25 years of silver missing

[JDW]

Hello every one,

I will try to keep this short. ;o) I have never metal detected in my life but always wanted to, so my wife and I ordered 2 at gold’s and hopping the FedEX man would deliver today.

So here is the deal. About ten years ago I bought this old Farmstead, no one had lived here for more than 25 years before I bought it. the place has 13 structures including a house, barn, tractor shed, horse barn, pig shed ect. Completely over run with tall grass and newer trees and 27 pieces of old machinery, most half buried from years of mother nature, horse collars were still hanging on the wall. The house was ransacked over the years by kids no doubt but all of the belonging were still there, the old folks had died and their kids didn't want anything I guess.

Anywho, shortly after purchase my son and I started to clean the place up, every day was a treasure hunt finding all kinds of relics. One day as we were working a car pulled in the yard and 2 older gentleman approached us with metal detectors, come to find out they were the son's of the previous owners, grew up on the property and asked if they could meta detect in hopes of finding their fathers stashes of silver and said they would split any finds 50/50. As intriguing as this proposition was; I denied their request. through some research we found that more than 25 years of silver saving had been buried somewhere on this property. ( sound intriguing?)

We have cleaned this place up quite a bite in the 10 years since that day and now that my wife and I are getting up in age a little we thought detecting would be a great hobby starting with our own back yard. I have always heard that the old timers that did not trust the banks would hide their stashes by some old tree or fence post ect. There is still a foot of snow on the ground here but soon the birds will be laying eggs so we have been watching all the vids and doing as much research as possible which lead me to this site.

We know there will be a massive amount of iron buried here and I can only imagine if there are stashes of silver here what they may be contained in, old jars, tin boxes, cloth or leather wrappings, ?
I have no Idea where to start looking, all of the old fence lines were most likely ripped down by the farmer who continued to cultivate the land after the abandonment, older trees may have died and are now gone.
No photos are available of that time period but we took several hundred in the first few weeks of purchase and clean up. I can post these if it would help.

I am asking for any insight on how to approach this or where to start, even some of the best settings for the detector to minimize targets, This should be quite a venture and will post pics of our finds.
Really excited about this, not for the monetary value but just discovery.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions or help you may offer. Happy hunting everyone!! Cheers - Jeff

 

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[DrawkcaB]

@JDW.... you can have a grand BBQ, and invite Detector's from the surrounding area and charge admission, and then to the finder of the "stash" split it? It can be a great event and you can also get to know others at the same time. Especially since Face to face encounters are being lost in history as well... just a thought.

 

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[wainzoid]

I would think that if he sent the kids in the house, the spot wasnt visible from the house. Myself, I would maybe want it visible from the house, or close enough that if you didnt see somebody you could hear them. If there is a window above the sink, that may be the direction it is hidden. The window would be high enough that the kids couldnt see out. Plus a farm grandma would have spent most of her day in or near the kitchen and she would have made a great 'watchdog'. Both of my grandpaps had dairy farms and they lived in their kitchen, thats where they and everyone else hung out during visits. I'd look out the sink window for a clue....

 

[JDW]

most likely the burial location is within sight of the the "main house" --folks who buried silver often had it hidden within visual sight of the homestead so they couild keep a eye out on it -- they often hid it outside of the home since if they had to go into town and someone broke n the home and ransanked it , they would not want them finding it --some folks were quite clever and made hidden cashe spots within the homestead -- loose brick over a hiddy hole in the fire place -- floorboards that would lift up coveing r a hole --old paving type stones going from the home towards a building ,( a hole under one of the paving stones) , a fence post that were shorter than the others ( with a mason jar under it it--the jar took up space so the post had to be short ) --it was short to match the height of the others * so it would not stand out --if one fence post seems a bit taller or shorter than the others check it out * --chicken coop areas are also well known hiding spots as the chickens were a built in "alarm" if anyone was snooping about --any of the "dirt" floor areas of builds might have buried coin in jar cashes --since the men brought "detectors" most likely the coins were "buried" in the ground , I would think

honestly I know you "own" the land now --but being that the money was the old mans -- at the time of burial * , I think you messed up by not going 50 /50 with his "heirs" when the chance occured --they might have just slipped in while you were away and "nighthawked" it --saying we were trying to be fair but he said "no" so , so be it. -- they most likely had an ideal where 'gramps" was likely to have buried his money at * however since they are dead now theres no "redoing" the deal --but stop and think when they talked to you , where they looking at anything or direction in general ? did their eyes seem "fixated" at the time on anything on the farm (the eyes often betray the minds thoughts) --if you do hunt it down and find it --best to keep quiet about it * serious bad blood could be caused by you finding "the family" money as that family might veiw it * both legal and illegal troubles could occur if the word got out about "your find".--the tax man and / or court dealings with the other "heirs" being the least of it.

Thank you Ivan for the response and for that matter everyone who responded!! Great thoughts!!

Ok so it's a given that I may of screwed up not letting them look, but that is water under the bridge and now have to move on from here. ;o)

Not likely they came back at night with out being noticed. we lived in a trailer for the first few months of clean up and had 3 watch dogs full time that do not like strangers and for sure would have let us know, and there were no wholes dug that we could tell. At their age dressed in khaki dress pant, penny loafers, sport coats and gold watches they weren't about to put a lot of effort in digging anything, I think it was more like " this could be fun". Didn't really notice them looking at any particular area they were looking at everything. If and I say If there is what they said buried, most likely it will be in multiple location; eggs in basket thing"

My wife and I have sat down in last few day looking at all of the pics we took when in the first few months and they are substantial; giving us the original layout of the land. Most of the land we worked up with a plow and discs the first few years so if any caches were unearthed; would likely be spread out at this point. Looking through the pics we were amazed at the potential hiding spots and drew a map, gridded it out and prioritized our first hunts on ease of access for elimination and learning curve with the MD's.

I don't really know about the laws here concerning family fortunes and at this point don't really want to know. There are things that I will take to my grave and if things are found, that will be one of them. Nothing says I didn't find it somewhere else. Kinda leaves me in a catch 22 on this site, every one wanting to be updated on a finds that I can't post. Hmmmmm

 

[Rawhide]

You have a good reason to believe a treasure is there. That is good. Mason Jars have been the old timers vault of choice. They were readily available and water proof. Those mason lids really set off a detector. I would get some of those old tin tops to practice with. You have selected a proven detector. But you have no experience with the detectors so practice. You don't have to dig to just swing in the field experimenting with the settings. IMHO you will find treasures in three general areas, inside the house in the walls. Out side in the view from a window, maybe near a large tree. But I have found them in the woods, so when you do find one, you will have a good idea of what to look for. While you will find lots of stuff. You may want to look at a area of woods that has stumps or large rocks you can move on a hillside or bank. It wont be very deep, and a jar of silver will really make any detector sing. Instead of searching high trash areas, it may be better time management to search the edge of the woods and areas where there isn't so much signal. See if you can find that special spot the old man would go to, theres where you will find the silver. While you could fill books on search techniques, it is really important you understand your detectors first and what they are telling you. You want to run them as hot as they will allow, and that takes experience. Good Luck.

 

[Rawhide]

Thank you Ivan for the response and for that matter everyone who responded!! Great thoughts!!

Ok so it's a given that I may of screwed up not letting them look, but that is water under the bridge and now have to move on from here. ;o)

Not likely they came back at night with out being noticed. we lived in a trailer for the first few months of clean up and had 3 watch dogs full time that do not like strangers and for sure would have let us know, and there were no wholes dug that we could tell. At their age dressed in khaki dress pant, penny loafers, sport coats and gold watches they weren't about to put a lot of effort in digging anything, I think it was more like " this could be fun". Didn't really notice them looking at any particular area they were looking at everything. If and I say If there is what they said buried, most likely it will be in multiple location; eggs in basket thing"

My wife and I have sat down in last few day looking at all of the pics we took when in the first few months and they are substantial; giving us the original layout of the land. Most of the land we worked up with a plow and discs the first few years so if any caches were unearthed; would likely be spread out at this point. Looking through the pics we were amazed at the potential hiding spots and drew a map, gridded it out and prioritized our first hunts on ease of access for elimination and learning curve with the MD's.

I don't really know about the laws here concerning family fortunes and at this point don't really want to know. There are things that I will take to my grave and if things are found, that will be one of them. Nothing says I didn't find it somewhere else. Kinda leaves me in a catch 22 on this site, every one wanting to be updated on a finds that I can't post. Hmmmmm

Hi there again, don't beat yourself up as some folks will disagree on any subject you wish to post. You had every right to say no to a search of your property. I would not count it as a missed opportunity either. That many years in the ground and you have over growth, and broken mason jars to boot. You will find there is no easy treasure hunting and good signals can be far and few in between. I think you have a very good chance of finding that silver or I wouldn't have replied. You will find many things, toy cars, clad, tokens, maybe jewelry. That's a lot of years of history. Couple rules I'll share with ya. Rule one, keep your mouth shut. Rule two, "x" never marks the spot. Well usually. Also, you actually have taken a step away from the lazyboy and in a active search. Some of these folks on here are arm chairs and you will learn to sort them out quick. Those two sons could have handled things a lil differently and showing up making demands would not work with me either. On a good note, I have never been turned down from a hunt on private property. But I would not expect someone in your situation to say yes and would not ask. I would have shared some info with you and let you stew a bit, and then asked. LOL. You have to be a salesman and you most likely are going to have a lot of visitors now you have posted on a international forum lol. Oh, the hobby is addicting and you may be in this for the long haul. I wish you luck and will offer any advice I can as I don't care about gold and silver, I enjoy the hunt. If I were closer, I would put you on a few good spots. Good Luck.

 

[JDW]

You have a good reason to believe a treasure is there. That is good. Mason Jars have been the old timers vault of choice. They were readily available and water proof. Those mason lids really set off a detector. I would get some of those old tin tops to practice with. You have selected a proven detector. But you have no experience with the detectors so practice. You don't have to dig to just swing in the field experimenting with the settings. IMHO you will find treasures in three general areas, inside the house in the walls. Out side in the view from a window, maybe near a large tree. But I have found them in the woods, so when you do find one, you will have a good idea of what to look for. While you will find lots of stuff. You may want to look at a area of woods that has stumps or large rocks you can move on a hillside or bank. It wont be very deep, and a jar of silver will really make any detector sing. Instead of searching high trash areas, it may be better time management to search the edge of the woods and areas where there isn't so much signal. See if you can find that special spot the old man would go to, theres where you will find the silver. While you could fill books on search techniques, it is really important you understand your detectors first and what they are telling you. You want to run them as hot as they will allow, and that takes experience. Good Luck.

Hi there again, don't beat yourself up as some folks will disagree on any subject you wish to post. You had every right to say no to a search of your property. I would not count it as a missed opportunity either. That many years in the ground and you have over growth, and broken mason jars to boot. You will find there is no easy treasure hunting and good signals can be far and few in between. I think you have a very good chance of finding that silver or I wouldn't have replied. You will find many things, toy cars, clad, tokens, maybe jewelry. That's a lot of years of history. Couple rules I'll share with ya. Rule one, keep your mouth shut. Rule two, "x" never marks the spot. Well usually. Also, you actually have taken a step away from the lazyboy and in a active search. Some of these folks on here are arm chairs and you will learn to sort them out quick. Those two sons could have handled things a lil differently and showing up making demands would not work with me either. On a good note, I have never been turned down from a hunt on private property. But I would not expect someone in your situation to say yes and would not ask. I would have shared some info with you and let you stew a bit, and then asked. LOL. You have to be a salesman and you most likely are going to have a lot of visitors now you have posted on a international forum lol. Oh, the hobby is addicting and you may be in this for the long haul. I wish you luck and will offer any advice I can as I don't care about gold and silver, I enjoy the hunt. If I were closer, I would put you on a few good spots. Good Luck.

Servilius Casca? lol

To all: I would like to apologize for all the misspelled words in past and future posts, My speech recognition software needs a bit more training. ;o)

Thank you Casca for your response, great tips and advice for sure, unfortunately there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground here, but we have been practicing inside with the dirt box. We were watching metal detecting videos when we came upon a How-To two build a practice dirt box, several PVC tubes run through the dirt at different depths. Coins and the iron can be slid into the pipes. Works quite well actually. ;o) we also took a quart jar and filled it with pure silver and the old time lid, the detector wouldn’t shut up. Lol

Through some research we found that there was an additional building on the property, and old grainry, two story with the basement. The outline of the foundation is visible on a dry year, they knocked the building down into the basement and filled with dirt, looks like a job for the skid steer. We will also be doing a couple of privy takes here this year.

We have found that the AT gold’s are quite easy to operate and adjust, we also received two pro pointers in the mail just yesterday. WooHoo

Overall we are quite anxious to get out in the field and put into practice will we have learned here, We have found the cache forum quite enlightening as well.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions, we have read them several times and now have a cheat sheet of sorts.

Cheers Jeff.

 

[poida84]

some awesome read in this post
even if you don't find the cache i love to see if you find many other coins and relic who knows

if he lived to 70 he could have used it in his retirement and not let the son's know. but i love the possibility of cache or even some rare relic and coins that place looks like awesome treasure location

good luck mate and have fun

 

[bigdad75]

when ever i hit the old farms i always find the most,close to the foundations of the house,and in the rear of the outhouse,look for part of the foundation that looks out of place,once i found a rock with to much space around it and pulled it out there was a old jar of silver behind it.

 

[JDW]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Snow finally melted along the south side of a few buildings so we had some fun today with the MD's. at least for about 30 seconds. We dug the first target and spent the next hour and a half in the same hole.

Found 3 coins, nothing special and a crap load of rubbish, even a live 1943 M1 live round.

Here are the finds, what a nightmare this is going to be. should make a couple hundred dollars on steel by the time summer is over.lol



Maybe you can tell me what this is. I will post this in What is it? forum as well.
I pretty sure its a punch (leather maybe) and my first thought was for shoe soles, but for the length of 7 inches the wide end is only 2 and the heal is 1-3/8. Being farm related, maybe something for saddles or? just guessing. ;o)





Thanks for stopping by!! Cheers - Jeff

 

[scotty544]

I would not think he would've let the coins stay buried, but hey, who knows maybe he didn't recover and spend all off them in his golden years, uh silver years I mean. I am with the majority here with my thoughts on where to search. Look to the woods and a large rock or tree, has to be somewhere he could not possibly mistake for another spot. Also where he couldn't be seen from a passer by.

 

[oakhunter27]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Snow finally melted along the south side of a few buildings so we had some fun today with the MD's. at least for about 30 seconds. We dug the first target and spent the next hour and a half in the same hole.

Found 3 coins, nothing special and a crap load of rubbish, even a live 1943 M1 live round.

Here are the finds, what a nightmare this is going to be. should make a couple hundred dollars on steel by the time summer is over.lol

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=769319"/>

Maybe you can tell me what this is. I will post this in What is it? forum as well.
I pretty sure its a punch (leather maybe) and my first thought was for shoe soles, but for the length of 7 inches the wide end is only 2 and the heal is 1-3/8. Being farm related, maybe something for saddles or? just guessing. ;o)

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=769328"/>

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=769322"/>

Thanks for stopping by!! Cheers - Jeff

Maybe a corn husker

 

[JDW]

Recent finds from an old one room schoolhouse that burned down, most where found between the privy's and the back door.







Just a quick update on digging here on the homestead, we have found a few coins here and there but for the most part just a ton of steel and cast iron. On one dig we found an entire antique corn planter, plus shovels, pots and pans, axles, license plates, and many pieces of farm machinery we could not identify. We still have not started looking for caches yet but as of now we must have found over 2 thousand items and are quite familiar with our detectors and will start our search shorty.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers _ Jeff

 

[christo000]

great finds keep them coming in im always thinkin the next hole is gonna be the one lol

 

[foiler]

Do keep in mind that secreting money was done for two basic purposes. One was out of fear, such as in war time. These type caches are the most difficult to find as they may not be 'logical' in their placement. The second is for protection and is usually placed in such a manner that access is readily available. If buried they tend to be in small containers (quart mason jars most popular) and a spade length in depth. Most common place for a working man to hide his money is where he works. Do check the outbuilds very carefully. As for the house, the basement/cellar if there is one often with dirt floors and field stone walls are a common place to stash cash. Don't forget the root cellar. It may be caved in over lack of use. It would be worth it to dig it out. The house appears to have a second floor. Be sure to check stairways, stairwells and the banister post, often hollow, if there is one. Closets and or shelving under stairs are one of the most common hiding places. Good luck.

 

[matrix master DBA]

For cache hunting your best bet is a two box detector. Great for hunting caches.

 

[EasyriderTX]

Check the fireplace and surrounding base

 

[mcb]

Nice finds JDW!

 

[krazyace]

Would a google earth view of the property show any landmarks that may not be able to be seen by the human eye?

 

[JDW]

great finds keep them coming in im always thinkin the next hole is gonna be the one lol

Thanks christo, optimism-- love it, I'm a glass half full guy my self.. ;o)

Do keep in mind that secreting money was done for two basic purposes. One was out of fear, such as in war time. These type caches are the most difficult to find as they may not be 'logical' in their placement. The second is for protection and is usually placed in such a manner that access is readily available. If buried they tend to be in small containers (quart mason jars most popular) and a spade length in depth. Most common place for a working man to hide his money is where he works. Do check the outbuilds very carefully. As for the house, the basement/cellar if there is one often with dirt floors and field stone walls are a common place to stash cash. Don't forget the root cellar. It may be caved in over lack of use. It would be worth it to dig it out. The house appears to have a second floor. Be sure to check stairways, stairwells and the banister post, often hollow, if there is one. Closets and or shelving under stairs are one of the most common hiding places. Good luck.

Good advise for sure, we did gut the house back in 2002 and was very meticulous with each item removed, checked joist box, not banister posts, we removed everything right down to the lattice strips and I mean completely gutted. the old cartridge shed next to the house will be our first hunt but we have to move a hoard of junk out and screen the first 6 inches of the dirt floor first. will post some pics when we get started so all who may be interested can see why. thanks for taking the time to reply!! great words. ;o)

For cache hunting your best bet is a two box detector. Great for hunting caches.

Thanks for the tip matrix!! I hope it doesn't come to that and maybe it I find a couple of jars to start I can afford one. ;o)

Check the fireplace and surrounding base

Hi Easyrider, unfortunately there was no fire place, just a coal/wood burning stove in the kitchen and we still have that so maybe I should remove some of the panels and have a look. Thanks ;o)

Nice finds JDW!

TY, Hope it just the beginning, Cheers ;o)

Would a google earth view of the property show any landmarks that may not be able to be seen by the human eye?

We have done exactly that, with the oldest view available and also trying to find any aerial pics we could but to no avail, we will keep trying. thanks. ;o)


Another quick story for those who kina get a rush hearing tails although this one is very true.
My sister and her husband live about 20 minutes away and their neighbor (elderly woman) had passed away, she had to 2 children one boy one girl, about a month after she passed the woman's kids asked if my sister would like anything from the house that was left. being the pack rat she is they took quite a few nice things the kids just didn't want but were to nice to throw out.
A few weeks later the son asked my brother in law who lived next door to help with removing some dirt from the garage floor so they could pour concrete, while removing the dirt they hit something solid with the shovel and found and old milk can buried down about 8 inches and then another, they pried of the lids to find them full of coins and cash, it was a substantial amount, the two kids figured their father put it there and never told their mother.

Could you imagine not making the decision to pour concrete, wow what a stroke of good fortune for them. can't even imagine myself what that would feel like!!! ;o0

Thanks everyone for stopping by, Cheers - Jeff

 

[releventchair]

JDW, you are on your way. Real Cache story and all! L.o.l..
Nice coins you all recovered. Keep it fun and it will last a long time.