Coins

Coins, one of the most sought after and hardest to find treasures in America.

Some are valuable but most aren't. But it really depends on what you consider valuable. For instance I was recently doing some detecting around a pre civil war home here in Missouri hoping to hit a honey hole or just find a coin or two. What I ended up finding was a top of a 150 year old oil lamp. Dug for an hour for that thing. Is it worth anything? No, it's just an old piece of junk but to me it was a piece of history and I brought it home with me. To me it's a priceless piece of history.

Anyway back to coins.

150 years ago if someone knowingly dropped a coin chances were they were not going to give up until they found it. Sometimes though, another's bad luck can be our good fortune. We will list a few tips on where you might find these rare treasures.

Honey hole

150 years ago people had many reasons not to put their money in the bank.

People didn't trust banks, they were not insured then.

Many people lived way out in the boonies and could not get to the bank when they needed to.

Most people didn't have money to put in the bank.

What did these people do with their money then? Where did they put anything extra? Where did they keep their money so it would not be stolen? The answer to all is they hid it. In many cases in an old jar or can and would bury it some where in the area or in the case of a dirt floor in the house they sometimes would bury it under something like a flat rock.

So when you are out detecting try to think like they would way back when people were self reliant. You just might find that honey hole!

River banks

Another good place to look is along river banks. Especially after a flood. Navigable rivers that carried barges and ships to and from shipping ports can yield some cool stuff. There were ship wrecks on these rivers and life and cargo were both lost. Sometimes that cargo will wash up and reveal itself to you. Rivers like the Mississippi and Missouri were a major transportation source for goods and ships did wreck on these and other rivers. Do some research and find out where these ships wrecked then get out there and detect, detect, detect. You may be fortunate enough to find some goodies.

Treasure Hunting

Navigation

Activities