Captain Kidd's Treasure Found?

[Thagarr]

Well, at least a small part of it anyway! Sorry for the short notice on this one, but I missed this the other day because of the Mount & Blade : Caribbean! announcement, but apparently a small portion of Captain Kidd's booty was discovered hidden under a grand piano by auctioneers in the UK who were appraising possible pieces for an auction. What they discovered was a Bible box, a Bible, and a mirror inscribed with the initials "WK" and a skull and crossbones. The items go up for sale this Saturday, 7 July 2012, at Fieldings auction house in Stourbridge.

Treasure hunters still pore over maps that have surfaced over the years, speculating that the largest part of his haul — now worth millions — is stashed on an island somewhere.
But some of the treasure was confiscated by the Government after Scottish-born Kidd was captured and sentenced to death.
He was hanged in 1701 for piracy after famously making a last-ditch offer to reveal the location of his treasure if he was allowed to live out his days as a prisoner aboard a ship.
His offer was declined and after being executed his body was tarred and suspended in an iron cage for three years over the River Thames as a warning to others.
Mark Hannam, from Fieldings auction house in Stourbridge expects the items to fetch more than £1,000 when they go on sale this Saturday.
He said: “They were formerly the property of the late Hubert Palmer who died in 1949, aged 85, a retired lawyer and collector of pirate relics.
“After his death all maps and artefacts passed to his housekeeper and nurse companion Mrs Elizabeth Dick, who sold them.
“The Bible box is period and not Victorian and has the initials WK on it as well as the skull and crossbones.
“The mirror also has the initials and skull and crossbones on it."

You can read the full post over at the TreasureWorks Forums.

 

[Jack Rackham]

The story of Hubert Palmer, Elizabeth Dick and some of these items here:

http://books.google.com/books/about/Treasure_seekers.html?id=_m8YAQAAMAAJ

 

[Thagarr]

Thanks for the link Jack! I haven't been able to find exactly what it sold for yet, but I did find one article saying that the lot sold for about 3 times what they thought it would. Fielding's was estimating between £800 - £1,200, so that could be anywhere between £2400 - £3600(app. $3800 - $5700 US.)

**EDIT** Sold for £2,900($4600 US)