The Beale Ciphers Treasure
Three coded messages. One partially decoded. $43 million in gold and jewels—if any of it is real.
- Category
- buried
- Status
- lost
- Year lost
- 1820
- Region
- Bedford County, Virginia
- Country
- United States
The dossier
In 1885, a pamphlet was published in Virginia that set off one of the longest-running treasure hunts in American history. It told the story of Thomas Jefferson Beale, who in 1817 led a group of 30 men on a mining expedition to the American West. According to the pamphlet, the group discovered an enormously rich gold and silver deposit near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Over 18 months, they extracted a fortune in gold, silver, and jewels, which they transported back east and buried in a secret location in Bedford County, Virginia. Beale entrusted three ciphered documents to a Lynchburg innkeeper named Robert Morriss, with instructions to open them if Beale didn't return in 10 years. Beale never returned. The documents were encoded with number substitution ciphers. One of the three has been partially decoded—using the Declaration of Independence as the key—and it describes the treasure's contents: approximately 2,921 pounds of gold, 5,100 pounds of silver, and jewels obtained in St. Louis in exchange for some of the silver. At today's prices, this would be worth roughly $43 million. The other two ciphers—one describing the treasure's exact location, and one listing the names of the party members and their heirs—have never been decoded despite nearly 200 years of attempts. Cryptographers, amateur codebreakers, and treasure hunters have spent lifetimes on the problem. Some scholars believe the entire story is an elaborate hoax. Others point to the verified existence of Robert Morriss and certain historical details that check out. Bedford County residents have dealt with generations of treasure hunters digging holes on their property. The local historical society maintains a file of ongoing inquiries.
Cargo and value
Gold, silver, and jewels buried in iron pots
Legal status
Private land throughout Bedford County. Virginia treasure trove laws require notification of landowner. Multiple attempts to obtain excavation permits have been denied by landowners.