OK, long story and advice needed on buried silver coins

[MelvinWalker]

If you told the current property owners that there might be some coins buried, they likely would assume you were going to dig holes all over the place and say NO! Tell property owners exactly what is buried and how you intend to recover the jars, then offer a split. If they say no, no loss since they do not know where the jars are buried.

I am guessing that a quart jar full of silver coins could be 5 to 10 pounds. That could be $1700 to $3500 per jar?

I remember in at a very young age before we moved to Tennessee, that on certain weekend days, he would have me help him sort out silver dimes from quarters, etc..I would have been maybe 9 or 10? My hands would be black from the soot off of the coins.

My mom always said I would be surprised how much he buried, but I always thought that was kinda BS exaggeration on her part, but knowing my dad, it could be? He was born in 1930 and grew up with nothing during the great depression and had to wear his older sister's dresses as clothing.

A lot to think about, but I need some kind of resolution.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I really think you should just forget it sand move on.

 

[Xfuzz]

Once you contact the current land owners
It is likely they will say NO.

Then go to the nearest place that sells metal detectors.

 

[bamabiker]

I see you are not in that area anymore but I would want to go talk to them face to face. I would offer them a 50/50 split and go from there.
You have nothing to lose by asking.

 

[MelvinWalker]

I see you are not in that area anymore but I would want to go talk to them face to face. I would offer them a 50/50 split and go from there.
You have nothing to lose by asking.

I can't really drop everything now and knock on their door, but I don't want anyone to not get anything.

My father was a very stingy, penny pinching type of guy. I can see that because him being raised during the depression he saved every penny.. I know a letter to the new owners isn't the same, but I would really like a honest individual just to say "sure, let's do this".

I already have the letter to the new owners ready to go, so if it doesn't work out, then that's the way it goes.

 

[Kenna]

If you told the current property owners that there might be some coins buried, they likely would assume you were going to dig holes all over the place and say NO! Tell property owners exactly what is buried and how you intend to recover the jars, then offer a split. If they say no, no loss since they do not know where the jars are buried.

I am guessing that a quart jar full of silver coins could be 5 to 10 pounds. That could be $1700 to $3500 per jar?

I would not tell current owners location at all till Agreement is signed!!!

 

[Pisgah]

Brother, if you are a Christian, Jesus is standing right next to you and telling you what to do. Just sayin'...

 

[LVSteve]

Color me baffled as to why your mother didn't have them dug up long ago.

 

[Imissedagain]

If the new owners have any sense of right and wrong, they should let you recover what rightfully belongs to you and your family.

I would only tell them, in the letter, that your Dad said he buried an old family photo album with some personal letters, in case the house was damaged by fire or storm, and ask them if you can recover those items.

They might even help you and if you find the coins, just look up to the sky and say, "Pop, you sure have a sense of mystery and humor."
How you thank them is to be determined.

 

[Breakaway500]

Dig it up then give then a share anonymously.

 

[pharman]

WHY?

Buy the property that used to be in your family. Say nothing about anything else.

It bothers me when inheritance isn't honored, very badly.

We had an incident where a man died and the property and house were sold. The new owner ripped up the large waterbed to replace it and found almost .75 million dollars in cash. The law said it was the new owners' money, he just needed to pay income taxes on it.

WHY did the new owner feel obligated to tell ANYONE about finding that amount of money? Pretty stupid?

 

[MelvinWalker]

Color me baffled as to why your mother didn't have them dug up long ago.

She did...We found one small jar using the map, but it had just silver eagles in it.

My father never told me anything about it, and it's a wonder he told my mother either. He was very secretive and frankly on the greedy side. He died of pancreatic cancer, so he knew his time was short. My mom made him tell her where the stuff was in general locations and how many.

 

[Greyman50]

WHY did the new owner feel obligated to tell ANYONE about finding that amount of money? Pretty stupid?

Hummmmm, some people don't know when to just Shut Up.

 

[Bald1]

I'd want to call or speak to new owner face to face. Assure them you don't want to damage property and leave holes all over. If I were the property owner I'd allow you to look for it and expect nothing in return.

 

[taz666]

If you can document what is buried and where it's buried do you ... by law ... still own it or can claim it?


I'm thinking along the lines of Spanish ship wrecks and such that don't necessarily follow the "finders keepers" rule.

 

[Bekeart]

How large was the property?

The owners may say no, then buy their own metal detector in an effort to get it all for themselves.

How large was the property when your father owned it?

Without your information on the approximate area of the burial it would probably be necessary to search the entire property.

Searching one acres is much easier than searching forty acres.

Bekeart

 

[Farmer17]

A friend of mine for many years owned a company and he dug and installed concrete footings and stem wall foundations for homes and commercial buildings that I built. He was pretty miserly and had $35,000 in cash buried in a glass jar in his barn. He went to dig it up one day and the jar had broken and all the money had turned to mush. He had to go to Washington DC to the Treasury dept to turn in the mush and convert it to cash but all they would give him was $2,700. That was about 20 years ago when 35 grand was quite a bit of money!

 

[MRB1]

I'd contact the present owner. Explain that you want to metal detect on your ancestor's property, and leave it at that. No need to go into detail - just ask permission to detect.

 

[Grayfox]

I'm afraid I don't have much faith in people anymore. I think those folks are gonna read that letter and start looking on their own. Its highly unlikely you'll ever hear back from them.
Unless they can't find it and the greed gets them asking you for help.

 

[biku324]

Maybe 10 years before he died, my late FIL told me he had, "...some money..." in a slit in his mattress in case anything happened to him. He had owned his farm since the mid-40s and would routinely keep $2000-$3000 in his wallet. I thought nothing more of it.

A few years ago (he died in 1998) what he told me came to mind, so I immediately called my BIL who had inherited the farm and old farmhouse. Told him about the money in the mattress; he started laughing and told me he'd burned the old mattress years ago.

You haven't lost what you never had.