So no more old timers.

[neo]

Just about every treasure hunting book I've read is from around the 60s and 70s. The number one tip they gave was to talk to the old timers for leads. I'm pretty sure the old timers from then are pretty much gone now so where do we go for leads now?

 

[Clay Slayer]

Ouija board?

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

They just ain't makin no mo lost treasures no mo. Safety regs and all. Real bummer

 

[against the wind]

I talk to anyone who is from the area I want to search. I find if you are polite and respectful, people who have lived in certain areas for 60 or 70 years will be forthcoming with lots of information.

 

[Frankn]

Hay, I am 78 and I talk to the old timers as part of my boots on ground search. I get to the area early and eat at the local feedery where the locals chow down. If they have a counter sit there. Ask questions to break the ice like hows the sausage here. Work gradually into the area of the info you want. Be friendly, nod if you get eye contact.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Frank

 

[Limitool]

I'm kinda old @ 60... What do ya want to know? REMINDER: Today is Wed. which means "I know everything day"!!!! Take advantage today or wait till next Wed.... Brad

 

[Trezurehunter]

I buy Plat Books for the counties I am searching in. I have some from 1870 & 1910. They are a wealth of info for those of us that live near farm country. They show where all the old homesteads, churches, & schools were located in those years. Find the old places = find the old stuff !

 

[Jason in Enid]

I read what the old timers wrote. Even today's old timers are plenty old enough to tell you where people went for fun and relaxation back before the days of TV and AC.

 

[Fletch88]

There is a continuous replenishment of "old timers"! I think that every time I look in the mirror or quote something my dad used to say when I was a kid! I AM the old timer now a days!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

When I started this hobby, in the mid to late 1970s, I would talk to old-timers. And ask "where did you guys picnic and/or camp back when you were a kid?" And assuming someone was 80-ish at that time, they'd be remembering back to the '00s and '10s.

Example: In the late '80s, I talked to a guy who was about 90-ish. He recalled where the entire small town (population 500-ish) would hitch up the wagons (model T's, etc...) and all go out to a certain country spot for Mayday, mothers day, easter, etc.... And by the mid 1920s, that location fell out of favor, and had moved to another location that became the city's park. Through this elderly man's description of the bends in the road, dirt road forks, etc..., we were able to pin down the location . Nothing there now except cattle land with oak trees. In a month period, my buddies and I harvested about 150 coins there, dating from the 1880s to the mid 1920s. Including a key date $5 gold . Absolutely zero garbage or clad (except a few bullet shells )

It occurred to me years later ,that if I hadn't talked to that elderly man in the 1980s, we would never have found that spot (and he's certainly long-gone now). And the location doesn't appear in any history books (aside from the general description of such and such road or "east foothills" or something vague like that).

 

[Anduril]

Just about every treasure hunting book I've read is from around the 60s and 70s. The number one tip they gave was to talk to the old timers for leads. I'm pretty sure the old timers from then are pretty much gone now so where do we go for leads now?

Best definition of "depreciation" I've heard in a long time.

 

[Boatlode]

If you can't find any old timers, maybe you are an old timer.

 

[ivan salis]

and the number two tip was --upon finding treasure --keep your mouth shut...

 

[ivan salis]

research is often the hard part of finding treasure in many cases.
.tip #2 --upon finding treasure ... keep thy mouth shut --treasure , what treasure ?
cuz treasure is trouble .....since everyone will want a piece or all of "your pie"...

remember this the "old timers" of the 60's / 70's era (those born pre 1900) loved to blather on about the "old days' ---often the only folks that listened to them were their 10 year old grandkids (born in say 1950 to 1960 era) those grandkids heads holds the "old knowledge" they learned as a kid -- those kids would be from 55 to 65 years old now --they are the "new" old timers ..info and tales are often passed down this way from father to son or grandpa to grandson

and never forget the old newspaper stories in the local library ..unsolved robberys , fires at places , stories of old misers dying off (with their money never found) , stories of wealthy men and where they lived ( buried money maybe?)...big fairs coming to town , church social meetings

 

[neo]

I buy Plat Books for the counties I am searching in. I have some from 1870 & 1910. They are a wealth of info for those of us that live near farm country. They show where all the old homesteads, churches, & schools were located in those years. Find the old places = find the old stuff !

What are plat books?

 

[Mackaydon]

Ivan,
To me, the 'fun' part, not the 'hard' part, of finding anything is the joy experienced in the research effort.
And like you wrote, old newspaper stories have been the greatest research tool I've possessed for finding coins.
One year I took the summer going to many towns (in Nevada) looking for 100 year old locations of baseball fields, horse racing track, reunion parks, and other areas where people gathered outside.
Though my finds didn't cover my costs (I enjoyed good food and adult beverages), the memories retained more than make up for the 'loss'.
Don........

 

[ivan salis]

plat books are also know as county "land ownership" records for tax purposes --its a survey of who owns what land and what buildings are upon it for land deed and tax purposes..

 

[ivan salis]

mac as a "book worm' / researcher --I do love my researching but it can be tough at times --I am proud to be listed in the book "treasure finders" as one of a handful of skilled "treasure finders" rather than just a "treasure hunter"...

 

[tamrock]

Just watch TV these days. Some believe there something on Oak Island and I saw once on TV there is a lost Aztec treasure in and around Kanab Utah, because that's where the Aztec's originated from. I remember the stories the old miners told me when I was a young miner in the later 1970's. Maybe I should write treasure lead stories.

 

[Mackaydon]

Sometimes you find treasure leads in the strangest places. About 35 years ago I went to Hawaii and wanted to read a book on its history. I picked up "Hawaii-An Informal History" by Gerrit P. Judd (1979). At the back of that book there is an unpublished Journal from 1827-1828 recalling one of Judd's ancestor's 10,000 mile boat ride from Boston to Hawaii. As they passed the island of Massafuero, the Captain said."There is a pond of water on it, in which, they say a Spaniard threw a vast quantity of money on being pursued by an enemy. Large sums of gold have been got but more remains."
The second mate then said." On the (nearby) island of Juan Fernandes (where he had landed on their last voyage)............the beach is stewed with fire arms.
The actual history of those islands does include pirates who raided Spanish galleons then retreated to those islands. Today, one can get to those islands by air and sea though I doubt many visitors have gone there prepared to go looking for and dive into that 'pond'.
Don.........