Where would someomne hid something in a 1800s home

[Frankn]

Here's the truth of the matter. It could be almost anywhere in the house. What I would do is, room by room, Just stand there and look around and think where are the locations a cache could be hidden. Then and only then would I get out my Vibrdtector and actually check each of these suspected locations. its time consuming, but you will not likely miss anything. That's the hard truth and it pays off. Frank...

 

[relicmeister]

Rememeber some people will hide things "right under your nose" that is somewhere so obvious nobody would look.

 

[sponge]

Check one

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Chimney clean-out trap. Closet floorboards (no rugs, no foot traffic). Closet ceilings. Buried in barn floor.

 

[Nickleanddime]

Depends did they have anything of value? Did they have money or poor farmers? Not knocking you heck i hunt everywhere for treasure but not everyplace old will give up something.

As far as places to look, check tool sheds, garages, closet floors, wood closets next to the fireplace, loose porch stones. Remeber they will be easy to reach places not very often will you be climbing around to get your money. Aslo find out where old coops and pig pens were those were natural alarm systems. Also childrens rooms, sounds strange but a theif will hardly ever hit a childs room, because until recently there was never anything valuable in that room other then to the kid. Now they have more money then the parents and better stuff to. Good luck out there and be safe.

 

[creskol]

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

 

[XDSA40]

Assuming the house was updated for electricity and modern heating, I have read that people will hide valuables in outlet and light switch boxes that are not 'hot' though still covered (easy to do), behind ceiling light fixtures. Also, cold air returns were large back in the day with lots of room to attach small boxes within, atop and behind ductwork.

 

[abbynormal]

I have also heard under or near the hearth stone? I never found anything in such a place myself, but a friend found a cellar hole with a partial chimney/fireplace still standing, and found coins behind a loose stone.

 

[lisfisher]

If it's an old house, I'm assuming it has a fireplace. Reach your hand up the fireplace and feel around for any ledges { aka the smokeshelf }, a common place to hide cans of coins was up the fireplace on the smokeshelf. If you have a detector with discrimination, crank up the disc to near coin mode and scan the walls.

 

[Limitool]

I was raised in a very old home built in the 1870's in Southwestern MI. Up in the attic (2nd floor) was a large attic. Five feet at center and going out toward the walls on both sides for at least 20 ft. angling down to the walls. The old floorboards were laid across the floor beams and loosely nailed. Next to the walls where the floor boards met the ceiling I could put my hand and arm through and under the floorboards. And "how did I find this out" When I was 11-12 or so I "stole" some playboy magazines (65' - 66' - 67') from my uncles and my dad and was looking for a good spot to hide them. I found it!!!! And while hiding the 4 magazines I found OLD...OLD... OLD newspapers in their. I didn't care.... I needed the space. The outrage over the missing mags scared the hell out of me. I NEVER went back. Their still there I guess.... I never took them out. I'd like to go back and ask the owners if I could go upstairs and get the porn I hid 50 years ago but I think I'll pass.... I know there still their with a lot of OLD newspapers.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Basically anyone could have hid anything anywhere on the property... However, the most common places have been mentioned. Behind the mantle of a fireplace, in or around an unused fire place. In the floor boards, in the walls, behind door frames, in door frames, above the door frames, in walls around the doors. In the crawl space/basement or attic, in the walls of the attic or basement, in the floor of the attic or basement. On top of window frames inside or around the window frame. In closets of coarse in the walls of a closet or in the floor of a closet. Check anything thing that moves or that can be moved out of place. Look for missing nails in floorboards and in wall panels signs someone frequently moved the boards/panels. Ext. ext.

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[Irchr]

a friend had an old home, and it had a metal SLIT in the wall of the bath room to dispose of old razor blades, He took off the boards underneath and it was full of coins. Look for loose base boards a great place to find things that have fallen down behind them, or put behind them. Kitchens were a great place to hide things, Just look for all options there. look for areas where a kid might hid something as they were crawling around on the floor. Any built in cabinets or shelves are ideal areas. get a long metal flat ruler and go for the tight areas underneath cabinets, and floor boards. Leave no crack un checked. I found a bag of kids toys and coins under a floor board, it was slightly loose and I pried it up and found it there. A very nice cache of marbles too. All from about 1925 -30. Have fun

 

[Roger Mn.]

It was mentioned a couple of times to look in the closet. What you will look for are two tongue & groove boards cut at 16 inches and laid in between the other boards so tight that you would not know just by looking at it that it is a hiding place. Stick a knife in the ends and pry up and they will pop up. I have only found one like this and no treasure. Look at the floor in the whole room.

 

[NHBandit]

Just because a house is old dosn't mean there was ever anything hidden in it and not recovered. I lived in a house built in 1790 for 32 years and searched high & low and never found a thing. People in the old days were alot poorer than today and money went further to boot. For example if 2 cents would buy a loaf of bread you surely couldn't afford to hide dollars. Add to that the fact that alot of folks were farmers who had very little actual cash. They bartered with their neighbors for the things they needed for the most part. Do you have reason to believe there is something hidden in your home or just hoping ?

 

[Frankn]

Your comparing apples & oranges. A new model T went for two or three hundred. Your forgetting the inflation factor. Also your forgetting the Bank access factor.
They probably cached MORE in the old days. Frank...