If you're anything like me, you binged Netflix's Outer Banks in what felt like world record setting time. Outer Banks was like if a modern day Indiana Jones movie starred exclusively Hollister models. The Pogues, as we endearingly learn to call the main characters, spend their summer looking for the treasure of the Royal Merchant shipwreck. The Netflix show, while making me feel miserably single, also awakened my sense of adventure and I quickly began researching the treasure for myself.
The Royal Merchant, as it turns out, did not exist - well, sort of. There was a real English ship named The Merchant Royal that was said to carry gold and silver on board, and this boat also did sink but not in the Carolinas. The Merchant Royal met it's fate in that late 1600s and has never been seen again, despite many attempts by treasure hunters to discover it's bounty.
But maybe, just maybe, all it takes is a nosey Pogue to dig around to unearth long buried secrets. Check out these other hidden and lost treasures to fill your adventurous void while we await the return of Outer Banks in season two:
La Noche Triste Treasure
Researching this treasure is really heartbreaking, as La Noche Triste was the event in which Spanish conquistadors infiltrated an Aztec city and caused untold devastation. From this event, of course, comes the legend of the Aztec gold.
The Oak Island Money Pit
This one is absolutely mind boggling to me, mainly due to the History channel show The Curse of Oak Island that trails the treasure hunters as they pour millions of dollars into finding a treasure that might not truly exist. (The show has been on for seven seasons, and they still haven't found the treasure.) Nevertheless, the hunt still persists.
Confederate Gold
Ah, could it be? Is it possible that, following the Civil War, millions of dollars were hidden on our soil? Historians recognize that there is unaccounted for money, but there is still large debate as to whether this gold could exist, and of course where it could be.
The Amber Room
This might be my personal favorite of all the famous missing treasures. Something about the overwhelming and extraordinary decadence of a room gilded in amber absolutely captures my romantic imagination. Walking into this room (in this scenario I imagine wearing a dazzling ballgown) must have felt like you were being bathed in honey-colored light. But the panels of this famous room were lost. Well not exactly lost, but more like stolen...by Nazis? What more could this story ask for honestly?
Blackbeard’s Treasure
This list could not be complete without a good, old fashioned pirate treasure. Blackbeard, being amongst one of the most notorious pirates in history, has had many tall tales and legends spread throughout the centuries that have kept this seafarer's adventures alive. One of these most enduring tales is of his long lost treasure. One question endures though, is this loot fact or fiction?
We may not have twenty years like John B's father to dedicate to researching lost treasure, but an afternoon of web surfing may satisfy your treasure hunting urges. If that doesn't quite do the trick for you, there are actual shipwrecks you can dive and tour on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. At these wrecks you won't find treasure, but maybe you can find a John B or JJ of your own. Happy hunting!
