A few decades ago, just about this time of year, there was a major commotion in Philadelphia. Word had gotten out about a home torn down on Noble street downtown. Trucks carrying rubble from the building had carted the debris to a dump just outside of town. That’s where the ruckus began.
In the remains of the home, someone at the disposal site spotted a gold coin. Then another. And another. Gold coins of all denominations from prior to 1850 were being found. Word got out and the swarms descended. It surfaced that a former owner of the home had been a doctor who died half a century earlier. In the mid-1800s he had attended to many patients nearby. It is believed he had stashed the many gold coins he was paid somewhere in the old home.
It happened again in Tuskegee, Alabama. Workmen taking down an old hotel uncovered a stash of gold coins while removing a fireplace mantle. The $185 face value would be worth tens of thousands of dollars today....
So too for a home built in 1864 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Just a few years ago, four teenagers were helping remodel the old home when, beneath the kitchen floor, a hidden cache of gold coins worth countless thousands was found in an old iron pot. The gold dated from between 1870 and 1897. The former owner was a local merchant believed to have hidden the riches. He had once been wealthy but was said to be quite poor at the time of his death in 1905. So much more the mystery of the found gold.
Stories such as these are clearly the things of which dreams are made. Yet, in this case, they aren’t just fanciful tales. These dreams are real. Such accounts are testimony to our historic proclivity to stash riches meaning much more is out there.
The most common reason was a mistrust of banks. Before the FDIC offered bank insurance, that might have made some sense. Then again, tangible riches such as gold and silver coins have never been insured in safe deposit boxes unless a separate policy is secured. Consequently, for centuries, people have hidden cash and other riches in their homes or nearby.
Outdoors has been a common repository for gold and silver. During the Great Depression, a Midwest farmer was plowing every inch of his field to maximize corn planting on his small, 80-acre farm. Near an old willow stump, he unearthed a cache of $10 and $20 gold coins along with pieces of leather. The coins dated from between 1847 and 1863. The gold strike was thought to be the result of a leather boot containing gold buried during the Civil War.
Tale after tale of such improbable finds are found in one of the best treasure books ever written – American Coin Treasures and Hoards by Q. David Bowers. Bowers is considered the dean of books about coins and collecting having written literally close to 100 different volumes over the years. There is no one better to chronicle such accounts of exciting discoveries.
American Coin Treasures and Hoards has 24 chapters covering every period in US history from the colonial era; Civil War; gold from “Out West”; underwater finds; paper money hoards; and even undiscovered treasures known to exist but still eluding those who seek them.
Some of the best accounts are finds that were purely happenstance such as where the old M&N Saloon in Seattle once stood. As the jumping off (and returning) locale for the famed Klondike gold rush, Seattle had many a prospector visit the saloon and dance hall. Wide gaps in its floorboards meant much treasure fell through. When the saloon came down on Christmas Day 1929, modern treasure hunters descended on the property finding gold coins, nuggets, chains and more in the dirt.
It’s long been said Christmas is the season of dreams. American Coin Treasures and Hoards is ideal for armchair adventurers and dreamers. The book appears to be currently out-of-print but there are numerous copies online from Amazon and other sellers for a little as $15 to $29.99. Because winter is traditionally the perfect time to curl up with a treasured book, why not one about treasures themselves? Not a bad find to discover under the tree.
For more collecting advice, visit www.peterexford.blogspot.com