great find. personal finds like that don't come often.
When my sister's father in law passed and they had to empty the house to sell. in his den he had tons of books. When moving the books to boxes a twenty dollar bill fell out. So the fanned all the books and recovered over $1,000 in bills all 20's and 50's.
I just think some older people of that generation did not completely trust banks. In some of the metal detecting/treasure hunting books I read, they point out different places in the home and yard where old timers hid money.
What I can remember is in the houses they would put silver and gold coins under the linoleum flooring, under loose steps between the step and riser. Outside a fence post hole was a good place to bury money. It often was a fence post that was visible from a window in a room that was frequently used. So when hunting an old home site with a home that is vacant that you can go to, swing the steps and the floor.