View source for Crockett Hoard

The '''Crockett Hoard''' was a hoard of over 200 Confederate gold coins found by [[Bill Bailey Bjornsson]] on his cattle ranch in 1996. The hoard contained gold coins minted between 1849 - 1862 and is one of the few legitimate examples of "lost Confederate gold." According to some sources, including Bjornsson himself, the Crockett Hoard contained several coins of unknown origin that contained unusual occult symbols. The possible existence of these coins, along with the unusual circumstances surrounding Bjornsson's death and the disappearance of the hoard's contents, have led to several conspiracy theories.

==Discovery==
The Crockett Hoard was discovered sometime in early 1996 by [[Bill Bailey Bjornsson]] on a cattle ranch that he owned after inheriting it from his father, Jonathan Bjornsson. This ranch bordered the Davy Crockett National Forest, which is where the Crockett Hoard gets its name. According to Bjornsson, he was "poking around" a section of the woods on his land after a period of rain when he noticed something small and shiny at the base of a dead tree. He bent down to pick it up and realized that it was a gold coin with a date predating the Civil War. Curious about the possibility of other coins in the area, Bjornsson walked back home to get a shovel and a metal detector he has recently bought through mail order. After investigating the area around the dead tree, he found a small chest buried under the northeastern side of the tree. The recent rains in the area had washed away most of the soil above the chest, exposing a crack in the top that allowed for the first coin to escape and be seen by Bjornsson. The inside of the chest contained 218 gold coins minted between the years 1849 - 1862, including several Liberty Head Eagles ($10) and Liberty Head Double Eagles ($20). 

==Authentication==
Bjornsson initially kept the discovery to himself because he was worried that the gold would be stolen or that people would try to trespass on his ranch to search for more treasure. His desire to know more about the hoard led him to Gus Hellmann, a Texas German numismatist and owner of a coin store in nearby Crockett, Texas. Hellmann took pictures of every coin in the collection and estimated a total value of $2.6 million. Hellmann left the hoard with Bjornsson as the two worked out a plan to sell the coins at auction. 

==Government Involvement==
In January of 1997, representatives from the Department of the Interior and the Texas Rangers arrived at Bjornsson's property to seize the hoard, claiming that the discovery site was actually in the Davy Crockett National Forest and therefore belonged to the government. Bjornsson surrendered the hoard under threat of arrest. Law enforcement also visited Hellmann's coin store in Crockett, taking the pictures Hellmann had taken of the coins along with all other records of the hoard's existence. 

==Disappearance== 
After seizing the hoard and records, everything was loaded into a secured government vehicle with plans to transport the contents back to the Smithsonian Institution for further study. While driving to Houston, the vehicle transporting the gold was involved in a car accident. Sometime during the commotion of the accident, Major Ambrose Martin of the Texas Rangers noticed that box containing the hoard had disappeared from the government vehicle. The car then caught on fire, destroying the records inside. The coins have been missing since this event and have not been found despite a 2 year investigation into the incident. 

==Conspiracy Theories==
===Occult Coins===
After the coins were taken from Bjornsson in January 1997, he began to claim that the Department of the Interior was lying about their reason for taking them. Bjornsson said that in addition to the American gold coins, there were also seven coins of an unknown origin with "occult" symbols. Each coin was marked with the number 26 or 333. Hellmann was unable to match these coins to any known coin in his catalogs. Because Hellmann's photographs were destroyed in the car accident, there is no record of these additional coins apart from the word of Bjornsson and Hellmann. Government officials who viewed the hoard before it was lost say that they did not see any coins that match Bjornsson's description and say that Bjornsson is not telling the truth. 

===Death of Bjornsson===
Bjornsson died on 28 October 1997 of a heart attack. He was 79 years old. Some proponents of the Crockett Hoard conspiracy theories claim that his death was not natural, but was induced in some way by a poison or a supposed "heart attack gun." Bjornsson had been very active in spreading the word about his discovery and the government's purported cover-up in the months leading up to his death. Conspiracy theorists say that his accusations against high ranking members of government, including President Bill Clinton, led to his death. Contributing to the theory is the fact that Bjornsson was cremated only one day after his death with no autopsy.