10 Unclaimed Treasures That Would Make You Filthy Rich

8. The Oak Island Treasure

Modern Value: Unknown. The Oak Island Treasure Pit is famous among treasure hunters the world over. Purportedly the final resting place of the treasure claimed by notorious pirate lord Captain Kidd, the pit was discovered by a child in 1795, who roped in two of his friends to help him dig. After achieving the impressive depth of 10 meters, being stopped by layers of cut logs every three meters, the boys gave up when they hit a layer of flagstones, marked by pickaxe strikes. Many, many others have attempted to excavate the pit over the last few hundred years, setting up dedicated companies to do so, and attracting famous figures who want to find the treasure such as American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (who is often overshadowed by the more adventurous Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps a tad unfairly). That somebody built the pit is no longer a matter of speculation. Somebody dug a pit straight down for around 100 meters, leaving both flagstones and wooden layers to support the earthworks, as well as setting up boobytraps to stop the pit from being easily dug again. You don't build a pit of that depth on a small island in Nova Scotia in the late sixteen hundreds without a very, very good reason, especially as there was no way to get a large work force there, or any tools or equipment larger than a block and tackle. After a considerable depth, a stone plate was discovered with a mysterious note carved in an unknown language. After years of study and research, the note was finally translated to mean, "forty feet below, two million pounds are buried". At the time the flagstone was buried, two million pounds would have been a kings ransom. Today, it would be a frankly astounding sum of money, when adjusted for inflation and the added value of being sought after treasure is considered. Excavations only reached a depth of 72 meters, and when modern mines can run for miles into the ground, there really is no reason that the treasure has not been found. It's just waiting there for a determined person to claim it...