Noob Looking For $ That Was (Likely) Stashed Somewhere On My Property :)

jaredb3000

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Messages
4
Greetings all!

I've spent a decent amount of time searching this forum, and have decided it's time to ask some questions to y'all who have been in the detecting game a while :)

My neighbor recently learned that there was a guy who used to live at my house who made quite a bit of money once!upon a time, that he did not trust banks, and it was suggested to my neighbor that I hunt the property due to the likeliness that he may have hid a decent amount of $ here. I have a solid familiarity with researching local history and decided to investigate the historical data to see if the story about this guy checked out, and he did indeed make quite a bit of money. He also used to own a laundromat!in the 60's/70's, which means if he did stash $ around here its probable it might be in the form of silver quarters :)

Unfortunately, his relative who owned the house worked for the railroad and was a bit of a hoarder, so there is quite a bit of junk metal beneath the surface and it would take 5 years to dig every metal target. As I'm selling the house this spring, I'd like to calibrate my search to maximize the possibility of finding a stash of silver coins, while also keeping the option open for any gold that may have been stashed...

I've recently purchased a Minelab xterra 705 and have a decent grasp on how to use it having spent some time with it in the yard after studying manuals & watching videos.

My approach at the moment, given the amount of junk around the yard is to look for any large metal targets in all metal mode (if there is any cash buried its gonna need to be in something big & metal or I'm probably not going to find it). I've been toggling between AM and setting #1 in the treasure hunting mode for now, and I also regularly set the threshold & grounding using the automatic function. The threshold is usually at 2.

I'm far more interested in finding a decent stash of silver quarters which is quite possible, or better yet gold considering that $1000 of gold purchased in the early 60's would be worth about 200K today. Wishful thinking on the latter, but it is possible he may have purchased some as an investment given that gold prices steadily rose during the time he lived here...

All of that said, I am needing some advice on how to maximize the settings on the detector. Here is my list of questions, labeled A,B,C etc. for ease of follow up as I don't expect anyone to answer all of them :)

I'd like to check 3 different spaces- the yard, the dirt crawlspaces, and walls/ceilings.

A) I understand that crawlspaces & the walls/ceilings will be difficult, but given that I will be limiting my search to a decent volume of silver/gold- any recommendations for what settings to use when scanning the walls/ceilings? There is blow in insulation in the attic so I'll need to check that space from inside the house...

B) In regards to wiring- should I shut off the breakers before I do any detecting? I know where all the wires are, so I can limit my search to areas with no copper wires as needed.

C) Would it be possible to discriminate against copper wire without running the risk of missing silver or gold targets?

D) There is quite a bit of dirt crawl space under the house, and I would have to guess this would be where someone would have hidden $. There were several people living at the house & given the visibility of the yard to many of the neighbors, the crawlspace is the only area one would have been able to operate discreetly. From what I've gathered on this forum, my best bet would be to set the sensitivity quite low, correct? Any other suggestions for crawlspace settings? Should I set the threshold lower or higher when lowering the sensitivity? There is about 3' of clearance in the crawlspace, FYI.

E) There is a brick patio that would have been an addition made during the time this individual lived here. The bricks are set in about 1-2 inches of concrete with sand beneath and it would not be terribly difficult to remove them and reset them. Any setting recommendations for this particular environment?

F) As per the rest of the property (the yard) I would like to maximize the depth range- should I set the sensitivity as high as possible while also discriminating against everything but silver and gold? Is that even possible to do? For now I'm checking the yard for larger objects in AM mode & treasure setting #1.

G) I've noticed when in treasure mode the target ID sometimes reads a higher non-ferrous #, but when pinpointing it will usually read -6 or -8. Should I give any precedence to targets that occasionally show a # in the 40's when in treasure mode but show non ferrous #'s when pinpointing?

H) If I don't have any luck on my own I'd consider offering a percentage as a finders fee for anyone with more experience & better equipment that would be interested in helping with the hunt. What would a fair % be to offer someone? I'm located in Nashville, FYI :)

Thank you kindly for any & all input!
Best,
JB
 
Let me be the first to say it. Looks like you've thought this out.

Get to it!!

:)

And if you find a bunch of stuff, DON'T go telling everyone about it. That just causes problems. Quietly offload it, pay your taxes, and move along with your life.

Such hoards like that, often end up in litigation. People will come out of the woodworks, if you announce it, and heaven help you if it hits the papers... Best to just find it, cash it in in chunks, and enjoy the benefits of your labors.

Skippy
 
You might have better luck targeting specific coinage, gold, silver. People who bury their hoards, tend to think they might want to get to them in the future and not bury them as deep as you might think. Think more along the lines of mason jars, maybe get a couple rolls of modern dimes and quarters, drop them in a pint jar, bury it 6" deep, check the type of signals you get, search for like signals, just an idea. Don't let it consume you though lol.
 
fmdfwelcome.gif
... from the cold and snowy state of Minnesota!
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We're glad that you have joined us.
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Happy hunting!
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Please let us know if you find anything cool! :cool3:
 
Welcome from Winnsboro, South Carolina !!!!

Well, since it is YOUR property at least you don't have to be as concerned about digging plugs as carefully as you would with someone else's property :lol:
:digginahole:


:mder:_____:mder: _____:mder:_____:mder:
 
I believe if you purchased the property anything you find is legally yours, so I'll take 30% (Standard Tom fee) !

Welcome to the forum from Western NY


:fmdfwelcome:
 
This actually happened in my small town. Old man suspected of burying alot of money. He died without telling his son who lived in the same house and died. New owner levels house and finds 35# of silver quarters huried in Crawl Space.
 
Lots of Good advice here..
What I might add is..

For the Outside areas.
Get in the mindset of someone looking to hide some stuff.
You need to look for Identifiable markers outside like a tree, or a fence post or near a sprinkler head etc.. Someone is probably not just going to nilly willy go into the middle of the yard and bury something.. they will want to put it somewhere where they can easily find it when they are "ready".

For Inside walls.
1) Try finding a wall where you know wiring is .. put your detector up there and "listen" to how it sounds.. When searching the rest of the house.. ignore this sound and readings.. same with plumbing..
2) If the floor is wood then look for loose boards or nails or screws that don't match the majority of what is there.
3) Take your pinpointer (Hopefully a Garrett Carrot with 360 degree coverage)
..Put in a fresh battery and rub along the walls.. If something that big is there you should hit it.

Crawl space.
same idea as outside.. find a corner, look around.. probably not too far from the entrance because who wants to go too deep under the house besides a few black widows.

Attic.
not much different then all the rest but look for areas that just look out of place maybe a boarded up area or something that just doesn't quite look right.. etc.


When it comes right down to it.. you need to think like the guy who probably hid it.. maybe even have a bunch of shots of tequila and look at it with one eye :lol:

Now when you are all done then hit the rest of the yard because if this guy had a laundromat then he probably dropped a boat load of quarters on his way out to the car over the years since I am sure that that made up the majority of his pocket money..

Best of luck to you and hope you find some stuff !!
 
My hands on experience is this you may want to try. No detector needed.

Sounds like it is an older , larger home to have a 3' sub-area clearance. Probably more than 1 access area as well. Check all access entry points within a 10' radius of your crawl. Small trowel , garden shovel , probe will do. Check along the foundation walls and support piers. Most of it will be found here as most people don't want or need to go any further. Dig away ! It should all be less than 10" underground. Mason jars , Tupperware ware and ammo boxes are what typically will hold your treasure. Dress appropriately and wear a respirator. Good Luck !
 
I might suggest doing some research on Hoards found in England. Maybe something that will give you a little perspective on the subject. Being there is a lot of iron I would use a SS rod (.25) with a T handle to push into the ground to check for solid objects deeper. I know here where I live that is easy to do but I would imagine some places the ground is like concrete so that would be out. Good Luck..
 
work it at night. running around in the day with your metal detector for long periods of time may cause a little attention.

Of if you are doing it in the day, just say you are taking up the hobby and practicing.

remember rolls of quarters or mason jars full of quarters don't ring up as a single quarter. Maybe test a roll of qtrs or mason jar full of qtrs and see what they would ring up. Laundry mats standard coin even in the 70's was the quarter.

Don't post your find on any forums.
 
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