A Modern Day Treasure Story

[plidn1]

Back in the 80's I had a close friend and working associate come to me and ask if I still had a metal detector. I told him yes and this story started to unfold.

My friend was in a business where he made LOTS of money under the table. So in order to hide it, he was buying gold and silver coins and hiding it under his house.
He told no one about, it not even his wife.
He had buried the coins in containers and ran a wire with a flag to the surface so he could find them.
Then one day he had a massive heart attack.
When he recovered, he got scared and went under the house to dig up his massive hoard.

He almost had another heart attack when he found that his wires had rusted away and he had no idea where the coins were.
He told me he had dug many of them up but several ozs of both gold and silver were lost.
This is where I came into the picture.
I was working some very long hours and didn't get a chance to get over there right away. Some time passed and he sold the house.
A few years later he passed.

This house is not too far from me in a nice neighborhood. I drive buy there every once in a while and wonder just how much gold and silver is still there.
But then I just have to wonder how many other banks are in the neighbor hood.

 

[mudpuppy]

Plidn1, I love this kind of stuff! I got one too!

My Aunt was married to a survivalist, her third husband, she's a triple widow, he had a big farm with underground fuel tanks, a false wall in the basement behind which he built a massive concrete bunker, in which was a whole arsenal, including crossbows and air guns, canned food, water, had a pole barn full of mopeds, had horses and buggies and all the gear, a full selection of medical equipment, even had a shed full of bags of grain and rice and whatnot...This dude was seriously into his hobby! Didnt trust the Govt or banks..had the whole scenario all worked out in his head..

He was always talking about hoarding gold and silver, preparing for a massive collapse of society..He was smart too, knew all the tricks about 'post hole banks' etc...Then one day on the way home from church, he blew up from a massive heart attack and died behind the wheel!...Luckily, my Aunt was able to get the vehicle pulled over...

Anyway, just last weekend I visited with her, and out of the blue, as I was talking about my metal detecting exploits, she wondered what ever happened to Ol' &%$'s gold? She said he had a massive amount, but she had no idea where he hid it or what ever became of it. .All his kids ransacked the place after his death, the guns and any decent gear they took, all the bags of grain mice got in and spoiled, one of the kids figured out how to get the fuel out of the ground and pumped that tank dry! Those kids knew about Ol' &%$'s gold too, so I'm sure they looked for it. If they found it, she is unaware, she simply doesnt know. She sold the farm after his death and moved on...its about 4 miles from where I'm sitting right now! This was back in the late 80's when I was living out West, so I had no part of the deal until after the fact...but now I'm thinking...did one of those kids ever find his stash of gold and silver? Or is it still out there? Knowing Ol' &%$, and how he was a master of his craft, I'm sure he took great pains to hide it deep and masked, probably under re-inforced concrete, or somewhere nobody could pick it up with a detector...
Mud

 

[plidn1]

That's a good one to follow up on. The gold is probably still there. And most of the time it is buried in plain sight.
Some day they will be rebuilding there and a tractor will dig it up putting in a new road or foundation.

That's how Jimmy Sierra found the old goat herder's hoard. They were cutting a new road on the property and hit several jars of silver coins.
Because Jimmy had been hounding them to hunt there, they called him in. He found a little more, but the bulk of it is still buried some where on the property.

 

[mudpuppy]

I dont want to think about it too much, I may do a bit more research, I have sort of a relationship with one of the kids since we travel the same circle in a different venue...I seriously doubt If I asked straight up that he would tell me if He found it, or what he knows about it...but you never know, a few beers at the right time get lips flapping...anyway, I figure like you, theres a lot of bags and jars full of silver and gold that was hidden and lost to death and the ages....every so often a guy reads an account, like those folks out in Cali that kicked that rusty can along that trail last year full of mint gold coins...
Mud

 

[plidn1]

Usually, if someone finds a hoard like that, even if they don't say anything,
their life style will change. They will buy a new car or house, new wardrobe, something will change in their life.
It will be very evident.

 

[Goldstrike]

Mud......I'll spring for a back hoe and whatever it takes to retrieve that stash!! pm me plidn1 Is the house occupied? If there is gold there, it's worth the effort to retrieve but if there are only a few ounce's of silver, I wouldn't bother, unless it's old silver with a chance of rare dates. Silver prices are still stagnating around $15 and change an ounce now and gold is $1100 and change, far lower than last year so you have to way up how much it would cost to recover and if you have to share the proceeds with the new owner of the house! If I had the time and money, I would love to be a cache hunter because I'm sure there are lots of them around waiting to be discovered!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I don't mean to be a kill-joy, but ..... after 38-ish years of this ....... if I had a dollar for every "sure-fired treasure" story ....... I wouldn't need to metal detect anymore. I don't put much stock in them any more. Lots of passerbys, relatives, friends, etc... who "know someone who knows someone who knows someone...." etc... And all the great stories of "missing wealth sure to be in the basement", etc.... Fun to listen to though

 

[BillF]

In the late '20s or early '30s a couple of fellows robbed the Bank of Dishman. They made a getaway with a few thousand dollars in bills, silver and possibly gold coin. The sheriff organized a posse and tracked the men to a small town south of Dishman called Rockford. Apparently the house was surrounded for a day or so and the men were finally apprehended, minus the stolen loot, which was never recovered. From the recollection of one of the posse men, they could see all around the house except for the area of the well.
In 1977 I get a phone call from my father telling me to grab my detector and head to Bill Petersons house, in Rockford. When I arrive at Bill's I get the story of the bank robbery and how he was told by one of the old-timers that were in the posse that they think the money might have been hidden in the well.
I grabbed my trusty Compass and get lowered over the side. I start at the bottom and slowly work my way up the sides. About 5 feet from the top I get a very loud,large signal. Eureka! We've found the mother load! At that point Bill asks me to come up out of the well and says he wants to wait. Wait??? What the....
A year goes by and I get another call from my father. "Come on up to Bill's" he says, "Bill wants to dig that up". so, I hot foot it up to Bills place and after some discussion about splitting the loot I start digging. After getting down about 4 1/2 feet and a foot out from the well wall I hit my prize. Oh Joy!
An old shovel.

Hope Bill found his hidden loot, Rest in Peace Bill.

 

[JB(MS)]

In the mid 1980's a friend was clearing a right of way for a new telephone line in Becker bottom, maybe five miles from where I live, with a bulldozer and pushed up a large mouth gallon jug full of $100 bills. The sheriff was contacted and he took the jug and money. Two women who had been involved with the Bufford Pusser thing in McNairy county Tennessee had been found shot dead in a car about a quarter mile away three weeks earlier and the sheriff was sure they had been involved in a drug ring operating in this area and was sure the money in the jug was drug money. Finding the jug full of money was shown on tv and in the newspapers, but it wasn't drug money. Old man Agee, who was 80 years old and had a tractor and equipment business in Becker, claimed it belonged to him. The sheriff wouldn't let him have it and Agee went to the lawyer my daughter worked for as a paralegal. Agee and the lawyer notified the sheriff and Agee took them to where the money was found and dug up another jug full of $100 bills not far from where the other jug was pushed up. There was a over $100,000 in the two jugs, and since Agee dug up the second jug and showed them where the first one had been it was given to him. He claimed his wife was threatening to divorce him and he had hid the money so she wouldn't get it, but she got it anyway as he died less than three months later.

 

[oneguy]

I've stashed 200 Morgans, another 100+ oz. silver bullion, and 13oz. gold and get a warm fuzzy feeling having the stuff "hidden". Only my mom, brother & sister know where it's hidden. I often laugh when I tell them that whom ever gets there first (they live clean acrossed the country) gets it! It ain't buried but "hidden". Being a "treasure kinda guy" I know that we are only temporary keepers of the coins and enjoy them for the short periods of time that we possess them. I get a kick from knowing that when I die (single) that if someone else stumbles onto my stash before brother or sister get here (HIGHLY possible) that somebody is gonna have a pretty good day, along with their own "treasure story" about the day they found the old bastards stash.....lmao!!!!!

He claimed his wife was threatening to divorce him and he had hid the money so she wouldn't get it

A guy I worked with had 6g's hidden from his wife under his house for the exact same reasons....lol This kinda stuff goes on all the time, everywhere, and will never stop so you just never know when or where it may be YOUR lucky day.....

 

[plidn1]

I don't mean to be a kill-joy, but ..... after 38-ish years of this ....... if I had a dollar for every "sure-fired treasure" story ....... I wouldn't need to metal detect anymore. I don't put much stock in them any more. Lots of passerbys, relatives, friends, etc... who "know someone who knows someone who knows someone...." etc... And all the great stories of "missing wealth sure to be in the basement", etc.... Fun to listen to though

The difference is, I was part of the story.
The money is still there. Enough of it that I tried to buy the house.

 

[plidn1]

I have an Aunt, that to this day, refuses to use a bank, and her money is hidden in her basement.

My second wife's grand parents owned motels in Oregon. When they died, many thousands of dollars was
found hidden all over their house. It was stuffed everywhere you could think of. They never did know if they found it all.

Back in the 80's I used to research train robberies. One turned out to be practically in my back yard.
We narrowed it to a 5 acre piece of ground. I tried to buy the property but the guy wouldn't sell. It has now been sold and as far as I know the 20 pound sack of $20 gold pieces is still buried there.

I too have several thousand dollars stashed for a number of reasons.
That's kind of ironic that I may become the center of a treasure story some day.

 

[hatpin]

A cousin if mine dug up 18,000 dollars out of the crawl space under his house.The money was in Mason jars, so I always check carefully when I find mason jar lids. The house was rundown and in a poor neighborhood but at one time it was brand new and in a new neighborhood.

One family story dates back to the civil war. I live in Missouri and these sort of acts are historical facts. A distant relative had some gold. I have no idea how much. He was warned that marauders were on the way get it.He took it outside and hid it . He was not gone long. The "marauders " showed up demanding the gold and he refused to give it up. He was beaten to death. No one knew where he hid it.

I also saw a letter that came from a family bible. Jesse James and his gang use to camp at a relatives land. The woman of the house was a friend of the James boys mother and allowed them to stay whenever they came through. Her husband had enough of this and left her. His last words to her was "Go to hell old woman." I have no reason to believe that they stashed money there but Id like to find the land and explore.

I have hunted for treasure. This is a historical story and is written about in local history books. The first settlement in this area was a frenchman and his crew. They had a salt mine and were in direct competition with Daniel Boone. They shipped the salt to St Louis. Indians massacred them and killed them all. It is written that he had some money hidden. Ive searched for it at both locations. The salt lick and the settlement they set up. It was fun digging up the oldest rusty artifacts in this part of the state. Id like to get back there some day .

 

[plidn1]

A cousin if mine dug up 18,000 dollars out of the crawl space under his house.The money was in Mason jars, so I always check carefully when I find mason jar lids. The house was rundown and in a poor neighborhood but at one time it was brand new and in a new neighborhood.

One family story dates back to the civil war. I live in Missouri and these sort of acts are historical facts. A distant relative had some gold. I have no idea how much. He was warned that marauders were on the way get it.He took it outside and hid it . He was not gone long. The "marauders " showed up demanding the gold and he refused to give it up. He was beaten to death. No one knew where he hid it.

I also saw a letter that came from a family bible. Jesse James and his gang use to camp at a relatives land. The woman of the house was a friend of the James boys mother and allowed them to stay whenever they came through. Her husband had enough of this and left her. His last words to her was "Go to hell old woman." I have no reason to believe that they stashed money there but Id like to find the land and explore.

I have hunted for treasure. This is a historical story and is written about in local history books. The first settlement in this area was a frenchman and his crew. They had a salt mine and were in direct competition with Daniel Boone. They shipped the salt to St Louis. Indians massacred them and killed them all. It is written that he had some money hidden. Ive searched for it at both locations. The salt lick and the settlement they set up. It was fun digging up the oldest rusty artifacts in this part of the state. Id like to get back there some day .

Hatpin,
My best friend lives in Nevada. Been in the Joplin area many times. Lots of history out there.
What part of MO. are you in?
I am due for a trip back soon.

 

[hatpin]

I live in Northeast Missouri. A long way from the southwest Mo.

 

[mudpuppy]

Tom_in_CA! You spoilsport! Dont deprive us of the dreams! Tell us about one of your early days goose chases! I know you have to have at least one!

A fellow has to mentally prepare about these things so a guy is ready when (or if) a cache is found...or at least familiar enough with the concept to take a little time to hunt the right signals in the right locations should the opportunity arise...Thats why a guy gets geeked when he finds a mason jar lid in the backyard of an old home site under a lilac bush or apple tree.....if he's thinking about hidden jars of coins that is....banks are a relatively new concept, and for good reason folks dont trust them...even today at any given moment the .gov could sweep in and clean out a fellow's account and safety deposit box and the bank will let them do it!

So a guy always needs some 'road money' just in case a fellow has to light out for the territories in a double quick hurry...its just the prudent thing to do...and all sorts of folks did and still do stash some loot in the ground or in some 'secret' place....Its incumbent upon us to go and find it! Or at least dream about finding it! .
Mud

 

[Tom_in_CA]

As I said, there's been no shortage of folks who, .... once they find out your into metal detecting (or they just walk up and approach you in the park, etc...), they spin some yarn about a sure-fired treasure lead. And ... naturally, ... . it's all iron-clad first-hand from "reliable sources".

But the true source of my skepticism, is that in my area, we have a lot of immigrant agriculture workers from south-of-the-border. And the Mexican/Latin culture is STEEPED in treasure lore. It's almost comical. Every single one of these first generation immigrants you talk to, regales you with tales of "certain treasures in a cave in the mountains". Or "treasure certain to be in the floor of certain ruins in their home town". And when you press them for details, it *seems* iron-clad. But when you press them further, it's always "someone who told someone who told someone", blah blah. Or worse yet, when you ask the evidence, they'll cite things like "smoke coming from the ground" or "sparkles they saw in a dream" or some such superstitious silly things. And heaven help you if you tell them it's superstition. Neeeoohhh. The treasure is most certainly there, "so long as you have a detector that goes 20 ft. deep", blah blah blah

I actually went on a long trip throughout the Sierra Madres chasing several such stories (that all sounded so iron-clad before my host and I left the USA on the trip). But one-by-one when we got there, the "he said she said " truths, and smoke and lights and visions/dreams stuff started to come out as the "proofs". At that point, I decided in my mind that they're all just silly superstitions.

Now I realize that our USA culture is not *quite* steeped in cultural superstitions as this. Still though, the human psyche being what it is, you'll notice that people will gravitate to believing any story. And don't question the other alternative "outs" of the story. Why? Because we want so-hard to believe, "lest we be left out". So for this reason, I dismiss most all of them as simple embellished tales, not matter HOW first hand someone claims they are.

 

[mudpuppy]

Ha! Thats what we want to hear! A trip into the Sierra Madres chasing treasure! Good on you!

Me and the Kens Cooler baitshop boys in Guntersville Alabama, went searching for the grave of the lost soldiers...Whitey's son Chris, had a knack for research, one day as we were standing around bullcrapping, background music provided by the happy tune of crickets chirping in the bait hopper, he regaled us with an old document he found at the local library of how some Union soldiers were captured and allegedly marched to Andersonville, GA...funny thing is, he said, further documentation revealed the Rebel guard party was back home before nightfall, so we all surmised, and rightly so, they killed those Yankees and stuffed them into one of the various limestone sinkholes along the old trail, most likely moved a big slab over the hole!... Cotton, the eldest, (who was born without clavicles) verified the story as he recollected his Great grandpap mentioned the exact same thing! Woody, Big Ryan, Me and the Harris boys, sort of came up with a gang, and an informal search party was duly established...(I was called 'Lucky' back then, for I was and still am) ...We had a blast chasing this dream! My wife would ask, "Where are you off to?" I would say, "I'm going stiff hunting with the Apple Dumpling Gang!"

Nothing ever came of it, but we sure had fun! Tromping around on the old trail along the mountain, flipping over boulders looking for a pile of Union stiffs!...This was in the Mid-late 90's, ..one of my best treasure hunts ever! By God I'll chase anything if it gets me out of the house!
Mud

 

[Mxt Sniper]

My great great great great aunt was Sally Skull, she was legend in south Texas back in the day. Said to have had six husbands in her lifetime and killed two of them herself. My mom said that she remembered seeing the relatives display a big picture at every family reunion way back of Sally seated on one of her buckboards from her freighting business days sporting a pair of pearl handle pistols, my friends and I are pretty sure due to research that Sally had to have buried gold when she was into cattle rustling across the border. I never knew that side of the family or pursued any of this, no desire to go to South Texas. Was raised in central Texas, I only found out about Sally thru a cousin that pointed me to the several historical writeups about her on the net. Fascinating reading anyway.

 

[Dancer]

There's a nice kept up farm near me. Owner only plants corn now. Easy sloping hills. Farm sits in middle of old local old wagon trails. Always wanted to ask permission to hunt fresh plowed fields before planting. Trouble is, owner after coming home from that crazy Asian war around 40 yrs ago. Got jamed up with the law back than. Big raid looking for buried loot (rumored 100K) plus firearms. Ended up serving some hard time. After wards came home , worked hard. Now does good deeds involving Veterans. How do you ask to dig up that farm?