If you’ve dreamed since childhood of roaming the world with a treasure map seeking to claim treasure hoards left behind by pirates, now’s your chance.
Although good sense or caution might dictate that 2020’s not the year for it, a company calling itself The Blackbeard Treasure says it has hidden ten treasure chests, each in a different state, and each containing a cool million in cash. The sites are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.
To search for the treasure, you need to buy a $49.99 digital map, which also provides clues and riddles to solve to find the location and claim the treasure. The company says the number of maps it will sell for each site is limited, but probably not too much, because they’ll need to sell over 200,000 just to cover the cost of the treasure.
Each treasure chest has a location beacon and a camera pointed at it; whoever finds the chest is meant to take a key that’s taped to the side, open the chest and find the money, and a number to call to officially claim it. The company is also negotiating with media networks to air a reality show based on the hunt.
But keep it all a secret, mates: the official rules include a warning against copying or selling the map or clues: “Any duplication, replication, or distribution of these materials is strictly prohibited by law. Any of the above actions will result in your disqualification from the treasure hunt and you may be subject to a $250,000 fine and/or imprisonment.” Or, possibly, being forced to walk the plank.
