Treasure hunting a life calling for this Cannon Beach couple

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, April 30, 2011

CANNON BEACH – How’s this for a job discovering, purveying and selling all manner of treasure, from 3,000-year-old proto money to Alexander the Great coins to Spanish Colonial curios.

Robert and April Knecht operate Cannon Beach Treasure Co. But theirs is no mere coin store – each and every item is genuine treasure.

Robert and April Knecht show off some of the finds at Cannon Beach Treasure Co.

“Everything in here, someone made it, someone used it, someone lost it and someone found it,” Robert Knecht said.

The couple guarantees the provenance of each item in their store, so their trade also entails quite a lot of researching.

And running the store requires a bit of creativity, in that April Knecht turns many of the pieces into wearable art.

Treasure hunting has been a life calling for Robert Knecht.

He first set off in search of booty in 1988, when he joined an expedition to Antarctica to look for a sunken whaling ship. “That led to another expedition,” he says, “and another, and another.”

Knecht spent 20 years chasing treasure in Key Largo, Fla.

He began by filming treasure-hunting documentaries and doing stories about expeditions for trade magazines. He’d follow crews in search of booty, often all the way to the bottom of the ocean.

Eventually, he turned truly serious about hunting for treasure.

His first find? A piece of eight, an old silver Spanish coin he discovered while diving the 1715 Fleet at Vero Beach, Fla. He still wears it on a chain around his neck.

After his stint in Florida, Knecht landed in Phoenix, where he did some work in TV. As luck would have it, April, a “history buff” herself, also had landed there after a few years in England.

They connected over their fascination with antiquities and their shared West Coast origins. April hails from San Francisco; Robert from Crescent City.

Soon enough, April too was hooked on the treasure trade, And on Robert.

After marrying, the couple sated their longing for adventure by filming treasure shows. It was a fun reprieve from what Robert Knecht called their “grown-up” trades.

Yet those side gigs weren’t quite scratching the itch. “After about a year, we looked at each other and said, ‘We wanna swap,'” Richard Knecht said.

“We grabbed our cats, kissed our clients goodbye and moved to the beach,” said April.

Today, she gets a thrill out of helping customers find just the right piece of treasure. “I’ve joked that we don’t give out invoices, but adoption papers,” she said. “It’s so fun to see someone find a treasure they love and will wear all their lives.”

For Robert Knecht, there’s no feeling on earth like tracking down the origins of a new find. It’s a form of treasure hunting in itself.

“It’s sometimes tough to find information about coins, but it’s rewarding when you figure out what it is,” he said.

“There are all these unrelated pieces that by themselves mean nothing. It’s a buzz better than rum.”

Visitors to their store in Cannon Beach often ask whether the coins and baubles on display are real. Yes, they are, say the Knechts.

You might well drop by to browse and end up staying the afternoon. After decades in the treasure trade, Robert Knecht is well versed in the art of storytelling.

April’s love of history positions her well to spin fantastic true tales chronicling the journeys of pieces that have landed in the store.

“When people come in, they’re not just looking for treasures, but also stories,” she says.

Like archaeologists and academics, treasure hunters help us reconnect with lost bits of history, Robert Knecht says.

“What we know about so many cultures and places, especially about Spanish Colonial history, treasure hunters are responsible for,” he said.

He believes that a cooperative approach benefits everyone, by expanding the collective knowledge base. “When it’s done right, we can all work together,” he said. “And the more we know about wrecks, the more valuable their content becomes.”

As for living in Cannon Beach, “The people are wonderful,” says Robert Knecht. “It’s nice to be back in a place where civility is the rule.

“We walk out of our doors every morning and just smile – even if it’s raining.”

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