Cache Hunting Tips

[goldfinder]

My grandpa hid his gold and silver coins in a tin box in the celar under the house. My dad found it after they moved the grandfolks into town to take cae of them. He gave the find to grandma. I was there so I know. Also, grandpa said he hung little empty tobacco bags of gold coins in between the walls of the house. Dad never did find these. He thought the strings on the bags had rotted and the bag fell to the bottom of the wall.
Goldfinder

 

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[mudd]

My grandpa hid his gold and silver coins in a tin box in the celar under the house. My dad found it after they moved the grandfolks into town to take cae of them. He gave the find to grandma. I was there so I know. Also, grandpa said he hung little empty tobacco bags of gold coins in between the walls of the house. Dad never did find these. He thought the strings on the bags had rotted and the bag fell to the bottom of the wall.
Goldfinder

that's cool, is that house still standing?

 

[bedrock bubba]

I'm up here in the Grass Valley-Nevada City old mining towns in Cal.

There is a park nearby, that a creek flows up a ravine, where 10000 miners camped out in the 1850's and took out HUGE amounts of gold. The creek has a trail that goes up the ravine for over a mile, and the ravine is wooded and somewhat steep.

Being as these old miners lived in tents, and there are no houses to search, where would they have stashed their gold caches? There is a huge pile of boulders near the creek, where they diverted the creek long ago.

I had found one old cache hole, that was cleaned out already, through dowsing. There must be more nearby!

Any tips are appreciated.

 

[bevo]

check the universities for old photo's. Get a good idea of what it looked like back then.

 

[Frankn]

Ok I will make it easy. Think like the cashier that had no metal detector! You need a MARKER to recover it. The marker could be that big stone, that big old tree that is now a big stump, the corner of a building, The bend in the stream. NOW, look around them, look out from them in a primary compass direction, N,E,S,W. now look from marker to marker. When they hid something, they used paces from the primary marker to another marker or compass direction. It's all about how THEY thought. Inside is a whole different setup. Frank...

Maybe 10 paces North from the tree?

 

[jmb2email]

This post has me intrigued. I have been hunting around a park with large rocks protruding 6-10 feet high. There is probably only a dozen of them. Apparently this land used to be part of a farm. Last week while detecting around them i found what appears to be an old dresser handle. It rang up as copper on my MD. Then about 3 feet from there my MD went nuts, reading 4-5 different signals... copper, foil, pull tab, silver. I figured my detector was flaking... im going back this weekend!
JMB

 

[bedrock bubba]

There are no universities near here.

But I will go to the Nevada City Historical library Friday and look for old photos and info.
That place is a gold mine of old information, but has limited hours, and is open only because of volunteers and donations.

I am also looking for info on old Wells Fargo stage coach robberies, and old mines in the area.

 

[mrdetector]

I have a lot of luck using a LRL or L rods.look into the Colorado gold sticks I did real good and the price is right.

 

[exconsinite]

So what would it sound like or read as on a detector nobody has really answered diggitup very completely?

What would a cache sound like on a detector? Wouldn't it just be really erratic and loud? I mean If it was in a jar (and had silver coins) it would just be silver but if it was in like an iron or brass pot idk I figure it would be a loud mixed signal.

 

[Shunkaha]

It would depend on the detector and how you have it set up. This is a necro post by the way.

 

[exconsinite]

So what would it sound like or read as on a detector nobody has really answered diggitup very completely?

What would a cache sound like on a detector? Wouldn't it just be really erratic and loud? I mean If it was in a jar (and had silver coins) it would just be silver but if it was in like an iron or brass pot idk I figure it would be a loud mixed signal.

 

[exconsinite]

@shunkaha thank you for the answer (sorry for the double post my computer was stuck or something. As for the necropost- the topic was still relevant to me and obviously you still saw my post.

It would depend on the detector and how you have it set up. This is a necro post by the way.

 

[Rawhide]

Well my last two hunts involved a wood pile and clothes poles. You need some research on who buried it, if they had time, it could be well hidden in a stump. But if it was hastily hid, could be any hole. Frankn gave a good clue away, and you want to think what you would do. But lastly you have to walk over it to find it. As for what it sounds in your detector, take a mason jar, some stone ware, and a tin and try it for yourself.

 

[exconsinite]

Thanks casca what should I put in the jar or tin - a bunch of quarters? What about gold coins, I don't have any- I suppose they're expensive to buy aren't they?

 

[Dr. Syn]

Something Frankn touched on, markers and the spot itself. If you were hiding a stash, away from your home, you would have markers to find your way.
Also depending on the locations, you would also make it a spot where you couldn't be easily seen when making deposits/withdraws.

My Grandpap had some really odd places, like the jar of washers in the work shop. The one with a roll of hundred dollar bills inside it. Made it so obvious that no one paid it a second glance.

The other one is the junk pile. If you had a farm, you had a junk pile. Stuff that wouldn't burn in the trash barrel, old equipment and parts, building materials, you name it. Going to take some time going through that mess to find what he hid there, it covers nearly half a football field.

 

[exconsinite]

I am currently looking at a log homestead with a small barn where 2 hermits lived. I'm thinking they would tend to hide stuff from each other more than a "normal" family. what do you think?

 

[DiggItUp]

I am currently looking at a log homestead with a small barn where 2 hermits lived. I'm thinking they would tend to hide stuff from each other more than a "normal" family. what do you think?

Always pays off to check! Found a mini cash with some 1800's silver and some mercs in a small clay pot which was shattered, right next to an old stone fence and a big tree.

 

[SilverForBrains]

Yes, most people had a "cache" in the home but it was typically a small savings to buy clothes for the kids or some other need. Caches were very rarely buried. Even larger caches were most often hidden inside the house because that is where it's easiest to keep an eye on. But the bad part for us, is that most caches were never forgotten. They were used by the hider or the hider's family, or found when the house was cleaned out after death.

You need a specific chain of events to leave a cache hidden for us. You need a person with more income than they needed. This person also needs to be basically a frugal hermit. Never spending a penny more than needed. Next, you need someone who was alone with no nearby family or didn't trust any of their family. The most important part is that you typically need for that person to have a sudden death, massive stroke, or other sudden illness which would prevent them from recovering or disclosing the existence of the cache.

My grandfather buried his money, but I heard he always dug it back up! Born in 1889, he grew up in the depression years and I still believe people like him buried their money for various reasons.

wayfas4u reminded me of something. I too always hide little stores of money around the house and other valuable things, not much (I don't have much) but $10 or $20 here and there. It's almost a certainty that every 5 years or so I find one of my own caches that I had completely forgotten about. So maybe they didn't necessarily need to die a sudden death, although that still makes the individual more of a rarity because he would have had to be the type to bury and recover multiple caches over his lifetime

 

[wayfas4u]

Haha....i also hide little quantities and call them reserves. Its always nice recovering a cache you forgot about!

 

[cw0909]

last summer i bought a 3drawer tool box at a GS, the drawers had that
rubber felt liner, 1 drawer had the plastic clip together dividers, i was
rearranging the dividers, had to pop 1 with a srewdriver, and the mat/liner
came up wow a 1992 Ben Franklin in cellophane, 10$ for the box and
the junk in it, was a good day