There’s Treasure Out There to Find!
In Those Hills and From Your Armchair!
School is back in session and here in the northeast the cool air has finally arrived! We’ll see how long it stays. But whether it comes or goes, it definitely feels like treasure hunting season, with yet another treasure hunt being announced.
The Bookshop: A Treasure Hunt
QuillCompassShadow just announced the upcoming release of The Bookshop. This hunt is fully armchair – meaning all can be solved, and treasures claimed, from home. Preorders on Amazon begin on October 5, 2024 – National Book Day – for $16.43. Treasure for the hunt is valued at approximately $500. The first person to solve the clues correctly in the book can claim the treasure.
They posted the cover of the book (which has clues) on Instagram. Check it out!
There’s Treasure Inside Treasure Hunt
Less than 50 days until the release of There’s Treasure Inside! 10-21-24 will be upon us before we know it - ready or not! In the recent video release, we learned more about the treasures, clues, and hunt.
The 5 different boxes are being called:
The Forrest Fenn Box
The Pokemon Box
The Past and Future Box
The Appalachian Footpath Box
The Lion’s Share Box – this name is not directly called this by JCB (Jon Collins-Black). However, in the video when showing a preview of page 10, it is written, “The fifth and final box is substantially larger than the other four boxes and contains inside it the lion’s share of our valuable trove.”
The name stuck. Clues for this box will be scattered all through the book. The value of this treasure is over a million.
The other four treasure boxes are of smaller value, each said to be in the six-digits though, and will have clues within their given chapter.
The treasure boxes are hidden across the US in five different regions. In JCB’s Video this map was shown:
Some of the questions I have asked in the Six Questions are if weather affects any of the locations or search areas, and if the boxes are able to be found 24/7.
They are not to be hidden in dangerous areas, but are they hidden within a few feet of a parking area or does a searcher have to walk/hike less than a mile or more than a mile to reach the location?
Information about safety on the hunt is included in the book. It will be interesting to see what is mentioned and can be gleaned from that section.
The Forrest Fenn Box
It also isn’t clear which items are in the Forrest Fenn box. It is known JCB bought 4 items from the Heritage Auction of the chest. Gold Beads, Gold Nugget, Tairona/Columbian Necklace, and the Olive Jar which was believed to contain Forrest Fenn’s autobiography.
I created a video of these items here: What Forrest Fenn Items are in JCB’s Hunt
With JCB’s recent video it is not clear if all the items are specifically in the Forrest Fenn Box, but they are part of the treasure. Searchers (g and bavetta) were able to read the blurry text in one of the pages on the video. It said:
“There are three additional items from Forrest Fenn’s treasure pictured in this chapter that are now in our treasure. At least one of these is specifically in this treasure box, although maybe more.”
Notice a possible poem on the right! Will the Forrest Fenn Box be found by correctly interpreting a poem - like how it was for the Chase? Time will tell!
The Cipher Treasure Hunt
Let’s take a look at The Cipher treasure hunt. Back at the beginning of summer there was some discussion about the numbers – shared on the MW Forum.
First a quick overview of The Cipher:
Clues within Video or Google Doc (link below video)
Background music of video contains no clues
BOTG required to claim prize
Treasure is ‘a mystery’ - value is $2500
Hidden in Southern States (precise state not given)
No end date
Within this thread on the MW Forum, searchers shared matches to images found in the coded numbers. It is known a piece of source material will be needed to apply the numbers to. These image matches might offer clues for which source material to look for. Best of luck!
The Monthly Puzzle
Quick note on the Monthly Puzzle. It will be published on the 15th of each month inside this newsletter (MW’s The Quest) for paid subscribers. These challenges are not to be difficult to solve, but provide different ways, perspectives, or ideas on how information can be concealed in treasure hunts.
They are given as practice, and to become better at recognizing and solving clues that may be used in treasure hunts.
The answer, and full explanation, of each monthly puzzle will be provided before the release of the next puzzle. Discussions on these and other hunts are encouraged in the MW Substack chat area.
A small prize will be given to the first person who submits a correct answer to the monthly puzzle.
Join discussions on MW Discord or Forum - or until next time, treasure the adventures! ~ Jenny / MW - the place to find treasures!
