Has Anyone Every Found Any Treasure At The Bottom Of An Old Well?

[MilitariaCollector]

I recently found an old house foundation out in the woods, with what appears to be 3 empty hand dug wells. The wells are about 8 feet deep, and walled with stone. I believe the house could date from the late 1800's or later. I am well aware of the danger of going down to the bottom, and have thought twice about it, but I am still curious what is down there. Has anyone has ever metal detected the bottom of a well?

 

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[seger98]

I've only ever found one & it still had water in it. If the ones you found are dry, why not attach your detector to something & lower it down & see if there is anything down there?


Chris

 

[relichunters]

I don't suggest ever going down in one. The wells around here are normally 30 foot deep and have water in them.
If you were to go down and not be able to get back up, your dead. I highly doubt anything would be in a well at all, since nobody can safely go in and out of one.

Here is a good idea. Get a powerful magnet, like 75lb pull thrust and down it on a rope down there. It will pick up anything that is down there for you.

 

[utah1066]

I not sure if I would do it alone, but i will tell you that when i was a kid growing up it was good luck to toss a silver coin and make a wish, it had to be silver. PS that's when i lived in England UK

 

[Purrdee]

I not sure if I would do it alone, but i will tell you that when i was a kid growing up it was good luck to toss a silver coin and make a wish, it had to be silver. PS that's when i lived in England UK

Good Point, hadn't thought of the 'ol wishin' Well...

 

[mlayers]

If they are only 8 feet deep get yourselve a extention ladder put it down in the well and climb down. You will be safe and you can get back out. no problem. If there is water in the well at least you still have a ladder to be on and you can see how deep the water is Good luck and if you happen to detect it keep up posted on what you find anything at all....Matt

 

[cw0909]

I recently found an old house foundation out in the woods, with what appears to be 3 empty hand dug wells. The wells are about 8 feet deep, and walled with stone. I believe the house could date from the late 1800's or later. I am well aware of the danger of going down to the bottom, and have thought twice about it, but I am still curious what is down there. Has anyone has ever metal detected the bottom of a well?

the well maybe dry, too dry, the stone walls could start
falling apart, i know they made things to last, back in
the day. just seems like an awful lot, of stone to start
falling apart on your head
maybe get a halogen lite and a video cam and have a look see

 

[Lowbatts]

Get the ladder and POUND it down to make sure it's on the bottom and the bottom is not too soft before entering. Once done detecting, sift for smaller items using any type of scoop. You can make on with a coffee can and some hardware cloth.

Crawled through more than a few old wells and cisterns around here. Never had any problems with water, did get my head run over by some runaway critters in a few. Didn't even know they were there until I cornered them. No bites though they just wanted out.

And yes, all manner of things wound up down there.

 

[Goodyguy]

Ok here is an old treasure hunting piece of advice. First, check to see if there are any loose bricks or stones around the sides. Start at the top and work your way down as far as you can reach.
Look behind any loose ones.

Wells were a common hiding place for valuables. Some times during the civil war valuables would even be hastily tossed down to the bottom in a hurry to hide them from marauders.

I always thoroughly check the wells from top to bottom.
Different subject but always check behind loose fireplace bricks as well.
Another common hiding place for treasure.

Good Luck.

 

[relichunters]

One little tip, use a wooden ladder. Because if you use a metal one its going to pick up on your detector.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I know a guy who found a few hundreds wheaties, and about 100-ish silver coins from a wishing well. It was at a defunct 1920s-40s restaurant. This was back in the early 1980s, and an elderly person nearby (related to the past owners or something) told them the wishing well was regularly "cleaned out" back when the restaurant was active. But apparently people (passerbys as this was on a still used roadway) continued to pitch in coins even in the '40s & '50s even though the restaurant was gone (there was some sort of continued store of something further away, and a parking lot still adjoined them, etc...).

When this friend of mine surveyed the situation, he was only there because he was coin hunting some turf in the area. As he looked down this wishing well thingamjig, he saw a muddy watery bottom, and figured he'd use a pump to suck out the muddy water and scum. He was rewarded with hundreds and hundreds of coins.

But of course, this was a commercial/touristy stop-type venture. If you're talking a residential homestead, I doubt people had reason to throw coins in their water supply.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

And then there are gasses in the ground that can kill you.

 

[kg6yll]

I don't suggest ever going down in one. The wells around here are normally 30 foot deep and have water in them.
If you were to go down and not be able to get back up, your dead. I highly doubt anything would be in a well at all, since nobody can safely go in and out of one.

Here is a good idea. Get a powerful magnet, like 75lb pull thrust and down it on a rope down there. It will pick up anything that is down there for you.

A magnet will only get you iron and steel. If you want gold or silver that won't work.


KG6YLL

 

[relichunters]

I don't suggest ever going down in one. The wells around here are normally 30 foot deep and have water in them.
If you were to go down and not be able to get back up, your dead. I highly doubt anything would be in a well at all, since nobody can safely go in and out of one.

Here is a good idea. Get a powerful magnet, like 75lb pull thrust and down it on a rope down there. It will pick up anything that is down there for you.

A magnet will only get you iron and steel. If you want gold or silver that won't work.


KG6YLL

Yeah but you can see if there is any of that down there, maybe a metal box with something in it, an old gun thrown in there to hide, the skys the limit

 

[boogeyman]

One little tip, use a wooden ladder. Because if you use a metal one its going to pick up on your detector.

Another idea is one of those emergency ladders that allow you to climb down from second and third stories if you're trapped by fire. They fold up pretty compactly, one we're looking at for a project even has a cool carry / storage case. Long enough for a three story. And can be packed in to remote areas. So far what we've found is they're cheaper than a cable ladder & easier to transport.

A salvaged 12v heater fan off an old car can be used with a piece of dryer vent hose to flush fresh air in if you're worried about bad air or working a really deep hole.

 

[MilitariaCollector]

I have a map of the area that dates to 1875, and I believe the foundation of this house is one that is shown on the map. I found numerous bottles at the site (I believe from the 1920's - 1940's), and also dug up an intact pre-WWII Colonial Porcelein Figurine made in Japan. It started to snow heavily just when I got there, and I nearly walked right in one of the wells. I havent been back there yet as the ground hasnt thawed. The wells are a little narrow, so this will be a challenge. Maybe I can borrow that rope rig from Mission Impossible and lower myself down.

 

[pookie-princess of rust]

cool figurine. 8)

 

[dustbuster]

I believe some people still stash cash down wells. I knew someone in Mississippi who committed suicide. He told his daughter if anything happened to him, to look in the well. Her boyfriend lowered himself down a ways and found a package that held twelve thousand dollars. I would not go down a well, myself. But, if I knew there might be some cash worth while down there, I might reconsider (someone else would have to go down it.)

 

[coingairl300]

HI

If you want to see whats in the well,you can also tye a string to the end of a flah light. Before you plan on exploring.

priscilla

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned about wells, it is good idea to get a good respirator when going down into one, as mold will most likely be present and can cause some serious health issues!