Traps for Treasure

SwampHunter

Sr. Member
Mar 6, 2007
422
16
Samuel Watson's Old Place
Detector(s) used
Minelab Xterra 70, Tesoro Silver uMax, Fisher 1265X, Garrett Ace 250, Garrett Pro Pointer
An older lady once lived in the house we live in now. I started thinking about where some treasure might be located in the house. I have covered the majority of the house. I then thought about items falling into the sink. I looked at the traps under the sink and they were all plastic. Instead of taking them all off I picked up my Pro-pointer and ran it over the trap. The first sink had a good strong signal. The other two didn't have any signal. I got a bucket and then took the trap off of the sink that gave me the signal. I dumped the contents into the bucket. I thought great, just hair and a safety pin. As I walked towards the back door to dump the water I noticed something tangled in the hair. It was a pair of earrings. Granted they were not gold nor silver but they easily could have been.
Check your traps becuase there could be treasure there.
 

gldhntr

Bronze Member
Dec 6, 2004
1,382
79
good one...not long ago while searching a church yard i got a good signal...dug down and target was in pvc drainage pipe...covered it over and a week later was again detecting the churchyard and thought about the target...went back, detected, and it had mover about 3 ft...dug down and there was the pvc...i know it was the hope diamond in there on a 24k gold chain :)
 

boogeyman

Gold Member
Jun 6, 2006
5,016
4,398
Out in the hills near wherendaheckarwe
Detector(s) used
WHITES, MINELAB, Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have known a couple of guys that worked for the city maintaining sewer systems. The stories these guys told me and the things they showed me just about made me wanna chuck my detector and go to work for the city. One of them was in charge of the guys that went out insoecting. They had a box truck with a video setup. They had several cameras they either drove through the pipes or pulled on a cable & winch, looking for damage, cracks, or illegal tie ins. He had saved a tape of several cracks that you could see coind and / or jewlery.

After that if the chance is presented I try to never passup searching the downstream side of ditches and especially culverts. If you are in a trade or have access, the P traps in floor drains can be pretty good. If you spot a storm drain pipe coming out of a bank or into a river, it's absolutely worth checking out!
 

Produce Guy

Bronze Member
Dec 17, 2008
2,131
519
austin,texas
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace250,garrett pro-pointer,AT/Pro,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Inside those old houses,check the tops of the doors,sometimes there might be a grove at the top of the door,where they would hide things of value or even love-letters.If there's a medicine cabbint bulit into the wall ,you might check behind it,if it has wooden floors,check for loose ones that might be hiding something under the floor.
 

maipenrai

Bronze Member
Nov 11, 2010
1,151
242
Thailand/Europe/California
Detector(s) used
Excalibur 2 1000
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As long as your searching drains, probably the shower drain would have a good chance of producing some jewelry.
I doubt the drain from a bank would produce, since they dont usually wash money! Although some banks Launder money.
 

pennyfarmer

Hero Member
Oct 12, 2006
632
228
West Haven, UT
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have taken down heating ducts and dumped them out in abandoned homes. They usually have a wheat back or two. The occasional silver nickle too.
 

Jarl

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2012
817
736
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CURRENT: E-Trac

FORMER:Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Garrett AT Pro & Garrett Pinpointer Pro Garrett GTAx 1000, Ace 250

HAVE USED: Teknetics & Bounty Hunters

WANT TO TRY: Tesoro and White's someday
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Old houses with the skeleton key locks...can sometimes have Wheats and silver dimes in them...as kids would put them in there like a money slot. Also, built in hutches or any drawers...pull the drawers out and feel under and around and obviously look behind them. Check loose boards on wood steps. I can't seem to go into any old house and not imagine where things might be stashed.
 

Jarl

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2012
817
736
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CURRENT: E-Trac

FORMER:Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Garrett AT Pro & Garrett Pinpointer Pro Garrett GTAx 1000, Ace 250

HAVE USED: Teknetics & Bounty Hunters

WANT TO TRY: Tesoro and White's someday
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Oh yeah, I knew someone who found a full deck of 50's pin-up girl cards sitting neatly on top of an air duct(in a 50's era house). Someone was up to being sneaky lol.
 

krazyace

Full Member
Jan 9, 2009
213
89
Michigan
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Pro-Pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
When I was a young teen I lived in an older house so I checked different spots for treasure. One place I looked was to lift off the heating vents to see if anything was stashed in the ducts. Only thing I found was a small stack of nudie magazines.
 

pennyfarmer

Hero Member
Oct 12, 2006
632
228
West Haven, UT
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Some old medicine cabinets had slots to dispose of razors and they would just accumulate in the wall. My father told me that he used to put coins in the slot to hear them fall into the wall. So if you have the opportunity to be able to tear walls out in an old home then that might be something to look for.
 

JunkShopFiddler

Bronze Member
Feb 15, 2013
1,053
1,059
SW Indiana
Detector(s) used
Garrett GTP 1350
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I was having my septic tank pumped out a while back, during which I asked the guy what was the strangest thing he ever saw in a septic tank, and he says that on one occasion him and a homeowner guy lifted the top off a tank and the owner says to him, "What are those things, fish eggs?"...and the septic guy says, "No, those are condoms". (He told me there were dozens floating in it). Then the owner says, "How'd they get in there? I don't use condoms". Then the septic guy tells me he said, "I would suggest you go ask your wife who is using them"...He said the couple got divorced soon after that...true story.
 

Uncle Jeff

Hero Member
May 28, 2013
700
323
Tampa, Florida
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro -
Garrett Pro Pinpointer AT -
TEKNETICS EUROTEK PRO -
Garrett Pro Pinpointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ohh like these ideas a lot /em pops off his couch, grabs his pro pointer and promptly checks all 6 of the plastic sink traps in my house. grrrrrr nothing but still a great idea :)
 

chinchilla

Full Member
Dec 18, 2009
182
24
Detector(s) used
Tesoro, White's
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I was having my septic tank pumped out a while back, during which I asked the guy what was the strangest thing he ever saw in a septic tank, and he says that on one occasion him and a homeowner guy lifted the top off a tank and the owner says to him, "What are those things, fish eggs?"...and the septic guy says, "No, those are condoms". (He told me there were dozens floating in it). Then the owner says, "How'd they get in there? I don't use condoms". Then the septic guy tells me he said, "I would suggest you go ask your wife who is using them"...He said the couple got divorced soon after that...true story.

fish eggs... :laughing7:
 

boogeyman

Gold Member
Jun 6, 2006
5,016
4,398
Out in the hills near wherendaheckarwe
Detector(s) used
WHITES, MINELAB, Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Have you searched the attic or crawl space? Don't feel like crawling around in the ceiling work it with your detector from the floor. Around the opening is a spot I've had good luck. work around the door at least the distance someone could reach from a ladder. One of the guys I hunted with before his passing located an old .22 rifle laying right next to a rafter still loaded. If you start getting signals that don't appear to be coming from or to an electrical box or leading to a faucet, by all means check it out.

Get a black light. Check all the walls for wall pendants (patches in the plaster) might be a jar hoard that was stashed & plastered over. If the house has wooden windows open them check for coins laying on the sill. Also check the sides for stash spots, along with ANY loose trim around them. Note: There will be a sash weight (cast iron) to balance the weight of the window. Check behind the water heater between the wall if you're short of girly mags & a good spot for stashes.

The best tool is to stand in the center of the room & take a good look around for anything that looks skewed or out of place. Then try to think as if you needed to stash something, where would you hide it. Others have written books on hiding places, but these are where I've had luck over the years.
 

Aug 20, 2009
12,824
7,899
New Hampshire
Detector(s) used
Garret Master hunter Cx Plus
Primary Interest:
Other
Check door thresholds,the baseboards in closets plus the inside door casings of closets.Possible fake electrical wall outlets.Have a built in china cabinet?pull all the draws out and check.Window sills.
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We were remodeling an old building with large beams maybe 14 inches wide. I guess when the built building the spent break time pitching pennies and trying to get them to land on the beams, must have been 50 to 60 all wheaties.
 

twiasp

Hero Member
Dec 13, 2012
662
366
Detector(s) used
White's MXT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have heard that coins, notes, etc are buried under the hearthstone for luck, superstitions, etc.... Also check well houses, look down the line of fence posts for 1 that just doesn't fit right (usually in line of sight of a popular window that the owner sat near or near their bedroom.)
 

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