[x] Welcome at THunting.com!

A fun place to talk about Metal Detecting, Treasure Hunting & Prospecting. Here you can share finds and experience with thousands of members from all over the world

Join us and Register Now - Its FREE & EASY

THunting.com
Treasure Hunting & Metal Detecting Community
   
Advanced Search
*
Welcome, Guest! Please login or register HERE - It is FREE and easy.
Only registered users can post and view images on our message boards.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with email, password and session length
Or Login Using Social Network Account
News:
Pages: 1    Go Down
Print
Share this topic on FacebookShare this topic on Del.icio.usShare this topic on DiggShare this topic on RedditShare this topic on Twitter
Tags:
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Offline GoldDigger1950Topic starter
The Old Man and the Soil
Global Moderator
Platin Member
*****

Just call me GD.
The Old Man and the Soil
Join Date: Jun, 2009
Thank you225

Activity
0%
Male
United States
Posts: 11219
Referrals: 12

47848.00 Gold
View Inventory

Awards

Garrett Groundhog ADS, Garrett Sea Hunter, Bounty Hunter Tracker IV, Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505,Minelab Eldorado Mk II, Tesoro Compadre, Tesoro Tiger Shark & A Few Home Brew Detectors
« on: December 23, 2012, 08:10:34 am »
Go Up Go Down

Much has been discussed here, written over history and spoken over campfires on this subject. Nothing stirs the imagination more than a good treasure story or possible treasure sign.

First, the signs - often referred to as markers. Since these are my thoughts on the subject and not yours, please read along if you wish, or skip to the next topic. You choose.

Signs of anything etched permanently into rocks or trees are only seemingly permanent. Wind, erosion or the regrowth of the inner bark of a tree can obscure them. It reminds me of a friend of mine years ago who used to say, "Turn left at the pink house." She did that for many years after the house had been painted yellow, to the annoyance of some family and friends who could not find her. Signs and markers out in the wild are susceptible to so many disasters that it's a wonder they survive at all. If any one of you reading this far can imagine, it's not always the most permanent record of events. But what can be more permanent? Truthfully, not much. Any record we make of treasure buried or hidden is subject to destruction so why do it? The only answer to this is clearly so we or others we want to find it can do so without our help or without our ever so fragile memory. If you don't think your memory is fragile, just go back to a childhood play area and see how much you actually remember correctly.

The reality of things is more likely this. A person hiding a treasure does not want that treasure found accidentally by someone else. This is very true and is the main reason that treasure signs and marks are never recorded in public places. Never, you say? Yes, never.  The marks and signs we see today are indeed pointing towards something but it's not treasure. They point towards meeting places, waterholes, dwellings, places of safety, trail heads or some other important place. Pointing them to treasure would mean that your carefully hidden wealth would go to the next traveler or passerby. Not at all what the person hiding treasure wants. Thus, the conclusion is obvious. Nobody marks a treasure with scratches in rock or carvings in bark. If anything, they are hidden in the pages of a treasured book, family photograph album or family Bible. Probably encrypted by using some family knowledge as the key. But that's another topic for another time.

That brings me to maps. These are the most plausible of treasure leads ever. Not because they are drawn specifically leading to treasure with an X marking the spot. That would be a dumb as signs left in public places. No, it is more likely that an ordinary map with a series of circles or squares is a map to treasure. An old road map with a mark indicating something like "Bob's place" would be the treasure hider's ideal map. Most of the time, the marks like these go unnoticed by casual observers. Imagine if you wanted to remember Bob's place. The most common way of describing it might be a circle or square on the map but a key element is an address. This is a mistake made by many who have hidden caches. I advise anyone looking for treasure to buy any and all old road maps from garage sales, antique shops and book shops even if the appear to be blank and unmarked. Many means of invisible writing can be found on these and they have led me to more than one hidden cache. After I find one, I mark the map with "Recovered - (and the date)" in the same kind of invisible ink. I then release the map into the wild again for other use. Again, another topic.

Lastly, legends. Oh, the tales that have been told around campfires and coffee pots. Some are just too far fetched for words to describe and with each retelling, exaggerations draw it further into the realm of fantasy. But if you listen carefully, you can sometimes see an underlying element of truth buried in the legend. A long ago story of treasure in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range led to a huge recovery for a few men who ferreted out the real story from the legend. The story has been retold on this very forum but I can assure you, the treasure is no longer a missing one. It was recovered back in the 1960s. There may be caches buried along some of the trails leading to and from it but the large cave was cleaned out and liquidated many years ago. So the legend described here in this forum is a true story of treasure with lots of extra stories embellishing the treasure story. A lot of legends turn into treasure tales by the repetition of them. A modern day example is the treasure in the Philippines that legend says was left behind by soldiers. The real and only treasure there was captured along with the general in charge of keeping it safe. There was no other treasure hidden along the trail of retreat that he took. Sadly, an entire nation of impoverished people repeat the story, adding "facts" and more legend along the way. Each retelling adds an element of so called truth to the legend by adding tales of elders - real or imagined - having firsthand knowledge or first hand accounts of seeing it.

In spite of all this, I advise you to listen to all of the tales, read all of your maps and photograph all of your signs and markers in situ so you can study them in the future. Mark them on maps or in your notebooks for future reference. After all, if a trail has been used for any reason at all, it must have been important and may be the place where some cautious person buried a personal cache. Even two ounces of gold buried by a traveler can be worth a mortgage payment to the finder today. Carefully record everything paying attention to the orientation of suspicious signs with regards to other landmarks and compass directions. Your diligence will some day pay off.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,38812.msg239373.html#msg239373




« Last Edit: December 23, 2012, 08:22:42 am by GoldDigger1950 »
Logged

It's all about that moment when metal that hasn't seen the light of day for generations frees itself from the soil and presents itself to me.
Let's Talk Treasure!

Offline GoldDigger1950Topic starter
The Old Man and the Soil
Global Moderator
Platin Member
*****

Just call me GD.
The Old Man and the Soil
Join Date: Jun, 2009
Thank you225

Activity
0%
Male
United States
Posts: 11219
Referrals: 12

47848.00 Gold
View Inventory

Awards

Garrett Groundhog ADS, Garrett Sea Hunter, Bounty Hunter Tracker IV, Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505,Minelab Eldorado Mk II, Tesoro Compadre, Tesoro Tiger Shark & A Few Home Brew Detectors
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2012, 09:05:24 am »
Go Up Go Down

I'd also like to add that using your imagination to help you determine the meaning of any particular sign is a two edged sword. Unlike Indiana Jones, who can decipher any clue in a half second, we mere mortals are not so fortunate. Sometimes our imagination and instincts point us in the right direction but most of us can attest to how rapidly that can cause us to do things that are not going to get us near treasure.

I know it can break your heart to think that your precious signs and maybe even a map can be nothing more than pointing to a New Year's Eve party from 200 years ago but sometimes, that's all they are. How many times have you drawn a mud map (the term used to describe hand written maps with landmarks) to an event? Most of us have done that at one time or another. To presume that this sort of map has a significant treasure attached to it would be foolish. Yet most maps found are just the same as the mud map. They are not treasure maps just because they are old or because you don't know what the point towards. Nor are any wacky signs on the map indicative of special meaning. On a mud map I once drew for a scavenger hunt party, I drew all sorts of symbols that meant nothing to anyone not invited but were clues to items to be scavenged. I pity the poor fool who finds one of those maps 100 years from that party.

If I were to make an educated guess (with all the years I have in finding treasure) I would say there is a mere 1 in 1000 chance for any individual sign to be indicative of a lead to treasure. The unfortunate thing is that a subsequent sign may have been lost forever making the discovery of that treasure from that sign a very small chance indeed.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,38812.msg239710.html#msg239710




Logged

It's all about that moment when metal that hasn't seen the light of day for generations frees itself from the soil and presents itself to me.
Let's Talk Treasure!

Offline caleb
Bronze Member
*

Join Date: Nov, 2011
Thank you0

Activity
0%
Male
United States
Posts: 208
Referrals: 0

1140.00 Gold
View Inventory

Awards

Omega, Lone Star, Goldmaster
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2012, 12:25:38 pm »
Go Up Go Down

Well said GD, just curious what types of caches you found from those maps? Will you elaborate for us?

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,38812.msg239723.html#msg239723




Logged
Offline GoldDigger1950Topic starter
The Old Man and the Soil
Global Moderator
Platin Member
*****

Just call me GD.
The Old Man and the Soil
Join Date: Jun, 2009
Thank you225

Activity
0%
Male
United States
Posts: 11219
Referrals: 12

47848.00 Gold
View Inventory

Awards

Garrett Groundhog ADS, Garrett Sea Hunter, Bounty Hunter Tracker IV, Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505,Minelab Eldorado Mk II, Tesoro Compadre, Tesoro Tiger Shark & A Few Home Brew Detectors
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2012, 03:18:08 pm »
Go Up Go Down

Caleb, an old Texaco travelers map of Rhode Island had some funny looking burn marks on it. Not burned like in fire but chemical burns. Turns out it was lemon juice used as invisible ink. There were lines and notes jotted down near an inn that was in front of a now abandoned horse racing track. You'd never know it was one by how it looked in the 1970s when I found it. The owner of the inn also owned the property and he gave me permission to hunt there as long as he could come with me for the fun of it. You know how it goes. Search, find, trash, search find, trash, search find, relic . . . and so on. He soon got bored even though I had turned up a few sliver coins during his stay.

During the next few days of hunting, I found over 600 coins, none gold, but around half were silver. Higher than my normal averages. I found a few pocket spills where a few coins were found in the same hole. The most amazing thing I found was a small cache in a tobacco tin. There were pre-1900 silver coins, banknotes from the early 1900s and a few very primitive pencils. There were also betting slips with notes on them. A fascinating cache that I only found by a thorough search of the area around the track.

About the map. The chemical burns from lemon juice meant that someone had used invisible ink. Lemon juice, when heated with a light bulb, can be read clearly and when it cools, it becomes invisible again. If you hold it long enough over a candle or a light bulb, the lemon juice ink will burn like on that map. Sure, it was an accidental find - both the map and the race track - but the rest of the hard work paid off. The owner of the inn only wanted the relics to put on his walls as decoration. The inn was destroyed by fire in the 1980s and is now the site of tract housing.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,38812.msg239744.html#msg239744




Logged

It's all about that moment when metal that hasn't seen the light of day for generations frees itself from the soil and presents itself to me.
Let's Talk Treasure!

Offline caleb
Bronze Member
*

Join Date: Nov, 2011
Thank you0

Activity
0%
Male
United States
Posts: 208
Referrals: 0

1140.00 Gold
View Inventory

Awards

Omega, Lone Star, Goldmaster
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2012, 04:19:39 pm »
Go Up Go Down

Wow, that was a good hunt! Ive only managed to root out 1 silver coin so far, I cant imagine finding a spot with 300. I will be keeping my eyes out for maps from now on. I thought that lemon juice was used to activate invisible ink I wasnt aware it could be used as invisible ink. Learn something new everyday. Smiley

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,38812.msg239747.html#msg239747




Logged
Print
Pages: 1    Go Up
Jump to:  

Powered by SMF 1.1.19 | SMF © 2005, Simple Machines | Sitemap
Copyright THunting.com