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In 2016, Jon Collins-Black set out in search of treasure hidden by the art dealer Forrest Fenn. He never found Fenn\u2019s fortune, a pirate\u2019s treasure chest of gold coins and jewels buried for a decade. But Collins-Black fell in love with the thrill of the pursuit. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had the experience of what it was like to try to solve clues, to go out in nature and get away from the cell phone and the TV and just be out searching for something,\u201d he tells The Independent. \u201cI realized just how enlivening that was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fenn\u2019s treasure was eventually found in 2020 somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, around the time the world went into lockdown during the Covid pandemic. Stuck at home, Collins-Black began to dream about creating his own treasure hunt, something that would pull people away from their screens and get them exploring the planet around them. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a digital world and what I\u2019ve put together is an analog adventure,\u201d he says of his new book There\u2019s Treasure Inside. \u201cAll you need is a book, some water and some shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The treasure Collins-Black has assembled far outstrips the cache of goodies Fenn created. Collins-Black commissioned five unique puzzle boxes, which have been scattered across the United States, four of similar sizes and then one larger box containing the lion\u2019s share of the fortune. <\/p>\n
Jon Collins-Black spent five years and $2 million of his own money creating \u2018There\u2019s Treasure Inside’ (There\u2019s Treasure Inside)Not only was Collins-Black fascinated by treasure hunts, he had the means to pull together a truly spectacular collection of valuables. He made his fortune by selling a careers website that hit big during the 2008 banking crisis, then made some wise Bitcoin investments in 2013. \u201cBecause of the rise in cryptocurrency and the price of Bitcoin, my financial situation changed dramatically,\u201d he explains. \u201cSo by, 2020, when I started this project, I definitely had the means to do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inspired to create what he describes as a \u201cDungeons & Dragons dragon\u2019s horde of gold and shiny objects,\u201d Collins-Black first started buying gold bars and jewels before expanding his search to more idiosyncratic treasures he hopes will appeal across many generations of treasure seekers. There is a rare physical Casascius Bitcoin, a gold pendant designed by Picasso, a rare Pokemon card and a highly collectible Michael Jordan rookie basketball card. Of all the treasures he amassed, Collins-Black says one with a particularly powerful story is a gold Olympic medal from 1960 won by sprinter Wilma Rudolph. \u201cShe had polio as a child, and doctors thought she wouldn\u2019t live, and then that she wouldn\u2019t walk,\u201d explains Collins-Black. \u201cShe wore a brace for years, and then wound up becoming the fastest woman in the world. It\u2019s a crazy story.\u201d<\/p>\n
The largest of the five custom \u2018There\u2019s Treasure Inside\u2019 boxes holds the lion\u2019s share of the fortune (There\u2019s Treasure Inside)While amassing his unique treasure trove, Collins-Black was also plotting where to hide the boxes and what clues he could plant in his book to guide treasure hunters to them. \u201cI was thinking about clues for the entirety of the time I was working on the book,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are clues in the book that are years old, and some that came just at the very end.\u201d <\/p>\n
Asked what advice he\u2019d give to those hoping to find the boxes, he says a keen eye for detail will be essential to uncovering all the book\u2019s secrets. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe chapters in my book really talk about, and are thematically about, how to become a better treasure hunter,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe instructions on how to solve the clues and find the treasure are really in the chapter themes themselves. So I just say: \u2018Read the book,\u2019 because everything in there is what you need. That’s all you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for why he poured so much of his own money and time into creating the treasure hunt, Collins-Black says he hoped to spark the imagination. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, there\u2019s value to the excitement and the joy of the experience,\u201d he says. \u201cThat sounds like clich\u00e9 but for me, when I was searching for Forrest Fenn\u2019s treasure, it was the idea of it that was most exciting. If I had found the treasure it would have been euphoric, but I don’t know if it would have exceeded the total joy that I had just through the whole process of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018There\u2019s Treasure Inside\u2019 by Jon Collins-Black is available now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and moreStay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more I would like to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n