Known location of a US PENNY hoard

beetle662

Bronze Member
Jul 25, 2003
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Independence, KY
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Nokta Makro Simplex+
Back around 2006 or so, an acquaintance of mine had informed me he had buried several thousand pennies in this backyard, simply because he hated them. He saved them in some sort of large container and then just dumped them in a hole in the backyard. His house was built in the 40's and knowing that I metal detected, he invited me to come out and detect, and was curious if I could find the buried penny hoard.
After a few days, I met him at his house and he was waiting with shovel in hand. Pointed to the general area where he buried them and said "I don't want to dig them up, I just want to show you". Well, sure enough, the Ace250 I was using at the time was going nuts when I get to the area. Smile on his face he says "watch this", shoves the spade in the ground, pushes down with his foot, and flips over the cut revealing pennies... imagine the sound of shoving a shovel blade into a mountain of pennies. That's what it sounded like. So he flips the plug back over and says "you know they're here, come get them after I die. " I did swing in his side yard between the driveway and kitchen door and found a 1956 quarter, which I gave him as that was his birth year.
My friend had Parkinson's disease. I met him during my patrol duties at the PD when he'd be walking his dog at the park. A super friendly guy with a lot of community input and information to share while keeping a low profile. I retired from the PD in 2012, and was told by a colleague that he had passed from this world about 5 or 6 years later. When I was told, I suddenly remembered the pennies and the "come get them when I die" comment. As I recall the conversations with him about the pennies, like I said, he buried them because he hated dealing with them. He did not discriminate on pennies, they were ALL no good. And from the best of my recollection, his estimate was that there is at least 10,000 pennies buried there (and foreign coins... he refused to spend the foreign coins).
Obviously, this is more than a knock and talk issue. While not a huge some of money, I feel I need to file in civil court for some sort of right to recover. It might turn out to be $100 in pennies, but it might turn in to something more, and I feel like I can't let that go.
I'm in Kentucky, so if you've had to go through some court order in Kentucky to dig, please feel free to fill me in. I just haven't gone in to researching the process yet as I dealt with the "criminal" side of the law at the PD.
Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any input!
 

I would think that the person who now owns the property is the person to contact. I don't think you have a case to back up digging up their property based on what your old friend told you. Go and see if you can get in good with the current resident and tell your story. They may say no and dig it themselves or maybe they will team up on it or even tell you to go and get it for yourself. I don't think the courts will offer any help.
 

I've been pitching like little frisbee's zincolns over my fence that borders a greenbelt for years now. I save all the pre 82' cents.
 

I would think that the person who now owns the property is the person to contact. I don't think you have a case to back up digging up their property based on what your old friend told you. Go and see if you can get in good with the current resident and tell your story. They may say no and dig it themselves or maybe they will team up on it or even tell you to go and get it for yourself. I don't think the courts will offer any help.
I could potentially get a ruling in my favor since I personally know and have seen them there. (There is caselaw on this that I researched several years ago when I considered my grandparents property as my grandfather was known to bury money, but no one in the family had personal knowledge of what was buried and where it was buried, only that grandma had said he did... and that would not be enough to get a favorable rulling).
Regardless, I researched PVA and found the owner of the property, who happens to be the sister of an old friend / coworker of mine. He is asking her for me and doesn't think it would be a problem. I'll be sure to post updates!
 

I've been pitching like little frisbee's zincolns over my fence that borders a greenbelt for years now. I save all the pre 82' cents.
Hahah! Yea, I get it... but I'd be more than happy to dig these up if half of them are copper, and maybe a few wheats and other unknowns in there. Like I said, he didn't discriminate... if it was a penny, he wasn't keeping it.
 

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