From the signs of a Reno gang camp, remains of an early American pirate ship, and skeletal remains in the Crypt of St. Nicholas, these are the most unbelievable finds from Josh Gates and the expedition team.
I follow the camera’s image as it snakes down the narrow hole and into the crypt itself. Are these all bones? Yeah, these are all bones. And what you see that is shining is the mana. That’s the liquid right there. Oh, and then is that a ribbone? A rib. This is ribs. This is vertebra. Part of vertebra. Incredible.
I’m Josh Gates and this is Expedition Unknown.
I got something here. I don’t know what it is.
Troy. Yeah, come here. Searching for the lost fortune of the notorious Reno gang, treasure hunter Troy McCormack and I have found a cave that may have been one of their hideouts and possibly some of their old gear as well. I thought this was a spoon, but it’s not. Look at this. I think that’s a musk ball mold.
It’s deep enough for a small caliber.
Look, you can see this. You can clearly see where it was hinged. This was hinged. And this is hollow. That is right in the time period. That’s like Civil War era. Not everybody carried those with them. Sitting around a campfire. Nothing to do. So, you’re making some extra bullets. Musketss weren’t fully replaced by revolvers until the late 19th century. And the Reno gang would certainly have had some in their arsenal. Find of the day right there. Nicely done. That’s incredible.
[Music] I think there’s one right there. Yeah, boy. That feels like there’s something there. I see that shovel. Try digging right there. Okay, I’m going to take out a big piece. See if that gets us [Music] anywhere. Oh, oh, oh. You see this little silver circle?
Is that a coin? Get the hell out of here. Is that a coin?
Oh my gosh, it is. That is a coin.
That’s silver. That’s silver right there. Look at that shine. The target that was trying to get away from us. Are you kidding me? There’s somebody on it.
That’s a seated dime. What? What is a seated dime? Oh, mid1 1800s. Get out of here. Early to mid 1800s. Hit it one more time. There should be a date right underneath of that seated woman. I know this sounds crazy, but I swear to you it says 1840 something.
4143. Josh, you nailed an old coin. Are you kidding me? Named for the seated image of liberty on its face, a seated dime from the Reno era is a huge deal. It’s potentially valuable from a collectible standpoint, but more importantly, it puts a firm date on when people were using this area. Dude, this is literally buried silver. You know, the legend said they buried silver and gold near the mouth of the cave. You found silver near the mouth of the cave.
I’m literally speechless. And this was right next to that bullet mold handle.
That’s right. I mean, a foot away.
That’s a great coin any day of the year.
Wow, this is gorgeous. It’s beautiful.
Buried treasure.
Check. The deflector up top has created a depression in the sand, which we hope has revealed a cache of historic treasures from the widow. We swim down inside, scanning as we go with a metal detector.
We’ve got a hit. We got a hit. Okay, what do we got?
That’s metal right there. Looks like a spoon. That is a spoon. Definitely from the widow. Josh, would this have been something that that somebody on board was using?
Absolutely. I mean, a pirate spoon. How cool is that? It’s funny because you think about all the currency as being the exciting stuff to find, but I have to say my heart races when I find something like this because it’s such a a personal item. It really kind of gives you the chills. I’ve got two coins right here.
Two. Oh man, this is a piece of eight.
And then a smaller coin here. Two realale. It’s a beautiful two real coin.
That is incredible. Date is really clear. That’s a 99. That’s 1699.
1699. That’s a very nice coin. Josh, do you see that marking? It looks like it’s double struck. So, it was hit with the imprint twice. It was struck twice.
That’s right. So, that’s like an error coin. That is very unique. It’s a one-ofa-kind coin. A double struck piece of eight is an amazing find. Rare and potentially valuable. But more importantly, it’s a clear sign that we’re on top of some widow treasure, possibly even the stern castle we’re looking for. As for the two real coin, it has a bit more oxidation. It has a bit of a copper tint to it. Date is hard to read.
1692. That is incredible.
Who’s got it [Music] here? I don’t see it. Hold on. Oh, I I got it, too. There’s something here. Let me fan it. Oh, there it is. What is that? Let me take a look at it.
Look at that. It has holes in it. So, this would have attached to something.
What is this? I believe it’s a side plate to a pistol. This is part of a pistol. I think so. Oh, hold on. There’s a marking here. It looks to be a maker’s mark from when it was originally cast.
You know, some of these items, I’m sure, things like pistols and wooden handles just rot away. But parts like this can survive. We do find wooden pistols, but they’re usually encased in concretion.
In this case, it’s a piece of a pistol, and the metal has survived all these years. That’s incredible. A pistol was clearly a personal item, something no pirate would willingly part with. And in this case, it appears they [Music] didn’t. We keep scanning the grid, and in no time, we have another find.
Gosh, I’ve got a really big hit over here. Really quite a big hit. That’s a concretion.
Definitely. This is definitely a win of concretion. While they often look like rocks, mineral conglomerates contain more than meets the eye. So, no question when you have a concretion like this, there’s something metallic inside of it.
Definitely.
Stand by. I got a hit here outside the grid. Another concretion.
Brandon, we’ve got a cluster of concretions here. Top side. Yes. I have many questions about St. Nicholas.
Let me show you the place that will answer them.
Please. Father Dante is giving us access to the lower level of the church, the subterranean crypt below the altar.
This is the tomb of St. Nicholas.
So this is the actual tomb. See, this is where his bones have laid since sellers brought him to body. Wow.
This tomb has been here for almost a thousand years. With great respect, are we certain that these are the bones of St. Nicholas? Absolutely. The bones were placed in this tomb in 1089 shortly after they arrived in body. They’ve been here ever since. And then of course there’s the holy mana to consider. I’ve heard of this mana. Tell me about this.
This is a a a liquid that is produced by the bones. Correct. It exudes from the bones of the saint. Mana originally referred to the edible reinous substance with which God sustained the Israelites during their 40 years wandering in the Sinai desert. In more modern times though, mana refers to a substance with a divine origin or purpose, like a liquid that exudes from the bones of a saint. We extract the mana periodically and mix a few drops with blessed water to share Nicholas’s blessings with the world.
This is for me. Oh, that’s very very nice of you. Thank you. So, some mana of my own. Now, will it make me younger?
It’s a question of faith. And faith can move mountains. One thing about the mana that is special is that it’s pure fresh water. We’re able to extract it from this hole that goes down into the crypt.
Uh, that’s where the mana is extracted from. Does this opening look down into the tomb? Yes. Would you like to take a look? What happens next? takes my breath away. We are being given access to peer beneath the crypt’s altar and to look down into the tomb of St. Nicholas himself. Okay, let’s see what we can see. This is incredible. You can actually see way down into the tomb. Oh, and there is a bone down there. You can see a bone in the liquid. Oh my word. In Bari, Italy’s Basilica of St. Nicholas.
I’m talking to Father Gavanni Dstante who has granted me an exceedingly rare privilege. With my own eyes, I am gazing upon what may be the bones of the saint who would become Santa Claus. In the nearly thousand years this has been here, has it been opened ever? The church was undergoing preservation work in 1953, and for a time we opened the crypt. And then a few years ago, a doctor was able to examine the remains from outside the crypt with a special camera. I can arrange for you to speak with him. We are getting a once- ina millennium view inside the purported tomb of St. Nick. I follow the camera’s image as it snakes down the narrow hole and into the crypt itself. Are these all bones? Yeah, these are all bones. And what you see that is shining is the mana. That’s the liquid right there. Oh, and then is that a ribbone? A ribbone.
This is ribs. This is vertebra. Part of vertebrae. Incredible. I cannot believe how many remains are in here. And now you can see the the the major part of the skeleton that is the skull. Oh my god. The entire skull is there. The entire skull of the man that would become the inspiration for this story of Santa Claus. We are looking at his skull. Absolutely. How is it possible that skeletal remains that are 1,700 years old that are sitting in liquid are not completely dissolved?
It’s impossible to explain. I think it’s a miracle. A miracle? Yes. You’re not supposed to talk like that. You’re a scientist. I am a scientist that I believe in St. Nicholas. There you go.
And St. Nick the Miracle Man appears to have struck again with bones sitting in liquid that have defied decomposition.
This video is the last time anyone saw the bones, but not the only time. They were physically examined once in the 1950s during construction work on the building. 1953 they come out of the crypt and a report is commissioned on them. Correct. Yes. This is a report of Professor Rich Martino. Wow. So let’s talk about the conclusions from his study here. What does he say about this individual? What what does he learn from the examination of these bones? We learn several important thing. First, all the skeleton and all the bones that are in in body belongs just to one man. That’s huge. That’s huge. Okay. Check.
Second thing that we have learned is that we know that this this uh this man died when he was 75 80 years old. Okay, that’s a big check because this generally aligns with the age of St.
Nicholas. So that information checks off some big boxes. Are you convinced that these are the remains of St. Nicholas? I swear.
You’re 100% convinced? Yes. When you put all of these bones together, how much of the skeleton is accounted for? Around 80%. The report by Dr. Luigi Martino described each and every identifiable bone. Most of the skeleton is here, but a few critical pieces are missing. Among them, the left pubic bone, his right rib cage, and left jawbone.
