rumors of buried money.

DiggerGal

Hero Member
Oct 12, 2013
564
505
California
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uriline

Greenie
Mar 5, 2013
12
7
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I just recently moved into an old abandoned mobile home on about 3 acres, and have had multiple people tell me around town about the guy that used to live here tellin them he buried money somewhere on the property. I've looked for all the normal signs, hit a few spots with the detector, but can't find anything. He moved a mobile home on one part of the property in 1974. Then another in 1984. I have tore down and hauled off the old one, and found nothin there. Any tips at all on this would be awesome. I'm thinkin he buried it, and made no kind of signs or markers.

Look for patches of star thistle. it grows real good over disturbed soil. I would also check out areas where the digging is easy we are all a bit lazy at heart and will go for the easy over the hard. Hope you find it...
 

AU24K

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
14,567
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Gearhead,

Give us an update, Brother!

Best,

Scott
 

cache finder

Full Member
Dec 23, 2015
245
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SF Bay Area
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Lots of good suggestions here and some pretty bad ones. I personally knew a "poor" can collector that would go to the golf courses and scrounge in the trash for cans and bottles. Everyone thought he was poor as the clothes he wore and the bicycle he had were of very worn quality. He didn't require much and he left his grand kids the several very large rental properties he owned. So don't judge a book by its cover.

As for locations I always like to think where would I hide my fortune. I want to be able to access it in case of an emergency, I would want to have alarms, or safe guards (Ostrich that are mean or dogs that are mean or noisy) I would like to be able to keep an eye on it at all times and I would like others not be able to find it and I would like it to be an area where it wouldn't be abnormal for me to always be there. So with those in mind can you see the dog run or the ostrich pen from any of the windows in the house? Did any neighbors say if he was always "working" on something in the yard, like a certain area? Any indents on google earth from excavating?
Check the basic walls, air ducts, vents and crawl spaces. A wall in the mobile home that doesnt make sense?
Love the search! And Good Luck
 

foiler

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Mar 17, 2013
395
389
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One has to assume if someone buried anything of value,they would want to retrieve some day. Therefore there should be a marker that would be considered permanent either natural or man made as a reference point. It may be a fence line or a stone/rock protruding from the ground, etc. A reference point or IP of some kind that the person would use as a starting point. They may have put the cache 10 paces or more from the reference point but I would look for some such indicator. It could have been the old trailer itself that you removed. Either gridding or using a circular search pattern would be a start.
 

The Dirt Pirate

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Dec 21, 2015
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My neighbors told me a similar story when I got my place. They said some old man used to live here when they were kids and he always bragged about burying money somewhere on my property but I can't search for it at the moment because I have no detector so I'm trying my best to get one soon. The property that I'm on is 2 1/2 acres and it looks like there used to be another old house on it and maybe something else as well because there are a few different sized foundations. If I were you I would detect the entire property. There's really no telling where he hid it.
 

lastleg

Silver Member
Feb 3, 2008
2,876
658
If you are talking of Bill Mahan he was an eccentric but he knew how to build a detector
that nulled over junk while sounding off on desirable metals. Had he lived he might have
revolutionized our hobby. His son had no imagination and spoiled his father's reputation.
If you bought a detector from the latter I'm sure you might call it trash with justification.
 

Crappies-n-Coins

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Nov 25, 2015
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Gearhead, here's something to consider. If this guy was someone who "didn't trust banks", I believe I'd start there trying to verify some of the accuracy to this story (and not using "story" in a derogatory manner). Go into the nearby Town, ask someone at the Bank about him, see if he had an account there, and if it carried any sort of "substantial" balance. It may take some creative thinking on your part on how to ask, and being as you have no legal connection to him, likely won't be given much, if any, information. Might be worth a shot?

If however, you were able to find he did carry a substantial bank balance, that may indicate he didn't mistrust the banks to the point he kept all his money cached.

Just something to consider. Good luck!
 

AU24K

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
14,567
11,926
Where good deeds are performed daily
Detector(s) used
Garrett Fortune Hunter, White's CoinMaster, Garrett American S3, Compass Coin Magnum and a couple of others you will only find in museums!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Gearhead, here's something to consider. If this guy was someone who "didn't trust banks", I believe I'd start there trying to verify some of the accuracy to this story (and not using "story" in a derogatory manner). Go into the nearby Town, ask someone at the Bank about him, see if he had an account there, and if it carried any sort of "substantial" balance. It may take some creative thinking on your part on how to ask, and being as you have no legal connection to him, likely won't be given much, if any, information. Might be worth a shot?

If however, you were able to find he did carry a substantial bank balance, that may indicate he didn't mistrust the banks to the point he kept all his money cached.

Just something to consider. Good luck!

Having worked at a bank, I can say that any information is held in strict confidence;
Thus, a dead end.

Better to ask "Old-Timers" in town, of the property and about the feller who once lived on your property.

Be careful and hold your cards "close to the vest" unless you want a resurgence of new interest or potential trespassers....

Most "old-timers" LOVE reminiscing of the "good ole days."

Amazing what you might learn!

KEEP UP THE SEARCH!

PS. Guineas make a great "alarm system!"

guinea fowl.jpg

Best Wishes,

Scott
 

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OldSowBreath

Sr. Member
Mar 18, 2009
451
372
I was bored and reading this old thread for fun and was about to bring up the name Bill Mahan as a person who was hoarding treasures all over his house. Funny that his name got brought up. He was a patient of my dad's and I bought my first metal detector from him in the 60's when I was a kid. He had his D Tex business in my home town and I would salivate over the old Spanish cannons he had out front of his building. His wife told my dad that he had jars full of old cobs that he had found on Padre Island (back before the govt. banned the detectors) hidden all over his house, garage and yard in mason jars which she randomly would come across, sometimes even in the trash.
 

lastleg

Silver Member
Feb 3, 2008
2,876
658
I had a back door neighbor who had gone to Padre Island with Bill. He had an old White's
with a wooden coil and couldn't find replacement tubes for it. How they knew each other
I never found out as we lived in Oak Cliff and Bill was in Garland. Love these threads
of the old timers.
 

AU24K

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
14,567
11,926
Where good deeds are performed daily
Detector(s) used
Garrett Fortune Hunter, White's CoinMaster, Garrett American S3, Compass Coin Magnum and a couple of others you will only find in museums!
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True story, Friends,

Once, back in the 70's, a hippy friend came to me 'cause I had a metal detector.

Seems he had buried an ammo can of weed and couldn't find it in the woods.

Ummm....

Never mind! :laughing7:

Best,

Scott
 

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Honest Samuel

Banned
Sep 23, 2015
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Connecticut
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The story may not be true. If true, the area where the ostriches is a great location to search since the birds will refused anybody but the owner go there.
 

scotter1

Full Member
Mar 16, 2014
182
155
upstate ny
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whites dfx,xlt,idx,prism,tm 808,fisher gold bug,1280x,xp deuse
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check the fencing to see if any of the wire is being held on by a bent nail,or the post is loose.if so check under the post
 

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