dug a hole and look what I found (New Hole, New Pics)

[wirelessworldinc]

A little history on my property. The home was built in 1890 and so yesterday i decided that i would metal detect and I did find a clad penny that was 8 inches down. They must have brought in alot of fill dirt over the years. I got bored with detecting the yard so I went inside the pole barn out back that was built the same year as the house. 2/3 of the floor is dirt and previous owners did pour concrete on 1/3. as I was detecting I got a large outline of a signal showing quarter and gold, bouncing back and forth. I dug down 12 inches and I would say the width and length I dug was approx 16in x 18in. I hit something hard and metally sounding and it sounded hollow. It scared me because I thought maybe a gas line. I called a friend to help me get the rest of the dirt out of the hole. We got down and it was round lid with 2 hooks on it and very heavy to lift off. It was dark in the barn so i ran inside and grabbed a flashlight, (cheapy) did little good. When we pryed the lid off their is a metal container (round). It was empty except for 3 pieces of old boards in it. It was not a septic tank. My questions are: Could it be an old Moonshine Still buried in the ground or maybe it was used to burn something, maybe a blacksmith shop a long time ago? The old neighbors tell me that years ago the story on the house is that there was a dumb waiter going down into the basement and that is where the old man used to take his hooch up and down from the basement. I am going to dig the metal container completely out of the ground and metal detect underneith it. Let me tell you that when I seen a big lid my heart actually skipped a beat thinking "Oh my God, I actually found a Cache". Guess I will keep digging. Here are the pics, sorry they are so dark.

Mary ann

 

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[bootybay]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

I still think its a mighty cool find and neat looking too.. Hey ya never know what you will find on that property, it can keep you busy a long long time... best of luck hunting it..

booty

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

maybe it was used as a cache & then empted

 

[ivan salis]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

old empty cache spot if he was a moonshiner there might be more of the money hiding spots near by --- shiners tended to hide cash rather than put it in banks ( putting large sums of cash in a bank without a means of legally making it tended to draw unwanted attention to them and once in a bank it was easy for the grubbermint to grab it by freezing the account ) many modern dopers have a similar problem -- they hide money because they can't wash it --ie make it "legal"--so they can legally spend it

 

[La Beep]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

old empty cache spot if he was a moonshiner there might be more of the money hiding spots near by --- shiners tended to hide cash rather than put it in banks ( putting large sums of cash in a bank without a means of legally making it tended to draw unwanted attention to them and once in a bank it was easy for the grubbermint to grab it by freezing the account )

You get any beeps from the cement side?

 

[wirelessworldinc]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

maybe it was used as a cache & then empted

I thought of that too. There is so many readings in the barn on my detector I guess I will be digging the whole barn up. I forgot to mention when I purchased the property 5+ years ago I began to clean the barn out and in the back corner was lots and lots of old paint cans. I started pitching them in the back of my truck and found under all of them 5 cookie tins. I picked the first one and shook it and it was heavy and rattled. I opened it up and it was loaded to the top with vintage jewelry, mostly Eisenberg ice braclets and necklaces. I opened the other four and they also were loaded to the top with vintage jewelry. I thought maybe someone was a thief that used to own the house and stockpiled it in the barn. So if the costume jewelry was hid under paint cans, maybe the good stuff is buried. Here is a pic of the barn. Mary ann

 

[ivan salis]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

after what you just said --- yes the barn is clearly a hiding spot --if one things been stashed there -- like the the jewelry in the cookie tins under old paint cans --trust me other things were too --now are they still there? who knows but its worth a very very good checking out

by the way I'd check the corner where the old paint cans and tins were first --look very well in the ground under where the tins were at

 

[Roadquest]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

Mary ann was there anything written on the wood that was in the container?
That is your best clue to work with on this.

Roadquest

 

[ivan salis]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

yep the wood might have been there for a reason--- look carefully at it --any words or markings on it? does it match up wood wize from elsewhere in or around the house / barn area ? --could it be a clue to look elsewhere and a tip to where to look?

 

[wirelessworldinc]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

I did not look at the planks, but i will get out there later and look at them. There is 3 of them I believe. I have a shop in the main house on the property with the pole barn on the backside. I have to make a bank run in a little while and I will go check it out. Thank you everybody. I feel stoked and do not want to work today but go home and get my old clothes on and start digging. Mary ann

 

[wirelessworldinc]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

Here are the wood pieces. I can't see any writing on them. They were pretty rusty from laying on the bottom of the barrel. Mary ann

 

[Fast_Dave]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

I hate to be a killjoy and suggest a more plebian possibility, but is there a chance this may have been a "refrigerator" hole where cream or dairy products were stored undeground to keep them cool? And maybe the boards were there to keep the containers off the bottom of the tank? I recall my grandmother had a milk can buried in a corner of the barn for just that purpose in the days before refrigerators. She'd put the milk bottles down there to stay cool. The wild animals couldn't get to it in the building and through the lid, and the earth acted as insulation on hot summer days. Just a thought.

 

[wirelessworldinc]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

I hate to be a killjoy and suggest a more plebian possibility, but is there a chance this may have been a "refrigerator" hole where cream or dairy products were stored undeground to keep them cool? And maybe the boards were there to keep the containers off the bottom of the tank? I recall my grandmother had a milk can buried in a corner of the barn for just that purpose in the days before refrigerators. She'd put the milk bottles down there to stay cool. The wild animals couldn't get to it in the building and through the lid, and the earth acted as insulation on hot summer days. Just a thought.

Absolutely it could have been something to keep food cold. Just looking for ideas and clues. Did not think about keeping food cold. Mary ann

 

[NGE]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

It could also have been an old cistern........ Not GE

 

[relichunters]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

Awesome find

 

[toolman61]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

Hope the paint cans weren't filled with the bills! Since you threw them out. Hope you find the goodies! Also could be stashed in the house somewhere.. HH Tom

 

[wirelessworldinc]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

Hope the paint cans weren't filled with the bills! Since you threw them out. Hope you find the goodies! Also could be stashed in the house somewhere.. HH Tom

I hope that is not where any money was. That would be so obvious, nobody would ever think of looking in a paint can. Mary ann

 

[olepossum]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

start checking your house for any repair work those boards look lik ehte boards that were used to build walls when they done plaster lath walls it might be in the walls or a hidden room in the house does the inside look smaller than the outside does in places never hurts to check.

 

[Lt1stone]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

A lot of times there was more than just one place to stash the cash. Your liable to find the good stuff!

 

[chipveres]

Re: dug a hole and look what I found

Definitely an awsome find! Have you been able to identify the container? I mean, what did it do before it was buried? That could be a big clue.

Chip V.