The Untold Truth Of Gary Drayton From The Curse Of Oak Island

"The Curse of Oak Island" is the epitome of reality TV for those who love the idea of pirates and buried treasure. It stars Marty and Rick Lagina, two brothers on a mission to find buried treasure on the titular Oak Island in Nova Scotia. They are real people in a real place searching for real gold, jewels, and artifacts which could make them very rich and possibly rewrite history as we know it.

Gary Drayton is one of the many experts that the Lagina brothers have consulted over the years. He wasn't supposed to be in as many episodes as he has been, but his quick surge in popularity via social media websites like Reddit after only two guest appearances in Season 4 caught the attention of the show's producers. There's a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to Drayton, so here are some of the untold truths about this fascinating man and his career.

Back when Gary Drayton was young, one of his first paying jobs was that of a "mudlark," according to Sky History. Mudlarking, per the British version of the History Channel, is "the fine art of trudging around in [the] mud and shallow waters to seek out historical items and potentially precious artifacts." This venture proved to be very fruitful for him — fruitful enough, in fact, to make a lifelong career out of it.

You can tell Drayton has a real passion for what he does when you watch videos (like this one for History's YouTube) where he shows off some of his favorite finds. Even when he's talking about old, perfectly preserved glass bottles that he emphasizes "were trash" back in the day, there's a light in his eyes and excitement in his voice. Then again, anybody who's had a chance to make a living doing what they love — and making a small fortune out of it — would probably feel the same way.

Depending on who you ask, Drayton's net worth is estimated to be somewhere between $2 and $3 million (via Sky History). At least half a million of that is from a very big discovery he found off the coast of Florida (more on that in a minute). Given all the other precious jewels and artifacts he's drudged up over the years, which he loves showing off on social media (more on that in a minute, too), it's safe to assume that a good chunk of his net worth comes from the treasure hunting alone. 

But hunting for buried valuables isn't his only source of income. If you visit Drayton's official website, you can see that he's really cashed in thanks to his popularity on "The Curse of Oak Island." He's got merchandise featuring his favorite catchphrases like "Holy Shamoly" and "Top Pocket Find." He also has a lucrative side gig offering treasure hunting lessons, which start at $900 for one person and an extra $300 per additional group member. And he's got a talent for the written word, too.

Gary Drayton has published several books during his lengthy treasure hunting career that are available for fans to scoop up through his official site. If you want to get into the treasure hunting world but don't have thousands of dollars lying around to learn from the master personally, you can buy one of his 13 books. His guides range in topic, from a "Beginner's Guide to Beach Hunting," a "Hardcore Beach Hunting Guide," a "Jewelry Hunting" guide, and a few manuals on how to use the expensive metal detector equipment that is featured on the show.

Each volume starts at a modest $22. That obviously doesn't include taxes and shipping costs, assuming you don't have a local book store that has his guides in stock. There's no bulk discount for purchasing more than one at a time, so you're looking at around $286 for the full collection. But that's still a bit cheaper than being the third wheel at one of his in-person lessons.

Gary Drayton's most famous discovery was a beautiful gold ring studded with emeralds. He's gone on record in a fascinating interview for History's YouTube channel to boast that it's the "best treasure ring ever found in America," and you can tell from that video that he's very excited and proud of his discovery. The bauble is an impressive 22-karat Incan gold ring with nine flawlessly cut emeralds — and keep in mind, this is from a time when jewelers had to cut precious stones and mold precious metals by hand. 

But that's not all he's unearthed over years. In that same YouTube video, he shows off his collection of 400-year-old garnets, Colombian emeralds, and Spanish silver coins. And that's just a small fraction of the treasure he's unearthed over the years. It's clear that Drayton has a passion for what he does. And he's turned that passion into a particular set of skills that have made him one of the most famous treasure hunters of his time.

Gary Drayton is a proud and supportive family man, with plenty of photos of him and his loved ones speckled all over his Instagram. He's got two daughters — Anya and Katya — and a wife, Jennifer. His social media is full of pictures of him and his daughters, as well as some throwback photos of his father and a touching anniversary photo of his wedding. He's also an avid dog lover and admits to FaceTiming with his pit bull while traveling for work. 

Beyond that, he's also an aficionado of dad jokes. Lots and lots of dad jokes, to be exact, like the time he posted a black-and-white photo of him in bed with one of his metal detectors, captioning it, "Last night I had a dream I detected a gold nugget less than a thousandth of a gram. I was like 0mg." There are plenty of other good 'grams on his Insta feed, including a video of a squirrel captioned with "Thou shall nut pass" and a Thanksgiving post with creative hashtags like "#YesWeCran," "#FiftyShadesOfGravy," and "#AllAboutThatBaste."