Then add to it, if they did find it. The value in the gov't publicizing the find and putting it on a display at museums across the country would far outweigh any value that would come from melted down bullion. Melting it down would probably pay about one days of wages for the entire FBI. It's pennies to them.
I was re-reading my old post and upon further thought, this really rings true. MOTIVE. The primary motive presented by most everyone who believes it was found and subsequently covered up was money. Either they wanted to keep the loot for themselves or a variation on that; they wanted to keep the loot for themselves and not pay any sort of finders fee's to the original discoverers.
Let's break the money motive down:
2019 FBI budget: $8,900,000,000 (8.9 Billion)
Bar Melt Value: $72,000,000 (72 Million) or Qty 26 Gold bars alleged hidden (others allege twice that number, 52) so we'll use the bigger number: 52 x 50lbs: 41,600 ounces x $1732 and ounce = $72,051,000
So the melt value would pay 3 days worth of FBI wages.
Now, the reality is, the treasure would be worth more then melt value due to its historical value, however, they can't sell it for it's historical value, as then that would reveal that it was found, and antiquities laws would prevent them from selling a National Treasure.
So this completely rules out the "hide it for personal gain or to screw the original finders out of their fair share or a finders fee" motive. Period, end of discussion. It's value is literally peanuts to the gov't in any melt or even sales value.
But, let's assume for the sake of argument they did find it. We can all agree this would be one of the most significant historical finds, not just of the Civil War Era, but of all the time in the USA.
So they put it on display at the Smithsonian and as is tradition, it would also go on rotation in various museums across the country and the world, and therefore, it's revenue generating value then becomes astronomical. It is estimated that nearly 1 Billion people every year visit a museum. Those numbers would skyrocket. Millions of people each year, from here and abroad would come to see it. Not just this year, but for years to come. Not just admission fee's to museum, but the merchandise that would be created to commemorate and memorialize it. Hundreds of millions, if not billions a year could be gained in revenue from this exhibit and its corresponding merchandise.
So either way, the circumstantial evidence is very strong that it wasn't found, but if it was found, it wouldn't be hidden, certainly not for some small financial short term gain or avoiding a pittance of finders fees to the finder, when putting it on display would generate billions in income over it's lifetime of display. (maybe even trillions when one considers it'll be on display, even a hundred years from now)
Conclusion, if there was a money motive, putting it on display would far out weigh selling or melting it.
Thoughts?
