Allison Lyon and boyfriend Kevin Renault show off the $1,000 coin

Great US Treasure Hunt coin at Sun Splash Park, Daytona Beach

Treasure hunter Debbie Adams celebrates with Hunt creative director David Steele

Miguel de Santiago holds Great US Treasure Hunt coin, which survived a flash flood at Enchanted Lands Park in Roswell

Jared Lyon holds Great US Treasure Hunt coin.

Clues From Book Lead Seven Treasure Hunters to Find Coins Hidden In Public

AUSTIN, TX, UNITED STATES, November 8, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Great US Treasure Hunt, a nationwide “armchair treasure hunt” with clues found in a comic book, has announced seven winning individuals or teams, with four coins hidden somewhere in the country yet to be discovered.

Launched on October 22 when the clue books were mailed, the contest had seven winners within the first week, finding coins in California, Tennessee, Montana, Florida, Texas, and New Mexico. Four coins, each worth $1,000 to the finder, remain hidden in public in four different states.

The organizers have also reduced the price of the clue book from $30.00 to $19.62, which includes shipping costs. A PDF file of the book is also sent to any new purchaser within six hours of purchase.

WINNER #1 — GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA

Barbara Hamrick, an Orange County attorney, was the first person to solve a puzzle from the book (“That Screwy Ballyhooey Hollywood”), which led to Griffith-Manor Park in Glendale, less than fifty miles from Hamrick’s home. But by the time she reached the location, the coin was missing. Per the rules of the contest, a 48-hour countdown clock was allowed to run out to allow the person who found the coin to come forward. Hamrick was then declared the winner and awarded the full $1,000 prize for being both the Solver and the Finder.

WINNER #2 — KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE

Author Sean Cronin, himself a creator of a treasure hunt (“Xavier Marx and the Missing Masterpieces”) solved the “Matheroes: Dawn Division” puzzle and contacted fellow treasure hunter Allison Lyon, who happened to be vacationing in Tennessee. Just hours later, Lyon and boyfriend Kevin Renault were able to find a coin hidden beneath the bottom step of a playscape at Morningside Park in Knoxville. Because the Great US Treasure Hunt allows partnerships to split the prize, Cronin and Lyon each earned $500 for their efforts

WINNER #3 — MISSOULA, MONTANA

Emily Stevenson, a Texas sales rep with a lot of airline miles to her credit, solved the “A Letter Home” puzzle, and though warned by Hunt organizers that she should probably find a local person to retrieve the coin, Stevenson flew from Houston to Spokane with her son Liam, who was also up for the adventure. Stevenson then rented a car and drove to Missoula, arriving at just after four in the morning to Dragon Hollow Park, where she found the coin exactly where the puzzle’s solution told her it would be…stuck to the underside of an elevated trash can support.

WINNER #4 — HONOLULU, HAWAII

When Washington musician Steve Geller solved the “Aloha and Atelihai” puzzle, revealing the Special Bench in Kapiolani Park, Honolulu, as a coin’s location, he was in a tough spot. Geller knew nobody in Hawaii, so he and friend Desiree Hood began cold-calling local businesses, looking for someone who could cross the street and search the bench for the coin. Ann Mateo, a hotel employee, finally answered the call to adventure, and walked the less-than-thousand-feet to the Special Bench, one of the few benches in the world with its own Google Maps page. The Bench has an incredible view of Diamond Head, but the coin was missing. Hunt organizers declared the coin lost without a 48-hour clock, due to the popularity of the Bench, and the fact that Hawaii was one of only two states (Alaska being the other) where not a single book had been sold. “We knew a local must have found the coin,” Hunt president Jeff Kessler said, “So we declared Geller and Mateo winners without waiting 48 hours.”

WINNER #5 — DAYTONA BEACH

When Hurricane Milton traveled over Florida, the eye of the hurricane passed directly over Sun Splash Park in Daytona Beach. That left Matthew Hasz, who had solved the “Message Received” puzzle, wondering if the coin would still be found. Lyon, a New Yorker, contacted South Florida resident Laurel Bartels, who made an early morning drive up the Treasure Coast and arrived at Pavilion Two, where the coin was indeed still stuck under a stone picnic bench, hardly the worse for wear. Bartels find came at sunrise, and the team split the $1,000 prize.

WINNER #6 — AUSTIN

Debbie Adams, of Bacliff, Texas, was excited when she solved the “Blocks” puzzle on the back cover of the clue book. Not only was it the bonus puzzle, but she lived close enough to make the 4-hour drive with husband Dennis to Pease Park in Austin, where the coin was stuck under a boulder in a treehouse. A boulder in a treehouse? That’s how they keep Austin weird. By putting boulders in treehouses. Adams found the sixth coin, and became the third Solver/Finder, winning the full $1,000 prize. Hunt Creative Director David Steele was surprised, saying “When Jeff and I talked about how many people would be both a Solver and a Finder, we thought maybe one person would both solve a puzzle and be close enough to find the coin. There’s no way we would have predicted that the first six coins would have three Solver/Finders.”

WINNER #7 — ROSWELL

On the morning of October 19, Hunt organizers stuck a coin to the underside of a blue bench in Enchanted Lands Park in Roswell, New Mexico. That evening, a record-setting deluge hit the desert town with more rainfall in a two-hour period than it had experienced in over 100 years. The flooding was so bad that when New Yorker Jared Lyon (the brother of Knoxville Finder Allison Lyon, above) solved the “Watch Your Step” puzzle and contacted Roswell locals to search the site, many insisted the park was still underwater, nine days later. In fact, while the park had been flooded above the level of the picnic bench, it had drained off quickly, leaving a muddy mess behind. Lyon finally found Miguel de Santiago, who lived in the neighborhood of the park, and knew that the bench was no longer underwater. When de Santiago went to the park, he easily found the coin, winning $1,000 for the team.

FOUR COINS REMAIN TO BE FOUND

While seven coins have been found, four coins are still hidden, not buried, in public. Clues to their exact locations are in The Great US Treasure Hunt book, available for $19.62 with shipping included, and a PDF sent within eight hours of purchase. Only US residents are eligible to win.

Hunt organizers have posted videos on YouTube, introducing the public to each Solver and Finder, as well as explaining the puzzle solutions in detail. “We aren’t YouTubers,” Steele explained. “But we did have some fun showing our winners, and revealing how to solve each puzzle.”

David Keith Steele
The Great U.S. Treasure Hunt LLC
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