The Old "Buried Mason Jars" question. But seriously!

[jlmmlm]

I have info on buried mason jars with possible cash money in them. Not a whole lot of $$$ but enough to peak my interest and they date back to the 1950's or 1960's and beyond. My questions is, from other peoples experiances, how long will mason jar lids keep underground before they rust out to the point where water will leak in and ruin whatever cash that may possibly be in them?

I was out roaming just the other day and found a junk pile with numerous jars dating back to the 60's or 70's but they were above ground, with the same types of lids as mason jars and most were completely rusted away.

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

If the Mason Jars have the Zinc Lids with the Milk Glass liner, they should be fine. I have bottle dug those old Zinc lids and they stand up strong. Some of the lids had a paper thin hole, but not many.

[xdanthemanx]

ive dug up 100 year ols lids and would re use some of them if i had jars to fit, old stuff used to last.....
dtm

[hypoman]

DFX, anyone ever tell you that you like Rowdy Roddy Piper in that pic that you have for your avatar?.....off subject I know......just couldn't help myself! 8)

[hypoman]

you look like him...sorry....I have no idea if you like him or not! lol

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

Lol, I took that picture after working 12 hours a night for 2 weeks straight. When I got a day off at last, I took the motorcycle out for a ride and was taking pictures of wildlife, I looked in the mirror of my cycle and saw my tired self looking back and took the picture.

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

By the way, Rowdy Roddy was funny, I always looked forward to his Piper Pit interviews when he would Redneck on someone.

[Old Silver]

Good question on the Mason jar lids. I would assume it would vary somewhat depending on your climate (dry/wet). I always like to see what people say on these kind of questions. Thanks for bringing it up.

[hypoman]

Heck yeah Rowdy was funny! Oh.....the 80's.....such simpler times......when a man could dress in a kilt and still be cool!

[P.B. and Dylan]

I found a lot of old lids that were perfect and some that were corroded. I believe it
depends on soil conditions.

[truckinbutch]

I found a lot of old lids that were perfect and some that were corroded. I believe it
depends on soil conditions.

Same here .

[vayank54]

I found a lot of old lids that were perfect and some that were corroded. I believe it
depends on soil conditions.

Same here .

Yep

[extractor]

This is the stuff I would love to find. I better re focus my hunts

[ZINCLID]

Yes, lids could corrode but most zinc lids (my user name) will darn near last forever without much corrosion troubles...old paper money has a nasty way of getting old and crumbly after so many years, though. I've hesard of iot literally disentegrating in the finder's hand-KAPOOF AND DA MONEY'S GONE TO NOTHING BUT DUST AND POWDER!!!

[10claw]

would'nt it be nice to have dowsing rods that would locate zinc lids?? keep on huntin' and havin' fun

[Frankn]

Lids hold up fairly well in the Maryland area. I have found three types. The zinc with white glass liner hold up on the jars, but they seam to deterate in the ground when not attached to a jar. I don't know why. The brass,two part lids I have found show signs of rust. Then there are the glass lids with the red rubber washer seals. They would probably hold up forever but the metal tension clips that hold them on do rust. Now out west, in the desert area is a different story. Things seam to last forever out there

[boogeyman]

Yeah they do seem to last forever! Just look at me

[wyat]

I have found many caches in mason jars,(mostly coins & jewelry) a couple had currency in them but they had bee's
wax melted over the money. I dought I would have found them without the lids being close to the jars. However the lids were
bad but the money was ok. I put new lids on them, set them in the sun, let the wax melt and scraped the bills clean with
a credit card.

[doverturtle]

My experience in PA is that the zinc lids corrode very badly. But, as stated previously, it really depends upon the type of soil.