The Great U.S. Treasure Hunt

07/31/2026

So many characters are in search of ONE coin....

Details to follow.

07/29/2026

Well well well...details to follow, because this isn't the Hole Story, but a picture is worth 1,000 words...and dollars! Told you we had some awesome locations!!!

07/16/2026

Three locations remain. No correct solutions have been received for Six Characters in Search of a Treasure, The Hole Story, or The Golden Hour.

If you're on South Padre to see Starship launch tomorrow, maybe we'll run into you! This isn't a clue, this is literal.

07/12/2026

Mount Rushmore, baby!

CHRISTINA PAYNE of Orlando, Florida, part of the team known as “The Rogues,” solved the puzzle in the short story “Fifty Shades of Coin,” using a hint and a hunch about the Mel Brooks quote preceding the chapter. (Spoof/spoofing/Brooks) Christina found that the letters extracted from “oo” words in the story anagrammed to “Mt Rushmore Spyglass,” pointing the team to the correct hiding spot.

The Karr Family of the Black Hills — mom Kelli and her two young sons Jack and Bodie — made the final discovery at the exact location, the top step of the spyglass. For the boys, it marked their first treasure find in the nationwide adventure.

The Rogues — Christina along with her friends Samantha from Sarasota, Alyssa from St. Augustine, Amanda from Port St. Lucie, Dan from Ohio, and Matt from L.A. — have built a strong fellowship that reaches across state lines. When Christina realized the Black Hills location would be perfect for a local family, she and Wisconsin finder Koolma reached out to the Karrs, who live just an hour away.

For mom Kelli Karr, the adventure was especially meaningful. She was thrilled to bring her two young sons along on this journey, giving them their very first treasure-hunting experience at one of America’s most famous monuments.

Well done, CHRISTINA, KELLI, JACK and BODIE...KOOLMA, ALYSSA, AMANDA, DAN, MATT, SAMANTHA, GEORGE, THOMAS, TEDDY, and ABRAHAM!

07/12/2026

Some spots to hide a coin are just better than others. And some Finders are just better, too. We'll tell you all about Jack and Bodie in a bit. Enjoy your Sunday.

07/12/2026

07/11/2026

BREAKING: AMERICA!!!! FYEAH!!!!

COIN IN HAND!

Details Sunday morning!!!

The story solved is...FIFTY SHADES OF COIN

07/11/2026

Who's a cool ma? KOOLMA is a cool ma! And she is the Finder of the coin under the gear at Zeidler Union Square Park in Milwaukee! (With the help of THE PEANUT GALLERY--pictured.)

The Coin, The Gun, The Choker was a noirish tale told by an idiot with some assistance from AI, but it signified a $1,000 prize that was split by the aforementioned Koolma and another repeat Solver from 2024, the one and only STEVE GELLER, who, safe within his musical lair, broadcast his siren song and found Koolma, who hot-footed it like the brassy dame she is, complete with Searcher's Tools, discovering the coin was right where TGUSTH Veep JEFF KESSLER had stashed it just two months ago, under sunny skies with a stuffed puppy at his side.

How's THAT for a run-on sentence? Let's see AI try that on for size. Anyway, the key to this chapter was...the word THE. Any letter that followed the word THE was key, and spelled out Z-E-I-D-L-E-R G-E-A-R and that's all you needed. The next six letters spelled U-N-I-W-O-N to give you Union. We threw the W in for the Win.

GELLER solved it. KOOLMA found it. That's it.

07/11/2026

"The Cursed Coin" is safely NOT in the hands of a Great US Treasure Hunter. It has passed into the unknown, removed from its location before it could pass its deadly curse on to BOBBY AMMONS, who would have found the Coin had it not been Cursed and removed from the spot! The coin was under the brick overhang near the benches on the outside of Vulcan Park, which features the statue of Vulcan, honoring Birmingham's position as "the Pittsburgh of the South."

The statue of Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world, a total of 120,000 pounds, and stands 56 feet tall on a 123 foot pedestal.

JOSH ELLINGSON is the Solver of the chapter, which many people suspected would lead to a coin in the Birmingham area through context clues, but only Josh literally discovered the V-U-L-C-A-N code, our shortest ever, by literally writing down every letter following the word literally.

All other clues were context and pointed to Birmingham, but literally was literally the key. V-V-V-V-V was a hint to Valley View Dr, Vulcan Dr, Valley Ave, and Vulcan Trail, all of which surround Vulcan Park, and the chilling story told by the detective of a man clinging to a brick overhang was, of course, a reference to the coin clinging to a brick overhang, near the row of benches which is visible from the Google Street Maps view of the entrance.

As no entry fees are paid, the coin must have been on the outside of the park, and it was, but now it's not, and as nobody has come forward with it, we must assume that they have met some grisly end, and so that's good news for Josh and Bobby, who take home the $1,000 prize.

Each will also get a replacement coin and Winner's certificate, signed author's copy of The Great US Treasure Hunt book, and Josh will get an old weatherbeaten engraved "BHAM AL" plug that was stuck in that same location for over 5 years, until it was replaced with the Cursed Coin in May...which went missing within 2 months. Because it was Cursed.

Congrats to Josh and Bobby....RIP to whoever found the Cursed Coin. You will be missed.

07/10/2026

ZEIDLER UNION PARK in Wisconsin found!
The Coin, The Gun, The Choker solved!
Details tomorrow (Friday)!