First hand Cache stories?

i used to work for a plumbing outfit in S. Philly....we used to put a jar or can next to all the curb traps we dug up with a penny from the year it was dug...sorta like a plumbers time capsule....the traps we dug up were 75 to 100 years old...we also put a note in with the date and our names,price of the job etc...we started doing this when we would dig and find all sorts of bottles, shoes, buckles etc....the goods were usually found when we hit pockets of cinders used for fill....obviously they were used for dumping trash also....wish i would have retrieved some of the stuff we left as "trash"....we only kept the whole bottles we found
 

mistergee said:
i used to work for a plumbing outfit in S. Philly....we used to put a jar or can next to all the curb traps we dug up with a penny from the year it was dug...sorta like a plumbers time capsule....the traps we dug up were 75 to 100 years old...we also put a note in with the date and our names,price of the job etc...we started doing this when we would dig and find all sorts of bottles, shoes, buckles etc....the goods were usually found when we hit pockets of cinders used for fill....obviously they were used for dumping trash also....wish i would have retrieved some of the stuff we left as "trash"....we only kept the whole bottles we found

This reminds me of the time I was working on my upstairs bathroom a few years ago. I had removed the toilet and was repairing the floor next to it and right there under the floor boards was a 1939 Lincoln cent in pretty fair shape. I had wondered who had lost it and now I think it was put there on purpose.

Happy Hunting,

Scott (MI)
 

mistergee said:
i used to work for a plumbing outfit in S. Philly....we used to put a jar or can next to all the curb traps we dug up with a penny from the year it was dug...sorta like a plumbers time capsule....the traps we dug up were 75 to 100 years old...we also put a note in with the date and our names,price of the job etc...we started doing this when we would dig and find all sorts of bottles, shoes, buckles etc....the goods were usually found when we hit pockets of cinders used for fill....obviously they were used for dumping trash also....wish i would have retrieved some of the stuff we left as "trash"....we only kept the whole bottles we found


damn, plumber is south philly.....bet you have some horror stories :icon_jokercolor:
 

damn, plumber is south philly.....bet you have some horror stories
you got that right....rats(some with no hair and blind from living underground), roaches(flying and non flying) hoards of biting insects...cave-ins..crazy homeowners...even fell into a collapsed sewer once while replacing a lateral
 

During a recent visit to my elderly parents, I was letting them know about how I had used my metal detector to recover my cousins high school ring that had been lost since 1964, And to get his address to send it to him in Idaho.

Then my 90 year old Mother told me the story of how when she was a child she had received an inheritance of jewelery from her favorite aunt. She remembered putting it in a can and burying it in the back yard of her childhood home, for safekeeping, some 80 years ago, and had forgotten about it until just now!

She told me the location of her childhood home and what part of the property where its
buried. To the best of her recollection it consisted of: a diamond and a ruby ring, emerald bracelet, pearl necklace, hat pin and a broach.

The hitch is that although she knows the house was on the corner of two streets and the names of the streets, she is not sure which corner. That leaves 4 properties to search.
I think I can do a search at the courthouse to find the exact address.

But my problem is, trying to figure out how to go about getting permission from the present day owners to look for buried treasure on their property.

Any Ideas?
 

But my problem is, trying to figure out how to go about getting permission from the present day owners to look for buried treasure on their property.

Any Ideas?
simply tell them your mom used to live there and she left some personal belongings buried in the yard that were inadvertantly left behind when she moved and if found then you would be willing to compensate them for thier permission to hunt thier land....of course they could say no and try to find it themselves....but be sure to stress "personal belongings " as this does not infer anything of great monetary value just personal value.if they ask whats in it just say your not sure but it was something of importance to her and you would like to surprise her with her childhood treasures
 

Thanks, Mistergee I am probably going to wait until spring to do the recovery effort.

I do worry about being turned down permission. I also worry about tipping my hand with the owner.
 

First hand cache stories huh.... Well if I have ever done any drywall in your home, I put a half dollar, a few quarters and dimes and a few pennies on the studs. I have been doing this for at least 10 years. I always figured it will make someones day in the future. Its all modern stuff (clad) though, but who knows, our current coin designs can totally change and become obsolete someday. :icon_pirat:
 

Yes, and we've started recovering it.

Back in the 60's a local novelty store was robbed and a large number of rings was stolen. Story I got, from a direct source, was they panicked and got rid of the booty. I was given the area and took my hunting buddies out for a look. We have only searched one small area, but here is what has been recovered so far.

ringsofar.jpg


cassey1.jpg


john1.jpg


cassey2.jpg
 

Goodguy, sounds like a once in a lifetime chance to take your Mom with you on a grand adventure.She'd probably be excited as a school girl to witness you digging up a piece of her past, present and future all at the same time. Try talking ahead of time to the local Paper about your intentions it may garner interest and open some doors. Enjoy the remaining time you have with her it ends abruptly and living with should'a could'a would'a isn't something I would recommend.
 

Thank You Urban Prospector!

Yesterday I gave the property a look see. And today visited my Mother to clear up some additional questions I had concerning the exact location of the keepsakes.

She is very hard of hearing so communication is somewhat difficult. I have drawn on paper and she tries to remember the details. And has marked the general location on the drawing I made of the property as it stands today.

Right now it looks as though an awful lot of undergrowth would have to be removed to even get started. (perhaps making getting permission to dig even more difficult)

I am hoping when the weather permits, to take her there and maybe her memory will be more clear as to the exact location.

I think I will start out by just asking the present owners if it would be alright if I brought my Mom over to visit her old home place.
Then during the visit maybe bring up the keepsake thing if the vibes are right.

My equipment will be with me just in case.


PS. I do not trust the media I could end up in jail or fined for digging up something of value (over $50) or older than 50 years. even on private property! After all this is Indiana. You are right though, it would make a great human interest story.
 

I lived in a small town where an old man had been tortured and murdered by two jail birds for his supposedly cached money. They got caught shortly after the crime and didn't get the location nor the money.

The house was empty and for sale, I lived right across the street and a house or two down from it. I detected the yard quite a bit and had located a huge iron signal in the garden.

As I was mulling this over, knowing the local legend had the cache inside the house, the property was sold and the new owner showed up. I'd mulled a little too long, lol.

He told me I wasn't welcome there anymore, and when I asked if he would be interested in a split if I told him where it was he told me no. Not even 10%.

As far as I know, it's still there, whatever it is, and it's in the corner of the garden nearest the house. Hmmmmm?
 

diggerdan said:
I lived in a small town where an old man had been tortured and murdered by two jail birds for his supposedly cached money. They got caught shortly after the crime and didn't get the location nor the money.

The house was empty and for sale, I lived right across the street and a house or two down from it. I detected the yard quite a bit and had located a huge iron signal in the garden.

As I was mulling this over, knowing the local legend had the cache inside the house, the property was sold and the new owner showed up. I'd mulled a little too long, lol.

He told me I wasn't welcome there anymore, and when I asked if he would be interested in a split if I told him where it was he told me no. Not even 10%.

As far as I know, it's still there, whatever it is, and it's in the corner of the garden nearest the house. Hmmmmm?

Does this guy live in the house, or does he rent it out?
 

Cache Crazy said:
diggerdan said:
I lived in a small town where an old man had been tortured and murdered by two jail birds for his supposedly cached money. They got caught shortly after the crime and didn't get the location nor the money.

The house was empty and for sale, I lived right across the street and a house or two down from it. I detected the yard quite a bit and had located a huge iron signal in the garden.

As I was mulling this over, knowing the local legend had the cache inside the house, the property was sold and the new owner showed up. I'd mulled a little too long, lol.

He told me I wasn't welcome there anymore, and when I asked if he would be interested in a split if I told him where it was he told me no. Not even 10%.

As far as I know, it's still there, whatever it is, and it's in the corner of the garden nearest the house. Hmmmmm?

Does this guy live in the house, or does he rent it out?

The story was several years old when I first heard it. The house had been sitting empty for a few years, the length of time I lived in the town. I knew the new owner, his Dad ran a tavern in the town, just didn't know he bought the place. He, his wife and a couple of kids moved into the house and he used a back building for storage for his business. He's not related to the original owner. To be honest, he's arrogant and has few redeeming qualities, lol. It's in the midwest.
 

It happened again today. I was talking to an elderly lady about money and I "just happened" to mention that people use to bury their money and there's no telling what is still in the ground at some of those old places (that's my way of seeing what I can get out of people, without asking outright).
She proceeded to tell me that a lady she use to work with, who happens to live in my county, had once told her that she had $10,000.00 buried and no one would ever find it. She said the lady is still living. It's not exactly a FIRST hand story, but it is a pretty good lead.

I seem to be a magnet for these kinds of stories, probably because I pull them out of people. Anyway, I haven't had a chance to research it yet, but you can believe I plan to.
 

Yes, a half dozen or so. There are some rather serious drawbacks to going after them though. One however I will share. There is a rather large fortune in good ole greenbacks buried in the Columbus, GA dump.

In the 90s there was an investor that put up the money for a number of hunts. Phil was one of those investors that was a royal pain in the butt but he always came through with the cash when it was needed. Phil didn't believe in banks. He hid his money at his house. He was pretty wealthy and had the usual trappings, a huge gun collection, jewelry, antiques, etc..

Phil went into the hospital for a routine checkup and the next day died suddenly. His surviving relatives swarmed into his house like a swarm of locusts and emptied it, all the time fighting with each other over who was going to get what. All but two of them were so dedicated to their looting that they even forgot to attend his services.

Several of us had driven up to pay our respects and even offered to help with anything we could. We were told very bluntly that they did not need our help and that if we came around his house they would have us arrested. They were not very nice people. After cleaning out all of the obvious valuables, bringing in a locksmith and opening the safe, etc., they loaded everything else into several dump trailers and hauled it out to the Columbus dump. They put the house up for sale and headed back to the rocks they had crawled out from under.

End of story, NO!!!! A couple of us that knew Phil well also knew where he hid his money. His vast library on firearm related subjects had been of no interest to the loot hungry relatives. All of these books had been boxed up and hauled to the dump. They had hired a couple of local kids to do the packing up and had stiffed them on their wages. Hidden in the pages of these books was Phil's cash. He invested in many different ventures and always had large amounts of cash on hand.

How much was actually in those books I have no idea. I do know that spaced over several occasions I watched Phil pull slightly over $30,000 out of several books. I've often thought back and laughed about those money grubbers and the fortune they tossed away. Had they merely been half way decent about there relative, we would have told them.

Deepsix
 

Good story Deepsix. They got their just reward even though they didn't deserve what they did get they will get their just reward in the end.
 

gollum said:
Now a very old man, who as a young man (early 1930s), along with one other guy robbed a payroll near Bishop. Running from the law, they split up with my guy carrying the loot.

He ran up a narrow canyon, and hid the lock box under the edge of a huge boulder, about 2 feet deep. His partner was shot and killed. He was caught, and went to jail for several years. He tried to retrace his steps many times. He remembers the canyon, but could never find the exact spot. He has no relatives, and told the story to me and a friend.

We looked once, and moved many rocks from the bases of many large boulders. No luck. Supposedly about $2500 face value gold and silver coin. One day.

We figure earthquakes have moved those rocks around.

Best-Mike


This one sounds like fun. I spend lots of time in Bishop and plan on buying a weekend place there..
 

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