A chest full of gold coins hidden ten years ago by American millionaire Forrest Fenn has been discovered in the Rocky Mountains, ending one of the biggest treasure hunts in the United States.
Undated photo sent by Forrest Fenn. It shows a chest believed to contain gold dust, hundreds of rare coins, gold nuggets and precious items.
He had feared having to take his secret to the grave! This will not be the case. At the age of 89, art collector Forrest Fenn residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA), has just announced the good news after a decade of waiting:the treasure worth million dollars he hid somewhere in the Rockies, USA, in 2010, has finally been found. On his blog, this millionaire declared that "the treasure has been found “under a starry canopy of lush Rocky Mountain vegetation,” and it hasn't moved from where I hid it 11 years. I don't know who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the exact spot" . Nothing has indeed filtered for the moment on its happy inventor who wishes to remain anonymous. As proof of the discovery, the latter just sent Forrest Fenn a photo of the trunk and its contents, explains the magazine Newsweek who echoed the find.
Forrest Fenn, photographed in July 2014 at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA United). Credits:Luis Sanchez Saturno / AP/SIPA
What we know about the discovery of Fenn's treasure
The search for this treasure will have kept America spellbound. In total, 350,000 people have followed in his footsteps with the help of the autobiographical book published by the art collector in 2010, Thrill of the Chase:A Memoir (The excitement of the hunt ) featuring an enigmatic 24-line poem with nine clues to find a chest "hidden in the mountains north of Santa Fe" . In an article written in 2012, Forrest Fenn described what he had put there - and visibly added over time:gold coins, nuggets, a 17th century Spanish ring, turquoises, rubies... all 10 kilos of precious objects placed according to him in a bronze chest. All treasure hunters have criss-crossed the Rockies in all directions, sometimes risking their lives. At least five people are said to have died in tragic accidents (falls, drownings, etc.).
However, this treasure hunt has its gray areas. Starting with the troubled personality of its creator, described by some as a real Indiana Jones, and by his detractors, as a looter, Forrest Fenn having had trouble with the justice system, investigations are still ongoing. As for the discoverer, what will he do with such loot? Will he be able to remain anonymous when the sale of even the smallest doubloon of gold is bound to attract attention? For all the other "treasure hunters", the dream has come to an abrupt end. Unless they refer to another ongoing hunt, in France this time, where a "golden owl" has been waiting for its inventor for 27 years now years...