River Treasure

Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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I have documentary information of a treasure laden boat having sunk in a river bed. The area is about 3 miles long by 600 yds wide. The river is muddy and in the winter season is about twenty to thirty feet deep. What type of equipment would be required to locate this treasure? Can it be rented or would it have to be purchased? The river is muddy, so there could be a lot of silt over the site. The treasure is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. It is in Asia. Hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Alikhan
 

justdon

Bronze Member
Aug 6, 2013
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Good luck.But if you knew about it alot of other people did too.Which means it could be long gone.
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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Are you sure the treasure is still there ? 30ft is well within the range of free divers.

The area is sparsely populated and people are not aware of new technologies. This was a king who was escaping with his treasure from the invaders from Central Asia. The boat capsized. It is documented in a book. Unlikely that anyone would have the wherewithal to find it. It is worthwhile exploring.
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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What type of equipment could see through the mud and silt?
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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The book relates the capsizing of the boat, but we have through process of elimination and rare historical documents, zeroed in on the area where it happened
 

Jason in Enid

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Oct 10, 2009
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You'll need a lot of serious equipment to find this. You'll need a boat, next you need a sub-bottom profiler, a sidescan sonar, gps, underwater metal detectors, diving equipment, fuel and time to slowly motor up and down AT LEAST 3 miles of river marking and recording every hit.

So then, if you think you found it, what are you going to do? If there ANY visibility in the water or is it a muddy, silt-laden flow? If you can't see you can dive. If you can't dive it will take millions of dollars for the equipment to recover.
 

Mekong Mike

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Jul 22, 2013
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Like Jason said. you will need a lot of stuff and time. How many years ago did this wreck go down ? Rivers flood, change course, erode banks, etc. The river you are looking at today may have changed over the years.

It sounds like a great plan and i hope you can find it.

What made the boat sink ?
 

deteknix

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Jul 22, 2013
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Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I have documentary information of a treasure laden boat having sunk in a river bed. The area is about 3 miles long by 600 yds wide. The river is muddy and in the winter season is about twenty to thirty feet deep. What type of equipment would be required to locate this treasure? Can it be rented or would it have to be purchased? The river is muddy, so there could be a lot of silt over the site. The treasure is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. It is in Asia. Hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Alikhan

Good luck Alikhan!
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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Yes. That is the issue at hand. We know the location because there is an island in the river that has been mentioned. The river has not changed direction at that location. The equipment is not possible here. Have access to experienced divers though.
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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This would be about 500 years!. River has stayed essentially in the same place because an island mentioned in the record, is still there.
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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Would it not be possible to anchor the boat where there is a signal and send scuba people down? The river is slow flowing and in the winters, not very deep. I have a Garret metal detector. Is it possible to attach a long cord to it and trail it on the floor behind a boat?
 

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Alikhan

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Aug 30, 2013
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It was not a ship. It was a wooden boat perhaps capable of carrying fifteen people
 

Jason in Enid

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Oct 10, 2009
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slow flowing by who's standard? If it's flowing more than 2 miles an hour it's impossible to swim against. Hardhat divers can work in heavier current but that just pushes the expense up, up, up.
 

63bkpkr

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Aug 9, 2007
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Silting over the find is likely to be the second largest problem with locating the find being the major problem! I would contact the manufacturer of your detector and find out if they can manufacture a large diameter waterproof coil that will sink with a very long sending/receiving cable as well as an extra strong attachment point for the the rope to drag the coil with.

Using a standard metal detector to locate the find ought to be even more difficult than land based detecting however you've found some interesting background information, an island and assuming the book and its information is correct this should be a great adventure. Also, there are other types of detectors that may be better suited to this search, I'm thinking of a two coil unit used for locating larger, deeper targets. I would ask to see if the company can take the electronic box off of the coils, add a very long sending/receiving cable, etc., etc. and see what they have to say and at what price.

What type of water critters are known to be in this river? The safety of your divers needs to be considered so confirm what is down there in the dark muddy water. A suction dredge unit may be useful for bringing up whatever is down there if it is in the form of coins and jewelry. The depth to the river bottom will determine the size of the dredge unit and add some extra footage of head pressure needed as the heavy materials will sink to the deepest part of the river. This will be a lot of work for a long time but then if it is there you may get lucky and find it right away. Then again what will the governments share be? Your lives?? Be careful, be wise as treasure brings out the best and worst in people and governments.............63bkpkr
 

Frankn

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Mar 21, 2010
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Don't forget that in the spring when rivers flow rapidly, they move things. It might be miles down river from where you think it is plus it is possibly spread out. Frank... 111-1 profile.jpg
 

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