Ya know it's funny... I have a few theories about many things over my years and one theory concerning "buried stashes" has been accepted amongst the few I have told it.
Most chests that were hidden "on purpose" --- meaning it was a planned stash...are very deep... on purpose... holes were dug by a mass of men on purpose... this insured that no one man or small group of men could "mutiny/defect" and before notice could retrieve the stash before notice of being gone etc. It would require that a large amount return and a days work or more....other stashes are "semi deep" ... the semi deeps are stashes that usually are the result of "hurried" or unplanned stash... meaning for one reason or another the "digger/diggers" did not plan but just picked" a location that suited the immediate need of "temp stashing" until retrieval for whatever reason they may have had.
This is why MAJOR stashes have not been found and only the rumor of them remains.
Take the island Sister Key for example... very shallow island... water would encroach in on any hole of depth... BUT deep enough to Hide till later date... NOT for security.
Islands that are "low" and small" would not be a safe or good location for a major stash. BUT perfect for the guy who just had his personal stash or someone who found someone elses stash and needed a nearby place to move it.
You see... most people believe that "pirates" and such roamed the water with ship bellies full of gold etc.
IMO was not the "general" case... furthermore evidence suggests otherwise.
They stole and stashed... keeping enough coinage etc for the ships needs and individuals would hold enough to not have there neck slit in the night for... Smart pirates etc would not have any item of direct evidence of theft... IE: anything "marked" or "trackable".... coinage etc was the goal. the marked or etc was divided and stashed until a latter date when "the dust settled" and could be smelted down.... basically their "retirement fund"... it was what the individuals who were "smart" at stealing were trying to accomplish... now this obviously was NOT always the case.
The big cache's / stuff is still out there IMO... and most historians have a good idea as to the general locations... hence why they do not allow detecting / digging in MOST areas of "interest" or "historical" OR "preserves"... ironic... the islands that hold the most promise of discovery of them are off limits.... coincidence? or ?
With all of this blah... I will end with this... They do not know WHERE either... but like I have said many times ... they have "secured" anything that may hold any promise.
Btw.. it is my belief that the "stashes" are everywhere... on private properties.
Maybe in your own back yard
In the late 80's acording to my park ranger friends... They approached some men that were reported acting suspicious anchored on this small island ... as the rangers approached the island four men struggling to carry a large metal "chest" emerged from the brush and quickly shoved the chest on the nose of the boat... they crawled into the boat and quickly started the motor and full throtled it through the very shallow seagrass water away never to be seen again... when they went on the island they saw a large rectangular shaped hole with bits of rust and rusted dirt... It was the opinion of both rangers concerned that it was heist of some sort of old metal "chest.
