Finding Lost Buried Treasure
By Steve Gillman
There are things that are buried and will be dug up by the
person who buried them someday, and then there is lost buried
treasure. This is the loot that has been forgotten, left behind,
erased from memory and so on. Let's look at an example of how
this happens.
Years ago I buried 100 ounces of silver in a plastic container
five feet from the south and west wall of my parent's house,
in a crawl space accessed through the basement, six inches under
the dirt. Until the day I dug it up (and cashed it in for $6
per ounce--big mistake) I had told nobody about its existence.
There was also nothing written down about it. So if I had died
before removing it, not a soul in the world would have a reason
to suspect there was 100 ounces of silver buried at that spot.
In fact, it might only be discovered a hundred years later when
the house was torn down. Even then someone would probably have
to hit the area with a metal detector to find it.
Burying things is not that uncommon, but people don't talk
about it much. And even buried currency can often be found with
a metal detector, because it is common to put it in a coffee
can or other metal container (and even glass jars have metal
tops). So why not use a metal detector to check any dirt under
houses, whether that means in the crawl space under your own
home, the partial basements of friends' houses, or underneath
old abandoned homes.
How Much Can You Make?
According to some sources, there are billions of dollars of
currency that are not accounted for in bank accounts--more than
people have in their purses and wallets. How much of that is
buried in basements and crawl spaces is anyone's guess, but it
can't hurt to check it out. As I write this (the end of 2010)
that silver would have a value of $2,600 (had I not cashed it
in for $600).
Interestingly, in that same crawl space where I had my silver,
there was actually a lost buried treasure. Well, it wasn't really
buried, but it was a chest tucked away under the house, in the
dirt. It had Vietnamese coins and bills along with some other
items. I returned these to the previous owner of the home, who
had completely forgotten that he had put them there.
Note: This is a Money Making Ideas page,
part of the section that is all about undeveloped and untested
ideas for making money, so any comments on profits or income
are just speculation.
Ways to Make More | Related Opportunities
| Tips
You might offer your metal detecting services to owners of
old homes for a percentage of whatever you find, or if they are
afraid of losing out on too much, they can just pay you an hourly
fee to search their property (don't do it for less than $25 per
hour).
Dig carefully, since you may run into pipes and even buried
electrical cables in some crawl spaces.
Qualifications / Requirements
You'll need to buy or borrow a metal detector.
First Steps
Get out there and start looking.
Resources
The Urban Treasure Hunter: A Practical Handbook for Beginners,
by Michael Chaplan - Square One Publishers; 2nd edition 2004.
http://www.coloradotreasurehunting.com
- My site, which covers metal detecting and lost buried treasure
among other topics.
http://www.americandetectorist.com
- A discussion forum and great informational pages.
Metal
Detecting Secrets - An e-book you can download and read right
now.
http://www.kellycodetectors.com
- Used and refurbished metal detectors starting for less than
$100 or so.
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