PS - forgot to add...
Blindbowman wrote:
(Oroblanco wrote earlier)..."Most treasure maps are so close to worthless for actually FINDING treasures that I pay little attention to them,"
it not the maps its the treasure hunters that worthless the maps are fine ..lol just jokeing ... we all know ever treasure maps is the way to a real treasure ...lol
Hmm...I do realize you are kidding of course, and do get your point. Let me explain why I say that in general, the great majority of "Treasure Maps" are as valuable as any wall-art drawing and nothing more. First point, with all the many so-called "Treasure Maps" we have in public possession,
how many of them have successfully led someone to find real, gold/silver/diamonds treasure? As far as I know, the sum total is precisly zero. (Joe I am not counting the stone maps in this, for the moment, and I do include Dobie's map as it has an important defect.) So that rather important factor, the success rate viz "Treasure Maps" is extremely low.
The second point, which can be classed in a term used by antiques collectors and crime experts, is "Provenance". In the great majority of cases,
we have virtually NO history to trace these so-called "Treasure Maps" to their origins. Some of them could well have been drawn up by a Sixth-grader with an artistic bent. Even with Dobie's map, and I do respect Mr Dobie and very much enjoy his works, we have little to prove where the map originated. Check out the "Treasure Map" collection online available in several web sites (I believe the total is now over eighty) and if you are a beginner you might be impressed at first. However the provenance of most of these maps is so questionable that their veracity is very much open to question. (Here is one site with a good collection, from the Apache Junction Public Library, my personal favorite library in the whole USA:
http://www.ajpl.org/aj/museum/treasm.htm
The next point has to do with the provenance - for even if we can believe the "Treasure Map" is a genuine document, then we have to ask just why the map is available to be seen at all? Doesn't it make sense that
if it were a genuine map, the creators of the map would make an effort and take steps to ensure that the map would pass into the hands of people they wished to find the treasure? I think it is safe to assume this as it is logical - it is NOT logical to think of such a genuine map to treasure being sent to a public library or posted on the Internet for anyone and everyone to go hunt for it. So
the odds are that if the map is genuine, there is a good REASON why it is no longer hidden from the public, kept in private hands - that most logical reason is that
whatever treasure there was to be found through the use of that map - have long since been found and recovered. I will grant that it is POSSIBLE that a genuine treasure map might well have ended up 'in the public eye' for reasons unknown, but in such a case we have to suspect there are reasons for this illogical turn of events, such as that the inheritors of the map were unable to re-locate the treasure, that the inheritors of the map died suddenly, etc. In such cases the most likely reason for inheritors of the map to fail are that the map has a major flaw, or as Blindbowman hinted at, a "key" code that is misinterpreted or misunderstood, etc.
So I stand by my earlier statement that
the great majority of so-called "Treasure Maps" are virtually worthless as a tool to help locate any kind of lost treasure. For someone to think otherwise is certainly a matter of personal opinion, but in such a case I would suspect that person to be quite inexperienced in hunting for lost treasures, or to have a very limited sphere in the subject, focused on one or two particular lost treasures which we know to have a map or maps with genuine provenance. I would not include in this any maps which are held in private hands, (and yes I own a few myself which have never been published anywhere) but this type of map is not within the "public domain" so fall outside of what I said.
Here is one example of a "Treasure Map", for any neophytes reading our discussion:
"Treasure Maps" are GREAT fun and a good excuse to be exploring the tall tules, BUT....."Caveat Emptor" and that old saying "You get what you pay for" are oh-so-true, so
these "Maps" are very much "worth what you paid" for them!
I am sorry if I have just poked a pin in the hopes of some treasure-hunter's balloon, I do not like to discourage anyone from hunting treasure, but am trying to tell you the truth about the business; you will waste a LOT of your time, effort and expense in chasing down these so-called "Treasure Maps" when you could be following up far more promising leads, and yes there are very real lost treasures which have never been found and recovered. I would rather see you succeed than waste your effort on false leads, which could sour a new treasure hunter to the whole idea of hunting lost treasures.
Good luck and good hunting, I hope you all find the treasures that you seek - even if through the use of one of these so-called "Treasure Maps" that I have such a dim view of.
your friend,
Oroblanco