New Jersey Has Been Named A Top Treasure Hunting Hotspot

When you think about buried treasure, New Jersey probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But, maybe it should be?

New Jersey was around during the age of pirates like Blackbeard, even if it wasn’t officially a state yet. And while we probably shouldn’t expect to stumble across a chest of pirate gold on the beach, the waters off the Jersey Shore have a seriously interesting history.

Just look at the shipwrecks.

Nearly 1,000 Shipwrecks Off New Jersey

New research from ACE.com ranked all 50 states based on the likelihood there's buried treasure. They used five treasure-related factors: shipwrecks, gold deposits, meteorite strikes, prehistoric fossils and rare-earth mineral occurrences.

New Jersey ranked 15 overall, earning a score of 24.27 out of 100.

The biggest eye-opener? Researchers found 969 shipwrecks associated with the state. New Jersey also has 140 prehistoric fossil records and three meteorite strikes. So, that definitely helped push it surprisingly close to the top 10.

That's just what has been documented.

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From Shipwrecks To Dinosaur Bones

Think about it. What comes to mind first, for me at least, is the Cape May area. It offers a perfect reminder of how much history may still be underwater and buried beneath the sand (the bunker and the sunken ship), while Haddonfield in Camden County is famous for dinosaur discoveries. If you didn't know, well, now you do!

So, is there a chest of pirate treasure buried somewhere off the Jersey coast? Maybe, but there's no proof of that.

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What we do know is that New Jersey has shipwrecks, fossils, meteorites and centuries of maritime history. Who knows what else is still waiting to be found? Pretty cool when you think about it. There's much more to New Jersey than meets the eye.