Summer of 2001 - Real Cash Caches!

The Jose Gaspar Crew offered up the first known cash booty in a multiple-site, multiple-cache treasure hunt in the country.

One hundred US Sacagawea one dollar gold coins were hidden in the Tampa Bay area.  To find them, geocachers had to first discover 8 other caches hidden throughout Hillsborough & Pinellas counties.

Each of the eight caches was a large, standalone cache - but with a twist.  In addition to the normal cache contents, a unique 5-character code was on the inside lid of each cache box.  Geocachers who found the cache recorded the code and later e-mailed it to the Jose Gaspar Crew, proving that they had found one of the clue caches.

Once a geocacher found all eight caches, they were e-mailed eight map pieces and instructions that would lead them to the final golden cache.

It wasn't going to be easy though. The map pieces were deliberately cryptic and so were the clues.  All that was clearly revealed were the GPS coordinates for the final site.  From the coordinates, the geocachers figured out that the treasure was hidden on Caledesi Island.  But the challenge didn't stop there. The geocachers had to properly reassemble the map pieces and then discover that the 100 coins were not all hidden in one place, but distributed among five different locations all over the island.

Some people found all eight clue caches. The map pieces were e-mailed to all of them at the same time.  One family of geocachers, Faithwalker & DaMama, lost no time and raced to the island, beating all the others. They found all 5 treasure troves containing the gold coins.

For more information, here are links associated with the Real Gold Coin Treasure I cache:

• The original cache announcement displayed on geocaching.com
• The complete map files and final clue sheets
• Faithwalker & DaMama's log of the Caledesi Island treasure hunt
• List of the eight original clue caches and their locations
• The standings at the end of the game
• The caches and the geocachers that found them

We have transcribed the entries that the geocachers left in the logbook that was in each cache box.  Read the transcripts here (some are very interesting):

• Royal Fortune (Lettuce Lake)
• Adventure Galley (Trout Creek)
• King James (Carillon Park)
• Royal James (Morris Bridge)
• Revenge (Fort DeSoto)
• The Satisfaction (Lake Seminole)
• Queen Anne's Revenge (Lake Park)
• Whydah (Sawgrass Park)

But The Game Continued...

Faithwalker & DaMama found the Caledesi treasure so fast that we wanted to give more people a chance to cash in on some gold.  So the JG Crew came up with another $100 in Sacagawea coins and let the games continue.  The Jose Gaspar Real Gold Coin Treasure II cache was announced.  The game would continue until shortly after October 1, 2001 when the 8 original clue caches would be removed and a drawing held at a geocaching party in November.

The idea was that this time, anyone who found all of the eight original caches would have an even chance to win.  The game was no longer a race, but a true treasure hunt.

All was going well, until one of the clue caches disappeared...

The "Satisfaction" cache at Lake Seminole Park was reported missing.  Jose Gaspar went to the site and verified that the cache was, in fact, missing.

This caused a problem.  Some people had previously found the cache, but many had not yet tried.  The rules of the game stated that all eight caches had to be found to be in the drawing.  But now one of the eight was missing.

The Jose Gaspar Crew discussed the matter and decided, in the interest of fairness, to cancel the Real Gold Coin Treasure II treasure hunt and to create a totally new cache adventure with the $100 prize.  The announcement was made on the geocaching.com site and through e-mails on August 25th.

On August 26, someone reported that the Satisfaction cache was back.  Whoever took it, replaced it.  Unfortunately, the announcements had already gone out, so the decision was made to let the game end as planned on October 1st, with the $100 to be distributed in a future cache hunt.

Here are some links about the Real Gold Coin Treasure II cache:

• The original cache announcement
• The cancellation announcement

And Then Came September 11th...

With the tragedies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, the Jose Gaspar Crew felt that the $100 originally intended to be used as cache money would be better used to help the victims of the terrorist attack.

The $100 is being donated to the American Red Cross and the United Way in the names of the geocachers who found any of the original 8 sites.

The 8 Original Clue Caches

Each cache was named after the flagship of one of history's famous pirates

Complete Map Files & Final Clue Sheet

Caledesi Final Clues
GC144A-Map-Satisfaction
GC144B-Map-Whydah
GC144E-Map-King James
GC14EF-Map-Queen Anne's Revenge
GC14F1-Map-Royal Fortune
GC14F3-Map-Adventure Galley
GC14F8-Map-Revenge
GC14FC-Map-Royal James

 The Real Gold Coin Treasure II Recorded Finds!

Here are the people who have found one or more of the original 8 caches .

Cache Sites & the People Who Found Them

Geocacher names are listed in the order they found each cache.

Home | Caches | News | Geocaching | Jose Gaspar