Lost in Translation hunt (SOLVED 2/10/23)

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING THE HUNT:

Instructions for the LOST IN TRANSLATION hunt:

1. This is a totally armchair hunt. No travel is required – except, of course, your fingers!

2. Winners must have a US address.

3. The solution to this hunt is a PLACE somewhere on planet Earth.

4. The correct answer will include both a PLACE NAME and a BRIEF EXPLANATION of how you came to the answer.

5. Send your answer to me via messaging here on MW and put LOST in the subject line.

6. Feel free to message me with questions, comments or if you feel there is an error. I do my best to double-check everything before I post my hunts, but mistakes do sometimes sneak in!

7. There are 5 prizes for this hunt:
• First prize: One 1 oz. .999 silver coin.
• Second prize: One 1 oz silver-plated coin

• Third prize: One 1 oz silver-plated coin

* Fourth and Fifth prize: Vintage currency

8. Have fun and as always, Good Luck!

-FHH

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

Link to hunt PDF: ibb.co/Bc9jz1Q

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

I have received two correct answers to the hunt, so congratulations to the winners!

There are still three unclaimed prizes, so you still have time to win and yes, I did edit the list in the instructions!. While rummaging through a basket, I found additional prizes that fit this hunt. Tucked away in a "safe place" months ago and quickly forgotten!

My hunt ideas, planning a hunt, and buying future prizes, is not a linear endeavor. Sometimes I find some cool prize and come up with a hunt to go with it (ie: The Overseas Matron or Monster Tic Tac Toe) and other times I see a story to use and and have to search for what the prize will be (ie: Who Am I or Sixteen Little Puzzles). So my house is scattered with prizes in search of a hunt and hunts in search of a prize. Every now and then I come across something I can't remember what it was supposed to go with! Eventually though, prizes and ideas find each other and a hunt is born :-)

There are a number of clues hidden in the text - so far, nobody has found them all - can you?

Happy hunting, and Good Luck!

I hope you are all staying warm, or dry, and safe from Mother Nature's current wrath. It's a balmy -12 here this morning :-)

-FHH

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

I received the third correct answer this morning. Again congratulations to the winner!

There are two more prizes waiting to be claimed, so don't give up!

Also, I will add a surprise prize to any winner who can solve ALL the clues. So far, none of the winners have found everything

-Good Luck everyone!

-FHH

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

Another correct solution just came in. Congrats to winner #4!

There is one prize left as well as the bonus prize offered to anyone who gets ALL the clues by the end of the hunt.

I'll keep checking back, and good luck!

-FHH

[susb8383]

I think this is one of those hunts that seems deceptively simple but turns out to be maddeningly difficult.

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

The first clue is coming tomorrow (Friday) evening (EST) if I have not received the final correct solution before then.

Good luck!

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

Clue #1 for the hunt:

14 stories

2 dates

1 hidden word

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

I have received the 5th correct answer, so the hunt is officially over.

Congratulations to the winners!

-em20

-ZTeam

-digduffer

-mofin

-susb8383

I will post the solution and prizes tomorrow.

Thanks again to everyone!

-FHH

[stercox]

Yeah! Congratulations to all the solvers!! Thanks FHH for another awesome challenge!!! See you all down the road for Masquerade Tribute!

[susb8383]

Nobody got the bonus prize. That last hidden clue is tough!

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

Feb 10, 2023 22:48:10 GMT -5 susb8383 said:

Nobody got the bonus prize. That last hidden clue is tough!

Actually three super sleuths did find all - or almost all of the clues! I forgot to include that in the winners' list.

Kudos to mofin and ZTeam for finding all the clues hidden in the puzzle! And special mention to digduffer who found all but 1 :-)

And ZTeam even found one that was an accident - one I overlooked as I made up the hunt!

Thanks to everyone!

Now for the answers...

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

SOLUTION TO LOST IN TRANSLATION:

THE LOST STATE OF FRANKLIN was created in 1784 from part of North Carolina, west of the Appalachian Mountains. It had been offered by North Carolina to Congress to help pay off debts from the revolutionary war. It was founded with the intention of becoming the 14th state of the new United States. Never officially recognized, it was dissolved in 1788 and is now the northeastern part of Tennessee.

THE PUZZLE:

1. Everything is written backwards and starts at the bottom right ending at the top left. All events listed occurred in or have a connection to either 1784 or 1788, the dates the State of Franklin existed.

2. There are 14 events listed as Franklin was the proposed 14th state

3. The letters to the word STATE are scattered throughout the text. So, the "LOST STATE".

4. There are four names scattered in the text that are the names of counties in the State of Franklin: GREENE, SPENCER, WAYNE and SULLIVAN (John Sullivan from the American Bloody Register).
*Something I had overlooked was brought to my attention. The Empress of China sailed on WASHINGTON's birthday - so there are actually five Franklin counties mentioned. (Thank you ZTeam for finding that!)

5. The image is the shape of the state of Franklin


Details on each of the events:

1. Abitur:
Until the eighteenth century, every German university had its own entrance examination. In 1788 Prussia introduced the Abiturreglement which, for the first time in Germany, established the Abitur as an official university entrance qualification – still used today.

2. Penman V. WAYNE:
Case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Sept 1, 1788

3. Bank of New York:
In June of 1784, a meeting at a coffee house on St. George's Square led to the formation of the Bank of New York.

4. American Bloody Register; John:
"...containing a true and complete history of the lives, last words, and dying confessions of three of the most noted criminals that have ever made their exit from a stage in America, viz. Richard Barrick and John SULLIVAN, highway robbers. Together with the dying confession of Alexander White, a murderer and pirate, who were executed at Cambridge, (New England) on Thursday, November 18, 1784."

5. Hartola, Finland:
Hartola became an independent parish in 1784

6. South Bridge, Edinburgh:
The bridge was completed in 1788

7. Letter to Calvin SPENCER, Dec 29
A letter from Jacob William Harvey to Calvin Spencer is dated December 29, 1788

8. King of Na Gold Seal:
This ancient solid gold seal (from 57 AD) was discovered during agricultural work on Shikanoshima Island in Japan Bay in 1784.

9. New York City Doctors Riot:
Occurred in April 1788 in New York City, after it was discovered that doctors and medical students were illegally receiving corpses dug up from the graves of the recently deceased to be used for anatomical dissection.

10. Symphony No. 40:
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Austria, 1788.

11. Edward Burnaby GREENE:
English landowner, poet, and translator, died in 1788.

12. Safety Lock Invention:
Invented in 1784 by an English locksmith, Joseph Bramah

13. Great New Orleans Fire:
Occurred on March 21, 1788

14. Empress of China Sails:
The first American merchant vessel to enter Chinese waters left New York harbor on WASHINGTON's birthday, February 22, 1784.

[forgottenhistoryhunt]

Here are the prizes for the hunt.

First prize:
A 2020 1 oz .999 silver coin, minted by the Cook Islands. The coin celebrates the Lost State of Franklin and is part of a set of four coins, each commemorating a "Lost State of America". The other 3 states in the set are Deseret (1849), Jacinto (1860) and McDonald (1961). Each has a unique history.


Second and Third prizes:
Each is a silver-plated replica of the Continental Currency dollar coin (front and back shown).

The Continental Currency dollar coin (aka the Fugio or Franklin dollar) was claimed to be the first patterned coin made in 1776 for the newly formed United States. They were made of pewter, brass, and silver. On one side there is a chain with the names of the original 13 states, along with "We Are One" as a plea for the states to remain together. Designed by Benjamin Franklin, the flip side reads, "Fugio" (refers to time flying by) and "Mind Your Business" which meant "pay attention to your affairs".

In 2018, an article in The Numismatist argued that the Continental Currency dollar coin may not have been a coin at all, but a token produced in Great Britain as a souvenir. The article cited the fact that there is no contemporary record of the piece being commissioned or minted anywhere in the colonies until long after the revolution.


Fourth and Fifth prizes:
Each is a 2002 replica Continental Currency dollar coin along with a replica of the original 1778 $20 banknote (the coin is the same size as the others).

[mofinn]

thanks for the fabulous hunt and the clear solve!