Thirty years of treasure hunt, books, a film and a single winner among thousands of participants. The quest for the golden owl could have been summed up so if an association of players, the A2CO, had not filed a complaint on April 30, against Michel Becker, the partner of the creator of the game, Max Valentin. A complaint for “scam” that the association motivates by serious doubts about the effective resolution of the enigma. For his part, Michel Becker entrusted France 3 that it does not “prevent him from sleeping”.
Officially, the countermark of the golden owl, making it possible to recover the original worth 300,000 euros, was discovered in Dabo, in Moselle, on October 2. But the survivor of the organizers of the quest, Michel Becker, only lifted the veil on the solutions of the puzzles until last Friday, in a film released in theaters entitled “In the footsteps of the great gold”. Except that even before the broadcast of the film, they were a pack of “owners” to doubt that the treasure had indeed been buried there. Starting with the Association of Researchers of the Golden owl (A2CO), which claims in a press release that “the treasure hunt” in the footsteps of the golden owl “has not been resolved”.
A rusty iron duck
What is in particular to doubt the A2CO is the serial number registered on the countermark unearthed by the winner. “The copy buried in 1993 by Max Valentin was a engraved countermark ” n ° 1 ”, the very first draw which had been sunk at the time, while the copy unearthed by the pseudo-gagnants is engraved ” n ° 2 ””, says the Asso.
-The A2CO then explains that it was Michel Becker himself who buried countermark n ° 2 in October 2021, in Dabo, after having followed the solutions to the puzzles provided by the heirs of Max Valentin. On the spot, instead of countermark n ° 1, he had found “a simple rusty iron duck, which he has on the field replaced by a countermark ” n ° 2 ” very opportunely brought by him”.
“Where is the countermark n ° 1 hides?” »»
Besides, he does not deny it. At France 3, Michel Becker assured that he had indeed followed the instructions contained in a floppy disk, given by the heirs of his partner, under the supervision of a bailiff. He also recognizes that instead of a referral to the owl, it is a rusty duck that he had discovered and replaced, always under the eyes of the bailiff, by the false owl finally unearthed in October 2024.
The complainant then arises the question: “Where is the countermark n ° 1 hides?” ». She calls into question “the solutions that Michel Becker holds” and therefore considers “that her goal remains the hunt for the original n ° 1 countermark, buried in 1993 by Max Valentin”. At France 3, Michel Becker claims to have “a little mercy of these old researchers” and deplores that “it is once the bailiff verified everything that players dispute everything”.
