Cache Lead

duggr

Sr. Member
May 4, 2006
303
154
Fort Madison Iowa
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
A Guy I know found out recently that I have a Metal Detector and told me a possible
good Cache lead...The story goes, as a young boy of around ten years old my friend
was friends with another boy who's uncle had a Cache of five cream or milk cans
that each were full of Silver and some gold coins. This was in the early 1960's and the
man who had the cache was born in 1899 and didn't trust banks....He raised livestock
and as my friend said the old man didn't like paper money and would be paid in Hard
currency when he sold his cattle...My friend told me that he and his friend were in the old mans
basement when the old man said to the boy's "That if they could lift one of the milk cans (That
was full of coins) that they could have it...My friend told me that the dirt floor in the basement
was soft from mole's digging around that when they tried to pick the can full of coins up that
there feet just sank into the ground. He went on to say also that the old man made a map of
where he buried the treasure and gave a copy of it to a lady friend as well...As time went by the
old man died and before he died he told his lady friend to give the map to his nephew when he
was old enough to be responsible with the money...My friend swears the money is still there as the
nephew went into the army and never returned home and the old lady who had the map finally passed
on without ever having a chance to give the nephew the map. He said her house was sold and a guy we
know bought the house and simply burned all the papers that were left in the house when she died.
My friend say's he has an idea that the old man buried the containers full of coins on his land somewhere
east of the house as this is the only side of the house that he could see people coming as he was unable
to see anything from the west...He drove me around on his ATV to show me the old house foundation as
the house was burned down. Turns out a friend of his also owns the land now and he is going to get permission
to look...My friend told his friend who owned the land that the cache is buried on what he told me, and his friend
replied and said.."Sounds like a Tall Tale to me" I noticed that the east side of the house had a creek there and though
that would be a good place to start...I believe Also! that if he had a map of where he buried the cans that he didn't
bury them all together....My friend said that the old man said to him that If you know how to read a map that you
will be able to find what he buried....I did a little research after he told me the old mans name and checked out some
old county land maps that prove what he said about the old man....My friend said that he and the nephew worked for
the old man as kids planting a plowing his ground..My friends mind is Sharp as a tack as he can tell you the exact tractor
and model plus the type of disc plow they used...Unfortunately though my friends health is not good and his knees are
bad as well...He said that basically he is unable himself to look and want's someone to look for him..When he gets permission
from his friend in writing he will introduce me to him and we will get the ball rolling....Any Idea's or thoughts to help me out
when the time comes will be appreciated...
 

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Just how much total land area are we talking here? Sounds like an interesting lead! Best of luck!
 

Just how much total land area are we talking here? Sounds like an interesting lead! Best of luck!
I'll ask my friend and get back with you. I also remembered that the creek on the east side of the house ran through a
valley making it easier to conceal him while digging. That area was wooded as well but so was the west side of where the house stood.
My friend also said the old man had a little cart that was low to the ground making it easier for him to load the milk cans and he would
pull the cart behind the tractor. He also said that if a cow died that they would bury the cow in the wooded area as well.. He has a
strong gut feeling that the money is buried there, as he and a friend checked out the basement years ago after the old man died and
before the house burned and before his health changed...
 

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If you are talking a standard sized milk can, NOBODY could lift one full of silver coins. Nice story, but the amount of coins and the container size sounds mighty fishy.
 

If you are talking a standard sized milk can, NOBODY could lift one full of silver coins. Nice story, but the amount of coins and the container size sounds mighty fishy.
My friend said that they were the Tall cream cans . Maybe thats why he used five of them so he wouldn't have to lift over 50-100 lbs...My friend also said
when the man died in the Early 70's he had almost $30,000 dollars in his bank account..Stands to reason if he buried some of his money that most was deposited
in the ground..Another thing! my friend isn't one for telling a tall tale....He was "Very Serious" about what he saw and the details he went into sounded as to come
from experience..
 

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Even with a map, you need landmarks in order to recover a buried cache, so most likely it is not in the middle of a field but rather close to a landmark, like a rock, tree,or building. Even perhaps a sharp curv in the stream so just go slow with a 2 Box detector. It will hit those cans and miss the junk.
Make sure you have a firm agreement BEFORE you look. Frank...-
111-1 profile.jpg
 

Any amount could be transferred to another container before transporting to another location. One such site the guy making the caches liked to get under where possible a tree. Besides different containers, one was a steel drum he likely buried empty and added to. Frankn has a point with a two box check of near objects and standout or unusual features cursory check. Then a grid pattern once known structures of outhouse and outbuildings and foundation and threshold perimeters cleared. Maybe within a shotguns range of house?
 

I kinda Bumming that I sold My Brand new in the Box Whites TM 800 about seven years back!
I should have kept it but I never used it...
All I have now is an Etrac....If anyone has an extra two box or an idea where to get a TM 800
I would appreciate the help...duggr
 

An aquaintance I know personally (Northern Illinois) had a similar situation in which he was hired to find a quantity of milkcans filled with silver coins.

He spent several hours gridding an area with a two-box detector and after locating a promising target, a backhoe was used to finish the recovery.
One of the stipulations in his agreement with the owner was that he could purchase ONE of the milkcans of silver for fair market value of the silver, which at that time, was around $7.00 an ounce.

He told me he always regretted selling off that silver.

I wish you luck!
 

Just how much total land area are we talking here? Sounds like an interesting lead! Best of luck!

I asked my friend but he wasn't sure of the amount of land but was going to find out!
 

An aquaintance I know personally (Northern Illinois) had a similar situation in which he was hired to find a quantity of milkcans filled with silver coins.

He spent several hours gridding an area with a two-box detector and after locating a promising target, a backhoe was used to finish the recovery.
One of the stipulations in his agreement with the owner was that he could purchase ONE of the milkcans of silver for fair market value of the silver, which at that time, was around $7.00 an ounce.

He told me he always regretted selling off that silver.

I wish you luck!

Thanks watercooler
 

Even with a map, you need landmarks in order to recover a buried cache, so most likely it is not in the middle of a field but rather close to a landmark, like a rock, tree,or building. Even perhaps a sharp curv in the stream so just go slow with a 2 Box detector. It will hit those cans and miss the junk.
Make sure you have a firm agreement BEFORE you look. Frank...-
View attachment 1009934
Ff
Frankn
I have a guy that has a Discovery TF 900....would this be good enough or maybe I should
get a Large searchcoil for my etrac as well
Duggr
 

I have never checked into a Discovery TF 900. My guess is your detector would sing out on a cache that large. I don't think an elderly man is going to bury his cache that deep. The reason I suggested a 2 Box was mainly to avoid the small junk that a 2 Box won't pick up. I think you can find it with your Minelab, but you are probably going to dig more on the way. Frank...-111-1 profile.jpg
 

Thanks Frank,
I spoke with my friend again today about the milk cans and he told me that he saw five large milk cans
and him and his friend couldn't lift any of them..He also told me that Him and his friend took the lids off of two of
them and said they were full up to about 8" or so from the top because the way the lids fit inside the can....
He also told me that he put his hand inside one of the cans and pulled out a handfull of Gold coins, He said he
didn't know if the milk can was all gold coins or just the top ones he grabbed....He also said that he thought they were
twenty Dollar gold pieces but he was young and money didn't mean that much to him so he could have been mistaken on the denomination..
I told him that gold was illegal to own after the government Gold Reservere act of 1934 until 1975, two years after the old man died..I told
him that he must have had the gold when he was a younger man in his 30's or acquired it from someone else
after the gold reserve act of 1934...When I spoke with my friend today he also said that the old man was going to do something
with the cans as they were in his cellar and the entrance to the cellar was from the outside of the house....He and his friend came
back the next day to work and they noticed when they went in the cellar that the cans were gone.When asked about the milk cans
the old man said he took care of it....I asked him if he thinks the old man would have put the cans behind the limestone rock in the
wall and he said he didn't think that he would make such and effort to do so....He also said the old man was lazy and lived a very
Simple life hardly taking the
time to paint or fix anything up! I asked him that maybe he just buried them the cans in the cellar dirt floor...He acted like it was
possible as The way he talked I myself don't think they made a complete search of the cellar after the old man died...
Still waiting for the landowner to get back into town...
 

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The story goes, as a young boy of around ten years old my friend
was friends with another boy who's uncle had a Cache of five cream or milk cans
that each were full of Silver and some gold coins. This was in the early 1960's and the
man who had the cache was born in 1899 and didn't trust banks
this would make the boys uncle, 60+....could have saved a small fortune

He went on to say also that the old man made a map of where he buried the
treasure and gave a copy of it to a lady friend as well...
As time went by the old man died and before he died he told his lady friend
to give the map to his nephew when he was old enough to be responsible
with the money...
this woman could have taken it, or someone she knew could have

My friend swears the money is still there as the nephew
went into the army and never returned home and the old lady who had the
map finally passed on without ever having a chance to give the nephew the
map. He said her house was sold and a guy we know bought the house and
simply burned all the papers that were left in the house when she died.
if the woman didnt take it, the buyer/burner, could have known the map was
to something, the map may have had writing indicating what was buried or
the woman hid the map and its not found yet


My friend said that the old man said to him that If you know how to read a map that you
will be able to find what he buried...
sounds like a home made topo map, if so maybe the others that had access
to the map, couldnt fig it out


I did a little research after he told me the old mans name and checked out some
old county land maps that prove what he said about the old man....
this site is updating, but soon you should be able to see a sat img from maybe the
40s,50s,60s, 70s, it should help you see diffs in the land......
NOTICE! - We are currently in the process of upgrading our image servers and some areas / years
may not be accessible.
NETR Online • Historic Aerials
 

sorry i forgot another link to some aerials done in 1936-1941
the link should work ok,the red dots are the imgs, (see the img
below,) to the right is find,click choose your county, zoom in find
the road the prop is on, click the red dot, gives 1-3 imgs, choose
jpeg,opens in a new window, save it to desktop, better viewing
of areas, the imgs below are what i did for now google map, and
the jpeg segment


Illinois Historic Aerial Photographs, 1936-1941
ILHAP


the red dot jpeg, i choose from the map link,see img blelow
http://crystal.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/ilhap/county/data/logan/flight4/000z2a081.jpg


img of clicked red dot info box
ill. img 1937-1947.jpg




zoomed area from red dot jpeg
1937-1947.jpg


area google map now
now.jpg
 

Curious if you ever got the go ahead to hunt the land?!!
 

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