One of the world’s longest-running treasure hunts appears to have finally come to an end, after drawing in thousands of participants over 31-years. The quest for a 22 lb., diamond encrusted golden owl finally ended Oct.
3 with the discovery of a long-buried bronze owl statuette—the token, or countermark, needed to claim the golden owl statue itself. The final task was to use the 12th riddle to figure out the replica owl’s exact location. The quest’s holy grail is a weighty golden owl, made of gold and silver encrusted with 18-carat diamonds.
The value of the golden bird is currently estimated at 150,000 euros (about $165,000 dollars). Becker designed the sculpture himself. It was then brought to life by a goldsmith, but in order to keep the prized object safe, a bronze replica was buried in its place at a secret location at the time of the book’s release.
The quest has attracted hundreds of thousands of “owlers” (“chouetters”) in France and abroad. Early on Thursday, Becker left a message on the quest’s online Discord server alerting participants that the grand prize had apparently been found. “A potentially winning solution is being verified,” read the post.
“No more solutions may be submitted. Further information will be communicated as soon as possible.” A follow-up post advised, “Do not keep digging! We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night, simultaneously with a solution upload to the online verification system.
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