There is no "one size fits all" when it come to this stuff. I have two locations where I believe chests/barrels may be buried. I am working on confirming the existence of something being buried at each spot. One is on a beach and the other is way up on dry land near a river. These locations were given to me by someone that I will refer to as a "remote viewer". If you absolutely do not believe in this ability please stop reading my posts or try to control yourself and keep the negativity to a minimum. Constant harassment by the "neggars", a term I made up for negative people, gets really old and I don't need it. Constructive criticism is fine.
The beach site is on what was once a barrier island. It is now heavily populated and there are condos very close by. No digging or excavating could be accomplished without having an audience. I believe there is also some gold out in the water as it may all be from the same shipwreck. The water in the area is only about 20 feet deep even a mile or two offshore. The cargo laden ships were anchored well offshore as they may have drawn well over 20 feet when loaded. They may have even just been passing by. A storm or hurricane came in, lifted them in the wave crest and pounded them onto the bottom as the swells came and went. Their bottom would have eventually busted open. After the storm the ships were easily accessible although totally wrecked.
The survivors would then have taken off any valuables that they could get their hands on. They may have dug a shallow hole and placed an empty chest or barrel in it. As they retrieved the treasure they would place it in the container and keep it covered when not in use. As this was a barrier island they may have eventually made their way off of it with the hopes of coming back for their stash. Maybe they came back or maybe not. Maybe they came back but their "markers" for the chest were now gone. Maybe they drew a big X in the sand and it got washed away (just joking).
This chest may have originally been buried at no more than 2 or 3 feet. As storms or hurricanes came and went the beach would be washed away or added to. As this occurred the chest would continue to sink until it reached the hardpan or limestone bedrock. There it would sit until this day. This scenario seems very plausible to me. The remote viewer has told me the gold/silver sits at about 9 feet. I have brought in one individual with electronics to try to verify this location. I parked well off from this spot and I stayed in my vehicle without giving him the location. Within 15 minutes he was back to my vehicle and said it was a very large reading of gold. He led me to the spot and it was the same exact spot the remote viewer had given me.
I have talked extensively with the local code enforcement and chief of police about this. They are ready willing and able to help me with this. We have talked about splitting it and I will only do this dig if it is all legal and transparent. It is located on city property. It is not a state park, county or state property. They are waiting for my next move. I will be bringing more electronics in to see what each device has to say. You cannot easily dig a 9 foot hole on this beach but it can be done.
Chest number two is well up on high and dry land near a major river. A pirate chest filled with gold was found nearby many years ago. My remote viewer has said it is located about 10 feet down. One of the reasons I showed some of my dug holes on here was to show how quickly and easily a hole could be dug by one guy and if you had two or three or more it would be much easier.
I am sure that the majority of the time personal stashes or small boxes/chests were buried quickly and easily at depths of 1-4 feet. Sometimes however there may have been a reason to bury a larger stash much deeper. They would not have been carrying a large gold filled chest as it would have been way to heavy. They would have dug a deep hole, placed the chest or barrel at the bottom and then filled it up. I am sure they intended to come back and dig it up but bad things happen to bad people. There it sits waiting to be recovered. Too deep to be easily detected or dug up. Just waiting for the right guy/s to come along (me).
Whether anyone reading this believes these scenarios does not really matter. These treasures are either there or they are not. There is only one sure-fire way to find out as far as I know. That is to dig a deep hole in just the right spot. As soon as the contracts are in place I will get more serious on the electronics and then go from there.