City Workers find Civil War pot of Gold-Really !!!!

soar697877

Full Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
216
Reaction score
0
Golden Thread
0
Location
Clarksville, TN
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ultra GTA 350, Garrett Ace 250
I just read this article, and man,,,doesn't it get you eager to go out there & MD?


City Workers Find Pot of Gold


Somewhere in Tennessee police searched a muddy city parking lot where workmen discovered a (container-pot) of gold coins that may have been buried during the Civil War. The U.S. gold pieces are worth (conservatively) up to $3,000 each but it's unclear how many were found since the workmen made off with most of them. "We have accounted for 177 and that's just by talking to people who said that they had possessed some," said the Mayor. "There may be a good bit more than that."

Many of the coins already have been sold to gold dealers. The coins were unearthed by city workmen resurfacing a downtown parking lot and other people apparently have visited the site since then. Word of the discovery spread through the town of 42,000 residents and the Mayor ordered city employees to seal off the area.

A policeman with a metal detector began the city's official search of the parking lot, which was cordoned off with yellow tape saying "Crime Area. Keep Out."

"I've asked the court to determine who the owner of the coins would be," the Mayor said. "You can get as many different opinions as there are lawyers. Every lawyer has a different version. "One guy says if it's money, it belongs to the finder. Maybe that true. I don't know," he said.

"One guy says if it's a treasure trove, it belongs to the property owner. What is a treasure trove? I don't know. One guy says that the finder in this case is the city because they were in the employ of the city at the time they found it," he said.

If the money belongs to the city, the Mayor said he will take legal steps to recover it, although he noted such an undertaking would be complicated. The coins were $2 1/2, $5, $10 and $20 gold pieces. "The face value is not very important" said the Mayor. "The value of the coins is much more than the face value. "The latest mint date was something like 1857, something like that. I may be off a year or two. Some of them were back to the 1840's and the 1830's."

Union soldiers occupied Jackson, Tennessee during the Civil War. "Probably somebody buried that money in 1861 or 1862 when the troops came in to keep them from getting it" he said, "and then died before they recovered it.
 

We all know there is no Confederate gold. ;) ;) ;) :D
Buried Confederate gold is just a myth. ;) :D
Great post.
 

Finders keepers,losers weepers. A treasure trove is defined in the U.S. as -Treasure trove (found money or property) is considered gross income for purposes of federal income tax.

bigcypresshunter said:
We all know there is no Confederate gold. ;) ;) ;) :D
Buried Confederate gold is just a myth. ;) :D
Great post.
;) Exactly!
 

diggummup said:
Finders keepers,losers weepers. A treasure trove is defined in the U.S. as -Treasure trove (found money or property) is considered gross income for purposes of federal income tax.

bigcypresshunter said:
We all know there is no Confederate gold. ;) ;) ;) :D
Buried Confederate gold is just a myth. ;) :D
Great post.
;) Exactly!


I'd be more than willing to pay a tax on the gross income.
 

Thanks for that post Jeff K. !

At least now the story has a little more merit than only being advertising for Kellco.
 

I knew I should have buried my gold somewhere else...dang it!!! ::) ;D

Hmmm...would be great to see the outcome of this story...if true, cool...if not, just someone's way of getting a quickie to fame in the paper :)

Thanks for the post,
Annmarie
 

It turns out that this may not be gold hidden during the Civil War. The oldest coin was 1857.

"The mystery part is that in 1858 a bank in Jackson had been robbed, the cashier killed, and the robber ran off with $8,000 in loot, including $4,500 in gold coins. It was presumed that he escaped to distant parts. The murder and theft was never solved and the coins were never recovered.

"Now comes the information that the coins were found where the president of the same bank must have buried them!"
 

True SWR,,,

Sounds like the gold coins were "reported" stolen in the bank robbery, but really went out the back door with the president of the bank, and then he buried them in his own yard !!!
 

Even back then, as today, there are crooks "on the inside" of things...unfortunately.
 

My uncle invested in gold coins. He died suddenly of heart failure while racking leaves and nobody knows where he hid/buried the gold. Probably in that yard so he could keep an eye on it.
 

And your sitting there typing on the computer & not at his yard finding it?
 

My Aunt lives out of town. They have been looking but dont have an MD nor the knowledge to use it. I will have to make a trip someday. So many projects. What would be a good finders fee percentage for me? Maybe he was raking leaves over the spot? I will have to ask some questions. I figure its in the yard or the attic. He was my favorite Uncle. :(
 

I guess there ws no mention of any investment gold in his will?

As far as a "finders fee",,,,for family,,,,ZERO, ZIP, NADDA should be expected in my opinion. Your reward should be feeling good that your uncles gold is found....and then if
the family (your family) decides on a split of some sort then fine, just gravy right and a clean conscience,right?
 

I guess no clue was left in the will. My Aunt always thought he would outlive her. You are right, I cannot expect any finders fee. It would be nice just to visit my relatives and do something nice for them, even though she is comfortable and doesnt really need the money.
 

About how much would that be in volume? 1 gallon? 2 gallons?
 

U.S. gold coins of that time period weighed 25.8 grains per dollar face value.
25.8x4500=116,100 grains Troy.5760 grains Troy =1 pound Troy.116,100 grains = 20.15625 pounds Troy or 16.585714 pounds Avoirdupois.

A cubic inch of gold weighs 9.72222 Troy ounces.
20.15625 lbs. Troy gold would form a cube slightly less than 3 inches per side.

hasbeen
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom