Worldwide treasure hunt for hidden $100 notes comes to Auckland

Sarah Crosby and a friend found $100 at the Whangarei marina. Photo / John Stone

The odd $100 note may be floating around Auckland tomorrow as the city joins a worldwide treasure hunt trend.

The HiddenCash craze began last month when an anonymous millionaire began hiding cash in envelopes around San Francisco and posted clues of how to find it online.

He was revealed last week as property investor and philanthropist Jason Buzi and the craze has spread to the rest of the country and the UK.

A local version, named Find Our Cash, sent Whangarei locals into a money-searching frenzy, and it's now spreading across the country.

The man who brought the craze here — who wanted to be known only as Harry — posted clues on the Facebook page Find our cash Whangarei, while in Buzi's game the clues were under the Twitter handle @HiddenCash.

"We thought it was a cool thing to do and so we decided to see what would happen if we did it in Whangarei," Harry said. "People are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for it. We want to encourage people to get out in the community."

Sarah Crosby, 21, and Kim Hayes, 22, found $100 at Kissing Pt Marina. The pair spent five hours searching one day before they found the money.

Harry said he was looking for firms to sponsor the hunts.

An organiser for tomorrow's hunt said they wanted to keep it to the weekends for children.