troubling circumstance isn’t uncommon. Treasure hunts have resulted in serious damage to property, nature and in the case of Fenn’s hunt, even death.
“Masquerade” was a sensation when it was first released, with more than a million copies of the book sold worldwide. Attempting to ride this wave of popularity, many publishers around the world attempted to recreate its success by releasing their own treasure hunt books. 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.
In 1984, U.S. company Intravision Inc. 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. 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. 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. 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). To this day, the hunt’s buried golden owl prize has never been found. Valentin has since passed away and the solution for the hunt is reportedly in his family’s possession. 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. “Solving it and having that ‘aha’ moment I think is pretty unique and irreplaceable. Even though the prizes may be modest, the feedback I get from people actually finding them is fantastic.”
SCOTT GARDNER ARMCHAIR TREASURE HUNT CLUB
“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. “So people saw it as a bit of a money spinner, which it clearly wasn’t.”
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). “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.
But 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. “I love treasure hunting, I think it has huge benefits,” Whitehead said. “(The controversies) just seem to be a fact of this world.”
“What it comes back to is that everybody thinks they are going to make a fortune by writing a treasure hunt, and they don’t. Nobody makes a fortune writing a treasure hunt,” Whitehead adds. In 2007, author Michael Stadther had to shut down his treasure hunt, “Secrets of the Alchemist Dar,” after his company went bankrupt before any of the hunt’s $2 million in prizes could be found.
Meanwhile in Canada, in 2010, Vancouverite Ron Shore wrote a treasure hunt book called “The World’s Greatest Treasure Hunt.” Shore’s book contained clues to 12 different $20,000 prizes, and a grand prize of $1 million in cash. The money for the grand prize was to be raised by selling a diamond-encrusted golden sculpture of an eagle that Shore had made, claiming its value at $5 million, $7 million and $7.5 million at different points in time. Shore’s goal with his hunt was to sell a million copies of his book and raise $100 million for breast cancer research. However, the book failed to take off as Shore expected. Five of the 12 smaller prizes were won, but after attending an event to promote his treasure hunt with the grand prize in his backpack, Shore was beaten and robbed of his eagle in a parking lot. Years after the robbery, Shore is still in the midst of a court battle after his insurance claim for the stolen sculpture was denied. In his lawsuit, Shore’s golden eagle was appraised at $930,450.
According to Scott Gardner, organizer of the Armchair Treasure Hunt Club, these types of large-scale treasure hunts with expensive, alluring prizes can lead to problems. “The majority do set out with the best intentions, but they find it difficult in narrow markets to actually (sell) treasure hunt books,” Gardner says. “It’s quite niche and a lot of people think they’re children’s books whereas obviously they’re not.”
The Armchair Treasure Hunt Club is a U.K.-based club with about 70 members from the U.K., North America, Finland, Germany and Australia. Each year, the club puts on hunts for its members. The prizes are small and the hunts are meant for those who are into the thrill of the chase more so than any alluring prizes. “Solving it and having that ‘aha’ moment I think is pretty unique and irreplaceable,” Gardner says. “Even though the prizes may be modest, the feedback I get from people actually finding them is fantastic.”
Gardner himself also began treasure hunting with “Masquerade” and has about 50 different treasure hunting books lining the shelves in his house. Though he’s participated in hunts with unsatisfactory or strange endings, he still enjoys the mystery and challenge of treasure hunts, and how they’ve allowed him to travel around the U.K. “It’d be very nice walking down the street to find a 20pound note, but you haven’t solved anything to find it,” he says. “I think that’s where the big difference is. You’ve sat down, you’ve solved something, and you’ve gone somewhere and retrieved that treasure.”
Back in Calgary, now that Forrest Fenn’s treasure has been found, Nardelli is preparing for the second Gold Hunt, a Canadian treasure hunt — put on by a company of the same name — that began in 2019 by hiding $600,000 worth of treasure in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. This year, Gold Hunt will be taking place in just Calgary and Edmonton, offering two more $50,000 prizes. The search officially began on June 20, when they started selling treasure maps.
After five years of unsuccessfully searching for Fenn’s treasure, Nardelli’s interest in the hobby hasn’t faded. “It’s about the adventure to me, so if another adventure comes along that’s interesting enough, I definitely see myself doing it,” she says.
Though she hasn’t won any money or prizes, Nardelli’s time as a treasure hunter has brought her new friends and an opportunity to bond with her daughter. Since she began looking for his treasure in 2015, Nardelli has actually developed a friendship with Fenn and now flies to New Mexico to visit him about twice a year.