Treasure Hunting for a living

[GrayCloud]

Lots of CASH transactions.

 

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[traderoftreasures]

ive been working for my self since 1994 buying catalytic converter cores for platinum and rhodium. although it paid fair at first, many other buyer jumped aboard and now you can't find the volume of converters that it takes to really profit. now i only make a couple of dollars each and you have to pay so much to buy them.
i also sell stuff on ebay and i dig and sell ginseng.yes i would treasure hunt full time if i had the money and opportunity. what am i saying.... thats how i already live. never had nuttin'...mabye never will - but i will not stop looking or trying. and as for working for someone else.......... well i would rather have nothing.

 

[jeff of pa]

You know many and I mean most all times you see a discussion going in the direction of trying to find that "mother load" everyone seems to concede with the ending of such discussion with words like "but its the fun of the search" or "you'll never get rich and that's not the point of it, right?" or "I almost paid for my vacation to Cancun" So what about those who are not as inclined to think small and yet find it almost impossible to make a living at this incredible sport? Golfers do albeit a small percentage. But if I were to get on a golfers forum and ask the "experts" what the track is in order to eventually make a living a golf, I believe, though not substantiated, that there are basic guidelines and even a plan or two on how to get serious and have a shot at this. Last night I read a quote that said in treasure hunting "It's better to be lucky than knowledgeable." I sadly understand what they are trying to say but at the same time place it in the "you can't make a living at this Kid hopefully it will at least pay for the batteries you use" box of realistic but non-dreamers of the "Thinking Big" crowd. Imagine Mel Fisher buying into this mentality.

So here is my question and I'm going to start here in the Cache hunting catagory. If you can lay your preconceived "it's impossible to make a living in treasure hunting" ideas aside and give this question some real thought before answering it:

In order, what types of treasure hunting give the best chances of results to make a living. I'll start.

1.) Ship Wreck salvaging for gold and silver
2.) Hard rock Mining for gold on an industrial level
3.) Cache hunting
4.) Training a pack of labs to smell money to find rich peoples hidden currency.
5.) Slucing for gold out side the USA.
6.) Nugget hunting in A.U.
7.) Water hunting for rings in remote popular areas not hit.
8.) Water hunting in the Caribbean
9.) Diamond or precious stone hunting.

This is just a start, let you collective knowledge fly 1st class here. Do not allow you mind to travel in the paths often expressed. Again if you were dropped anywhere in the world and HAD to make a living at one type of treasure hunting, what would it be?

1.) Ship Wreck salvaging for gold and silver:

yes & No. You Can But
You can also Be Sucked Dry by Countries
Like Spain.

2.) Hard rock Mining for gold on an industrial level:
again Yes & No. many have if the mine produces
well from the "Git-Go" while your digging it.
but watch out for those gov regulations. If It's
Like coal mining, they'll charge & Fine you for
Every little thing Just
to Siphon off as Much as Possable.

3.) Cache hunting: Best Chance in My Opinion
IF You get lucky, find One & Keep Your Mouth Shut.

4.) Training a pack of labs to smell money to find rich peoples hidden currency.:
A Joke Right ?

5.) Slucing for gold out side the USA.
6.) Nugget hunting in A.U.
7.) Water hunting for rings in remote popular areas not hit.
8.) Water hunting in the Caribbean.
9.) Diamond or precious stone hunting.:

All Hobbies. Don't Go in them to Get Rich.
But If you Do

 

[CRAZY-TEXICAN]

Back when i was a kid , i remember this one friend that was always embarrassed of his parents because they would "dumpster dive" and would take anything that was free ranging from small nicknack's to furniture .. We moved to California and i would keep in touch with him from time to time , a couple of years ago i asked him if he was still embarrassed by his parents and he told me that some of the stuff they picked up from dumpsters and sidewalks turned out to be very valuable antiques and rare one of a kind things . They now own 3 Antique stores and 2 pawn shops with yearly proffits usually over $900,000 combined . Just goes to show that there is "treasure" to be found even in the trash ..

 

[coda]

Lost the first post while writing so this will be far less poetic. This can be done I am convinced. If you think of all you have found, the time it took (by hr/day), and all of your finds current value; forecast these facts on an x and y graph (event / time). Condense it realistically into hrs of research and search, you will find your particular answer to your dream unrealized. No kidding, use the next 6 months or 1 yr and record time spent and what you have found. For the folks that have that big find on the beach or in the hills just weekend hunting; and imagine doing it 5 days a week. Odds will incresase by default. My two problems: I can't let go of what I find, and it's the thrill of discovery not cashing in.

When the War is over, or I retire, I will disappear to hunt for Treasure, Animals, Fish, and Peace.

 

[lastleg]

Group, this same question was asked on a nuggetshooting forum a day
or so ago. A man posted that he had done it for ten years when he was
younger, homeless and single. Would any of you like to hit the road to
places that give up fresh jewelry/coins on a yearly "circuit".
Would you like living in your vehicle living only on what you might find?
Parts of the circuit would be on the beaches for gold/gemstones. A nice
haul would get you a good meal and a bath from time to time. Maybe
enough for gas to the next score. Day after day just getting by?
He finally settled down and got married. He still hunts but not because
he has to.

lastleg

 

[Texas_Meteorite_Hunter]

I feel compelled to rephrase the initial posting in a microeconomics way:

"Which of these items can be done that consume fewer resources than the resources that are recovered?"

People sometimes forget that true treasure hunting is actually salvage. About making choices that maximize personal EV (expected value). Salvage is about spending less money to recover the item than the item is worth. In the case of coinshooters, the vast majority fail this acid test. Their time, gas, lodging, and ammoritized equipment cost, etc, don't add up to a positive return on their resources. But they have a large 'pleasure' return to their component so they do it.

Treasure hunting as a pro, is definitely going to need a positive return on resources (time and money). So it becomes a resource economics problem. This can not be ignored. That leads questions to be asked. What activity brings a positive EV with lowest risk? What activity brings the highest positive EV with medium risk?

#5 Gold prospecting overseas immediately popped out as a high favorite. Especially in developing countries where locals will not have grubstakes to buy the right equipment. However, the prospector realizes he is a target for robbery and needs to factor that cost into his equation.

#3 Cache hunting has the greatest appeal to most as it can be done part time at first. Low cost, and negligible tax burden depending on ones conscience. Whether it can be done profitably depends upon the statistical size of the caches recovered. The rate of recovery will depend on 3 big factors:
1. Research quality and quantity (lead viability)
2. Social engineering (charm factor) to get on target land
3. Speed which #1,2 are done.

Therein lies some interesting variables for cache hunting. Those in hilly country may specialize in moonshine caches, those in mafia territory may go after ill gotten stashes, those in cross border drug traffic areas may go after smuggling caches, while those in old farmland areas my go for post hole banks. I believe certain specialty niches will have cache types statistically too small to sustain a pro. I suspect the best caches to go pro on would be life savings caches.

But to reflect on the overall essence of his post. The correct answer will vary by person and circumstance. I have the luxury of having built a business, have staff, and can travel on expeditions for weeks at a time without risking a steady income. Given this situation, #3 is my correct answer. However, other occupations, with different time demands, family pressures, political problems will have a different correct answer. Like perhaps #1 (shipwreck recovery) for a seasonal fisherman who already owns a boat and Scuba gear. Or #2 (Hard Rock Mining) for a plumber who lives in Arizona near gold country.

 

[itsmymind]

Hello to all. A newbie here at the forum and treasure hunting but perhaps I can put a new twist on things. It seems that nobody has taken #4 seriously so I will realate a short 1st hand story concerning Lab and money.

While at the local vfw weekly turkey shoot a guy I had never seen before showed up with a lab that was very well behaved. He didn't restrain the dog at all and in fact the dog followed him around like a good dog should. Being a dog lover I approached the guy and introduced myself to him and began talking about dogs. He was telling me about how smart his dog was and I was just letting him go on and on about his dog. Being polite or so I thought. After a few minutes he evidently saw that I was not really believing all was telling me. The man say's here I'll show you. He tells the dog "FIND THE MONEY" The next thing I know the dog has his nose working the air, goes to the other room where they collect the money for the shoots, grabs a bill and brings it back to him. Yes the manager of the vfw was right behind and wondering what that dog was doing taking the money. As a dog trainer of sorts I was impressed. When I asked him how he trained the dog to do that he explained that money had a smell like everything else and that was the key to the training. I thougt, Ok,that made sense.

My point to this story is that it should be just as easy to train a dog to smell gold or silver if you have a sample. Just a thought.

 

[traderoftreasures]

welcome itsmymind i like your story

 

[Connecticut Sam]

Maybe in the past, out west, people could make a living founding cache of coins, but do not think so in the East.

Connecticut Sam

 

[traderoftreasures]

Maybe in the past, out west, people could make a living founding cache of coins, but do not think so in the East.

Connecticut Sam

no offence but i don't know how anyone can handle all the people out east. i guess you get used to it

 

[lastleg]

What group of people find caches more often than treasure hunters? I would
expect the people who move a lot of dirt on a daily basis to have good odds
of finding buried money. Not every week of course but excavators working on
colonial ground like in Connecticut might be your best shot at finding a fortune
in non corroded coins of high value.

lastleg

 

[architecad]

I, for one, would never say it's impossible to make a living at treasure hunting. Some are doing it. But, there is a little thing called reality. You wouldn't want to sell the farm (oh, I wish I had a farm to sell) and take off for gold country. If I was gonna go into treasure hunting full time I think I would start out slow and easy, in my spare time and see how things would go. Then again, if I could afford to do it, I probably would go for it, but affording it wouldn't mean giving up everything I own. You can't find the word "sure" in gamble.
16 years away from retirement. Maybe then.

I agree with this statement.

 

[architecad]

Digum

The ONLY reason I don't treasure hunt full time is my wife. We've discussed it. She refuses to leave a our farm, our nice home, our good incomes, our luxuries, and our relatives and friends to go live in a camper trailer with me along some creek, and shovel dirt all day everyday. Selfish isn't she !

I got married with a woman that believe in this hobby and like it.She come with me any place I go for hunt, so this is part of my treasure found!!!

Arch

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Digum

The ONLY reason I don't treasure hunt full time is my wife. We've discussed it. She refuses to leave a our farm, our nice home, our good incomes, our luxuries, and our relatives and friends to go live in a camper trailer with me along some creek, and shovel dirt all day everyday. Selfish isn't she !

I got married with a woman that believe in this hobby and like it.She come with me any place I go for hunt, so this is part of my treasure found!!!

Arch

Does she have sisters?

 

[Connecticut Sam]

I agree with #773. Good luck to all. I live in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and looking for true stories about Connecticut bury treasures.

Connecticut Sam

[email protected]

 

[Connecticut Sam]

April 22, 2011. Gold and silver prices are really high. Best of luck to all of you.