[vlovich123]

> In 2021 Michel Becker became the official organiser of the treasure hunt, obtaining the sealed envelope containing the hunt solution from the family of Régis Hauser. Becker journeyed with a legal bailiff to check that the owl prize was still buried at the location revealed in the solution. He reported that when he dug at the spot he found the owl missing and instead found a rusty iron bird. He replaced this rusty bird with a new bronze owl so that the treasure hunt could continue

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Trail_of_the_Golden_O...

Sounds like somebody actually had already solved it?

[aredox]

No, what is means is that at the location, the stand-in for the golden owl was rusted.

The creator of treasure hunt didn't bury the actual golden owl, to keep the artwork clean and to force the finder to reveal that he/she has indeed solved the puzzle, and not just stumbled upon it.

[kulahan]

Isn't gold pretty much the one thing you wouldn't need to worry about keeping clean if you buried it?

[aredox]

From corrosion yes. From dents and scratches, no, it is pretty soft.

And even then, there is a caveat, as gold can superficially corrode and change color under some anoxic conditions (as some people who put gold jewellry in safe boxes discovered).

[_notreallyme_]

The english version is weird. It was planned from the beggining that they would bury a bronze owl.

The bronze owl was to be exchanged with the precious metal one. In the french news, they specifically mentioned that the bronze one was found.

If you think about it, it makes more sense. The co-founder was given the rights to the original treasure hunt because he is the owner of the valuable owl. He is the one who financed the whole thing.

[supergarfield]

The French Wikipedia page doesn't talk about it, but the quoted text from the English Wikipedia page involving an iron bird (and not a bronze owl) is accurate. Here's the official report of finding it: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0511/4586/7430/files/pv.co... (liked from https://editions-chouettedor.com/pages/documents-officiels).

[_notreallyme_]

Oh, thanks for the links.

What it says it that the statue should have been in bronze, but is instead in "ferrous metal" and must have been replaced around september 2005.

Anyway, the idea was that the golden one was not buried, only a "pass-out" one.

[card_zero]

That is confusingly low on details. I added "speculated to be a replacement left by Hauser" (the creator), as the source says.