Hello every body!!! I have one of "those" stories that is driving me crazy!!

[Au Fever]

First off hello to everyone here, and thanks for such a great forum!

I will apologize up front for posting a question like this with my first post ... but I hope you can give me some advice.


I dont even own a detector yet...I decided to read up on how they work and learn as much as I could about detecting before going out and buying my first machine. I still have not made up my mind, but I found a new White's V3X for $700...and I am leaning that direction at the moment.

Ok, so here is the story that is driving me crazy:

In 1931 my grandfather sold a car to a local gentleman. The man was a relatively successful repairing equipment for the farmers. My grandpa delivered the car to his home to collect payment. The man invited him inside. He asked my grandpa to wait there and grabbed a lantern and a shovel.

He returned abut 10 minutes later and paid for the car in gold. This was not uncommon to my grandpa at the time, as many did not trust banks (including my farmer grandpa). They had a conversation about this distrust and it was revealed that he kept NO money in banks, and he did not have a wife or family to worry about. I know this sounds like a strange thing to tell another person, but it was a different world back then. Trust and honor was much more abundant it seems.


2 days later the man died.


My grandpa never told any one about the story...wondering for years about snooping around the property. My grandpa finally told my father about it in the 1950's. My dad drove by the property every day for decades.


Original house is still there. Original out building still there (pretty bad shape, but it is still standing) The property is pretty much as it was in 1931 - only the home has been remodeled and updated.


I was told the story about 10 years ago, and I drive by the place every now and then...just thinking, but keeping my lips shut...until now. The home is occupied (we don't know the people).


How would one even begin to approach the owners? It seems to me that as soon as you told them what might be "buried in the barn"....all bets would be off on splitting anything. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" comes to mind.


Do any of you have experience with a situation like this?

[Dirt Nuker]

Save your money for now. I'll be happy to MD it for you until you get your new machine.

As for the story.....wow. Some people would sell their souls to hit a place like that. I have no idea how to approach a situation like that but I would definitely take my time with it. Get to know the people first (email if you can get it). Start to share some family stories of the property, maybe some stories of when your dad played there as a kid. Maybe mention some stories about playing with old metal toys that were long gone, grandpa's missing ring, etc. Tell then ANYTHING besides what you suspect might be hidden.

If you find anything though, that's a whole new ballgame. If you get permission, you had better have some sort of written agreement in place.

[cfuller3]

You'll get plenty of folks offering to help you save your money... me included... ha. Just the kind of friendly people we are on here...... ya know? I think you're making a good decision with the White's machine. Very stable, solid, service if needed, beholding to none. Good choice. Good luck and welcome.

[Terry Soloman]

So Baconater, sorry, let me make sure I understand this.. You want to steal possible hidden treasure from private property by tricking the owner?

Why not do the right thing and talk to the property owner. At least THEN, you have a 50/50 shot at getting something out of it besides prison.

What the heck people?

[PAMD Tim]

Make an offer to buy the property.

[007tallguy]

that's a good question.

in a way, your information is hear-say. not to knock your grandfather or your father, but you really have no way of knowing if the information about buried money is valid or not.
one thing that you DO know... for SURE... is that it is a fairly old property, you can remember it from years ago and you know it hasn't been touched, other then the renovations to the actual house. and that's probably the best basis to go with for trying to get permission to detect on it.
i know that might sound a bit misleading, but it's a good way to get your foot in the door without raising any suspicions and a strong "No" from the land owner.
if given permission, you could throw in an offhand remark that if you find a bunch of gold, you'll split it. or you could not mention it at all, that's going to have to be a judgement call on your part.
"IF" there's money buried there, will it be one bottle or 10? will your machine even be able to pick it up "if" it's there?
personally, i wouldn't tell ANY landowner that i think there's some big riches awaiting for me to find them. BUT: i'm also the kind of person who, when i DO find something on someone else's land, i bring it to their attention. heck, i've dug pennies that i've offered to owners. lol, what would i do if i found a bunch of gold coins? my conscience tells me to make them aware of the find.
and other than mentioning the possibility of finding and returning personal belongings that the owners may have lost, the only other items i ever mention when asking for permission are things of historical to the property or to the area in general. one example would be, say... a coin minted the year the house was built. if you're in the US, maybe a Civil war relic, those sorts of things. anything else tends to end up being mine.

Pete

[allank]

Originally Posted by Terry Soloman

So Baconater, sorry, let me make sure I understand this.. You want to steal possible hidden treasure from private property by tricking the owner?

Why not do the right thing and talk to the property owner. At least THEN, you have a 50/50 shot at getting something out of it besides prison.

What the heck people?

Yep, common decency needs to come into play

[Dirt Nuker]

Originally Posted by Terry Soloman

So Baconater, sorry, let me make sure I understand this.. You want to steal possible hidden treasure from private property by tricking the owner?

No, no, no. That's not it at all.

If you say "Can I MD your property? I would like to look for some old family items?". They'll say "Sure, no problem".

If you say "Can I MD your property? I have a suspicion there's a bag of gold buried here somewhere. We can split it 50-50". You'll hear "No" and then see him leave skidmarks to go get his own MD.

No point in showing your cards until you've won some of the pot.

As for the apparent question of my character, I'll let the masses here know I'll be searching for a $2000 set of rings tomorrow that I have already said will be returned to the owner for the low, low price of a nice picture of the return instead of the $250 cash reward posted.

[Vethraxx]

Didn't the just recently delete and chastise a couple users for asking shady questions and giving equally shadey advise?

[KingTotsalot]

This is all hearsay as was stated before. After you get to know the folks, tell them you would really enjoy MDing the property because it holds many memories for your family. And...if you find anything of value, they will be given half of it. Even old rings, relics, and coins.

And then follow through on that promise! Until you do find a jar of gold or anything else of value, you are still operating on hearsay.

If you find goodies, then the first time, let them have first pick...and if you find goodies again...then 2nd time...you get first pick. And you alternate picking from the pile until all the finds are divided.

That way all is fair...you get half as finder and they get half as owner. If they agree to that verbally, then write it down and you and them sign it...just to be safe.

That's not trickery...its called a legal and binding contract...if you do it all above board and honestly.

And do remember, if you find the first jar of gold...they can cancel that contract anytime they wish...they are the property owners.

[joee5]

Think you need to come clean and be honest with the current homeowners and not try to BS them outta what's rightfully theirs.
Though I'd like as much as you to get that there buried treasure, without their approval you just cant go and sneak it out from under them. That'd be stealing and trespassing as well.

[ewemule]

See if they need help with yard work. Or some other odd jobs and when you're comfortable with them ask if you could poke around a bit.
Good luck !
Marty

[MADCLADDER]

I would NOT mention the possible gold but I would tell the owner this " I'd like to detect old property and if you allow me to I will divide my findings 50/50" Better to get 50% than have him buy a detector and do it himself. Again get it in writing!!!!

[NHKeith]

KISS

Keep it simple smarty.

you don't know for sure, if there is really anything there.

[BADBAJA]

Get to know them. Seems pretty simple. I go out of my way to know all my neighbors. I belive it's even called being neighborly. What you may or may not have is called privileged information. You can use it at YOUR discretion since it is yours. Just as the gold would be theirs if found on said property. Now you have the decision if they would be worthy of YOUR information, or if you want to use the info to better yourself through deception of said neighbor( you know what your really searching for anything besides that is not the intended treasure you seek). It sounds like you would let the owner know. Finding some ring for no reward is not the same as a bucket-bag full of gold coins.

I am not saying its good or bad to share the info because it is your privileged info. Your not the only person with privileged information. Mine haunts me daily as well. Good luck and get to know your neighbor anyways. They probably just let you hit it up anyhow and think you would do right thing or you wouldn't have asked us. Sorry to ramble. Been up late.


It's not money that kills its the greed for it.

[Joves]

Originally Posted by KingTotsalot

This is all hearsay as was stated before. After you get to know the folks, tell them you would really enjoy MDing the property because it holds many memories for your family. And...if you find anything of value, they will be given half of it. Even old rings, relics, and coins.

And then follow through on that promise! Until you do find a jar of gold or anything else of value, you are still operating on hearsay.

If you find goodies, then the first time, let them have first pick...and if you find goodies again...then 2nd time...you get first pick. And you alternate picking from the pile until all the finds are divided.

That way all is fair...you get half as finder and they get half as owner. If they agree to that verbally, then write it down and you and them sign it...just to be safe.

That's not trickery...its called a legal and binding contract...if you do it all above board and honestly.

And do remember, if you find the first jar of gold...they can cancel that contract anytime they wish...they are the property owners.

I have to agree with the King on this. Telling the people you have prior history with the house may very well help. THen say you would like to detect there since you just started the hobby, if you have to offer a 50/50 split. Also make up a written agreement, so there is no memory loss on the part of the new owners if you do find a cache.

[DIRT DOBBER]

I don't know guys that I would approach this one any different than I approach any hunt. I consider myself above reproach as far as honesty goes but I don't see an issue with hunting this property exactly like any other property. I always go assuming there is lost treasure at a site and I almost always find out some sort of info on the property beforehand. I do think "defrauding a homeowner out of what is rightfully their's" is a bit of an overstatement as we all hunt properties with the hopes of finding something valuable to at least ourselves and if something great is found I challenge anyone to say that they go running to the property owner to hand it over. 'Permission to hunt' is just that. Permission to hunt. I ask for it and they give it and I thank them for their generosity. It is implicit and understood in my request that I look for, find, collect, and in most cases hoard, old coins. YMMV.

May it please the court. I may adjust my position if the current homeowner is a direct relation of and to the old 'gold hoarder' in question.

Maybe not....I am.....after all....a treasure hunter and my homeowners know I'm there to pillage their land of valuable coinage......and they love me for it.

The Defense rests.

Case dismissed.

[vanstheman3]

Keep your suspicions to yourself for sure. A simple "I believe anyplace this old could have many interesting finds" is plenty to state while asking permission and offering 25% of finds to start, then go up if you have to to half. You might get permission easily, you might have to offer and pay 50%? If I found anything I would photograph it in the ground and cover it back up then search the rest of the property and when done, take the owner/owners out so they can watch as you pull all hoards out of the ground on your last day there. That way you don't get chased off until you are finished searching. Then split the stuff before you leave. according to agreement and your business is done. If you came to my door and asked me to search and told me the gold hoard story I would run you off and be at Walmart in 10 minutes buying my own cheapo detector and searching myself. Don't cheat anyone but don't get cheated either. Learn before you do anything, how to cut a plug or flap and save your fill on a towel and fill holes back in and replace the plug or flap and leave the place like you were never there, nobody wants their property to look like a war zone...Take Care and Good Luck and Happy Hunting from Lake Dallas Texas,,,,Vans

[DIRT DOBBER]

Originally Posted by vanstheman3

Keep your suspicions to yourself for sure. A simple "I believe anyplace this old could have many interesting finds" is plenty to state while asking permission and offering 25% of finds to start, then go up if you have to to half. You might get permission easily, you might have to offer and pay 50%? If I found anything I would photograph it in the ground and cover it back up then search the rest of the property and when done, take the owner/owners out so they can watch as you pull all hoards out of the ground on your last day there. That way you don't get chased off until you are finished searching. Then split the stuff before you leave. according to agreement and your business is done. If you came to my door and asked me to search and told me the gold hoard story I would run you off and be at Walmart in 10 minutes buying my own cheapo detector and searching myself. Don't cheat anyone but don't get cheated either. Learn before you do anything, how to cut a plug or flap and save your fill on a towel and fill holes back in and replace the plug or flap and leave the place like you were never there, nobody wants their property to look like a war zone...Take Care and Good Luck and Happy Hunting from Lake Dallas Texas,,,,Vans

Please don't mention splitting finds. It makes the homeowner think they have valuable items spread all over the yard. It will reduce your 'yes' responses by many times. Gauranteed. Take it to the bank. Just say something to the effect of:

"Hi, my name's Bobby and I live up the road. I collect old coins and I was wondering if I could talk you into letting me metal detect in your field/pasture/yard there." Now smile and shut up. If they say 'no' say "thanks alot for your consideration. I really appreciate it. You have a beautiful place here. Thanks again". If you can start up a conversation after a 'no' it will turn into a 'yes' after they shoot the breeze with you for a few minutes and realize you're not a crazy person. If not, move on. If they say 'Yes', reply, "Thanks! Where would be a good place for me to park so I'm not in your way." and go get your gear.

[Milhaus]

double post