How can a handful of coins start a treasure hunt?
An Australian soldier named Maurie was operating a World War
II radar station on one of the sparse Australia's
northern shore Wessel
Islands. One day, while
on leave, Maurie was fishing and found a curious sight in the sand. After
clearing away sand, maurie found a handful of coins. These coins had strange
markings and were taken and forgotten by Maurie for nearly 70 years. Before the
coins were forgotten, Maurie told a friend about the location and this friend
noted the location on a map (a true, X marks the spot tale).
In 1979, these coins were appraised and most were found to
be coins from the Dutch East India Company. However, a few (five coins) were
minted in the city of Kilwa.
Kilwa was a wealthy trading city on the eastern coast of
Africa (the ruins are located in Tanzania) that rose to eminence
around 900 A.D. and nearly every item in the known world was traded there by
merchants. The markets held a bounty of gold, ivory, spices, perfumes, jewelry,
and porcelain.
The port
of Kilwa was looted,
sacked, and burned to the ground in the 1500s by Portuguese traders.
Coins from Kilwa have only been found in a few locations
(one in Oman and one in Zimbabwe) before and how these coins came to Australia must
be quite a tale.
The coins themselves are an exciting find….however more
treasure is rumored to be hidden near this pile of coins. Australian Aboriginal
legends speak of a cave filled with coins, weapons, and artifacts from another
land.
Could refugees or traders traveled to Australia? An
expedition this summer aims to discover the answer….and possibly, the cave of
treasure.
Treasure is all around us, start your adventure today!!!
-Nathan
Check out our other sites:
www,treasureswithin10.com
www.treasureswithin10.yolasite.com
