Treasure hunting and detecting in the Philippines

davidlhyde63366

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I recently came across 2 books i enjoyed on treasure hunting in the Philippines during the 1980s. They involve looking for the lost Japanese treasure hid there during World War II. Nick Auclair wrote both Steel's treasure and the follow up Steel's Gold both are fiction but the author knows his subject and the Philippine during that time period. While in the military he looked for treasure in his off time. As a big fan of the Philippines and some one who would love to find some of the treasure i enjoyed these books. Nick Auclair had these published him self and i picked them up on Amazon.com for my e-reader. He is curently working on a book about the Spanish -American war. He has a blog where you can find out a little about him at www.steelstreasure.com :detector::digginahole:
 
Now that would have been really neat if you could have found some treasure like that on your recent visit there !!!! coin-shower-smiley-emoticon.gif :shock:
 
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Treasure hunting in the Philippines

Now that would have been really neat if you could have found some of that treasure on your recent visit there !!!! View attachment 389645 :shock:

They say there is treasure burried all over the Philippine by the Japanese not only by the officers but also by a lot of the soldiers that never made it back to retrieve it. All of South Asia was looted and most of that loot was taken to the Philippines , while the Japanese managed to get some of it back to Japan . As the end was coming Japan was runing out of ways to transport their loot back, so they buried much of it in tunnels around the islands. There is lots of reports of huge finds as well as many we will never hear of. It would be fun to find but hard to get it out of the country if you did. Any one with any Philippine connections espically military will probably enjoy these books.
 
I heard that to prevent it from falling into Japanese hands, a lot of Silver was dumped into the bay. I don't believe that all of it was recovered after the war.
 
Hi Dave,
After living their for 16 years now, I still have not found any treasure.
I do hear about stories from some of the local people. There sure is a lot of history around the Philippines. The only problem about the burried treasure from the Japs is that their are 7,100 islands to hunt. Where do you start.
Even if people over their found some of the treasure, they would never tell any one. Their government would take it all away from them.
KEN :D
 
Silver dumped in to bay

I heard that to prevent it from falling into Japanese hands, a lot of Silver was dumped into the bay. I don't believe that all of it was recovered after the war.

I have read acounts where the American troops loaded bardges full of crates of silver Philippines coins which were minted here in the USA , they were then taken out into Manila Bay and sunk in hopes of recovering them later. During the Japanese occupation the Japanese made captured American Divers recover some of it, and after the war the American diver recover a lot of it for the Philippines Goverment ,which was still part of the United States till being granted their independance. Many of the crates were broken open and i am sure lots of coins are still laying at the bottom of Manila bay covered in muck and silt.
 
Burried treasure in the Philippines

Hi Dave,
After living their for 16 years now, I still have not found any treasure.
I do hear about stories from some of the local people. There sure is a lot of history around the Philippines. The only problem about the burried treasure from the Japs is that their are 7,100 islands to hunt. Where do you start.
Even if people over their found some of the treasure, they would never tell any one. Their government would take it all away from them.
KEN :D

You can imagine what it would have been like there in the mid 80s when the Marcos were grabing up a lot of the found treasures and getting rich. It was only about 40 years since the war , the author of the book was detecting in the mountains surrounding Clark Air Fore base. There were lots of caves and old Japanese dug comand post dug in to defend their positions near Clark Air Base many of the Japanese fighting to the death. The Americans soldiers often expolded the entrances traping the Japanese in side to die. Since most of those bunkers were in the jungle and hard to find and get to and then foregot about. While finding treasure over there today is dificult if you are lucky enough to find some you need a permit from the goverment which gets a big share. While i have only detected beaches for coins there i would love to recover a few American or Japanese relics from World war II . Where we vacation over there there wasn't a lot of military camps or battles that i have found recorded. Though i keep researching on the internet and reading books on World War II in the Philippines. It is always fun to dream of that big find for the Indiana Jones in all of us. That is why i enjoyed the Authors two books so much. I have told him about our site and invited hime to post some of his personal adventures treasure hunting and detecting over there in the 1980s. I hope he will ,it would be intresting to hear his personal experiences.
 
Hi Dave,
After living their for 16 years now, I still have not found any treasure.
I do hear about stories from some of the local people. There sure is a lot of history around the Philippines. The only problem about the burried treasure from the Japs is that their are 7,100 islands to hunt. Where do you start.
Even if people over their found some of the treasure, they would never tell any one. Their government would take it all away from them.
KEN :D

I don't know Ken, That story you told about the witch lady's was a real treasure. I still laugh when I think of you teasing a Voo Doo Queen. :lol:
 
Whitches in the Philippine

I don't know Ken, That story you told about the witch lady's was a real treasure. I still laugh when I think of you teasing a Voo Doo Queen. :lol:

Don't mess with the witch doctors over there , the locals very much beleave in them . :laughing:
 
I got to spend a few days at Clrak AB back in the 80s.

Wonder how much ash from the volcano is actually covering the treasures.
Couldn't have helped I don't think.
 
Steel's Treasure Steel's Gold

Thanks David for the kind words and the recommendation for my novels. I enjoyed my time in the Philippines, working, living on the local economy and hunting for treasure. You seem very knowledgeable about the Philippines too. It was quite an adventure looking for the lost WWII treasure of the Japanese general, Yamashita. I spent most of my time looking in the Zambales mountains which surround the former U.S. Clark Air Base. They are rugged and filled with danger. I had incredible luck befriending pygmy Negrito mountain tribesmen who led me on treasure expeditions. I unearthed incredible amounts of fascinating items from WWII. I've included a couple of photos--one of terrain I was operating in and another of some of my finds. Have any of you seen the movie: The Deep? If you have then you'll know what some of these vials contain. I'm happy to post more info on your site and hopefully will get some feedback from you all. In the meantime, I invite you to order my two novels-- Steel's Treasure and the sequel Steel's Gold. Both novels provide entertaining look at treasure hunting in the Philippines--available on Amazon. There's more Philippine treasure trivia on my website Steelstreasure.com. My email address is [email protected]. Cheers Nick
 

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I really enjoyed your 2 books , looking forward to your next one

Thanks David for the kind words and the recommendation for my novels. I enjoyed my time in the Philippines, working, living on the local economy and hunting for treasure. You seem very knowledgeable about the Philippines too. It was quite an adventure looking for the lost WWII treasure of the Japanese general, Yamashita. I spent most of my time looking in the Zambales mountains which surround the former U.S. Clark Air Base. They are rugged and filled with danger. I had incredible luck befriending pygmy Negrito mountain tribesmen who led me on treasure expeditions. I unearthed incredible amounts of fascinating items from WWII. I've included a couple of photos--one of terrain I was operating in and another of some of my finds. Have any of you seen the movie: The Deep? If you have then you'll know what some of these vials contain. I'm happy to post more info on your site and hopefully will get some feedback from you all. In the meantime, I invite you to order my two novels-- Steel's Treasure and the sequel Steel's Gold. Both novels provide entertaining look at treasure hunting in the Philippines--available on Amazon. There's more Philippine treasure trivia on my website Steelstreasure.com. My email address is [email protected]. Cheers Nick

Glad you posted i am sure everyone would love to know what it was like ,looking for Japanese treasures . What is the best thing you ever recovered over there ? I would love to see any pictures of your finds you have.
 
Hey Nick ! I saw the article called -

"Treasure hunters are fighting with Baguio city officials trying to continue digging at a suspect Yamashita treasure location"

linked on your web site. Seems like the treasure hunting there has it's challenges and risks.
 
Moth to the Flame

You are right. Treasure hunting in the RP certainly has its inherent risks and problems--especially always factoring in the corruption and political climate of the Philippines. With potentially billions of dollars at stake the dangers are present. Ah, with that said I'm still attracted to it like a moth to the flame

Nick Auclair
Author
www.steelstreasure.com

Set on and around Clark Air Base in the 1980s, Steel’s Treasure and Steel's Gold are thriller adventure, mystery, and works of military historical fiction that weaves USAF Major Nick Auclair’s experiences as an intelligence officer with firsthand accounts of the war between the New People’s Army and the Marcos regime. Follow Steel as he risks his career, his freedom, and ultimately his life to uncover the legendary plunder of WWII General Yamashita, the Tiger of Malay.
 
Thanks. I hope you enjoy reading my novels. Yeah the rush of looking in the mountainous jungle and caves was a rush. It is, however, a young man's sport. ha
 
Treasure hunting in the Philippines

Thanks. I hope you enjoy reading my novels. Yeah the rush of looking in the mountainous jungle and caves was a rush. It is, however, a young man's sport. ha

I bet you have a nice collection of Japanese World War II trophies you found over there. I can't imagine crawling in the old caves and bunkers with snakes and other crawley things. Can you imagine what it would of been like if you had all the modern computer information to do research on and the newer metal detectors that are out today.. I imagine during the 1980s there would still have been lots of World War II stuff from both sides to be found. What kind of detector did you have to use over there in the 1980s?
 
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