Toilet treasure
- Thread starter mikhen
- Start date
WaterScoop
Bronze Member
- Sep 12, 2017
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Nox 800,
CTX 3030,
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Awesome story ..wish I could read the whole thing but it asks for a subscription fee to read it all.
Thanx for posting
mikhen
Jr. Member
- Thread starter
- #3
Sorry about that. Thought I took care of it.......try this......
[h=1]Richland man flushes out buried treasure[/h][h=5]Steve Harris of Richland digs up more than $1,000 worth of gold and silver coins from under an old outhouse on his property.
[/h]WRITTEN BY BY MARYLOUISE SHOLLY - READING EAGLE CORRESPONDENT
[FONT="][h=4]FYI[/h]What: The Richland Heritage Society
Where: 26 N. Race St., Richland, Lebanon County
Contact: Call 717-866-7050 or email to [email protected]
Website: richlandheritagesociety.org
Appreciation for the gift
Gary Althouse, president of the Richland Heritage Society, couldn't have been happier after receiving some of the goodies Steve Harris found under the outhouse on his Richland property.
โIt was a wonderful contribution from Steve,โ Althouse said. โWe're here to preserve history, and this is something we're looking for; townspeople to step forward and help us with that mission.โ
From Indian head pennies from the early 1900s to a toy lead horse, every artifact will be labeled and secured until it can be viewed by the public. The heritage society doesn't have its own museum yet, although that is a future plan.
โIt's through people like Mr. Harris that we're able to continue pursuing our goals, preserving Richland's history to save it for future generations,โ Althouse said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]
While men have been extracting treasures from the bowels of the Earth for millennia, one area man took his excavation more literally, by digging under an old outhouse.Thinking he might find an old glass medicine bottle or two, Steve Harris of Richland, Lebanon County, began digging under a 19th century privy just to see what he could find.
While he did unearth some artifacts, he also pulled more than $1,000 worth of gold and silver coins from the ground.
"When I say treasure, it was treasure; literally silver and gold," Harris said.
Among the loot were 50 silver coins and a $5 gold piece."Oh, they hated themselves for losing that," Harris said.
He found about 300 Indian head pennies and buffalo nickels, or victory nickels, from the early 1900s.
But many of the coins were from foreign countries; German marks dated 1896, French coins from 1918, and centavos from the Philippines.
Without being too indelicate, it's easy to understand how a coin or two might have found its way to the bottom of an outhouse.
But Harris was stunned by the large amount he uncovered, and that many were from foreign countries.
"It's very specific; the European coins, from France, Germany and England, came from the World War I era," Harris said. "The Asian and South Pacific coins were dated from about 1942 to 1945."
The sheer number of the Asian coins hints of a mystery.
"Why would hundreds of those (Asian) coins be found in an outhouse?" he asked. "That mass of coins had to be thrown down there intentionally There was a big pile of them, and they had been dropped in there on purpose, so you had to wonder did someone regret what they did in World War II and threw them away to get rid of them, or did someone not return and they threw them away through grief; it opens up more questions and we'll probably never know.
"It's a mystery that you can sit and ponder about."
[h=2]Attached to his home[/h]Harris didn't have to venture far for his treasure hunt, since the privy is attached to his own home. Harris' home is one of the earliest built in the Lebanon County village, circa early 1800s.
In this particular brick house, the original owners were keen on comfort, having constructed their outhouse in a unheated shed attached to the house, thereby making it an "in-house," so no trudging through snow on a frosty night to get the job done.
The outhouse had been a two-seater in its day, he said; one for adults and a smaller one for children.
Harris, owner of RCS Restorations, a disaster recovery company, moved to Richland in 2000.
It was a neighbor's underground broken water pipe that became the impetus for Harris' foray into the subterranean world of treasure hunting.
Harris decided it would be prudent to check the durability of his own underground pipes, which traveled under the outhouse.
Initially, Harris was going to check the pipes, then fill in the area, until a TV show on the Home and Garden Network changed his mind.
The show detailed the excavation of an outhouse, with the owner finding pottery and intact bottles.
"I'm always in search of treasures, so I thought, before I fill it in, I'll dig it up," Harris said.
[h=2]Pieces of history[/h]It was the pieces of history he might find, more than any financial gain, that was his reason for digging, Harris said.
At the start of his venture, Harris discovered that previous owners had been using the privy as their own little landfill.
"I had to bring up bags and bags of garbage before I got to the sand and dirt at the bottom of the hole," Harris said.
He had carefully lowered a folding ladder into the tight space, which was about 20 inches in width.
It became an uncomfortable sensation, digging in the bottom of an outhouse as the sun went down.
Seeing the job was going to take longer than one day, Harris rigged up lights.
He also brought in a metal detector.
Harris' older brother, Ron, was on hand to offer support.
"He would poke his head in every once in a while to see if I was okay," Harris said.
Late that evening, Harris had made his way down about 12 feet.
[h=2]Cheerleader of expedition[/h]Brother Ron served as cheerleader of the expedition.
"He stood at the top and looked down and would yell 'I think you're losin' it,' " Harris said.
Shored up by those encouraging words, Harris kept going, and kept digging.
"You can't get treasure without working for it," Harris said philosophically.
It was getting dark when serendipity struck and Harris bumped his head.
"My head lamp swung down and I saw something and I said, 'There's a glint; I've got something,' " Harris said.
The shiny thing was a coin.
It wasn't long before his above-ground brother heard, "They're everywhere!"
[h=2]Cache of coins[/h]Harris was referring to his discovery of a cache of coins.
At that point, Harris recalled, "I was just bringing it up and bringing it up."
The neatest treasure Harris found, he said, wasn't a coin, but a toy, a handmade marble.
"It makes you wonder, who would take the time to grind down a stone, without power tools, and turn it into a marble," he said. "I didn't hold onto too many of the coins for myself, but I did keep the marble."
He also found a little horse made of lead and a plastic farmer.
Harris donated all the antiquities he found to the Richland Heritage Society.
"I thought that was the best place for those things," Harris said.
Many of the coins he gave to nieces and nephews and friends.
"The coins were fantastic and there were so many of them," Harris said.
"But not enough to retire on," said Ron, also known as the practical brother.
Harris enjoyed his outhouse adventure so much, he wrote an account for the Richland Heritage Society's newsletter, calling it "Spelunking The Outhouse."
"I had a great time; it was so much fun," Harris said. "So I thought somebody else might get a smile from it, too.
"It was never about the coins. They were treasures, yes, but I pick up rocks that I think are pretty, too."
[/FONT]
[h=1]Richland man flushes out buried treasure[/h][h=5]Steve Harris of Richland digs up more than $1,000 worth of gold and silver coins from under an old outhouse on his property.
[/h]WRITTEN BY BY MARYLOUISE SHOLLY - READING EAGLE CORRESPONDENT
[FONT="][h=4]FYI[/h]What: The Richland Heritage Society
Where: 26 N. Race St., Richland, Lebanon County
Contact: Call 717-866-7050 or email to [email protected]
Website: richlandheritagesociety.org
Appreciation for the gift
Gary Althouse, president of the Richland Heritage Society, couldn't have been happier after receiving some of the goodies Steve Harris found under the outhouse on his Richland property.
โIt was a wonderful contribution from Steve,โ Althouse said. โWe're here to preserve history, and this is something we're looking for; townspeople to step forward and help us with that mission.โ
From Indian head pennies from the early 1900s to a toy lead horse, every artifact will be labeled and secured until it can be viewed by the public. The heritage society doesn't have its own museum yet, although that is a future plan.
โIt's through people like Mr. Harris that we're able to continue pursuing our goals, preserving Richland's history to save it for future generations,โ Althouse said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]
While men have been extracting treasures from the bowels of the Earth for millennia, one area man took his excavation more literally, by digging under an old outhouse.Thinking he might find an old glass medicine bottle or two, Steve Harris of Richland, Lebanon County, began digging under a 19th century privy just to see what he could find.
While he did unearth some artifacts, he also pulled more than $1,000 worth of gold and silver coins from the ground.
"When I say treasure, it was treasure; literally silver and gold," Harris said.
TODAY'S SPONSOR:
Among the loot were 50 silver coins and a $5 gold piece."Oh, they hated themselves for losing that," Harris said.
He found about 300 Indian head pennies and buffalo nickels, or victory nickels, from the early 1900s.
But many of the coins were from foreign countries; German marks dated 1896, French coins from 1918, and centavos from the Philippines.
Without being too indelicate, it's easy to understand how a coin or two might have found its way to the bottom of an outhouse.
But Harris was stunned by the large amount he uncovered, and that many were from foreign countries.
"It's very specific; the European coins, from France, Germany and England, came from the World War I era," Harris said. "The Asian and South Pacific coins were dated from about 1942 to 1945."
The sheer number of the Asian coins hints of a mystery.
"Why would hundreds of those (Asian) coins be found in an outhouse?" he asked. "That mass of coins had to be thrown down there intentionally There was a big pile of them, and they had been dropped in there on purpose, so you had to wonder did someone regret what they did in World War II and threw them away to get rid of them, or did someone not return and they threw them away through grief; it opens up more questions and we'll probably never know.
"It's a mystery that you can sit and ponder about."
[h=2]Attached to his home[/h]Harris didn't have to venture far for his treasure hunt, since the privy is attached to his own home. Harris' home is one of the earliest built in the Lebanon County village, circa early 1800s.
In this particular brick house, the original owners were keen on comfort, having constructed their outhouse in a unheated shed attached to the house, thereby making it an "in-house," so no trudging through snow on a frosty night to get the job done.
The outhouse had been a two-seater in its day, he said; one for adults and a smaller one for children.
Harris, owner of RCS Restorations, a disaster recovery company, moved to Richland in 2000.
It was a neighbor's underground broken water pipe that became the impetus for Harris' foray into the subterranean world of treasure hunting.
Harris decided it would be prudent to check the durability of his own underground pipes, which traveled under the outhouse.
Initially, Harris was going to check the pipes, then fill in the area, until a TV show on the Home and Garden Network changed his mind.
The show detailed the excavation of an outhouse, with the owner finding pottery and intact bottles.
"I'm always in search of treasures, so I thought, before I fill it in, I'll dig it up," Harris said.
[h=2]Pieces of history[/h]It was the pieces of history he might find, more than any financial gain, that was his reason for digging, Harris said.
At the start of his venture, Harris discovered that previous owners had been using the privy as their own little landfill.
"I had to bring up bags and bags of garbage before I got to the sand and dirt at the bottom of the hole," Harris said.
He had carefully lowered a folding ladder into the tight space, which was about 20 inches in width.
It became an uncomfortable sensation, digging in the bottom of an outhouse as the sun went down.
Seeing the job was going to take longer than one day, Harris rigged up lights.
He also brought in a metal detector.
Harris' older brother, Ron, was on hand to offer support.
"He would poke his head in every once in a while to see if I was okay," Harris said.
Late that evening, Harris had made his way down about 12 feet.
[h=2]Cheerleader of expedition[/h]Brother Ron served as cheerleader of the expedition.
"He stood at the top and looked down and would yell 'I think you're losin' it,' " Harris said.
Shored up by those encouraging words, Harris kept going, and kept digging.
"You can't get treasure without working for it," Harris said philosophically.
It was getting dark when serendipity struck and Harris bumped his head.
"My head lamp swung down and I saw something and I said, 'There's a glint; I've got something,' " Harris said.
The shiny thing was a coin.
It wasn't long before his above-ground brother heard, "They're everywhere!"
[h=2]Cache of coins[/h]Harris was referring to his discovery of a cache of coins.
At that point, Harris recalled, "I was just bringing it up and bringing it up."
The neatest treasure Harris found, he said, wasn't a coin, but a toy, a handmade marble.
"It makes you wonder, who would take the time to grind down a stone, without power tools, and turn it into a marble," he said. "I didn't hold onto too many of the coins for myself, but I did keep the marble."
He also found a little horse made of lead and a plastic farmer.
Harris donated all the antiquities he found to the Richland Heritage Society.
"I thought that was the best place for those things," Harris said.
Many of the coins he gave to nieces and nephews and friends.
"The coins were fantastic and there were so many of them," Harris said.
"But not enough to retire on," said Ron, also known as the practical brother.
Harris enjoyed his outhouse adventure so much, he wrote an account for the Richland Heritage Society's newsletter, calling it "Spelunking The Outhouse."
"I had a great time; it was so much fun," Harris said. "So I thought somebody else might get a smile from it, too.
"It was never about the coins. They were treasures, yes, but I pick up rocks that I think are pretty, too."
[/FONT]
Swaveab
Hero Member
Talk about your dirty money. Good finds.
miboje
Hero Member
- Mar 21, 2016
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Interesting that there were so many international coins. My husband and I dug a massive two-seater pit several years ago. It was a massive amount of work and FUN. We never once thought to sift. I will always regret that we didn't.
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