Are coin cache found in northern states?

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ashton9

Guest
I'm new to metal detecting and would love to find a mason jar of coins in an old yard. I can't imagine many people here in Maine burying money in the yard. It would be a lot of work to dig up the money during the winter with the ground frozen solid. I would think burying money in the cellar would be more logical than outside, in cold climate states. Or did people when burying the money hope they would never need to recover it?
 

BRD

Full Member
Mar 26, 2004
178
1
Ashton 9,
Being from East Texas I never had thought about the fact that in the North, the ground freezes down several inches in the winter. You are probably right about more caches being buried in cellars or somewhere in the house in the North than in the ground. I have found only two, what I guess you would call, caches. One consisted of 154 Memoirial cents that were evidently buried by kids in a yard in the Dallas area. the other was 984 coins (mostly cents) that, the best I can figure, were pumped from a wishing well, along with debris, onto a hillside in Arkansas. I'm not sure that these qualify as true caches as we picture them but I guess they are close. Yes, I believe that logically thinking, caches were probably meant to be dug up by the owner over and over as he or she needed to take out or add money. That means that it would be buried fairly shallow (probably no more than 12 inches). The owner would need quick access so as not to raise suspicion. Those of you who have recovered objects at a foot or so know that even that is a fairly deep hole.

Also, don't overlook the fact that, at least here in the South, we have what is referred to as a "posthole bank". That is where a fence post was left loose from the wire in a fenceline and a jar or a long metal box was dropped into the hole to hold money. It made for very quick access and was almost undectable. I'm still looking for one of those!
Good luck,
BRD
 

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ashton9

Guest
Thanks for the reply BRD. I'm curious about this because I know where quite a few old cellar holes are, from the 1800's. I have been reading cellar holes are hard to detect because of all of the debris. Trying to determine what equipment I might need.

This might suprise you on how hard the ground freezes here. The frost line here goes down a couple feet. I think the building code requires, around a 3 foot cement footing for buildings.
 

detector99

Jr. Member
Nov 1, 2004
44
17
NY
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ashton9 - You may be interested - Hi my name is Frank Pandozzi, I'm responding to your old post about caches in northern states. I'm executive producer of a brand new TV series, Exploring Historys Treasures. Our first 20 week series will be, "Ghost Towns Of The Eastern States." This TV series will be seen first in the New York State area, we will take the viewer into the backcountry of New York in search for old ghost towns. We then search around cellar holes for lost artifacts, coins, and yes buried caches. We will be selling the TV series in VHS and DVD copies to people outside of the viewing area, eventually we will be going nationally with our series. Please visit www.exploringhistorystreasures.com to see our "trailers." Go to the media page and click on the thumbnails. Thanks and good luck with your cache hunting. Yes, they do exist in the east.
 

True_Metal

Hero Member
Aug 27, 2004
912
27
Smoky Mountains
Detector(s) used
Minelab Whites
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Frank. I'm in New York, and on what channel here will this show air and on what date? This show looks to be totally awesome!! :o
 

detector99

Jr. Member
Nov 1, 2004
44
17
NY
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi True_Metal - our TV series will be seen, beginning in January in the areas of Syracuse, Fulton, Rome, Cortland and Auburn. We will be moving into Binghamton and Rochester in February 2005, and then the rest of New York state in late 2005. We are also attempting to receive a national syndication, which looks very good. In either case, we will be selling the complete TV series to anyone who is unable to view the show, or who wishes to own a copy. Keep checking the website for updates on future shows, and please feel free to leave a post on our discussion board.

Thanks again for your interest!

Your detect'en pal
Frank ;)
 

True_Metal

Hero Member
Aug 27, 2004
912
27
Smoky Mountains
Detector(s) used
Minelab Whites
Primary Interest:
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Thanks for the info, Frank 8) I will keep my eyes out for it around here. Hope your show makes it, as its about damn time theres a show on tv that i WANT to see. ;D
 

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ashton9

Guest
Hi Frank, I wish I were in range of your show broadcast being here in Maine. The web site is interesting. Are you in the market for buying old cellar holes for you show? I?m sort of joking, but there are old dumps everywhere around homesteads.
 

warsawdaddy

Gold Member
Nov 23, 2004
5,595
69
Edwards,Missouri
Detector(s) used
MXT - DeLeon - Gamma 6000
They weren't into digging their caches up very often.Once the container(jar/can) was started,it was hidden in the house,barn cellar and only when it was full,would it be buried .Household expenses came from the 'working' jar only.It was a tradition in the northeast and eventually most of the east,that when building their home,especially larger homes,coins would be placed usually above a door sill on the framework for goodluck,so when detecting these places,don't forget to check 'em out.
 

kenb

Bronze Member
Dec 3, 2004
1,894
30
Long Island New York
Detector(s) used
White's XLT
Why wouldn't there be?, people have buried items of value since there were items of value. I posted a find here 3 or 4 months ago about 2- 100 oz. silver bars my grandfather buried in a crawlspace under his house, and this was with in the past 30 years so it's still being done. People buried caches so they wouldn't be found, and could be gotten if necessary. I'm sure they are buried everywhere and will slowly be found by either people like ourselvs or bulldozers clearing land for development.

good luck and HH
kenb
P.S., Sorry for my spelling,I cant get spell check to work on my home comp.
 

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ashton9

Guest
What is the deepest commercial metal detector someone can buy? Sounds like a sweep of the yard areas first and then detect the house and barn. I'm looking at cellar holes that the buildings have caved in on themselves 50 years ago, nails and all.
 

OP
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ashton9

Guest
Maybe the better question is; what is a better coil for my Whites Spectrum Eagle for depth?
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
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deepest would probably a 2 BOX, but thats just a guess
 

xXx

Hero Member
Nov 17, 2004
580
58
back in Indiana again
Detector(s) used
Multiple land, beach, underwater and specialty units
I'm using a White's MXT and have been using the DD 1400 coil to get depth. However, if you think it would pay off and you want to get extreme depth, look at the Pulse Star II Pro with a 40"x40" Coil. I've never used this machine, but they claim it will find single coins at 18" and very large treasures to 20+ Feet. They advertise this unit with the 40x40 coil for $1899.
Anyone used it?
xXx
 

swizzle

Sr. Member
May 3, 2003
457
94
upstate ny
Would it be easier to sift the cellar hole out first and then detect? I'm on the hunt for the elusive northern caches and can't wait to find some. I want to be able to thourally check a cellar hole the first time and in the fastest amount of time and then hunt outwards from their. What I'm wondering is would I be wasting my time checking a cellar hole when maybe the majority of the people buried caches outside their homes or is it the other way around? Some of these cellar holes I see are miles back in and the less time I waste the better my chances are of finding bigger n better. Besides would you want to hike to the same cellar hole 5 miles back in 10 different times?All that milage could be better spent swinging my detector around.Jason
 

nick1878

Full Member
Feb 7, 2005
187
21
SE Indiana
The best news yet for todays treasure hunter is the sheer lack of knowledge on this subject. I try to explain to people all day long that Im a treasure hunter( also studying Archaeology in college, the enemy I know but it might open up some sites that are off limits. And it is fascinating to me)All I get are blank stares, like Im speaking a different language. What, how, when people dont bury money. What are you talking about. I was truely dumbfounded that people arent aware of these things. Growing up watching treasure island and reading related strories it was natural, but I guess this is good that we have the advantage to get there first.

Anyone else come across this type of reaction?
 

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