{"id":327965,"date":"2026-05-22T15:43:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/327965\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:43:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:43:36","slug":"10000-in-buried-treasure-sparks-huge-hunt-in-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/327965\/","title":{"rendered":"$10,000 in buried treasure sparks huge hunt in San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hunt is on for $10,000 in buried treasure hidden somewhere in San Francisco<\/a>, a year after one lucky seeker found a fortune on another quest in the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s search starts, like the previous hunt, on Reddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne year ago we announced here that we buried a $10,000 treasure chest. Many hunters went searching and it was found in just 11 hours,\u201d the hunt\u2019s organizers announced<\/a> on the subreddit r\/sanfransciso late last month. \u201cWe did it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organizers said the treasure chest, which weighs more than 150 pounds, is located within seven miles of city hall and is buried one foot underground.<\/p>\n

The Reddit page is linked to a website <\/a>with an old-timey clue map and some additional information about the hunt. The organizers said the treasure chest has \u201c100 percent cold hard cash\u201d inside.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The hunt is on for $10,000 in buried treasure hidden somewhere in San Francisco, a year after one lucky seeker found a fortune on another quest in the city (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The organizers explained why they would bury $10,000 worth of treasure, not once, but twice. Those behind the cash grab remain anonymous after also not being publicly identified in last year\u2019s hunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love the lore of treasure. Pirate booty, sunken galleons, the mysteries and stories and movies\u2026 all of it,\u201d the organizers wrote. \u201cAnd we always hoped treasure hunting would feature more heavily in life, alongside quicksand and tattered rope bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organizers said they had hoped this year\u2019s search would take \u201ca little longer than 11 hours\u201d in their Reddit post.<\/p>\n

They achieved their goal, and then some. It has been nearly three weeks since the hunt began, and the treasure has yet to be claimed as of Sunday, according to the organizers.<\/p>\n

While the organizers urged seekers to \u201ctread lightly\u201d while hunting for the treasure, they said they have received complaints from San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department gardeners and Angel Island rangers about the destruction of the city\u2019s green areas.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 150-pound treasure chest is located within seven miles of San Francisco\u2019s city hall and is buried one foot underground (Buried Treasure, San Francisco)<\/p>\n

In an effort to curb damage caused by the hunt, the organizers made clear the treasure is not on Angel Island or in Francisco Park.<\/p>\n

They also advised seekers to fill the holes they may dig, clean up any trash they find and if they see someone leaving any destruction, take their photo and publicly shame them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are playing a game that’s a little mischievous and comes with some inherent risk from some bad actors, but this is supposed to be fun and it should be obvious that we’re not looking to ruin our green spaces,\u201d the organizers said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from the Recreation and Parks Department told ABC News, \u201c<\/a>Permits are required for digging in city parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey help protect park landscapes, infrastructure, and public safety,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The Independent has reached out to the Recreation and Parks Department for comment.<\/p>\n

Last May, the organizers buried a 22-pound treasure chest worth $10,000 in \u201cgleaming ingots, currency, and San Francisco artifacts,\u201d according to the website.<\/p>\n

The organizers told KRON4<\/a> last year that they paid for the treasure themselves. If a donor isn\u2019t found, this may be their last.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a questionable financial decision the first time and downright idiotic the second. There truly can\u2019t be a third,\u201d the organizers said on their website.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s hunt will likely be the last run by the organizers, \u201cunless a deep-pocketed collaborator reaches out,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hunt is on for $10,000 in buried treasure hidden somewhere in San Francisco, a year after one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[136236,7151,101,103,102,104,106,105,134063],"class_list":["post-327965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-buried-treasure","tag-organizers","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-treasure-chest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}