Without going into massive detail, I grew up in the late 1970's and early 80's on a 6 acre parcel in Tennessee...My father was a very miserly individual and he had bought silver coins in the early to mid 1970's.He went on to have a coin shop and closed it and died in the mid 1990's. My mother died a few years ago and the property was sold and I later retired and moved to Florida.

The question I have is this...My father buried some glass jars of pre 1965 US silver coins on the property. I bought a deep seeking Fisher detector before the property was sold and I think I know where one area of them are located, but the water level was up and I couldn't get to them without the hole filling with water.

I have a rough, hand drawn map from my mother where the coins were buried because my mother forced my father on his deathbed to tell her where the coins were buried and the map is in her handwriting.

Anyway...This has been laying on my mind for years now. The property is no longer mine obviously, but the new owners know nothing about it. This was always supposed to go to me, but I know that I don't own the property now but nothing will be ever be found at all if I don't chart a path on this. It is a very rural hilly property and the new owners know nothing about it.

I am a Christian and I know that it is now on someone else's property, so by law, I don't own it now... Obviously, I'd like to get a portion of this if found, but I am torn as to how to go forward.

Any advice would be appreciated. I have the new owners' name and address. I have never met them, but I have a letter written.

Before I send it, I need some advice from fresh eyes.

In my Family we have this story that a GGGrandpa put all the Family’s ‘wealth’ On a Mule Slide.
Then Took it out into a nearby Cedar Thicket and buried it.
Cause them Yankees was coming and taking everything they could carry!
And just like your tale, we no longer own that land.
He didn’t provide a map, but I know where the cedar Thicket is!
Back when we knew and were on good terms with the owner.
My Bro and I have discussed metal detecting there, but never got it done.
Now I don’t even know who owns the land!
For your situation I’m thinking asking the current owner to participate and a 50-50 split.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Could be....Like I said, I have a letter written to the new owners, but I don't know them and there's all the uncertainty with greed, etc.

I don't know, but I want to resolve this somehow.

I think I would approach the owners and state that a relative may have buried coins on the land when it was in the family. Ask permission to search for it and ask about you sharing in the find if it is recovered. All they can do is say no.
The other choice is to just let it pass and move on.
Personally I think after all this time I would just let it go.

I would think a split agreement would be the best idea, but the current property owner would be under no obligation to consent. If he agrees, a formal written document between parties should be executed.

My attorney was once involved in a situation in which a large number of gold coins had been buried in a back yard in 1933, and there was a dispute over ownership. I do not remember any details, except that it was not a trivial amount of gold.

FDR essentially outlawed private citizen ownership of gold coinage in 1933 by presidential directive, and there were heavy penalties for those who did not comply by turning them in to the government. Many people then buried their gold coins (if they had any) in mason jars in the back yard. As a result, there are probably some of those backyard gold caches forgotten and remaining in the ground today in backyards all over the country. Do not think similar actions could not occur today. Instead think about the possibilities concerning the issuance of a government controlled "bitcoin" to replace all currency in circulation. Fed Chairman Powell mentioned that in his news conference yesterday in response to a reporter's question. He said that there were "no immediate plans" to do that. Which of course really means that indeed there are plans.

It appears that you are a man of good conscience and you are following it.

Send the letter.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I would contact the current owners. All they can say is No. They might be great folks and say come on up. At least you will get it off your mind.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

I think that if someone sent me a letter explaining the situation and was willing to go half on both the treasure hunt and the proceeds, I'd say yes. I mean, how often do you get to dig for buried treasure? With a treasure map no less?
But that's JMHO. If they say no, you haven't really lost anything you hadn't already and you can sleep well knowing you did the right thing.


Edit: Just think, you might wind up with a good buddy out of it, too.

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The best I can with what I got

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?

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Agree with the 50-50 split. Gauge current owner honesty and motivation and then decide how much legal support needed.

The owners may say no, then buy their own metal detector in an effort to get it all for themselves. You might see if the land is for sale. If so, you could buy it, get the coins and resell it. It would seem reasonable that someone would want to buy the place they grew up on for sentimental reasons.

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protocalldesign.com

I know and you are correct. I dealt with the literal scum of the earth for two decades, so it is hard to have trust anybody, especially when it comes to a "treasure map" like this...Greed always seems to win, i.e. "the love of money is the root of all evil".

I am going to send a letter. I looked the owners up. They are a late 40's aged couple that bought it. They moved to Tennessee from central California.

Well if they refuse and just decide to keep it for themselves be sure you tell your story on Facebook and identify the location. It's Tennessee. There will be 1,000 people digging up their yard inside of 24 hours.

I got ten bucks and a cold beer that says that the ten bucks and cold beer is probably worth as much as what you seek . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Send them a letter with the story and a copy of the map, wish them good luck, without asking for anything.

If they do find them and decide to share, fine. If not, you're no worse off than you were before, made someone else's life better, and kept the coins from going to waste.

Uh, no not true whatsoever....After my father died and before my mother died, we did find one small jar of US Silver Eagles that she sold that was found via the map.

It's there if my dad said those facts on his deathbed, but he was so paranoid it's probably buried to the core of the earth.

That's actually funny..I wouldn't do that, but it is hilarious....

I am not on any of the social medias.

I’d let you look for it without a cut. Make them an offer,don’t disclose the location and see what happens. You have nothing to lose

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.

I get you...There's no buying the property now..The whole parcel sold for less than 90K and a flipper bought it and gutted and remodeled the house. Once done, I think the property sold for $250K or so.

I have a lot of thinking and praying to do, but I knew in the back of my mind this day was coming.

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.

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

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S&W Accumulator

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

Then go to the nearest place that sells metal detectors.

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.

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

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

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Pisgah

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

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Release the Kraken

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.

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

Dig it up then give then a share anonymously.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

There is a small place adjacent to mine. Supposedly had 50 grand in silver buried. The owner and I went out and did some detecting with my metal detector. We actually found a quart jar buried in the corner of the small "barn". 3/4 Full of silver dollars IIRC there were 41 in the jar 1880s to about 1910 or so Think of it...2 months pay at the time the coins were made. If not now...a great treasure at that time. I thought it was a great find. He gave me some and sold the rest. Regular run of the mill circulated dollars...probably worth a maybe a grand. I still have the 10 he gave me. still worth 2-300 dollars Coin detecting is when done right just like any other WORK. He since sold the place...may have found more..don't know. I've been over there doing some searching and as far as coins found pocket change we all have a tendency to lose. I found a 2 1/2 dollar gold coin near the site of the original house on our property. Made the metal detector gulp and sputter. It was all but right on top of the ground so no buried treasure...though I did search the area extensively. Over the years I've found lots of pop tops and small change. cannon ball lead bullets 3 gold coins the 2 1/2and 2 1 dollar coins. . As far as your dilemma..I would send the letter. If they don't want to play...walk away and forget the thought of buried treasure. Or trust in luck and buy the place

This is an ethical dilemma. Ethics can be defined as “doing what is right when there is no law forcing you to.” As a simple example, you go to the grocery store, get out of your car and notice that there is only one shopping �� cart left. There’s a very elderly woman making her way toward it. You run ahead of her and take the cart. You broke no law. Not exactly the right thing to do!

So what’s the right thing to do? I’d tell the truth to the current owner, including the map details and sleep well knowing that was the “right” thing to do and that I had put to bed the mental dilemma that was haunting me. Just my take on this.

I think the legal question is if the coins were misplaced or abandoned.

Tom H.

My wife's brother, who is still alive, allegedly buried gold on the family farm when he was younger. As far as I know it's still buried. he has done well and is a millionaire.

I knew a family whose patriarch used to horde silver dollars, I can remember when my dad would come home from a sales trip to Montana and gripe about the silver dollars he would get in change, they were heavy in the pocket and wore heavily, silver dollars were not uncommon. After the father died the family looked everywhere on the property for dad's "silver" never finding any. Story was that they had no idea where the old man had hidden it, he would go out of the house after everyone was abed and dispose of it. They finally gave up, the mom died and the siblings sold the old homestead.
The developer that bought the homestead, divided it into 15 acre plots and was in the process of tearing down the old house and outbuildings. He hired a guy with a back hoe to tear down the house and clean everything up. There was a chain link fence running around the perimeter of what used to be the garden, the operator hooks a chain around the first post after removing all the fabric and yanks the post out of the ground, swings it over to the side and lays it on the ground...he hears something funny, like a secondary clunking sound. He goes out to his rig and grabs a pipe wrench, removes the cap and big as life the fence post is filled with silver dollars, ever danged fence post was near full of silver dollars, just big enough to drop one at a time down, secure the cap. Thats where the old man stashed his silver...I'd like to say the developer was a good man and gave a percentage back to the original owners but that did not happen.

My mother had a friend that had moved here from Tulsa. The family had a lot of money from oil. Her mom would buy a house and then use it for storage of all the spendy little knick-knacks and other things she would buy just to do it. When she passed, they had about 5 houses full, and I do mean full, of stuff that they had to deal with. In one of the houses they found 5 or 6 5 gallon buckets filled with silver dollars. It's amazing the difference between a poor hoarder's stuff and a rich hoarder's stuff.

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The best I can with what I got

I need a copy of the map and the property's location. Without all the pertinent data I cannot give a truly informed opinion.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

If you need help the Oak Island crew is currently unemployed.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Reminds me of the tale about a local par 3 golf course built by a husband,wife and six kids over 25 years. Nice family,but a divorce happened,somebody got mad and ratted and the irs took possession for a few years when coffee cans stuffed with hundred dollar bills were found in the clubhouse freezer. It was ugly for awhile!

It's around 6 acres, mostly wooded and lot of exposed sandstone and gently hilled and bordered on the bottom of the property by an all year running creek.

Do what your heart tells you to do. I sure hope that the owners will do what in my mind is the right thing which is let you metal detect and hopefully find what is supposedly there. I know you will do the right thing showing your appreciation.

Certainly, be good dinner party conversation if it all works out for you and them. Good luck and keep us posted.

A phone call might be more my style.