PCGS Slab Forensics - Debunking Forrest Fenn

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ilmcoins
ilmcoins Posts: 525 ✭✭✭✭
edited May 5, 2019 12:50PM in U.S. Coin Forum

Over the years there has been a lot of hype about the Forrest Fenn hidden treasure chest with $2 million in gold and jewels. I was watching a show about it that showed a photo that Forrest Fenn took of the treasure prior to hiding it. I noticed a PCGS slab at the back of the chest that was partially covered.

I am curious if we could uncover the coin in the slab and see if it has come on the market? There are many that claim that either the chest was never hidden or that he recovered it years after he hid it.

The certification number was conveniently covered up.

Comments

  • kbbpll
    kbbpll Posts: 542 ✭✭✭✭
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    There is a "62" between the nuggets. 9045 is the code for 1904 DE, and I see "0904" possibly on the slab. So if it's a 1904 MS62, that narrows it down to one of 63,298 coins.

  • Timbuk3
    Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Nice !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Sure would be a fun treasure hunt... Thought about doing that a few times....just never made the commitment... Cheers, RickO

  • Hemispherical
    Hemispherical Posts: 9,370 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @BStrauss3 said:
    Looks like a stack of rattlers

    Agree x2. Two stacks of slabs.

  • ilmcoins
    ilmcoins Posts: 525 ✭✭✭✭
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    I would be happy just finding the gold type set !!

  • RogerB
    RogerB Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 6, 2019 2:56PM
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    Was the Forrest Gump's older, younger brother-sister?
    Where's the box o' chocolates?

  • CaptHenway
    CaptHenway Posts: 34,175 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    A picture shown on the national news showed a circ. $20 Lib. And a Maple Leaf and a bunch of common looking stuff.

    Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • Namvet69
    Namvet69 Posts: 9,424 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    What about all those gold colored rocks cluttering up the box? Peace Roy

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  • oih82w8
    oih82w8 Posts: 13,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 8, 2020 11:15AM
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    What is that modern gold piece, reverse showing, in the upper right hand corner which is still in it's capsule? 1984 Olympics?

    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

    BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
  • messydesk
    messydesk Posts: 20,829 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @oih82w8 said:
    What is that modern gold piece, reverse showing, in the upper right hand corner which is still in it's capsule? 1984 Olympics?

    Looks like it.

    John
    Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
  • LanceNewmanOCC
    LanceNewmanOCC Posts: 19,999 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @messydesk said:

    @oih82w8 said:
    What is that modern gold piece, reverse showing, in the upper right hand corner which is still in it's capsule? 1984 Olympics?

    Looks like it.

    the time frame may not work out but it reminds me of the gold kennedy halves.
    .

    <--- look what's behind the mask! - cool link 1/NO ~ 2/NNP ~ 3/NNC ~ 4/CF ~ 5/PG ~ 6/Cert ~ 7/NGC 7a/NGC pop~ 8/NGCF ~ 9/HA archives ~ 10/PM ~ 11/NM ~ 12/ANACS cert ~ 13/ANACS pop - report fakes 1/ACEF ~ report fakes/thefts 1/NCIS - Numi-Classes SS ~ Bass ~ Transcribed Docs NNP - clashed coins - error training - V V mm styles -

  • keets
    keets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I think it's a BS propaganda thing, do the Math, using his "contents weigh another 22 pounds (10 kilograms)" from the story:

    10 kilograms = 10,000 grams
    10,000 grams / 31.1 grams = 321.54340836 troy ounces
    321.54340836 troy ounces X 1,704.23(current gold spot) = $547,983.92283

    so that means if the suspect chest was filled with 10 kilograms of .999 fine Gold right now it would be worth a little over $500k, nowhere near the $1 million claimed by Fenn.

  • ms70
    ms70 Posts: 13,958 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Great. Now these have to be resubmitted for special cert labels.

  • messydesk
    messydesk Posts: 20,829 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Here's the clue to the location:

    John
    Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
  • mr1931S
    mr1931S Posts: 7,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I have a signed copy of Fenn's book coming. Should be receiving it early next week. At this point, I'm thinking Fenn hid the treasure metaphorically. Be the first to demonstrate that you have discovered the metaphorical location and actually gone to it, Fenn will "give title to the gold."

    "Two things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe; and I'm not sure about the universe."
    -Albert Einstein-

    Mistakes are natural. But repeated mistakes without reflection are something else. That may be the “stupidity” he was referring to. In research, he admitted uncertainty openly. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” This shows humility. Even a Nobel laureate accepted doubt. That humility makes the quote less cynical and more observational.

  • BLUEJAYWAY
    BLUEJAYWAY Posts: 11,798 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 13, 2020 8:39PM
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    ^Now you tell me, after I wasted all that money on batteries for the detector. :)

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    It would have been fun to search for it.....Considered it, but never had the opportunity....Cheers, RickO

  • MrEureka
    MrEureka Posts: 24,780 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Cool that it was finally found!

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • mr1931S
    mr1931S Posts: 7,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Fenn got the box back? I was watching a story where an appraiser was saying the box alone is worth some $15K. Why would the finder give the box back to Fenn? Presumably the box was mailed to him by the finder from "back east."

    Tragically, five people died while searching for Fenn's treasure. New Mexico police eventually asked Fenn to call the search off because there was so much death associated with it. Then the treasure was announced by Fenn as found.

    The book,"Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir" is really nice and it is signed. Nice addition to my treasure hunting book collection. If I had received and read Fenn's book prior to making the contest (in another Fenn treasure thread) guess I did as to where the treasure was hidden I would have made a totally different guess.

    Oh well. Live and learn.

    "Two things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe; and I'm not sure about the universe."
    -Albert Einstein-

    Mistakes are natural. But repeated mistakes without reflection are something else. That may be the “stupidity” he was referring to. In research, he admitted uncertainty openly. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” This shows humility. Even a Nobel laureate accepted doubt. That humility makes the quote less cynical and more observational.

  • mr1931S
    mr1931S Posts: 7,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Fenn was an AF fighter pilot in the Vietnam war. Within 8 to 9 degrees of magnetic declination from map north is where Fenn hid his treasure. Northeast of Santa Fe, either in northern New Mexico or southern Colorado.

    "Two things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe; and I'm not sure about the universe."
    -Albert Einstein-

    Mistakes are natural. But repeated mistakes without reflection are something else. That may be the “stupidity” he was referring to. In research, he admitted uncertainty openly. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” This shows humility. Even a Nobel laureate accepted doubt. That humility makes the quote less cynical and more observational.

  • jabba
    jabba Posts: 3,177 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    If you look close there’s another slab under there looks like another rattler


    https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/publishedset/209923

    https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/album/209923

  • jabba
    jabba Posts: 3,177 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Actually if you look at the big photo and zoom in looks like a stack of them! Probably common gold $20 I would have love to find that


    https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/publishedset/209923

    https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/album/209923

  • Namvet69
    Namvet69 Posts: 9,424 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Maybe Fenn is gonna refill the box with skittles or something else interesting and rehide it. Peace Roy

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  • mr1931S
    mr1931S Posts: 7,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    People died looking for The Lost Dutchman mine too. Thankfully, hunting for it in the Superstition Mountains wilderness of Arizona is no longer allowed. Hunting for it was banned a number of years ago. It's a good thing.

    "Two things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe; and I'm not sure about the universe."
    -Albert Einstein-

    Mistakes are natural. But repeated mistakes without reflection are something else. That may be the “stupidity” he was referring to. In research, he admitted uncertainty openly. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” This shows humility. Even a Nobel laureate accepted doubt. That humility makes the quote less cynical and more observational.

  • logger7
    logger7 Posts: 9,869 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    It reminds me a little of Poe's "gold bug". If you look closely you can see the reflection of the certification number off the shiny gold nuggets! lol! Not enough clues there to get within reasonable distance for a search imo. 3D and climbing/hiking trails with a treasure hidden possibly covered by foliage, and searching without a metal detector. No way is that likely with a skilled search IMO, without teams of cryptologists, brainiacs and decoding super computers with powerful instinctual knowledge of how the hider operates.

  • mr1931S
    mr1931S Posts: 7,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 23, 2020 8:47PM
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    Not enough clues there to get within reasonable distance for a search imo.

    One can get some insight into how the hider Fenn operates by reading his book. The poem with its clues is not enough information to find the treasure, imo. Buy the book before you look for the treasure in other words.

    "Two things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe; and I'm not sure about the universe."
    -Albert Einstein-

    Mistakes are natural. But repeated mistakes without reflection are something else. That may be the “stupidity” he was referring to. In research, he admitted uncertainty openly. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” This shows humility. Even a Nobel laureate accepted doubt. That humility makes the quote less cynical and more observational.

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