[lee martell]

So, what was the actual treasure and if worth millions. why did this author not keep it for himself?
I recall hearing about this maybe five years ago.
Some fellow had lost his life in pursuit of this treasure.
Maybe it was a box full of gold bullion, doubloons and krugerrand. Oh, and an unopened bottle of champagne.

[dinodino]

The author made many millions, and set up this treasure hunt as a thrill for readers. I think it’s a great story.

[HotHunt]

Do some research. It only took me 2 minutes to find a picture of the chest and it's contents as Fenn was deciding what should go in it before he hid it. From what I could see, it was mostly gold, watches and gems but he took some things out and added others before he closed the chest up for good to hide it.

He was a successful author and probably didn't need the money and this gave him a real life treasure and mystery to be involved in.

Chest Full of Gold