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Experienced Advice Appreciated

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RichieSoprano

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
385
Location
Maine, formerly NJ
Have a farmhouse within driving distance that was owned once by a Northern Civil War Officer. His family once stated that he had stashed away a JUG of coins somewhere on the property. While I know that "anywhere" could be the payoff location, are there llocation specific features that I should look for? It is an early to mid 1800s farmhouse with cellar, and an attached barn.
Thanks in advance!
 
RichieSoprano said:
Have a farmhouse within driving distance that was owned once by a Northern Civil War Officer. His family once stated that he had stashed away a JUG of coins somewhere on the property. While I know that "anywhere" could be the payoff location, are there llocation specific features that I should look for? It is an early to mid 1800s farmhouse with cellar, and an attached barn.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...


Sounds like a great spot to detect, I'm jealous!

You don't say where you heard the family's claim for this cache, was it in a diary or just passed down word of mouth?

If it were me, first I would check the natural places one would expect it to be, the barn floor and the base of any large trees in the yard. I would try to find as much info on this fellow as you can, personal family stuff about the man's habits, like ...did he have a favorite spot to sit in the evenings where he could watch over it....favorite fishing spot on the property, etc.

Other than that, don't forget the outhouse, lol, and good luck! I'd be all over that one!

Dit
 
RichieSoprano said:
Have a farmhouse within driving distance that was owned once by a Northern Civil War Officer. His family once stated that he had stashed away a JUG of coins somewhere on the property. While I know that "anywhere" could be the payoff location, are there llocation specific features that I should look for? It is an early to mid 1800s farmhouse with cellar, and an attached barn.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Not exactly Experienced in this but..

If I was hiding something that I would want to later locate then I would need a marker of some sort. Perhaps a fence post or nearby a Tree or corner of the house.. Something that would give me a start.

I am Pretty Sure it will not be buried in the middle of a field where you couldn't identify the exact location at a later date.

I say sit there.. look around.. Imagine what it was like 150 years ago look for "remnants" of the past.. Imagine you sitting on a front porch and look for locations close by that you could easily keep an eye on have QUICK access to if need be.

Good luck and I hope you find it !!!
 
Thanks guys. Right now someone outside the family owns it. They are hoarders and filth does not even describe it so it is on the back burner. I suspect they will eventually lose it due to non paymt of taxes or mortgage. I guess I will need to be patient. One of the officer's descendants told me about the jug. The family was aware and looked after the officer's demise, but without success. A detector was something they lacked. If I ever get in there oughtta be very interesting.
 
Couple thoughts, did u say attached Barn?

I would be shocked if it was not buried in there. The owner could get there in undetected, his digging would be shielded. The dirt ground could easily be covered with hay, not showing any activity.
 
As far as possibly being buried near a marker of some kind, hopefully it would be near something permanent and immovable, like a rock or rock wall and not something that will rot away in a few years. I would think the probable hiding spot would not be more than 50-100 feet from the main house, or as Big Treble suggested, in the attached barn (in case he needed to make a quick recovery and escape).

Try zooming in on that property using Google Earth to check for possible markers of that sort (if the Google Earth image has a lot of trees in full leaf cover, that would mask a lot of possible marker spots). Try the Historical Aerials site at https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer.

Click on Aerials, put in the address or even a nearby address and drag the current map to that location. You can then view the same spot over many time periods, although not always with great clarity.

Good luck !
 
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I have heard that people who buried money due to distrust in banks, liked to bury it within eyesight of their bedroom. The theory is that it gave peace of mind in case anyone did sneak in during night. Burying under a fence post was common also, such as the third post from the corner.

I would try finding the bedroom window and imagine what landmarks can be seen. I had a friend who detected an old homestead, who found 5 Morgan dollar coins, all nearly together nearly on top of the groud, right where there used to be a chicken house in the old days. I can imagine a chicken house would be a great spot, with an alarm system with feathers.
 
if the original house exist then you may be interested in this.

Most people back in those time hid their coins in full view of the main sitting room of the home. So stand in the window in the home and look at the view.

also post hole banks were common. Meaning they buried the coins near a fence post hole. So check for any fence remains like small round depressions, barbed wire in the ground.

also check around any outbuildings like barns, corn cribs or out houses.
 
Wow! All good advice and all of it will come in handy I am sure. Right now I am home from the VA after a prostate scope. O yeah! Gonna be a few days before I dig anything besides my nails in the wall next to the terlet(Jersey City, NJ accent from my "Uncle Tony". If ever the hoarders move on I will make an attempt and fill y'all in. Thanks sincerely!
 
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