Weiberg's Gold - Australian Mystery
The Lost Gold of the Avoca - Australian Mystery
In 1877, five thousand freshly minted gold sovereigns were shipped out of Sydney, bound for Ceylon on a ship called the Avoca. When the strong box was finally opened at Galle, there was nothing inside but sawdust and iron bolts. The gold had vanished from a locked strongroom, behind seals that nobody had broken.
The man behind it was the Avoca's carpenter, a quiet Norwegian named Martin Weiberg, who understood the bones of a ship better than anyone aboard and used this knowledge to pull off one of Australia's greatest maritime heists.
What became of Martin Weiberg, and of the gold he hid so well that most of it is still out there, is a question South Gippsland has been asking for nearly a hundred and fifty years.
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Theme Music - Jesse Frank on Pixabay
Sources:
• Ghosts of Gippsland Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/2LsdRY2maDbH6qWvuLJZeL?si=7b447d023c3d4913
• "A Great Gold Robbery." The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW), 11 August 1906, p. 6. [Trove: nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122703377]
• "Buried Treasure of Inverloch: Somewhere a Hidden Cache of 15,000 Sovereigns Awaits a Lucky Finder." By John Philip. The Argus (Melbourne), 8 January 1938. [Trove: nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11138634]
• "The Rumoured Drowning of Martin Weiberg." 19 October 1883 (referenced via ABC Gippsland reporting)
• The Age (Melbourne), 29 October 1878, report of Weiberg's arrest (quoted in ABC Gippsland reporting)
• Maunder, Sarah, and Rachael Lucas. "Are Martin Weiberg's stolen gold sovereigns buried somewhere in Gippsland?" ABC Gippsland (Curious Gippsland series), 19 September 2019. [abc.net.au/news/2019-09-19/what-happened-to-martin-weibergs-missing-treasure/11485278]
• "The Vanished Gold of Gippsland." Strange Company blog, February 2026. [strangeco.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-vanished-gold-of-gippsland.html]
• O'Riley, Annie. "Buried Treasures." oddhistory.com.au, 6 September 2013.
In 1877, five thousand freshly minted gold sovereigns were shipped out of Sydney, bound for Ceylon on a ship called the Avoca. When the strong box was finally opened at Galle, there was nothing inside but sawdust and iron bolts. The gold had vanished from a locked strongroom, behind seals that nobody had broken.
The man behind it was the Avoca's carpenter, a quiet Norwegian named Martin Weiberg, who understood the bones of a ship better than anyone aboard and used this knowledge to pull off one of Australia's greatest maritime heists.
What became of Martin Weiberg, and of the gold he hid so well that most of it is still out there, is a question South Gippsland has been asking for nearly a hundred and fifty years.
--------------------------
Subscribe now to Strewth Premium on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/cw/StrewthPodcast
Strewth social media links - https://linktr.ee/strewthpodcast
Contact us - [email protected]
Theme Music - Jesse Frank on Pixabay
Sources:
• Ghosts of Gippsland Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/2LsdRY2maDbH6qWvuLJZeL?si=7b447d023c3d4913
• "A Great Gold Robbery." The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW), 11 August 1906, p. 6. [Trove: nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122703377]
• "Buried Treasure of Inverloch: Somewhere a Hidden Cache of 15,000 Sovereigns Awaits a Lucky Finder." By John Philip. The Argus (Melbourne), 8 January 1938. [Trove: nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11138634]
• "The Rumoured Drowning of Martin Weiberg." 19 October 1883 (referenced via ABC Gippsland reporting)
• The Age (Melbourne), 29 October 1878, report of Weiberg's arrest (quoted in ABC Gippsland reporting)
• Maunder, Sarah, and Rachael Lucas. "Are Martin Weiberg's stolen gold sovereigns buried somewhere in Gippsland?" ABC Gippsland (Curious Gippsland series), 19 September 2019. [abc.net.au/news/2019-09-19/what-happened-to-martin-weibergs-missing-treasure/11485278]
• "The Vanished Gold of Gippsland." Strange Company blog, February 2026. [strangeco.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-vanished-gold-of-gippsland.html]
• O'Riley, Annie. "Buried Treasures." oddhistory.com.au, 6 September 2013.