Woman Finds Hidden Treasure While Gardening

As she worked on the spring cleanup of a Vermont park, a professional gardener cleared away some leaves and happened upon a metal box that turned out to be a tiny treasure chest. Kelly Wakefield opened the box to find old coins, antiques, a bullet from the Civil War era, and more; she has yet to get the bounty appraised, the New York Times reports. The box also contained a note from Michael Cloherty O'Connell, the person who hid the treasure. He's written two history books that also lead people on hunts for treasure in the Northeast, similar to Forrest Fenn's epic treasure hunt, and he tells WCVB he's invested $150,000 into his "passion project."

Almost 10 of the boxes have been found so far, he says, but he won't say how many there are in total. He does promise, however, that the "grand prizes" remain unclaimed. "I want them all to go and enjoy America," he says of his readers. "That's what it's about. It's not about me, it's about America. In 2024, I hid treasure in Massachusetts, all of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to teach about the American Revolution and get ahead of the 250th anniversary" of the US, coming up on July 4, 2026. (More treasure hunt stories.)