When “Gold Fever” strikes, anything can happen. People can lose perspective and focus solely on the seductive yellow metal, leading to risky choices…and bad behavior.

Death was a constant companion in the pursuit of gold and other precious metals and gems, and tales abound of haunted souls lurking in and around old mines, treasure pits, and outlaw hideouts.

To celebrate Halloween, we thought we’d mention a few spooky tales about gold and the ghosts that haunt it.

Haunted Mines

“The old miners that have died in there, they don't want you in their mine. Mines are some of the most haunted places in the world.”

— Introductory comment on the Syfy Channel series “Ghost Mine” (2013)

Several lost souls allegedly roam through the Crescent Mine, an active mine in eastern Oregon. The mine was even featured on the Syfy Channel program “Ghost Mine.” After hearing that one of the owner’s crews had walked off the job due to strange, unexplained phenomena inside the mine, the show’s producers sent a pair of paranormal investigators in to check things out.

What did they find? The series is available on several streaming video services.

Footnote: When the mine was listed for sale in 2013, the owner placed the cornerstone of the original miners’ lodge near the entrance “to keep the spirits at peace.”

The Mamie R. Mine near Cripple Creek, Colorado is considered one of the most haunted mines in the West. After superstitious miners were spooked away by mysterious occurrences and sounds, the remaining crew began reporting voices and whispers in areas where no one was. Some claimed to see a dark shape pass by and disappear as they watched. Later, the pulley system for hauling buckets to the surface was responsible for several deaths, one by decapitation.

When even unsuperstitious miners refused to work at Mamie R., the mine closed down permanently in 1895.

The Gold Dust Mine was a small operation that began in Arizona in 1865. Both gold and silver were extracted from the property, but production eventually dwindled and operations were shut down in 1942. But not before claiming at least one victim. A miner, whose name has evidently been lost to history, died in a tunnel collapse, and his ghost is said to haunt the mine and encampment area around it.

Garnet is a ghost town in the Garnet Mountains about 40 miles from Missoula, Montana. Several ghosts are said to hang out there including gold miners and a woman executed in the town for murder.

The Dead Man’s Chest

Robert Louis Stevenson brought the concept of the Dead Man’s Chest to the public in his novel Treasure Island in 1883. Since then it has inspired dozens of tales, all probably fictitious. Most involve pirates burying a man along with their treasure, either as a warning to robbers or to make sure the poor soul(s) couldn’t reveal the location of the stash.

But no such findings had been documented until treasure hunters on Canada’s Oak Island discovered traces of human remains deep in The Money Pit, a site where a huge cache of gold and other treasures (including the Ark of The Covenant?) are rumored to have been buried centuries ago. Were the old bone fragments—from two different individuals—evidence of an accident hundreds of years ago? Or were the dead men left as a warning to stop superstitious explorers from digging further?

The treasure hunt continues on “The Curse of Oak Island,” a History Channel series starting its sixth season in November, 2018.

The Tommyknockers

Two feet tall with big heads and white whiskers, Tommyknockers were the Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and Scottish brownies. Mischievous creatures, they were said to live deep in the Cornish mines and taunt the miners by stealing their tools and food. But they also made knocking sounds to warn the miners of imminent danger.

But when they came to America with the Cornish and Welsh miners in the 1800s, they took on a different personality. While they continued to pilfer tools and food and issue occasional warnings, their mischief often turned malicious. They were blamed for mine cave-ins, accidents, and deaths in US mines, and many miners refused to work until mine owners took steps to appease them so they could work in safety.

The belief in Tommyknockers was strong among superstitious miners and persisted well into the 20th century.

Precious metals and gems are the stuff of legend. If you’re ready to get the bug, The Great American Coin Company has bullion coins and bars to please collectors of all budgets, including gold-plated coins, solid gold bars and bullion coins, and even replica pirate coins, including many for under $10.

They’re just some of the many ways we serve collectors and investors around the world. Visit our website, greatamericancoincompany.com, for more information. And be sure to check back often as our selections are constantly changing.