Found gold coins. What next!?

bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
65
298
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Hello! Im new here. Im also an amateur. Ive lived on a historical property for about 13 years. I bought a detector a few years ago but never got into using it until recently. I met someone who was really into it and told them about my place. They are very trustworthy and I decided to let them come hunt my place with me. Thought it would be a good experience.

Here is the background. My house sits in the oxbow of a well known creek. The house dates to 1936 and was built buy a fairly famous figure. a few decades later, a senator lived here. Their dad actually was a nominated presidential candidate in the 30s. There are many cool things related to this, but earlier history is more fascinating to me.

The first white man in my area is considered to be the father of our city. He had a trading post on our property, which was several miles outside of the city. It was on the creek, on my property. This would have been 1862. In 1870, there were about 50 people in the city. His post was only here a few years and it was mainly indian trading. It was removed around 1880. I need to find the exact date. There is a newspaper article about it.

When my house was built about 70 years later, it was placed in the center of the oxbow, and each end of the oxbow was cut off in the 40s. During this, I was told bodies were dug up in the process. Not much info on this.

We started to metal detect a few weeks ago. One of the first areas we hit gave us a copper arrowhead and a dime dating 1860! That was very exciting! Since then, we have mainly found a bunch of civil war ammo and some civil was era boot tips. We have found 5 rings in very random places.

A few days ago, I randomly decided to hit an area between my house and the old oxbow. I was shocked! We located an 1882 $5 gold piece! It was right at the top of the "bank" of the oxbow. Maybe 2' from its downward slope. We looked some more and found an 1880 $10 gold piece 15' away, and down the bank to the oxbow! The one on top of the bank was 6" deep, and the other down the bank was 2" deep.

Im not sure what to make of this. These coins were after the post, but before my house. Also, who would have had this gold on them, just walking through a creek area? This general area has also brought up a few things, such as some victorian era buttons and a cameo ring. We also dug up a confederate civil war bullet.

What are your suspicions? Do you think it was a fluke and someone dropped some coins? Do you think there is a cache?

Furthermore, what path does a gold coin take? Does it move up or down with time? In other words, at 2" and 6" depth, am I likely to find something much deeper? There is a 1940s wire fence in the area, and its a good 1' deep. So, I just dont know how extreme to go. After about a foot, the area gets sandy. The oxbow hasnt flowed since the 40s, but water occasionally fills in when it rains heavily, then it sinks into the ground. It is extremely heavy with ivy ground cover, and in the trees.

I have an excavator at my house today. Any opinions from the experience would be great!!

I should also mention, this area had figures like Jesse James, and many other famous outlaws. Also, the Chisholm trail goes through our city, and a branch of the trail goes through a portion of my property. Maybe 500' from the gold find.
 

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bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
65
298
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It’s very unusual how clean they were straight from the ground! I have a theory as to how they got there. This area has 2 concrete slabs about 2x2. There were some statues on them. I believe this was a garden or hangout area, which explains all the odd finds.

I think one of the attorneys that lived here in the 40s may have stashed gold here because of bank distrust of the times. He moved out because of heart issues. I’m guessing he chose an obvious place between the statue and the creek fence line about 20’ away. I bet he went to retrieve his stash and dropped a couple pieces in the ivy and the two rolled away. He would have been too old to unhealthy to find it.

I could be wrong, but I’ll keep searching. Going to use a sensor that goes deeper. I don’t know if someone in the 1940s would have gold from 1880. Also, they are so clean they almost seem hardly used, which would have been too old to be his.
 

califteacher

Full Member
Sep 30, 2012
162
232
Vista, San Diego County, CA
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My goodness! You have found some incredible items. While I don't know how old you are, you have found a lifetime of treasure already. Thank you for the historical details, which really makes your post come alive. Enjoy the richness around you and remember to have fun!
 

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bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
65
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One thing is for certain, if native Americans were there for a period. It was considered a good place to camp for the same reasons anybody after them would have considered it. An oxbow in the river,,,priceless...hunt the heck out of it.

Im using a fairly basic whites detector. Im not sure on the model but it was about $350 new.
 

Mudflap

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Mar 31, 2012
1,312
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Wallingford, Connecticut 1667
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Fantastic! Your gonna have the Treasurenet folks falling out of their chairs!!!!
 

63bkpkr

Silver Member
Aug 9, 2007
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Southern California
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bonedoctor, first thank you for sharing with us! Second, the modern day location of the edge of the drop-off down to the river bed should have seen some changes caused by rain/snow melt and the simple fact that 'stuff' falls downhill. I would plant a tall stick in the ground at the top of the embankment so that a person down hill a good distance can see it as a guide and then I would detect the area say five to ten feet to either side of the stick for any signals.

The Ivy if thick enough would have held the hillside together at least somewhat and I would not disturb it very much as erosion starts with very little disturbance of natural ground cover.

I would speculate that with the dates you've given most anything could be a possibility as to what has been dropped or buried on the property. The old fence line could be used as a guide, the theory is that folks used the posts as a marker for their buried money/valuables. Another 'typical stash location' would have been in view of a house window or doorway.

The old maps available from historical surveys, property line adjustments and the older the better as really old building or house sites tend to fade away over time though at times clues are there, corner stones, etc.

Do you own a Drone w/Video capability? Arial views done in tightly controlled sweeps up and down the property might reveal some interesting insights??

You've an exciting project in front of you though it will take time and work to perform a worthwhile search and even then a place is never hunted out as newer machines "see deeper" and come with
improved electronics to "see deeper", etc. Best of Success.............63bkpkr
 

Muddyhandz

Bronze Member
Jul 1, 2012
1,226
1,955
In da bush
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Fisher's 1266X, 1270X & 1280X
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Not sure on age, but it was a hanger and it’s about 1’ long!

View attachment 1746389

Of course the gold will get most of the limelight (they are great finds) but this serpent side plate from a trade gun is also a fantastic find!
Not sure of the age or model but a complete one from a Northwest trade gun can sell for several hundred dollars with even older ones reaching the thousand dollar mark!
The screw hole configuration is much different than what I'm used to so, I think more modern but well within the timeline you mention. I'll do some more research on that one.
The copper arrow point (made from recycled metal) goes well with this find and now I am curious about your rings. Maybe you have trade rings too?
You've made some great finds and one can only wonder what potential your property has!
 

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bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
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Damaged cameo ring. Says Berlin on the band, so not sure on age

E42BBB17-2F79-4D7B-B831-F890CA1DD0E2.jpeg
 

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bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
65
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Another ring about 700’ from the others. Definitely hand crafted, maybe silver. Unsure of age!

5C9BB4A5-9F05-4AFE-8800-8C47DFC5CE1C.jpeg
 

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bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
65
298
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
A couple civil war era boot tips, and a silver ring that was 70’ from the cold coins. I believe it says sterling on it.

04949A81-F959-4CBA-A630-5D3A2701785C.jpeg
 

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cudamark

Gold Member
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Mar 16, 2011
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Nice finds! If you plan on digging every target, I think I'd invest in some extra equipment. Personally, I'd get a good PI machine, like a White's TDI, and a two box, such as a TM808. If you have any area that just has to have discrimination, maybe get a Minelab Equinox, CTX, or an XP Deus. These will all go deeper than your current machine and will work better in iron, trash, and mineralized ground.
 

cudamark

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Mar 16, 2011
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Primary Interest:
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It’s very unusual how clean they were straight from the ground! I have a theory as to how they got there. This area has 2 concrete slabs about 2x2. There were some statues on them. I believe this was a garden or hangout area, which explains all the odd finds.

I think one of the attorneys that lived here in the 40s may have stashed gold here because of bank distrust of the times. He moved out because of heart issues. I’m guessing he chose an obvious place between the statue and the creek fence line about 20’ away. I bet he went to retrieve his stash and dropped a couple pieces in the ivy and the two rolled away. He would have been too old to unhealthy to find it.

I could be wrong, but I’ll keep searching. Going to use a sensor that goes deeper. I don’t know if someone in the 1940s would have gold from 1880. Also, they are so clean they almost seem hardly used, which would have been too old to be his.

High karat gold usually does come out of the ground very clean.:icon_thumright:
 

ken135

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Sep 24, 2017
206
322
Indiana
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Bonedoctor - when finding coins at the top of a river bank, my first thoughts are that they got there by the reinforcement of the bank at some point in time to prevent flooding. Perhap in preparation of the current home, in 1936, the land was graded by moving dirt towards the bank. Checking old surveying docs, building permits, topo maps, etc., might give a hint as to how the land was graded.
 

Oscar Goldman

Jr. Member
May 24, 2017
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For a site like this, you might consider Ground Penetrating Radar equipment or a service that uses GPR to survey the property. This would help find prospective places to dig deeper than the 4-8" you might detect with a traditional hand held detector.

Good Luck...sounds like an exciting project!
 

smallfoot

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May 29, 2019
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What ever you do...have a blast finding all that history!
 

ecmo

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Feb 28, 2016
937
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Wow, just wow, incredible property you have there. One thing no one else mentioned, if you don't have a tractor and brush hog or large mower pay a neighbor to mow that area down so you can get clean and low unobstructed sweeps with your detector. Best of luck to you.

Hi
Don
 

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bonedoctor

Jr. Member
Aug 25, 2019
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What we did with the gold site was mow it down and scan multiple times. Nothing new there. We decided one of two things could have happened. The first is that it was dropped. In that case, one worked its way directly down the embankment 15', It was literally straight were gravity would have left it. I think we searched enough to rule out there would be nothing else close to the surface.

So, I used the excavator. I dug out the first couple of feet around the 2 coins, and then placed it nicely in a large flat area, so it could be searched a little deeper. I also went very deep where the uphill coin was found. This would rule out the second theory that there was a container. I went about 8' deep and it was sandy. Nothing was there.

So, I have 2 more things to consider. One was that it was washed here. I am doubting this, because the higher coin was about 3' into the flat ground, and not on the bank slope. The flood water probably didn't get here. The second thing to consider is that maye more were dropped along a path someone was walking. I will search that more.

I havent seen anything that would indicate a marker. No stones. Some of my largest trees are 100 years old, but that still doesnt get us too close to 1880. So, I dont know that any tree markers would still exist, if there were any.

I did get a better detector. Mine was junk. The new one is working good. It is a Teknetics T2. How should I run this? All Metal and highest sensitivity? I was mainly doing discrimination mode.
 

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