Friends team up to win gold coin treasure hunt
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809190428
Friends team up to win gold coin treasure hunt
By NICOLE YOUNG
Staff Writer
September 19, 2008
Mandy Claiborne never imagined that she and friend John
"Bip" Burage would walk away with $500 at the end of
Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers' citywide treasure hunt.
The pair had been searching for the coin for five days
in Centennial Park before they found it.
"I felt so silly out there picking up rocks and looking
in odd places," said Claiborne, a Sylvan Park resident.
"It was funny the day we actually found it, because we'd
looked in the area before, just not in the particular
spot it was hidden."
The $500 value gold replica coin was hidden under the
bridge in the Sunken Garden at Centennial Park, where
people often get married.
Claiborne and Burage, an Inglewood resident, have been
friends since attending college at Auburn. They decided
to look for the treasure after Burage's friend told him
about it.
The two took turns going out to Centennial to look. The
day they found the coin, late last month, was the first
time they had actually looked together.
"There must have been at least 70 people, if not more,
at the park that day looking for this coin," Claiborne
remembered. "I didn't think we'd find it because
everyone was so focused. They were everywhere."
Nearby, Julie Schoerke, owner of the JKS Communications
public relations firm and one of the event organizers,
watched the scene play out.
She remembers the moment when the last clue was
released on the Cashville Web site.
"All of these people were on cell phones, it turns out
with people at home at computers waiting for the last
clue, and other people were sitting in cars in the
parking lots at Centennial Park with laptops refreshing
the page until the clue came up," she said.
"(When it did come up,) we heard yelling and people
started running . . . . It was just kind of wild to see
everybody descend, all ages all socio-economic
backgrounds, on this little area. (There must have been)
dozens, if not hundreds."
Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers, 2528 Franklin Road in
Berry Hill, launched the treasure hunt, which was its
first, early last month. The reason, according to Josh
Levine, Cashville's president, is mostly because of the
economy, specifically rising gas prices.
Levine said that he came up with the idea by observing
customers at Cashville, saying many customers come in
to sell, then develop "gold fever."
"I thought a hunt would be a great way to expand on that
gold fever, and, at the same time, it would also be a
way to get people to realize that they could also go on
a treasure hunt in their own homes," Levine said.
At Cashville, it doesn't matter what kind of shape
gold or silver is in, Levine said. The metal is
purchased based on market value. Currently, gold is
worth about $1,000 per ounce.
For the treasure hunt, Levine decided to use a
half-ounce gold USA Eagle coin, which was made into a
replica and hidden in Centennial Park. The winner
could choose to keep the real coin or trade it in
for $500.
Claiborne and Burage opted for the $500, which they
split evenly.
They both said they spent it immediately.
"We both decided to give my roommate, Cari Rock, $20
for giving us the final clue on the phone," Claiborne
said. "I took my half and went to the Nashville flea
market."
Burage said he decided to use his money as a way to
celebrate.
"I took all my buddies out to a bar," he said. "It
was free money, so we decided to have a good time on
it. It was a real team effort. We all competed with
one another to find the coin, so I figured we'd all
go out to celebrate."
Contact Nicole Young at
nyo...@tennessean.com or 259-8091.
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