Hidden Treasures - 4

Blackbeard’s Treasure
Not to be confused with the Blackbeard known as Edward Teach, Captain Blackbeard’s treasure of pure Spanish Silver Bars was worth 1.5 million dollars back in 1811. Now that may not seem like a lot, but with the price of silver these days, Blackbeard’s treasure could be one of the biggest bootys still waiting to be found.

Back in 1811 Captain Blackbeard was commissioned from the British Admiralty to raise the wreckage of a Spanish galleon that had gone down off the Bahamas during a Hurricane in 1680. He was successful by towing the ship into Baltimore with all the loot intact.

Of Course this called for a Celebration, the likes of which brought justice to the song “Drunken Sailor.” During his drunken rant he was approached by a profiteer at the tavern who told him that he knew all about his precious silver, and had the means to alleviate Blackbeard’s burden of sending it back to England.  Between this and the upcoming war between Britain and the U.S. Captain Blackbeard decided to stash the silver.

Sometime near the end of the summer of 1812, Blackbeard made a trip to the village of Keating Summit, McKean County Pennsylvania. It would be here that he would bury some or perhaps all of the Silver, with the idea of digging it up later.

Unfortunately, he sent someone else to retrieve it, and they were never able to locate it….At least so they claim.

King John’s Crown Jewels

In the year 1215 a caravan of King John of England made an unsuccessful attempt to cross the sands of The Wash, while on its journey between Kings Lynn and Long Sutton. During the escapade, the treasure loaded caravan was trapped by an incoming tide and descending current from the Nene River.

King John had taken a different path due to his illness, and was able to witness the loss of the treasure first hand. The treasure was said to contain his most prized possession, the Crown Jewels. Luckily however, he died a few days later, so the loss of his crown Jewels probably didn’t burden him very much.

The Present Day location of the treasure (or rather the loss of) is considered to be somewhere near Sutton Bridge, on the River Nene, if you want to go looking.