Tom_in_CA
Gold Member
- Mar 23, 2007
- 13,804
- 10,336
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
I wrote this out a few years ago, but it bears repeating:
Any time we md'rs read a treasure legend, they're always fun to read. And they always seem iron-clad true. Who can doubt them, once you've thrown in a few faded newspaper clippings, symbols on rocks, etc... eh ? And how about those stories that your well-meaning friends and relatives pass on to you (once they find out you're into md'ing). They know a treasure they heard about, and they spill the fabulous story that just awaits the first guy to try that cave, or farm or whatever with a detector.
Consider the following true story:
A friend of mine was hitting an oldtown sidewalk tearout project in his city years ago. The workers were tearing out, and replacing each section , all in the same day. The project took several weeks. D/t they did the entire multiple block area, working their way up one side of the downtown district, and back down the other. So in order to hit the dirt before they cemented it over, he was forced to hunt on their lunch hour, while the dirt sat exposed.
Eventually , the workers became curious. And would come over to see what he was finding. My friend "greased the wheels" by passing out common V nickels, IH's, etc... to the workers. They were amazed!
One day, my friend found some sort of amulet pendant thing, about the size of a chess piece. It was in the shape of an owl. It was gold in color, and had some sort of red jewel things for the eyes. When the workers came to see his daily finds that day, he showed them the owl thing. He mused: "It might be gold" (on account of the gold color). And pointing to the eyes he said: "They might be rubies". And then mused "could be from the 1870s/80s" (as that was the age of some of the coins from this stretch of block). Needless to say, the workers were amazed once again.
That night, my friend got home and sorted out his finds. When he got to the owl thing, he cleaned it and studied it. Turns out it was just gold plated. Not gold. And turns out the red eyes were just glass chips, not rubies. So it turned out it was just cheap 1920s costume jewelry. So he promptly threw it in the trash.
The next day, my friend was back out again trying his luck. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone on a tractor who kept watching him. This was apparently some new worker, who hadn't previously been on this job. Eventually the worker got brave enough to come over and ask why my friend was finding. Turns out that.... this day.... he hadn't found anything. Just a few pieces of junk so far.
So the worker started telling my friend how .... the day before .... another md'r had been there and "found gold coins!" My friend was startled! He immediately thought : "Oh no! Someone must've come by, after I left, and found a gold coin I must've missed" So he pumped the worker for information. The worker launched into the story of coins from the 1800s, gold, silver, etc... Then he let out a curious detail about the mysterious md'r: He said the word "owl". Immediately my friend realized that this worker was talking about HIM !
So he alerted the worker: "Hey that was me you're talking about. And no, I didn't find fistfulls of coins, just a couple. And no, none of them were gold. And no, the owl wasn't gold either, it was just junk".
But the worker would not be dissuaded. He insisted, therefore, that someone else must've come along after he'd left. How did he know ? Because he had it on reliable witnesses. Who had seen it the day before, with their own eyes. They'd all been talking around the water cooler that morning, and this new worker was listening to them.
See how quick the telephone game devolves into total silliness ? AND THAT WAS JUST A SINGLE NIGHT. Add 100 yrs. to the story, and guess what happens ? Then 100 yrs. from now, all you have to do is thrown in a faded newspaper clipping about how the downtown sidewalks were torn out. And then add in this guy's story, who .... afterall, had it from eyewitnesses! Who were duly appointed hired workers , by the city, to be there. Then someone will ask permission to tear out the sidewalks "to get the rest of the gold". The city will deny such a request. And you know what that means don't you ?? ALL THE MORE PROOF of a conspiracy to keep the gold hidden.
So whenever I read on T'net of the various legends, and persons who "got a tip from a neighbor", etc.... I sometimes wonder ......
Any time we md'rs read a treasure legend, they're always fun to read. And they always seem iron-clad true. Who can doubt them, once you've thrown in a few faded newspaper clippings, symbols on rocks, etc... eh ? And how about those stories that your well-meaning friends and relatives pass on to you (once they find out you're into md'ing). They know a treasure they heard about, and they spill the fabulous story that just awaits the first guy to try that cave, or farm or whatever with a detector.
Consider the following true story:
A friend of mine was hitting an oldtown sidewalk tearout project in his city years ago. The workers were tearing out, and replacing each section , all in the same day. The project took several weeks. D/t they did the entire multiple block area, working their way up one side of the downtown district, and back down the other. So in order to hit the dirt before they cemented it over, he was forced to hunt on their lunch hour, while the dirt sat exposed.
Eventually , the workers became curious. And would come over to see what he was finding. My friend "greased the wheels" by passing out common V nickels, IH's, etc... to the workers. They were amazed!
One day, my friend found some sort of amulet pendant thing, about the size of a chess piece. It was in the shape of an owl. It was gold in color, and had some sort of red jewel things for the eyes. When the workers came to see his daily finds that day, he showed them the owl thing. He mused: "It might be gold" (on account of the gold color). And pointing to the eyes he said: "They might be rubies". And then mused "could be from the 1870s/80s" (as that was the age of some of the coins from this stretch of block). Needless to say, the workers were amazed once again.
That night, my friend got home and sorted out his finds. When he got to the owl thing, he cleaned it and studied it. Turns out it was just gold plated. Not gold. And turns out the red eyes were just glass chips, not rubies. So it turned out it was just cheap 1920s costume jewelry. So he promptly threw it in the trash.
The next day, my friend was back out again trying his luck. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone on a tractor who kept watching him. This was apparently some new worker, who hadn't previously been on this job. Eventually the worker got brave enough to come over and ask why my friend was finding. Turns out that.... this day.... he hadn't found anything. Just a few pieces of junk so far.
So the worker started telling my friend how .... the day before .... another md'r had been there and "found gold coins!" My friend was startled! He immediately thought : "Oh no! Someone must've come by, after I left, and found a gold coin I must've missed" So he pumped the worker for information. The worker launched into the story of coins from the 1800s, gold, silver, etc... Then he let out a curious detail about the mysterious md'r: He said the word "owl". Immediately my friend realized that this worker was talking about HIM !
So he alerted the worker: "Hey that was me you're talking about. And no, I didn't find fistfulls of coins, just a couple. And no, none of them were gold. And no, the owl wasn't gold either, it was just junk".
But the worker would not be dissuaded. He insisted, therefore, that someone else must've come along after he'd left. How did he know ? Because he had it on reliable witnesses. Who had seen it the day before, with their own eyes. They'd all been talking around the water cooler that morning, and this new worker was listening to them.
See how quick the telephone game devolves into total silliness ? AND THAT WAS JUST A SINGLE NIGHT. Add 100 yrs. to the story, and guess what happens ? Then 100 yrs. from now, all you have to do is thrown in a faded newspaper clipping about how the downtown sidewalks were torn out. And then add in this guy's story, who .... afterall, had it from eyewitnesses! Who were duly appointed hired workers , by the city, to be there. Then someone will ask permission to tear out the sidewalks "to get the rest of the gold". The city will deny such a request. And you know what that means don't you ?? ALL THE MORE PROOF of a conspiracy to keep the gold hidden.
So whenever I read on T'net of the various legends, and persons who "got a tip from a neighbor", etc.... I sometimes wonder ......
