HELP!! This ? Is Haunting My Dreams

[Lucky13]

Thanks for the help for all who were willing to share there knowledge of treasure hunting with me.I have removed this post due to alot of negative criticism toward this post and the integrity of Boy Scouts of America. Thanks again. HH

[batcap]

FIrst off, Here is what the deal is. My friend and i are more into relic hunting and mapping civil war battles and native american camps through out southwest VA or cache hunting old plantation houses, Recently we found some arrowheads at a site and decided to go back and metal detect for copper/iron tools that may be there. What happened next is haunting my dreams at night,I got a hit that was broken using my teknetics t2 and assumed it was iron so i started digging,thinking i had found a native american artifact,Instead what i dug out of the ground about 15 inches deep was two gold 20$ double eagle coins. We have searched this site with a minelab explorer 2 and recovered,five double eagles and 17 five dollar gold coins total thus far in about a thirty foot square vicinity,all between 12-24 inches down. My ? is what detector would be the best for searching between 2-5 feet for single gold coins?
The next ? is where the hell did the coins come from? The third ? is why in the hell are they so far beneath the ground?This has been a national forest since 1910.Any help on the subject would be greatly appreciated,But please,Just give honest information on this subject.Im working with a limited budget of One Thousand Dollars. All information will be greatly appreciated.Thanks A Million

Why in the world would you have a limited budget? You just said you recovered 24 gold coins, totaling no less than 8 ounces. That's ONE HALF POUND of gold. If I had that kind of money to work with, and that kind of spot, I'd feel foolish spending less than 1 double eagle on a detector. After all, the detector will still be saleable when you're done with that spot if you decide you don't want it any more.

[Chug And Red]

FIrst off, Here is what the deal is. My friend and i are more into relic hunting and mapping civil war battles and native american camps through out southwest VA or cache hunting old plantation houses, Recently we found some arrowheads at a site and decided to go back and metal detect for copper/iron tools that may be there. What happened next is haunting my dreams at night,I got a hit that was broken using my teknetics t2 and assumed it was iron so i started digging,thinking i had found a native american artifact,Instead what i dug out of the ground about 15 inches deep was two gold 20$ double eagle coins. We have searched this site with a minelab explorer 2 and recovered,five double eagles and 17 five dollar gold coins total thus far in about a thirty foot square vicinity,all between 12-24 inches down. My ? is what detector would be the best for searching between 2-5 feet for single gold coins?
The next ? is where the hell did the coins come from? The third ? is why in the hell are they so far beneath the ground?This has been a national forest since 1910.Any help on the subject would be greatly appreciated,But please,Just give honest information on this subject.Im working with a limited budget of One Thousand Dollars. All information will be greatly appreciated.Thanks A Million

Why in the world would you have a limited budget? You just said you recovered 24 gold coins, totaling no less than 8 ounces. That's ONE HALF POUND of gold. If I had that kind of money to work with, and that kind of spot, I'd feel foolish spending less than 1 double eagle on a detector. After all, the detector will still be saleable when you're done with that spot if you decide you don't want it any more.

No comment it think it has been said!!!!! WTG Batcap!!! Chug

And i thought there was another full moon Nope not until the 22nd

[bill-USA]

Well, I don't know a lot about cache finds, but here are some thoughts then a question or two. It seems to me that kid's caches (you know that Maxwell house coffee can you put trinkets in then buried out in the woods?) are normally shallow. It also seems to me that valuable adult buried caches tend to be at least as deep as the forearm of the adult burying it, and somewhat deeper if they're at all 'afraid' of losing the valuable.

Being spread, I assume that the original cache has probably been plowed through or over several times to get the kind of distribution you mentioned.

The only way I know of to get deeper without getting a new machine would be to increase the size of the coil. As you increase coil size, you may find that sensitivity to smaller items might be reduced, but you should still hear a whisper as you get another coin under the coil.

A two box would probably ignore the individual coins, and might ignore a cluster of coins, unless they were housed in a metallic container.

A Pulse Induction unit with very large coil would probably be the item I'd select, but only if the ground is fairly clean of iron.

Is there any indication that there had been a pole fence in the area? If so, I would intensely detect the fence line in the vicinity of the found coins.

Do any of the coins show signs of being hit by the plow? Not new nicks from digging but older rather blunted dings from a machine or horse drawn plow. A horse drawn plow might not even mark the coin unless the coin was trapped against an underground rock or some such, so if the site has been reserved from farming since 1910, then the coins might not show more than a light scratch from being plowed.

That number of coins would represent a significant fortune for someone in the late 1800's or early 1900's. If I were guessing, it may have been a wealthy plantation owner that saw the south was going to lose the war and decided he needed to hide his funds since most of his wealth had come from using slave labor. (Plantation or large farm for the times.)

I assume from a legal perspective that you knew going in that all significant finds had to be reported. I am also going to assume that the 'legal' finder is BOA, rather than you and your friend. This leaves me with the conclusion that a financial windfall is out of the question and the best that can be hoped for is a 'finder's fee' paid by BOA if they get to keep the proceeds (which may not happen).

I think, if you want some income from this, it's time to get some signed contracts between you and BOA regarding a proportional split of some sort. If you and your friend don't care, and are simply helping the BOA then more power to you. I would at least ask them to provide the funding for any enhanced search capability, such as the purchase of a quality PI and a large coil or set of coils, with the understanding they can resell the new detector when you are sure there are no more coins.

Sorry there is no real help in this note, but it was sure interesting to think about. May you be given dreamless sleep! At least for a night or so.

[Lucky13]

bill-USA thanks for the post and some info on the detectors,I`ll try a bigger coil on my minelab first ,seeing as how the two box may miss individual coins.
For the questions you asked me. There is no fence line to speak of that we have been able to locate,The only visibleland marks that we have found have been two stone foundations from what was most likely old cabins in the late 1800s,and what we think to be a grave site or possibly and old well that has been filled in.Im not really sure that i want to dig it if its a grave. The recovered coins do not have any sign of being plowed over but that was my guess as well on why they were spread out. The five dollar pieces we recovered were some what close together when we found them,And im almost convinced that either they were all buried together or buried in a couple of seperate spots in caches along the property and just spread apart by some other means later on.Whether by plowing or what im not sure but plowing is my best guess as well. Because anyone with common sense can sit down and realize that nobody in there right mind would just throw there money around 3,5,10,12,18,24,30 feet apart. Ive been a scout troop leader since 2005 and have located many old villages and homeplaces in washington,jefferson,and Bland National Forests here in VA,The Jefferson National Forest is 610 thousand acres alone before connecting to washington national forest and continuing on. You can go to the breaks international park and request a map of daniel boones travels in VA,some of them now being national forest and some of them on state land,We have traveled alot of those trails in the past years doing different things with our troops and there is so many places that are great for relic hunting and now obviously cache hunting as well.If i could dedicate myself to treasure hunting full time id never be able to search them all by myself.If you are ever in VA just contact the Virginia Department of Game And Inland Fisheries and they`ll give you a permit to metal detect on national forest property,within the confines of ARPA regulation of course.You can aslo go to the Department of Forestry for a permit in VA. Just try not to destroy foundations and landmarks when you come across them.Preservation for the future is key when hunting national forest property. Good Luck And Happy Hunting.

Thanks Again
John

[batcap]

I forgot to mention in my last post that technically none of this belongs to me,It belongs to the government,I dont know about all states but in VA any artifact or antiquity found on National Forest land is property of the government,Not the finder.Even if there will be a finders fee which im sure there eventually will be,It will be paid to the Boy Scouts Of America,Not to myself or to the person involved.Our permit was issued specifically for our scout troop so any payouts would be to the persons/orginization who held the permit not the individual who found them. And in this case the only person who would be set to profit from this would be the BSA orginaztion itself.Im more than content with that,To see my troop involved in this adventure and the enjoyment we have all had from it this summer,Its been a treasure within its self. If we do recieve a fee from the federal govt. We will be on to our next adventure somewhere else along the appalachian trail.

Sometimes I have a way of putting my big muddy boot in my mouth, probably more often than I get called on it. I'd like to apologize to you for doubting your original story. Although the question was legitimate I didn't need to ask it so snidely. Please forgive me.

[Lucky13]

Sometimes I have a way of putting my big muddy boot in my mouth, probably more often than I get called on it. I'd like to apologize to you for doubting your original story. Although the question was legitimate I didn't need to ask it so snidely. Please forgive me.
[/quote]


Hey Batcap, No problem and no offense taken,Its all part of posting on a public forum. I was just trying to get some info on detectors n what not. My area of expertise has been in recovering Native American,Civil War,Revolutionary War Relics, My knowledge of metal detectors isnt the best when it comes to locating coins or other objects spread out at different depths in the ground.But hey man,None the less i appreciate you taking the time to read my post on Tnet.

Take Care
John

[TURNMASTER]

I thought you could hunt National Forests without concern for permits. AND that you could keep any coins $20 and under Artifacts and relics are a different story though.

Jeff

[olepossum]

i am a den master in missouri and we try not to deal with our office in financial circles they always want a part of our money. for what we should keep it all we made it. so keep
the 5s and a few of the 20s go out of state and sell them and keep the money for your troop and keep a few for your self and turn the rest in . nuff said its the american way help the boys make sure you get paid and uncle sam gets the rest .

[dogpound]

how about this.....ya found the coins in your own back yard, now keep them

[bottlebum]

I think that I've just come to the realization that...........I'm greedy

[diggummup]

I think that I've just come to the realisation that...........I'm greedy

That's whats wrong with this country. Not you in particular, but greed in general by those who already have multiple millions. I know your saying this tongue in cheek and i'm with you, loose lips sink ships. Those who have little are not greedy just needy!

[Chocadog]

If it is a National forest then it is probably off limits to any kind of artifact or metal detecting!