Avoiding iron junk

[baker joe]

Is there a detector that will only signal gold or gold coins? I've been told there are gold coins on our property from the 1930's. I've tried looking for them, unfortunately there is also a lot of junk buried (iron pieces, tin cans, aluminum cans, etc. How can I avoid all that junk and just detect the good stuff? Any help would be appreciated.

 

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[DiamondDan]

Impossible. You will ALWAYS have to dig the junk to find gold. Detectors only give you a hint about what might be under your coil. Gold sounds like trash 99% of the time.

 

[smokeythecat]

Welcome. And the answer is no. Big iron can mask a lot of targets. Once you get the iron out of the way (and some iron can bring big bucks if it's old enough), well, anyway, if the gold is there only persistence will find it.

 

[xr7ator]

Besides, the gold coins you speak of, if they were cashed, may very well be in an old metal can or pot or other iron or metal object.
I remember reading about a 6' or so long piece of pipe that a hunter dug up and both ends were capped. It was chock full of silver dollars....

 

[G.I.B.]

If you are not digging nickels and pull tabs, you will never dig the gold.

 

[SD51]

How big is your yard? Just go out there, grid it off with garden hoses and dig every signal!

 

[ticndig]

being a relic hunter is hard dirty work. we all have our tricks and methods but avoiding trash and only digging coins is not one of them .
shot gun brass and pull tabs must be dug or you're missing the good stuff.

 

[Goodyguy]

First of all I would like to know exactly which detector you are using and with what size coil and operating frequency.

Second, how many gold coins are we talking about?

Third, are they supposed to be buried in the same spot?

Fourth, what type of soil?

Fifth, how long ago approximately were they buried?

Sixth, what area of the country are we talking about?

Once I have this information I can calculate your best course of action to take for finding the treasure and I'll post it on this thread.


GG~

 

[baker joe]

Thanks for your help.

1. I don't have a detector yet. Your advice would be appreciated. I find the wide variety of equipment quite mind-boggling. I tried using a White's TM 808 Metal Detector last fall. I was told that it would be ideal for detecting larger objects like a mason jar. I tried to "calibrate" it by burying a jar of coins, then remembering what the tone sounded like. That didn't work for two reasons I think: First, it was hard to replicate that exact tone. Second, if the detector "hit" on anything, I felt like I could be missing an opportunity. So, I ended up digging everything I detected. That yielded and iron, horseshoe, lots of odd iron pieces, the top of a wood stove, and general junk (cans, etc.).

2. I've been told by more than one source that a man who settled the land put $5 and $10 gold coins in mason jars and buried them for safe keeping, back in the mid- 30's. I realize everyone has heard a story like that. But one local guy said his grandpappy saw them. When the settler wanted to confide in him about where he was stashing them, in case he died or something. This grandpappy declined saying "I haven't seen a quarter all week, I don't want the temptation of knowing." Remember, this was during the depression.

3. I'm guessing they would be buried around his original stone house. That house was taken apart piece by piece after he died, as many people were looking for the stash. Since then, the rubble pile of a house was bulldozed to clean up the land. The general area of his homestead is about an acre and is bordered by a stream, but is within 34 acres that I know own. So, it's possible that a bulldozer crushed the jars and they are spread and buried all over. Or they were stashed near a tree or something and avoided that fate.

4. The soil is loamy with lots of rocks. This can be tough digging.

5. Buried in the late 30's to keep the money out of the banks.

6. This is in the mountains of North Carolina, elevation 3,500 feet. So, we get snow and frost depth can be up to 1-2'.

Thanks again!

 

[Georgivs]

Thanks for your help.

1. I don't have a detector yet. Your advice would be appreciated. I find the wide variety of equipment quite mind-boggling. I tried using a White's TM 808 Metal Detector last fall. I was told that it would be ideal for detecting larger objects like a mason jar. I tried to "calibrate" it by burying a jar of coins, then remembering what the tone sounded like. That didn't work for two reasons I think: First, it was hard to replicate that exact tone. Second, if the detector "hit" on anything, I felt like I could be missing an opportunity. So, I ended up digging everything I detected. That yielded and iron, horseshoe, lots of odd iron pieces, the top of a wood stove, and general junk (cans, etc.).

2. I've been told by more than one source that a man who settled the land put $5 and $10 gold coins in mason jars and buried them for safe keeping, back in the mid- 30's. I realize everyone has heard a story like that. But one local guy said his grandpappy saw them. When the settler wanted to confide in him about where he was stashing them, in case he died or something. This grandpappy declined saying "I haven't seen a quarter all week, I don't want the temptation of knowing." Remember, this was during the depression.

3. I'm guessing they would be buried around his original stone house. That house was taken apart piece by piece after he died, as many people were looking for the stash. Since then, the rubble pile of a house was bulldozed to clean up the land. The general area of his homestead is about an acre and is bordered by a stream, but is within 34 acres that I know own. So, it's possible that a bulldozer crushed the jars and they are spread and buried all over. Or they were stashed near a tree or something and avoided that fate.

4. The soil is loamy with lots of rocks. This can be tough digging.

5. Buried in the late 30's to keep the money out of the banks.

6. This is in the mountains of North Carolina, elevation 3,500 feet. So, we get snow and frost depth can be up to 1-2'.

Thanks again!

I would be out there tomorrow digging every single beep even if I just had a cheap $40 detector. You might dig up a bunch of nails, plow parts, and axe heads but one jar of gold coins would be a huge signal and more than worth spending the time on. After the first one you can afford the best detector out there to find the rest.

 

[SD51]

One of the old tricks that was used to hide a cache was to drive a nail or screw into a lower limb of a large tree. Then a plumb bob (rope with a weight) was attached to the nail and the cache would be buried directly below the weight since a tree limb only grows out from the end.

Another trick was to put the cache under a fence post that isn't attached to the barbed wire.

Keep in mind that since a mason jar was most likely used to hold the coins, when you get a detector, see how it responds to an old mason jar lid. If the mason jar lid is facing upward and it still somewhat intact, that's what your detector will see, not the coins.

 

[Goodyguy]

Thanks for your help.

1. I don't have a detector yet. Your advice would be appreciated. I find the wide variety of equipment quite mind-boggling. I tried using a White's TM 808 Metal Detector last fall. I was told that it would be ideal for detecting larger objects like a mason jar. I tried to "calibrate" it by burying a jar of coins, then remembering what the tone sounded like. That didn't work for two reasons I think: First, it was hard to replicate that exact tone. Second, if the detector "hit" on anything, I felt like I could be missing an opportunity. So, I ended up digging everything I detected. That yielded and iron, horseshoe, lots of odd iron pieces, the top of a wood stove, and general junk (cans, etc.).

2. I've been told by more than one source that a man who settled the land put $5 and $10 gold coins in mason jars and buried them for safe keeping, back in the mid- 30's. I realize everyone has heard a story like that. But one local guy said his grandpappy saw them. When the settler wanted to confide in him about where he was stashing them, in case he died or something. This grandpappy declined saying "I haven't seen a quarter all week, I don't want the temptation of knowing." Remember, this was during the depression.

3. I'm guessing they would be buried around his original stone house. That house was taken apart piece by piece after he died, as many people were looking for the stash. Since then, the rubble pile of a house was bulldozed to clean up the land. The general area of his homestead is about an acre and is bordered by a stream, but is within 34 acres that I know own. So, it's possible that a bulldozer crushed the jars and they are spread and buried all over. Or they were stashed near a tree or something and avoided that fate.

4. The soil is loamy with lots of rocks. This can be tough digging.

5. Buried in the late 30's to keep the money out of the banks.

6. This is in the mountains of North Carolina, elevation 3,500 feet. So, we get snow and frost depth can be up to 1-2'.

Thanks again!

Based on your information and my calculations. These are my thoughts..............
The 1 qt mason jars (if thats what they were buried in) or could be pint jars, have been buried for 80+ years in loamy rocky soil with annual freeze and thaw.

Factor in the normal accumulation of material on top of the ground over 80 years such as, decayed leaves, dust, grass, etc.

Figure the quart jars weigh approx 20 lbs each full of gold coins. (a quart of gold flakes will weigh 30 lbs)
Pint jars full of gold coins 10 lbs each or so.

Assume the tops/sides of the jars were buried approx a foot deep and the hole would have been 18-20 inches deep.
Doubtful if more than 2-3 jars per hole. Who knows how many jars or how many holes or how deep.

I would use a detector capable of detecting at least two feet deep minimum.
The Whites Tm 808 which is what I use for cache hunting and is what I would recommend.

Otherwise I would recommend the Minelab GPZ 7000 which costs $8,000.00 and add another $1,300 for the 32" coil.
Doubt you would want to do that, considering that the coins could possibly have been recovered by the owner himself or someone else he confided in.

If the bulldozer did scatter the coins then they would be in range of most good coin detectors. Get the best one you can afford.
The Minelab Gold Monster 1000 sells for $850 and comes with two coils and other acc. Is designed for detecting gold nuggets and simple to operate.

Just because it is tuned for gold doesn't mean it wont detect all metals. Parts of NC is gold bearing and you may even find a big nugget or two!
Another point is that it has a ground balancing feature to eliminate false signals due to soil mineralization.

Without seeing the lay of the land myself, You may want to pay attention to any depressed areas in the ground that would indicate a hole dig that has settled over time.

Digging trash is part of treasure hunting. Each hole you dig is one more hole closer to the pay off.
I once dug six feet deep only to find an old iron tractor wheel.

Do not try to discriminate by tone. DIG ALL TARGETS and then re check the hole. Also wear headphones for a stronger signal.
80 years is a long time and metal objects could have found their way on top of the cache by chance. Again re-check the hole.

Was there a barn or chicken coop on the property?
How about a large boulder or rock? Sometimes placed over a cache and easy to overlook when detecting.

20 lbs of gold is worth approx. $490,000.00 melt value. Actual coins could be worth much more.
Worth digging lots of junk for? You decide.


Go for the Gold
GG~

 

[Tahts-a-dats-ago]

Do you have access to any old photographs of the stone house and surrounding area? Even if the photographs are from years later, they still might provide you with clues as to where the likely burial locations are. People are people; we tend to want our valuables in a location that provides us with easy access and the ability to closely monitor things. If you have such photographs I'd look for window openings and doorways that provide the ability to monitor potential burial locations; places such as an outhouse, chicken coop, garden, flower bed, hog pen, etc...

Try to imagine where you'd hide something valuable, if you were in the settler's position. I'd search those areas first and I'd dig every signal in those areas. If you have access to a tractor, it might be worth your time to scrape some of the top soil down in those areas that seem most promising.

Does the settler still have family in your area?

I'd try to find out as much as I could about him. There could be clues that let you know how he thought, and those clues could lead you to likely areas. To have a quantity of gold coins in the 1930's is quite a feat. He must have been very frugal and very intelligent.

I'd go to the local library and search for newspaper articles that may have mentioned him in some manner. Did he own other properties? Did he own a business? Is there a record of him buying anything and paying for it in cash/gold coins? You might not find anything at all, or you might find the one clue that leads you to the treasure.

Good luck. I hope you find the gold coins.

 

[G.I.B.]

You clearly need my help.

I'll come up after the CV-19 stuff is over with-

 

[hill_billiez]

Old mason jar lids look quite different from today models.

 

[Goodyguy]

Old mason jar lids look quite different from today models.

And those were made out of zink and lined with porcelain and patented in 1858
Still in production into the 1960s

Some early jars also used glass lids. (reproductions still available)




The two piece zink lid became popular in the late 1910s and 1920s and are still in use today but not in zink.
Could have been buried in the 1930s as well as jars with 1 piece zink lids.

Zink lids would have pretty much deteriorated/disintegrated in the ground by now depending upon the acidity of the soil.


GG~

 

[baker joe]

Thanks again for your advice. I've asked around for photos, but my guess is that they will be hard to find; this is a remote location. The settler (I was told his name, and subsequently did find his name on a property deed) had a stroke before he died. On his death bed, his kin asked him where the stash was. Apparently, he couldn't talk and could only utter "ssspppp". Could that be spruce, or spring, or? I've also been told that lots of people have searched the property over the years looking for the coins, but nobody has ever found them. I have no idea if those were extensive searches. It’s also possible that they were found, and that person kept their mouth shut. I can only imagine how many people may know about this and have tried looking in the past 80 years.

Interestingly, the old settler was what they called a shrub man. He sold nursery stock and became wealthy doing it, again, according to the locals on my road. There are some spruce on the property that are both dead and alive but very old. Spruce is not a native tree in this area. So that could be clue. Unfortunately, with spruce comes tree roots, adding to tough digging. The locals tell me that he planted quite a few trees on this land. He had some of the best fruit trees. One man in his mid 50’s said that as kids, they would climb those trees and eat cherries and pears until they were sick to their stomach.

I thought it odd that he would plant trees on what is now a heavily forested land, but then again, I doubt most of the trees are over 80 years old. I read somewhere that during the depression it was common for landowners to sell of the timber to make money. So, it could be that this land was much more open back in the 30’s than it is now.

I was thinking last night that if I were going to bury three mason jars, I'd keep them near my house, and I'd probably put a rock over the hole. A rock would help me locate the hole and the rock would help cover up the disturbed soil.

I must admit, the whole thing is quite intriguing, and quite maddening at the same time.

 

[ticndig]

you can see what the place looked like years ago here. https://www.historicaerials.com/

 

[dash4cash]

you can see what the place looked like years ago here. https://www.historicaerials.com/

Just what I was thinking, photos from the early 50's and maybe even before that could show some larger trees that were once there, worth the check.

Carl

 

[pulltabfelix]

open up your bank account and withdraw $6,500.00 and go on ebay and buy Ajax Detection Iota - Professional Long Range Geolocator Metal Detector for Gold. Read the manual carefully and start hunting. Or better yet just send me $6,500.00 and save yourself a lot of work. I will send you $3,250.00 in pure gold and we will both be happy. My paypal address is [email protected].