Could This Be A Cache Marker? (Diagram Included)

[Mr. Cotta]

I have been detecting for about three years now. My best site has been my Dad's property. He lives in a mid-1800's farm house. It is on a small street that used to be just a single lane for this house. Then later on more and more houses were built on this street. I have found all kinds of things in his yard around the house. Two LC's, Wheaties, Franklin Half, jewelry, farming implements, buttons, etc. The strangest find of all is what I want to discuss in this thread. I dug a metal pot out of his front yard more than a year ago, and didn't think much of it. Now I am thinking more of it.

This house has a room inside with an original stone fireplace. This is the only room on the first floor with windows. A big window in the front, and a big window looking out back. My Dad just recently put in a nice stone paver patio out the back - and in his preparation he discovered a giant metal cistern directly behind the stone fireplace room in the backyard. I think a cache of coins might be hidden in my Dad's front yard. I think it was hidden by someone in the early 1900's - maybe even the same person who installed the cistern. This person might have wanted to hide the cache in the backyard, but couldn't hide it close enough to the house because of the cistern. So they chose the front yard (the only other place they could always keep an eye on it from the window).

Please check out the diagram I made of the house. I would have pictures, but I am currently in Mongolia - nowhere near my Dad's house. I think there might be a cache because I found this old metal pot buried about 6 inches down in the ground upside down. I thought it was strange that there was a pot buried in the front yard, but also that it was buried upside down. Then when I pulled it out of the ground there was a large rock about the size of the pot itself, directly inside the pot. Almost like the rock was keeping the pot from sinking further in the ground. It seems like this was a marker for the person who buried the cache. Like they would always be able to just stick a pole in the ground and find that pot, and know their treasure was buried beneath it.

I have never uncovered a cache of anything before. Does this even have potential? Is there anyone out there who has dealt with a similar situation? My Dad is very particular about his yard - and the last thing I want to do is dig a 4 foot hole in his front yard. But if there is a good chance that a cache is down there, I will manage somehow.

 

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[Monk]

Mr. Cotta
You know that you will always wonder about this untill you look into this spot further! I'd say it could be a marker. you won't know till you run a M/D over it and or probe the spot.------- Means it's out in front of the house a person may have some dark night used posthole diggers and planted something, placing the stone and pot over it? If it was me I wouldn't be able to sleep till I found out. If it's the best shot in town go for it and your mind will be at ease.

 

[izzitcat]

I agree with Monk. You gonna die til you try! Keep us posted, that thing was put there on purpose or it's a heck of a coincidence! Can't wait to hear!

izzitcat

 

[Mr. Cotta]

Thanks Monk & Izzitcat. Imagine me being in Mongolia for a year thinking about this! It is driving me crazy. I get back to the States in January, and I won't waste any time once I'm back.

I remember passing my detector back over the spot after I removed the pot and rock. Nothing. That just means that if there is a cache it is beyond the reach of my detector. I guess the good thing is that if this ever was a cache marker, the cache is still there. If someone would have removed it, they would have also removed the pot and rock (unless they were just really lazy).

I'm no expert on dating pieces of kitchenware, but the pot that was buried was definitely old. I don't know if it would be so old as mid 1800s, but certainly very early 1900s at most.

Thanks for the posts! Wish I was able to start digging...

 

[Zephyr]

I'd poke around in the fireplace too to see if there any loose stones in it, and look behind them. That's usually a popular hiding place for small caches....

 

[Mr. Cotta]

I'd poke around in the fireplace too to see if there any loose stones in it, and look behind them. That's usually a popular hiding place for small caches....

That is another thing I've been wanting to do. The problem is that my Dad spent about 9 months working on that fireplace room. The stone fireplace was completely covered over by layers of plaster. He had no idea there was such an amazing old fireplace in that room (although he obviously knew there was a fireplace because of the chimney). He even discovered the original hand-hewn beams up above that were also covered over by plaster. The fireplace is gigantic - maybe the biggest I've ever seen in person. I want to run a detector over it because it looks like the perfect place to hide a small cache. I just wonder if I could convince my Dad to let me take a few stones out if I heard a good beep.

 

[chipveres]

Mr. Cotta:

Please be careful when you check the fireplace. I just worked a site with several wrecked, brick fireplaces. The builder used flat iron strips to reinforce the corners of the fireplace. Since your fireplace is still standing you could tell that the iron pieces were symmetrically placed at stress points, rather than just one anomaly singalling a cache.

Chip V.

 

[nightwolf]

Sounds like a nice fireplace! got any pictures of it?

 

[Trover]

Back during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, proffessional treasure hunters would put something obviously out of place, like several cans one inside the other with a cigarette wrapper inside, in a hole where they had recovered a cache to let any other treasure hunter searching for it know that it had already been recovered. Possibly the pot may have held money that was recovered and had been covered by the rock, then the rock was placed in the pot and reburied upside down to indicate that the cache was recovered.

If you want to check if there is anything buried deeper without distubing the lawn, get a 4 to 5 feet long 3/8 inch diameter steel rod, weld a T handle to the top, round the bottom and probe the area. If you hit a large item that clanks like metal, maybe there is still something of value there.

 

[Mr. Cotta]

Sounds like a nice fireplace! got any pictures of it?

No pictures on hand. Maybe I can get my dad to email me one or two...

 

[Mr. Cotta]

Back during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, proffessional treasure hunters would put something obviously out of place, like several cans one inside the other with a cigarette wrapper inside, in a hole where they had recovered a cache to let any other treasure hunter searching for it know that it had already been recovered. Possibly the pot may have held money that was recovered and had been covered by the rock, then the rock was placed in the pot and reburied upside down to indicate that the cache was recovered.

If you want to check if there is anything buried deeper without distubing the lawn, get a 4 to 5 feet long 3/8 inch diameter steel rod, weld a T handle to the top, round the bottom and probe the area. If you hit a large item that clanks like metal, maybe there is still something of value there.

Thanks for these ideas, Trover. I definitely would like to try to check first without disturbing the lawn. I think I'll use that method of yours on it when I get back to the States...

 

[treasureace14]

is the rock too heavy for you?
dinamites your freind :P

 

[pennyfarmer]

Back during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, proffessional treasure hunters would put something obviously out of place, like several cans one inside the other with a cigarette wrapper inside, in a hole where they had recovered a cache to let any other treasure hunter searching for it know that it had already been recovered.

I have done something similar. When I get to the bottom of a bottle hole I usually throw the soda and water bottles that I had drank all day into the bottom of the hole and at various levels when filling up the hole. That way another treasure hunter will know that someone has been there getting bottles previously.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HIO TROVER: you posted -->

Back during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, proffessional treasure hunters would put something obviously out of place, like several cans one inside the other with a cigarette wrapper inside, in a hole where they had recovered a cache to let any other treasure hunter searching for it know that it had already been recovered
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I always left some of the coins .

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[boogeyman]

While checking the fireplace, offer to clean the ash pit for Dad. Check very carefully for loose bricks/ stones. At least one cache of coins has been found in the far back corner of the ash pit