6/27/13 Report - Alternative Treasure Hunting Strategies, Gold and Silver Prices Drop Like a Rock & Hidden Caches

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.


Most people do the same types of things.  They do what they see other people do.  There are , however, some very creative, intelligent and effective metal detecting and treasure hunting techniques that are little known and little used.  I'm toying with the idea of revealing some of those. 

If you saw the monster scoop that I posted yesterday, you might have wondered what use it could possibly have.  Certainly you are not going to carry something like that around on the beach unless you are Paul Bunyon.

That scoop might have given you an idea to an alternate approach.  Where would that scoop be used?  That type of scoop is used in high density target areas, such as around docks, and most often where there is also a high density of trash on muddy or gravel bottoms.  Often the high density of trash makes detecting nearly impossible.  That is no problem since it is easy to separate the trash from good targets visibly once they've been scooped up.

That is just one approach that is a little different from what is more commonly done.  There are other and more extreme alternate approaches..  Some of those approaches involve some pretty sophisticated equipment.  Others do not employ unusual equipment, just different strategies or techniques.



People have intentionally buried valuables as long as there have been valuables to bury.  They were hidden during both war and peace. 

People still hide things today, especially the elderly. A surprising number of the elderly do not have a safe, do not totally trust banks, and do not get hardly any interest on their hard earned nest eggs.  Some don't think safes are necessary, and others don't feel they can afford them.  Some don't want to pay for a safe deposit box and find having to go to a bank difficult or inconvenient.   And although it is still common for people to bury things, many elderly people today keep cash or bullion coins hidden at home.  I know one elderly lady up north who has hidden a large amount of cash at home.  I wouldn't advise anyone to do that.  She also has a good number of gold coins.

While in the past many people buried caches, today just as commonly the elderly hides things in the house, sometimes in places where they are forgotten or left behind and sometimes unknowingly sold hidden in estate sale items.  Many times items are found in the pockets or clothing.  I know too well about cleaning up the estate of a deceased loved one.

Here is a related item from KovelsKomments.com. (4/3/13).

When downsizing or closing an estate, people often give many things to charity. But before you donate, be sure to search every pocket in clothing, inside and under every drawer, behind framed pictures, and inside purses. A Pennsylvania woman found $30,000 in the pockets of clothes that were given away. She said she was brought up in an honest family and she believes in karma--so what you do, good or bad, comes back to you. She returned the money and was given a $1,000 reward.

There are still good people around.

And here is another related story from KovelsKomments.com (6/6/13).

K.A., sent this email: "I worked for an auction house and we were called to the estate of a man with a Coca-Cola memorabilia collection…. It didn't take me long to find he had built a little drawer under a piece of furniture that had a $20 Saint-Gaudens gold coin in it. I recovered 17 of them, an extra $14,000 for the estate." [Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed the U.S. double-eagle gold coin, produced from 1907 to 1933; their current values vary depending on issue year and condition.]

People hide things at the beaches too.  I've found US bills and other valuables hidden in cigarette wrappers.  That is becoming less common since not so many people smoke any more.  And I've also found things that people have buried on the beach probably before they went in swimming.  It appears that they then either forgot them or couldn't find them again.   One was wrapped in a napkin, and a couple of times, a ring was found on a buried key chain with the keys, and one time a gold ring was found in an aluminum soda can.


Both silver and gold prices dropped like a rock yesterday.  Gold was down $50 at one point.  If you have a gold collection or just want to protect the value of the gold that you dug up for the future, it is actually possible to make money off of any decrease in the price of gold.  It was possible in the past, but there are  now newer financial tools that you might want to know about.  For example, there are ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that increase in value as the price of gold or other metals or commodities decrease.   If you owned shares of what is called an inverse ETF in gold yesterday, it increased in value and you could have made money as the price of gold dropped.  

I want to make this clear.  I am not recommending that you buy an inverse ETF  in gold or any other type of ETF.  You can lose money very quickly with ETFs and you need to know what you are doing.   I just thought you might want to look into it if you are an informed investor and want to protect the value or any gold or other metals or commoditities that you might have.  Some detectorists sell their gold finds right away, but others keep their finds to enjoy and wear, other put them away hoping for long term price appreciation.   (As I've said before, don't keep valuables at home.  I highly recommend a bank safe deposit box.)

You might think about your finds and consider how they might fit into a long term plan.  Maybe consult a financial advisor.  I am definitely not one of those.  One of this blog's readers does a blog on financial matters.  Here it is.   http://mypersonalinsuranceadvisor.blogspot.com/2013/01/for-most-people-with-newyear-comes.html   (This is not an advertisement of any type.  I just know John from his emails to me about metal detecting.  He didn't ask me to do this.  His blog will give you some good things to consider.)


On the Treasure Coast today there isn't much change.  Still hot.  1 - 2 foot surf today. 

The tides have moderated some, and the low tide will not be as low as it has been in recent days.

The wind is from the south.  The swell is from the east.

No significant storms out there yet.

I had some photos for today but my wife is using the camera and SD card, so I'll just save them for another day.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net