Post hole banks

[NE/Kathy]

Hi everyone, I have been hunting a couple of old homesteads on land we rent. The land is going to be auctioned off this month so I my hunting time is limited. Can anyone give me advice on how to find post hole banks? I would like to hunt for these while I still have time but I am not exactly sure what they would look like or the best way to locate. Advice is appreciated.
Thank you,
Kathy

 

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[Goodyguy]

Hi Kathy,

Many farmers buried their coins beneath the fence posts of their properties. They simply removed the fence post, inserted the container of money into the hole, and then replaced the post.

I wish there was an easy way to know which post the stash was under, every hider had his own method.
Best way I know of is to just check them all.

Typical hiding places have been known to be within sight from the bedroom window, or near a chicken coop or other animals that would warn of a strangers presence, and out of sight of neighbors and public view.

One problem is that the post hole is usually deeper than a typical metal detector can reach. That's why a lot of cache hunters have a twobox detector in their arsenal along with a probe. http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,258077.msg1844682.html#msg1844682

Good luck,

GG~

 

[Scott (Mich)]

One thing to keep in mind is that a post hole bank will (most likely) not be an end or corner post that is connected to the fence. The corner and end posts are the main support posts in my experience in putting up fences. My dad and I would dig those posts deeper and stretch the wire and attach it to them before putting the other posts up.

Now if I were going to bury a post hole bank I would put a "dummy" post right in the fence line - A post that is not really attached or has minimal attachments to the fence. The last thing I would want to do while retrieving my money is to waste time trying to untangle fence wire from my bank post. Plus if it were not attached, I would be able to find it quite easily while the typical person seeing it would not have a clue.

Now if only there was a Sears warehouse out there somewhere that still had the address records of those that bought the post hole banks. That would narrow things down a bit

Good Luck.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

If you still have remains of posts in the ground (not likely), notice if one is either higher or lower than the rest. I think the best advice has already been given - search ALL the holes, and make sure you have a machine that detects deep.

 

[NE/Kathy]

Thank you for the information. I have a better idea on what to look for, and where to look. I know the odds are slim to none but it is always fun to look.
Thanks again, Kathy

 

[Curtis]

Good luck in the search, you might also use the detector to run up and down the posts.....some of the really smart ones cut a core out of the center of the post, put the cache into the core hole, then fashioned a plug (out of the same type wood) and put it back into the hole! They could access it very quickly and not have to pull out the post.

When you find something using this solution just let me know (PM) I'll send you my address of where to send my cut to!

 

[Native1858]

"Typical hiding places have been known to be within sight from the bedroom window, or near a chicken coop or other animals that would warn of a strangers presence, and out of sight of neighbors and public view."

Exactly, and even more in depth in books by H. Glenn Carson. Sometimes referred to onpy as Glenn Carson.

 

[stude]

Keep in mind that many caches were not buried in post holes but next to them for the very reason mentioned in a previous post. Nobody wants to dig up a post to get at their money. Often the post was used as a marker such as " 3 feet perpendicular from the 3rd post".

 

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

I like this post on post hole banks, it is much more real then those 20 foot deep hidden caches. A home bank cache needs easy access, it would be a million times easier to go to the fence post and add or take money out of your jar, then to burry it 20 feet deep.

 

[Connecticut Sam]

Did any of you found any post hole banks?

 

[Tuberale]

Original post hole bank: near a corner but not AT a corner. Post should be loose or moveable. Literally should lift out of "hole" easily, and be easily replaced. Many times not deeply buried, just the impression of depth is necessary.

Have not personally heard of any post hole caches that were "near" a post hole, but not at it. Doesn't mean it couldn't exist.

Helps to have some knowledge of fence building. Early fences often made of specific woods: Osage orange, Redwood, Black locust, Western Redcedar, or other wood that is both stout and unlikely to rot. Cypress possible in the south. Probably will not be at a corner or end point, as those posts had to be solidly anchored and braced to support stretching the fence line. Post could be unusually short, oddly shaped or distinctive in some way: maybe with a can inverted to keep water off the top.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Original post hole bank: near a corner but not AT a corner. Post should be loose or moveable. Literally should lift out of "hole" easily, and be easily replaced. Many times not deeply buried, just the impression of depth is necessary.

Have not personally heard of any post hole caches that were "near" a post hole, but not at it. Doesn't mean it couldn't exist.

Helps to have some knowledge of fence building. Early fences often made of specific woods: Osage orange, Redwood, Black cottonwood, Western Redcedar, or other wood that is both stout and unlikely to rot. Cypress possible in the south. Probably will not be at a corner or end point, as those posts had to be solidly anchored and braced to support stretching the fence line. Post could be unusually short, oddly shaped or distinctive in some way: maybe with a can inverted to keep water off the top.

Locust and cedar are two biggies.

 

[idigdirt]

Kathy, look for anything that might have been fashioned to the post like for instance a horse shoe....

 

[maipenrai]

Someone mentioned that years ago, Sears or another chain, sold post hole banks. Does anyone know what it looked like? Im sure it must have been more than a mason jar. Or could this be just another myth? Its hard to believe that someone would bury their stash under a post, if it still had barb wire attached to it, unless not very tight. Also moving post around might draw some attention. Would like to hear of someone finding a bank like this and how deep. Its always easy to bury something, but if you have to get to it every now and then, there might be better places to hide a stash.

 

[Connecticut Sam]

#13 ask a lot of interesting questions.

 

[lonesomebob]

Back in 1960 in Michigan ,I found a quart jar of silver dollars, under the 13th post from a corner posr. the post was shorter than the rest and the jar was down 2 feet. lonesomebob.

 

[Goodyguy]

Someone mentioned that years ago, Sears or another chain, sold post hole banks. Does anyone know what it looked like? Im sure it must have been more than a mason jar. Or could this be just another myth? Its hard to believe that someone would bury their stash under a post, if it still had barb wire attached to it, unless not very tight. Also moving post around might draw some attention. Would like to hear of someone finding a bank like this and how deep. Its always easy to bury something, but if you have to get to it every now and then, there might be better places to hide a stash.

Sawatdee Krup!

Not sure how burying a stash of coins in a post hole got started. Perhaps that was something brought over from the old country.
Maybe it started from a gesture of putting a coin under a new fence post for good luck and went from there.

Anyway that is only one of many hiding places used by farmers and pioneers who were either too far from a bank or didn't trust them as they were always prone to hold up's and the deposits were not insured.

They had to dig a hole for a post anyway so it was a convenient place to put a stash. Some would use an important number such as a wedding day or a birthday to count from a corner post to the stash for easy retrieval. Plus digging a post hole didn't raise any suspicion where as digging a random hole would have called attention and would also have been harder to relocate when needed.

GG~

 

[maipenrai]

Sawadee, I understand that anything can be used to stash money, a mason jar, can, or whatever, but since it has been mentioned about real post hole banks, that were sold by Sears, just wondering what one looked like, so if I happen to find the remnants of one in the field, I would know what it looked like. Or is this just an urban ledgen? It would have to have been more than a mason jar, otherwise farmers or anyone else would not buy one.

Unfortunately, my computer has a problem, and I my searches end up going nowhere, so cant search for a "post hole bank".
No post hole banks over on this side of the ocean, and people dont even seem to drop much money. Last hunt on the beach turned up exactly 2 baht, but then it was an exceptionally bad day.

BTW, the one baht coins seem to contain something that attracts rust, since every coin that has been in the sand for a while, has a clump of rust on it. If you discriminate out iron, you will miss these coins. I dig all signals, with my old Coinmaster, so find these coins, where as a friend with his minelab was missing them.

 

[Goodyguy]

Mai Pen Rai

I seriously doubt that a "Post Hole Bank" was ever marketed by Sears or anyone else. Until proven I'll remain skeptical.

As far as cache hunting goes, I always detect in all metal mode and dig every signal due to the extra depth penetration and detecting metal containers.

Chok dee, khrup
GG~

 

[GrayCloud]

Buddy there are a couple of Sears Mail Order Houses in Tensas Parish in Louisiana. One was for sale by United Country Realty a couple of years back. Who would have thunked it.