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Buried gold from the 1930s.
barbershopper
Posts: 1,201
I know this is a tough one but how much gold do you think there might
be buried in fruit jars in the U.S. after it was recalled by the government?
I've always been curious about that and have heard stories saying there is.
JT
be buried in fruit jars in the U.S. after it was recalled by the government?
I've always been curious about that and have heard stories saying there is.
JT
It is health that is real wealth, not pieces of gold and silver. Gandhi.
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
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burying money on his property. so if even if only 1% of the stories are true.. there is some
serious silver/gold buried a foot under ground in MI.
<< <i>seems like every farming family in Michigan has a story of some old coot down the road
burying money on his property. so if even if only 1% of the stories are true.. there is some
serious silver/gold buried a foot under ground in MI. >>
there's none here!!! (Hamburg).............so far!
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My brother and I bought the farmland his relatives inherited and my half included where the house and barn were located. Needless to say a couple years ago I bought a Minelab metal detector and did a couple days of searching, obviously he ate alot of TV dinners as there was alluminum scattered all over the place making detection difficult.
I had just about given up when I hit paydirt, next to an old tree I hit a good signal which indicated silver so I start digging and about a foot down there was an old sealed mason jar filled with coins! I placed the jar in my pickup and kept on for another hour but ran out of daylight so I had to shut it down. I went home and looked at my bounty which included barber coins, walking liberty halves, standing liberty quarters and mercury dimes. I counted out almost $160 face which included a 1904-s half in fine, 1916 half in fine, 1919-D half in Vf-30 along with several dates from the 20's and 30's in VF/XF.
The only good standing liberty quarter was a 1919-D in VF the rest were common date in VG-VF.
There were some interesting mercury dimes such as 1921-D VF, 1921 in fine, 1926-S VF, 2-1931-D in XF but the best find in the jar was a 1916-D in VG which I promptly sold to a local dealer for $1,200.
There were no Seated liberty coins, Silver dollars or war nickels in the jar.
I can only conclude that this was buried sometime in the 1930's or 1940's as there were no coins dated later than 1936. I've been back several times and haven't found another coin but I'll keep going back until I find some more.
I'm guessing the 1% number tossed out above might be a good estimate.
"Bongo hurtles along the rain soaked highway of life on underinflated bald retread tires."
~Wayne
<< <i>
My brother and I bought the farmland his relatives inherited and my half included where the house and barn were located. Needless to say a couple years ago I bought a Minelab metal detector and did a couple days of searching, obviously he ate alot of TV dinners as there was alluminum scattered all over the place making detection difficult.
I had just about given up when I hit paydirt, next to an old tree I hit a good signal which indicated silver so I start digging and about a foot down there was an old sealed mason jar filled with coins! I placed the jar in my pickup and kept on for another hour but ran out of daylight so I had to shut it down. I went home and looked at my bounty which included barber coins, walking liberty halves, standing liberty quarters and mercury dimes. I counted out almost $160 face which included a 1904-s half in fine, 1916 half in fine, 1919-D half in Vf-30 along with several dates from the 20's and 30's in VF/XF.
The only good standing liberty quarter was a 1919-D in VF the rest were common date in VG-VF.
There were some interesting mercury dimes such as 1921-D VF, 1921 in fine, 1926-S VF, 2-1931-D in XF but the best find in the jar was a 1916-D in VG which I promptly sold to a local dealer for $1,200.
There were no Seated liberty coins, Silver dollars or war nickels in the jar.
I can only conclude that this was buried sometime in the 1930's or 1940's as there were no coins dated later than 1936. I've been back several times and haven't found another coin but I'll keep going back until I find some more. >>
Great story with a happy ending.
That's exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Good luck in the future and to all those who search for hidden treasure!
JT
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
I can imagine the excitement you felt as you opened the jar, and started going through the coins. Way to go.
<< <i>I know this is a tough one but how much gold do you think there might
be buried in fruit jars in the U.S. after it was recalled by the government?
I've always been curious about that and have heard stories saying there is.
JT >>
I was thinking about that earlier today. Given the small numismatic premium that a lot of common date gold commands, I think it's a safe bet that many of those jars were dug up when it became legal again and the floor load in the safe deposit room of many banks suddenly went down around the same time. I'd also would not be surprised if the big boys simply shipped their gold to Swiss banks and shipped it back four decades later and that certain hoards were quietly classified as collections.
As to how much might be still hidden, I'd guess not much. Four decades means a lot of people lived through it and of course most of those who didn't would have told their children where the goods were hidden.
In 1974 I had two young children. I knew that it would be smart to snap up St. Gaudens like candy, but children cost money.. so I didn't.
I know of a ranch in Oregon that allows MDers to detect there as it has had many a treasure unearthed. I believe
you have to pay to search but what you find is yours.
My son owns a home in ND that was on a small ranch on the edge of town. The local banker said that the bank
tried to get him to open an account for decades. He raised cattle, pigs and such. Bachelor never married. Never
took vacations as he always had milk cows.
Nobody has a clue as to what he did with his money from the sale of livestock. Perhaps buried? Who knows. Son
has taken the attic and basement apart and found nothing. Maybe someday.
He did borrow my detector but has yet to use it.
bob
<< <i>Keep in mind that most was squirreled away in the house/attic/basement. Easier to guard and watch over.
I know of a ranch in Oregon that allows MDers to detect there as it has had many a treasure unearthed. I believe
you have to pay to search but what you find is yours.
My son owns a home in ND that was on a small ranch on the edge of town. The local banker said that the bank
tried to get him to open an account for decades. He raised cattle, pigs and such. Bachelor never married. Never
took vacations as he always had milk cows.
Nobody has a clue as to what he did with his money from the sale of livestock. Perhaps buried? Who knows. Son
has taken the attic and basement apart and found nothing. Maybe someday.
He did borrow my detector but has yet to use it.
bob
In Oregon? More info...?
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
Treasure in the Cellar: A Tale of Gold in Depression-Era Baltimore.
Many people tried this in early 1933, but as described in Illegal Tender by David Tripp, the government kept records of who shipped gold out of the country and made them bring it back and turn it in.
I'm not sure how early you would have had to have shipped your gold overseas to have escaped the government dragnet - perhaps early 1932 or even 1931 and it's really unlikely anyone would have been that prescient.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
<< <i>I'd also would not be surprised if the big boys simply shipped their gold to Swiss banks and shipped it back four decades later and that certain hoards were quietly classified as collections.
Many people tried this in early 1933, but as described in Illegal Tender by David Tripp, the government kept records of who shipped gold out of the country and made them bring it back and turn it in.
I'm not sure how early you would have had to have shipped your gold overseas to have escaped the government dragnet - perhaps early 1932 or even 1931 and it's really unlikely anyone would have been that prescient. >>
Yeah, I know that, but the big boys had the money and connections to ship a very heavy crate of sweaters or whatever.. the very rich seldom get caught with their pockets empty.
I metal detected LEGALLY these areas and not too far from a asphault walkway placed in the area for a dog walk i detected a patch of grass. I do mean a patch. I'd guess 40 square yards of grass two feet from the macadam. Well, I didn't find the coins the caretaker spoke of , but a google historical map tells me a house was once there on that spot long before the macadam walkways. People would bury coins 3 feet of the corners of their houses basement 45 degrees off in a straight line.
The above might explain the 14 morgan dollars, 8 Kennedy halves, One Walker and one Winged Liberty dime, along with a 1928s Peace dollar. Long since wrapped in degraded plastic from a 1972 burial. How do I know 1972? because I was told that there was a house torn down in 1972 on that very spot. Oh yeah, there were four (4) Eisenhower dollars
dated 1971 and none dated after.
So, I think it quite possible many, many pieces of Silver, gold and clad lie buried or just plain lost. Not to mention most of the gold ones have been retrieved. You have got to look back at a mans wages and think even 75 years ago losing a $5 gold piece could be a big loss.
Need a picture? google "Pesky VDI 93"
pcunix,
I'm not saying it never happened, but the government had been restricting the circulation of gold since WWI. There wasn't a whole lot of gold in the US that was outside the banks, so even if someone had been able to ship a "heavy" box of sweaters, the government still would have had records of who took it out of the bank in the first place.
Obviously, there was a lot of gold that got shipped overseas, since a lot of it was brought back by coin dealers after WWII - but I suspect that gold had been shipped out of the US by foreigners, who wouldn't have been subject to US law to return it.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
The ranch must have a business model similar to the business where, for a fee, you can catch and keep as many hungry trout out of their pond as your credit card can handle.They will clean the fish for you at no extra charge.
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
My mother, who grew to adulthood in the 1930s told me that people seldom handled gold coins at that time. A gold coin might be given as a Christmas gift or something else special, but it was mostly like it was with silver dollars in the early 1960s when I was kid. You could go to the bank and exchange paper dollars for them, but people didn't use them. People might have set a few aside, but that was about it.
In 1930s things got a lot worse. Many people lost their jobs and few had any money to set aside. The average income got up to $1,368, but that was toward the end of the decade, after the Gold Surrender Act had been implemented.
I have known families that had a gold coin two, but no hoards. My mother's cleaning lady had four gold dollars that had been handing down through the family. One of them was an 1853-D. Since she was African-American, I would have loved to have know the story behind that piece.
<< <i>There might be some gold hoards out there, but I imagine that it is a lot less than some of you might think. The average person's income was not all that high in the 1920s and '30s. During the decade from 1920 to 1929 the average income was $1,236. Most of that had to be used for the necessities, like food, clothing and shelter. That didn't leave that much for "sticking under the mattress."
My mother, who grew to adulthood in the 1930s told me that people seldom handled gold coins at that time. A gold coin might be given as a Christmas gift or something else special, but it was mostly like it was with silver dollars in the early 1960s when I was kid. You could go to the bank and exchange paper dollars for them, but people didn't use them. People might have set a few aside, but that was about it.
In 1930s things got a lot worse. Many people lost their jobs and few had any money to set aside. The average income got up to $1,368, but that was toward the end of the decade, after the Gold Surrender Act had been implemented.
I have known families that had a gold coin two, but no hoards. My mother's cleaning lady had four gold dollars that had been handing down through the family. One of them was an 1853-D. Since she was African-American, I would have loved to have know the story behind that piece. >>
I agree.
Significant amounts of gold and silver get buried in times of war and in front of
advancing armies but anyone with gold in the '30's would probably be a little para-
noid to bury it in 1933. Sure, some might have been stashed in the ground briefly
to see how the presidential order shook out but once they realized it was still good
or feared they wouldn't be able to spend it later they'd have dug it up.
People were tapping into savings to much greater degree than they were creating
savings and few would bury it. Of course the bank failures may have prompted peo-
ple to bury coin as well but the creation of the FDIC would have allayed their fears.
Most who lost money in the banks had even less to bury.
My gut feeling is that far more gold coins minted in the late 20s and early 30s went to Europe than went into the ground here in the U.S.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
<< <i>Eventually people had to use the coins. DEPRESSION! >>
right, stomach or hang onto the gold. a not so tough decision
<< <i>Just to add to this, my father graduated first in his class from a private school in 1932. He received $75 in gold coins at the graduation. He put the money in a local bank which went bust during The Great Depression and lost it all. >>
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
After the big quake in SF there must have been some good stuff in the rubbish that got used as landfill.
I'm sure that some caches got lost, as a kid I remember burying a toy and then later for years I could never find and dig it up even though I knew where it was.
My grandfather was a wheeler dealer in the Washington DC area. He got gold coins as money in deals through 1950 or so. He kept most of them, and when he passed, they went to the other side of the family. He said gold coins circulated freely until WWII in the Washington area, but if they went to the banks, they were gone. If you knew the right banker though, you could get them out for a minor premium.
Minor tidbit, the book about the USS Enterprise, spoke about sailing / boating competition in San Francisco in 1941, just before the carrier shipped out to Pearl Harbor. The winner of each group won a $20 gold co
<< <i>There might be some gold hoards out there, but I imagine that it is a lot less than some of you might think. The average person's income was not all that high in the 1920s and '30s. During the decade from 1920 to 1929 the average income was $1,236. Most of that had to be used for the necessities, like food, clothing and shelter. That didn't leave that much for "sticking under the mattress."
>>
We have a late 1920's tax return from my grandfather showing an income close to $30,000.00.
No, I got no inheritance other than that box of coins. He ran away with a gal from the local post office and left his family with very little. I'd bet someone like him had gold stashed away. And I'd also bet someone from his second family got it in '74 if not earlier.
But you are right: little people had squat, just as it is today.
Cancelled checks from 1910, 1911,1912. The building used to be a bank. I told the new owner. We both got a kick . One memorable check was written to the electric and gas company for $1.98.
100% Positive BST transactions