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Cases/Unsolved mysteries/Case 016

Oak Island’s Money Pit

People have dug on a small Nova Scotia island for treasure since at least the 1850s. The famous 1795 discovery is known only from accounts written decades later, and no treasure has been reported recovered. This case lists what the records show, and who profits from the story.

The question Is there treasure in Oak Island’s “Money Pit”, and what has more than two centuries of digging actually found?

13 main-timeline steps5 branches28 sources, 7 of them tier 1
Go down a branch
The short version

What the records say

Parts of the documented story are still open: 8 of 13 timeline steps are Confirmed (score 81).

5 theories checked: 4 unverified, 1 likely. A theory is rated by its key claim.

The theories, and how they hold up
Most recent finding
Dec 2023

Still no significant treasure reported

likely

Credible: two independent tier-2 reports. See the step

Down the rabbit hole

The ground line is the documented timeline. Each tunnel is a theory that branches off it; every chamber is a step, coloured by how well the records support it. The deepest chamber is the theory’s key claim. Tap one to open it.

13 documented steps along the ground; 5 theories tunnel down from them. “Captain Kidd’s pirate treasure”: Unverified. “It’s a natural sinkhole”: Likely. “It’s a hoax kept alive for money”: Unverified. “The Knights Templar hid it”: Unverified. “Shakespeare’s papers or a queen’s jewels”: Unverified.1795 (as told later)about 1803–1804 (as told later)Aug 1857Aug 186119712017–2018Dec 2023“It’s a naturalsinkhole”Likely“Captain Kidd’s piratetreasure”Unverified“It’s a hoax keptalive for money”Unverified“Shakespeare’s papersor a queen’s jewels”Unverified“The Knights Templarhid it”Unverified
confirmedlikelydisputedunverifieddisproven

Main timeline

Oldest first
confirmedlikelydisputedunverifieddisproven
  1. 1795 (as told later)
    unverified

    The story: young men find a sunken spot on Oak Island and start digging

    No record from the 1790s was found. The earliest detailed account, a letter of 1862, says a Mr McGinnis found a sunken spot with a tackle block above it and dug with two men, Smith and Vaughn, finding oak timber at ten, twenty and thirty feet; it gives no year. An 1893 share prospectus gives 1795, and The Canadian Encyclopedia repeats that date.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”, col. 4involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting companyT1Oak Island Treasure Company prospectus, 1893opening historyinvolved party: Oak Island Treasure CompanyT2The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Oak Island”History
  2. about 1803–1804 (as told later)
    unverified

    The story: a company digs to about 90 feet, finds an inscribed stone, and the pit floods

    The 1862 letter says that about seven years after the first dig, Simeon Lynds of Onslow formed a company that sank the pit to 93 feet, found charcoal, putty and “a stone cut square … with several characters cut on it” at 80 feet, and found it full of water the next morning. The 1893 prospectus puts the stone at 90 feet. No record from the time of this dig was found.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting companyT1Oak Island Treasure Company prospectus, 1893account of the Onslow companyinvolved party: Oak Island Treasure CompanyT3Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer, 2000p. 14
    Sources disagreeThe 1862 letter puts the inscribed stone at 80 feet; the 1893 prospectus at 90 feet. Nickell notes one source dates the dig to 1810.
  3. 13 Aug 1857
    confirmed

    The earliest written mention found: people are digging on Oak Island for Kidd’s treasure

    A letter from Chester in The Liverpool Transcript mentions Oak Island, where people “have buried large sums in endeavoring to unbury larger ones” thought to have been left by “the renowned Capt. Kidd”. That is 62 years after the year later given for the discovery.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 13 Aug 1857“Correspondence”, letter from Chester
  4. 29 Aug 1861
    confirmed

    The local newspaper calls the dig “The Oak Island Folly”

    The Liverpool Transcript reports 65 men and 35 horses working three pits 126 feet deep, about $20,000 already spent, and work “nearly every Summer” for ten or twelve years. It calls the search “an act of the merest madness”.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 29 Aug 1861p. 2, “The Oak Island Folly”
  5. 2 Jun 1862
    confirmed

    Treasure hunter J. B. McCully’s letter gives the first detailed account

    Printed in The Liverpool Transcript on 16 Oct 1862, it traces the story to a dying sailor from Kidd’s crew, says he took part in a boring in 1849 that struck wooden platforms at 98 feet and “metal in small pieces”, and says the company is raising money for more work. Whether these things happened is a separate question: the letter is the earliest record of them.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”, cols. 4–5involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
  6. 1893
    confirmed

    The Oak Island Treasure Company sells $5 shares on the story

    Its prospectus offers $60,000 of stock in $5 shares. It gives one expert’s reading of the stone, “Ten feet below are two million pounds buried”, saying “We give this statement for what it is worth”, and mentions a copper coin “dated 1317” found on the island.

    T1Oak Island Treasure Company prospectus, 1893title page; account of the stone; “Plan of the new company”involved party: Oak Island Treasure Company
  7. 1965
    likely

    Four treasure hunters die in a shaft

    The Canadian Encyclopedia records that four treasure hunters died in an accident in 1965. Nickell, citing a 1988 book, says they were overcome in a shaft by swamp gas or engine fumes. No tier-1 record of the deaths was read.

    T2The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Oak Island”HistoryT3Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer, 2000p. 15
  8. 1971
    likely

    A camera lowered into a deep borehole shows faint shapes some read as chests and a hand

    The Canadian Encyclopedia says the camera, about 60 m down, produced faint images of “what is thought to be” three chests, a pick and a human hand. Nickell, who was shown the video by treasure hunter Dan Blankenship, says Blankenship told him he chose the borehole site by dowsing.

    T2The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Oak Island”HistoryT3Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer, 2000p. 16
  9. 10 Dec 2010
    confirmed

    Nova Scotia passes a law just for treasure hunting on Oak Island

    The Oak Island Treasure Act lets the minister license a search and let the holder keep any treasure on payment of a royalty, and says finds must be reported under oath. It took effect on 1 Jan 2011 and replaced the Treasure Trove Act, which the province says was created in 1954 for Oak Island.

    T1Oak Island Treasure Act, 2010ss. 4, 8, 9, 16, 17T1Nova Scotia news release, 2 Nov 2010
  10. 5 Jan 2014
    confirmed

    History’s “The Curse of Oak Island” begins, following the Lagina brothers

    The show follows Rick and Marty Lagina of Michigan, who bought part of the island. Forbes, citing Nielsen data, reported 2 million viewers for the eleventh season’s premiere in November 2023 and 2.4 million for its third episode.

    T2CBC News, 11 Feb 2014T2Forbes, 7 Dec 2023
  11. 16 Oct 2014
    confirmed

    A local member of the legislature proposes ending the treasure licences

    Denise Peterson-Rafuse’s private member’s bill would have cancelled all treasure-hunting licences, made Oak Island a protected site, and made searchers pay for a government-appointed archaeologist. The legislature’s page lists no second reading.

    T1Nova Scotia Bill 40, 2014explanatory notes; clauses 1–7
  12. 2017–2018
    confirmed

    The TV show reports a lead cross it links to medieval France

    Episode coverage says a lead cross was found at Smith’s Cove in 2017 and that a German geochemist told the team its lead was European, likely pre-15th century and consistent with southern France. The broadcaster also lists a tree-ring date of 1769 for a timber structure at the cove. These are the show’s own reports; no lab report was read.

    T3Monsters & Critics, 19 Dec 2018T3Sky HISTORY, “The top 25 treasures…”items 11 and 14involved party: History (Sky HISTORY UK), which airs the show
  13. Dec 2023
    likely

    Still no significant treasure reported

    Forbes reported in December 2023 that “no significant treasure has ever been found”. In 2020 a retired geologist told CBC there is no treasure at the Money Pit at all (see the sinkhole branch).

    T2Forbes, 7 Dec 2023Key BackgroundT2CBC News, 16 May 2020

Branches

Go down one

A branch is only as strong as its weakest step so far. The count is how many sources back each step.

Branches off main-timeline step 3 · 13 Aug 1857

“Captain Kidd’s pirate treasure”

Did the pirate William Kidd’s crew bury treasure in the Money Pit?

Where it came from · by 1857

The 13 Aug 1857 letter in The Liverpool Transcript already ties the digging to “the renowned Capt. Kidd”. McCully’s 1862 letter says the story came with the first settlers from the United States: a dying sailor said he helped bury about two million pounds on an island nearby.

T1Liverpool Transcript, 13 Aug 1857“Correspondence”T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
Traction (measured, with the date)
Their strongest arguments, and what the evidence says

  1. Treasure hunters were digging for Kidd’s gold here by the 1850s

    The legend is old, not a TV invention.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
    The premise: confirmed

    True. An 1857 letter and an 1861 editorial in the local paper both describe digging for Kidd’s treasure.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 13 Aug 1857“Correspondence”T1Liverpool Transcript, 29 Aug 1861p. 2

  2. A dying sailor from Kidd’s crew said he helped bury treasure on an island near Chester

    McCully’s 1862 letter: the sailor “stated that he belonged to Captain Kidd’s crew”.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
    The premise: unverified

    Known only from McCully’s retelling, decades later, of a story he says the settlers brought. The sailor is never named and no record of him was found.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company

  3. Rick Lagina has found a $110 million pirate hoard

    A 2025 YouTube video says a drill bit hit gold and the team uncovered “a pirate hoard worth an estimated one hundred ten million dollars”.

    T4YouTube: “Rick Lagina Finds $110M Gold…”, 2025description
    The premise: unverified

    No report of such a find was found and the video gives no source. Forbes reported in December 2023 that no significant treasure has ever been found.

    T2Forbes, 7 Dec 2023Key Background
Step by step
  1. confirmed

    By 1857 people were sinking money into pits on Oak Island hunting Kidd’s treasure

    A letter in The Liverpool Transcript says diggers “have sunk their money but have left the holes open”.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 13 Aug 1857“Correspondence”
    StartStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step
  2. confirmed

    McCully’s 1862 letter traces the story to a dying sailor from Kidd’s crew

    He says settlers from the United States brought the story to Chester, and that the sailor never dared go back for fear of “the law” taking hold of him as a pirate.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
    = HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step
  3. confirmed

    In 1861 the local newspaper scoffed at the Kidd theory

    The Liverpool Transcript wrote that Kidd “was not so fond of labor as to dig 126 feet into the bowels of the earth to hide gold”.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 29 Aug 1861p. 2, “The Oak Island Folly”
    = HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step
  4. unverified

    Key claim: Captain Kidd’s crew buried treasure in the Money Pit

    No record read ties Kidd to Nova Scotia, the sailor is known only from an 1862 retelling, and no treasure has been reported recovered.

    T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting companyT2Forbes, 7 Dec 2023Key Background
    ▼ WeakerStrength so far:unverified· 2 sources on this step
This branch

Bullshit meter

25%1 of 4 steps are Unverified or Disproven · one cell per step
  • Key claim: Captain Kidd’s crew buried treasure in the Money Pit. Unverified.
  • Key claim contradicted by tier 1? No. No tier-1 record contradicts it, but none supports it. The earliest record is an 1857 letter about the diggers, and the sailor is known only from an 1862 retelling.
This branch

Fluff meter: possibly planted

1 / 5signals present · 3 not measured · not enough to say
  • Can’t be traced to an original record. Present: the sailor’s story is known only from McCully’s 1862 retelling; no record names him.
  • First appeared from new or anonymous accounts. Not measured. The 1857 letter is signed only “Forks J. P.”.
  • Coordinated identical wording. Not measured.
  • Cited source doesn’t exist. Not measured.
  • Later contradicted. Absent: no record read contradicts it. It is unsupported rather than disproven.

● present · ○ absent · – not measured. Lists signals only. It never accuses anyone.

This branch

Personal interest meter

2documented interests
  • J. B. McCully, told the dying-sailor story while his company was raising money for more digging, as his own letter says. T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
  • History (A&E Networks), airs the show and posts the pirate clip counted under traction. T2Forbes, 7 Dec 2023

“Has a documented interest” only, each one sourced. Never an implication of guilt.

Case · Oak Island’s Money Pit

Correlation meter

4shared items tie parts of this case together
  • McCully’s 1862 letter, the first detailed account (main step 5), the source of the Kidd sailor story, and the check on the “platform every ten feet” claim in the sinkhole branch. T1Liverpool Transcript, 16 Oct 1862 (McCully letter)“The Oak Island Diggings”involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company
  • The 1893 share prospectus, main step 6, the earliest source read for the year 1795, and the hoax branch’s evidence that the stone’s reading was printed to sell shares. T1Oak Island Treasure Company prospectus, 1893involved party: Oak Island Treasure Company
  • Forbes, December 2023, the show’s audience (main step 10, hoax branch) and the statement that no significant treasure has been found (main step 13 and every treasure branch). T2Forbes, 7 Dec 2023
  • Nickell, 2000, tier-3 commentary used in the sinkhole, hoax, Templar and other-prize branches; nothing rests on it alone above Unverified. T3Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer, 2000

Links to other cases appear once those cases exist.

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Every source on this page

Sources

  • T1“Correspondence”, letter from Chester dated 8 Aug 1857 and signed “Forks J. P.”, The Liverpool Transcript (Liverpool, Nova Scotia), 13 Aug 1857. Read from the page scan held by the Nova Scotia Archives.. novascotia.ca
  • T1“The Oak Island Folly”, editorial, The Liverpool Transcript (Liverpool, Nova Scotia), 29 Aug 1861, p. 2. Read from the page scan held by the Nova Scotia Archives.. novascotia.ca
  • T1involved party: J. B. McCully, a member of the treasure-hunting company “The Oak Island Diggings”, The Liverpool Transcript (Liverpool, Nova Scotia), 16 Oct 1862, reprinting a letter by J. B. McCully dated Truro, 2 Jun 1862. Read from the page scan held by the Nova Scotia Archives; a transcription on criticalenquiry.org was checked against it. McCully writes as one of the treasure hunters.. novascotia.ca · copy read: www.criticalenquiry.org
  • T1involved party: Oak Island Treasure Company “Oak Island Treasure Company: capital, sixty thousand dollars, shares only five dollars each, full paid and non-assessable”, share prospectus, Brockton, Mass.: Mandeville & Co., printers, 1893 (microfilm of the Dalhousie University copy, Canadiana.org). A company selling shares, so a record of what it claimed.. archive.org
  • T2Edward Butts, “Oak Island”, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, published 7 Feb 2006, last edited 4 Mar 2015. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
  • T3Joe Nickell, “The Secrets of Oak Island”, Skeptical Inquirer 24 (2), March/April 2000, pp. 14–19. An investigator’s commentary.. skepticalinquirer.org · copy read: centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com
  • T1Oak Island Treasure Act, Chapter 39 of the Acts of 2010, Nova Scotia (Bill No. 81 as passed; Royal Assent 10 Dec 2010). nslegislature.ca
  • T1“Changes to Treasure Hunting Regulations Introduced”, Government of Nova Scotia news release, 2 Nov 2010. news.novascotia.ca
  • T1Bill No. 40, “Oak Island Treasure Act (amended) and Special Places Protection Act (amended)”, private member’s bill of Denise Peterson-Rafuse (Chester–St. Margaret’s), first reading 16 Oct 2014, 2nd Session, 62nd General Assembly of Nova Scotia (as introduced). nslegislature.ca
  • T2“Curse of Oak Island reignites centuries-old treasure hunt”, CBC News, 11 Feb 2014. www.cbc.ca
  • T2Aly Thomson (The Canadian Press), “Famed N.S. treasure hunter brought about new era in Oak Island mystery”, CBC News, 26 Mar 2019. www.cbc.ca
  • T2involved party: Randall Sullivan, author who appears on the TV show “Centuries of intrigue, turmoil and death: Why treasure hunters can’t stay away from Oak Island”, The Current, CBC Radio, 6 Jun 2019 (interview with author Randall Sullivan). www.cbc.ca
  • T2Emma Davie, “Money pit or sinkhole? Retired geologist digs up Oak Island’s history”, CBC News, 16 May 2020. www.cbc.ca
  • T2Mary Whitfill Roeloffs (Forbes staff), “History Channel’s ‘Curse Of Oak Island’ Draws Millions Of Viewers—Beating Almost Everything Else On Cable”, Forbes, 7 Dec 2023 (citing Nielsen data). www.forbes.com · copy read: web.archive.org
  • T2Heather Whipps, “For Sale: Island with Mysterious Money Pit”, Live Science, 7 Nov 2005. www.livescience.com
  • T3involved party: History (Sky HISTORY UK), which airs the show “The top 25 treasures discovered on Oak Island… So far”, Sky HISTORY (history.co.uk), undated. The broadcaster’s own list of the show’s finds; a record of what it claims.. www.history.co.uk
  • T3Tanya Clark, “The Curse of Oak Island breakthrough: Lead cross is pre-15th century and could have Knights Templar connection”, Monsters & Critics, 19 Dec 2018. An episode recap: a record of what the show presented.. www.monstersandcritics.com
  • T3David S. Anderson (archaeologist, Forbes contributor), “Mysterious Ancient Mysteries And The Problems With Archaeology Made For TV”, Forbes, 31 Dec 2018. Commentary.. www.forbes.com · copy read: web.archive.org
  • T3involved party: History (A&E Networks) “The Curse of Oak Island: PIRATE CONNECTION DISCOVERED (Season 4) | History”, HISTORY channel, YouTube, published 2 Aug 2020. www.youtube.com
  • T4“Rick Lagina Finds $110M Gold Pirate Treasure Buried Deep in Oak Island Pit!”, Rush for Gold channel, YouTube, published 30 Oct 2025. www.youtube.com
  • T3involved party: History (A&E Networks) “The Curse of Oak Island: Knights Templar Secrets Hidden in UK Cave (Season 10) | History”, HISTORY channel, YouTube, published 23 Nov 2022. www.youtube.com
  • T3involved party: History (A&E Networks) “The Curse of Oak Island: Knights Templar Connection Revealed (Season 5) | History”, HISTORY channel, YouTube, published 29 Sep 2019. www.youtube.com
  • T3“Cracking the Shakespeare Code: The Seven Steps to Mercy - Part 1 | Free Documentary History”, Free Documentary - History channel, YouTube, published 14 Jul 2021. Follows Norwegian organist Petter Amundsen, who says a code in Shakespeare’s First Folio is a treasure map leading to an island in Nova Scotia.. www.youtube.com
  • T3“Oak Island Theories: Marie Antoinette and the Crown Jewels of France”, Hammerson Peters channel, YouTube, published 2 Feb 2021. www.youtube.com
  • T4“The Nationally Televised Treasure Hunt For NOTHING”, Andy King channel, YouTube, published 1 Dec 2025. www.youtube.com
  • T3“Is There Pirate Treasure on Oak Island?”, Decoding the Unknown channel (Simon Whistler), YouTube, published 30 Nov 2021. www.youtube.com
  • T3“The Oak Island Money Pit: History, Hoax, and Hype”, EntilZa1 channel (linked to criticalenquiry.org), YouTube, published 6 Feb 2014. www.youtube.com
  • T3“Fool’s Gold: There’s No Treasure on Oak Island (Part 1)”, Sean Munger channel, YouTube, published 16 Jun 2018. www.youtube.com

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