The safe as it appeared when it was opened.

UPDATE: This story has been revealed as a hoax. The original story follows.

An internet user claims to have discovered an old safe containing more than $78,000, alcohol, and a treasure map (of sorts) while renovating their home.

Arizona-based Imgur user Sarm posted the story on image-sharing site on Thursday.

SARM / IMGUR The unopened bottle of James E. Pepper.

She and her partner Eddie moved into their house two years ago and were currently renovating the kitchen, she wrote.

During the demolition, they found a safe in the floor.

"When we first moved in we found a safe code in the back of a medicine cabinet but never found a safe. Still, I saved the little code just in case," she wrote. "The safe looks like it's about 20-30 years old. After a half dozen attempts it actually worked!

SARM / IMGUR An underlined passage in the book.

"We stared in disbelief. Time stood still."

Photos of the contents showed piles of $100 notes adding to US$51,080 (NZ$78,936), a bottle of James E. Pepper Bourbon Whiskey, and a book titled A Guide for the Perplexed which contained a series of "clues".

One such clue was an "old style flash card" with a picture of the state of Arizona on it.

SARM / IMGUR A photograph found inside the book.

"We live in Phoenix and there's an X mark in pencil over Mesa, AZ."

An underlined passage in the book read: "One way of looking at the world as a whole is by means of a map, that is to say, some sort of plan or outline that shows where various things are to be found."

Tucked in another leaf of the book was a photo of an old estate.

SARM / IMGUR An apparent clue on the back of the photograph.

A line on the back of the photo appeared to refer to a tree in the foreground: "Where one tree becomes three."

Sarm said: "There might be a keen eye out there who recognises this place and I'd be curious about that three-headed tree!"

She pulled out one final clue - a bingo card.

They hadn't decided what to do with the money, she said.

"But we're keeping the bourbon!"

The couple has been contacted in order to verify the story. On Reddit, some were expressing skepticism, noting that the photos first surfaced on TheChive, a site known for its hoaxes.