After years of research, the quest for the “Golden Owl” is now over. The origin of this legendary treasure hunt dates back to 1993: a man with the pseudonym Max Valentin had hidden a bronze owl in a chest in France, without giving any further information on its location. Whoever found it would then be given the original statuette in gold, silver and diamonds, estimated at 1 million francs at the time (around 150,000 euros).
To have a chance of getting your hands on this treasure, you must solve no less than 11 puzzles, listed in a book published at the start of the hunt, in May 1993, to guide the players: “On the trail of the Owl of ‘gold “.
A title, a text and a visual per enigma
This work also includes drawings, made by Michel Becker, co-organizer of the game and painter. “In each painting there are a certain number of precise, recognizable clues drawn, and then there is what my imagination created in spite of myself around the enigmas of Max Valentin,” he said when the game was launched.
Each of the 11 puzzles consists of a title, text and a visual. For example, riddle 1 (called “riddle B”) — “There is no worse blind person than he who does not want to see” — is accompanied by a series of numbers: “1 = 530, 3 = 470 , 5 = 600, 7 = 420, 9 = 650” and finally the drawing of a rainbow on a dark background. According to the players, this riddle must be solved first because it would give the order of the riddles to follow in order to hope to find the owl.
VideoThe treasure of the Golden Owl has been found
The second riddle to solve would be “riddle 530”. Its title is “Operture”, the text is a charade and the visual, a rooster. The third enigma, which would correspond to “enigma 780”, is titled “First steps” and includes a quatrain: “Wherever you want, by the horse and the coachman. But where you must, by compass and foot.” The associated image is an inverted compass.
The quest continues in this way – provided that the player has found the correct order of the puzzles – until he manages to find the indication of the coveted location.
If an “owl” or “owl” (community members searching for the owl) thinks he has the solution, he must send his reasoning to the organizers to hope to win the Owl. Since 2023, to have your proposal verified, you must register on the chouettedor.com website, fill out a form and pay the sum of 9.50 euros per verification (for members of the Official Association of Owls, the rate is set at 7.50 euros per verification).
A financial windfall, which is added to the sale of derivative products or the two reissues of the original book, “Sur la trace de la Chouette d’or – Les notebooks secrets” (39.95 euros) and “Sur la trace de la Chouette d’or – Les notebooks secrets” (39.95 euros) and “Sur la trace de la Chouette d’or Golden Owl – Under the seal of secrecy” (37.95 euros).
Michel Becker announced on the Discord account dedicated to the treasure hunt that the owl had been dug up during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. “We are verifying the validity of the proposed solution,” he added. The place where the owl was hidden as well as the identity of the person who solved the 11 puzzles are still unknown.
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