Treasure Hunting

Found a good article today you guys won’t believe.

From CTV.ca, it looks like someone living above a Deli during the depression tried to stash away a whole bunch of money - and forgot about it!

Apparently some Junk haulers in Vancouver were clearing out an apartment and found almost $1,000 in bills that date back to the 1930’s. It was hidden under the floorboards, under a rug - but that was only a piece of the treasure that was stashed so long ago.

“Shortly afterwards, the caretaker for the building found a paper bag stuffed with $400,000 in dusty bills, also dating back 70 years. By today’s standards, the Depression-era nest egg would be worth an estimated $50 million.”

The crew was cleaning out the apartment after the death of the former owner.

“It was a little bit of a surprise for sure,” Fuss told CTV’s Canada AM on Friday.

“You don’t usually think that you’re going to find anything much of value after everybody has sort of been through the building and you think you’re just going to find carpeting and such. But yeah, all of a sudden a lot of money is showing up and it definitely sparks interest pretty fast.”

Though others might have been tempted to quietly slip the cash into a pocket for safekeeping, Duff said the thought never crossed his mind.

“Not really, especially considering the age of the money. It wasn’t just fifties, it was multiple hundreds of dollar bills from decades ago, more than 50 years ago, 60, 70 years ago. And just because of the uniqueness of the money it wasn’t even really a thought to hang onto it. It was more just a thrill to even find it.”

The east Vancouver building, which housed a closed-down deli called the Lido, has now been sold, and the current owners know little about the previous owner, a woman named Margaret Rothweiler who died in February.

She had lived in the building since the 1940s and ran the business with her husband for several years. However, the shop had not been opened in recent memory.

Current co-owner of the building Jonathan Kerridge and his business partner have imagined all kinds of scenarios about where the money may have come from: bank robberies, bootlegging, Nazi war criminals.

However, one of Rothweiler’s relatives suggested the answer is probably much less sinister.

“Margaret knew how to hold on to a buck,” Jack Rothweiler, Margaret’s nephew, told CTV British Columbia. “That’s a family trait. I’ve got some squirreled away too.”

Currency expert Brian Grant Duff told Canada AM the value of the bills to coin collectors will depend on their condition, serial numbers and the signature on the notes.”

Treasure is treasure - I’m not sure who gets to keep the cash, the new building owners or her family, but somebody just got a heckuva lot richer!

- Shaun

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Just when you think all the good stuff has been found, the Florida Key’s prove you wrong!

Shaun and I are really itchin’ to plan a trip south to the Key’s, and the article we read today gives us hope that something might be left. Hopefully we can get our Excalibur II’s and get certified to dive by the end of the summer.

Enough about us. Here’s the article.

- Adam in St. Cloud

“An archaeologist and treasure-hunting divers found a never-before-seen gold artifact likely from a Spanish galleon that sank in a hurricane in the 1600s. They were searching the shipwreck trail of the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita that sank in 1622″ when they found a unique and special little grooming device.

“The treasure, believed to be an intricate grooming tool made with gold and earwax, was found 40 miles off Key West.

“It’s a grooming tool, composed of toothpick and a small spoon for earwax, made of almost pure gold,” Dr. Duncan Mathewson said. “It’s very, very unique. Ah, we’ve never seen anything like it before.”

They also found several skeleton keys, ceramic pieces and rigging elements of the ship.”

This find comes on the heels of gold bars and a lead box containing thousands of pearls that was also carried by the Santa Margarita. The Santa Margarita became famous 25 years ago when Mel Fisher began his initial search of the shipwreck. Divers for his team and many others have been finding valuable treasures off the Florida coast ever since!

Visit Local 6 News for updates about the artifacts found from the Santa Margarita.

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Maybe it’s because we loved the movie “Gladiator” so much, or maybe because this was discovered by divers and we secretly hope to one day go on a diving expedition… but this article is just cool.

- Shaun & Crew

The BBC News is reporting that “divers in France have found the oldest known bust of Roman dictator Julius Caesar at the bottom of the River Rhone.” Found near Arles, a city founded by Julius Caesar, the bust dates back to the town’s foundation in the year 46B.C.

It was found with other items including a 6ft marble statue of the god Neptune that is from the first decade of the third century A.D., and two smaller, bronze status.

This bust is a favorite of ours here at TreasureHunting.com because it is so life-like; wrinkles, lines, a bald head. Apparently this is typical of the realist portraits of Caesar’s republican era.

Luc Long, the archaeologist who directed the excavations, said “all the busts of Caesar in Rome were posthumous. I suspect the bust was thrown in the river after he was assassinated because it would not have been good at that time to be considered a follower of his.”

A group of republican senators assassinated Caesar in 44BC. On the Ides in 44 BC, a group of senators called Caesar to the forum for the purpose of reading a petition, written by the senators, asking him to hand power back to the Senate. However, the petition was a fake.

As Caesar began to read the false petition, Tillius Cimber, who had handed him the petition, pulled down Caesar’s tunic. While Caesar was crying to Cimber “But that is violence!” the aforementioned Casca produced his dagger and made a glancing thrust at the dictator’s neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm, saying in Latin “Casca, you villain, what are you doing?” Casca, frightened, shouted “Help, brother” in Greek.

Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, was striking out at the dictator. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenseless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Eutropius, around sixty or more men participated in the assassination. He was stabbed 23 times. According to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal.

Some of the objects found in the river will be displayed in a museum on ancient Arles, the culture ministry said.

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I found this treasure story on Kellyco’s “Finds” page and was blown away. This lady found one of the most sought after items with possibly the most inexpensive detector on the market! Talk about inspiration!

“I recently bought a Bounty Hunter Tracker lV from Kellyco and this was the first metal detector I have ever used.

It works very good even though I am still learning. I went out detecting today for the second time in my life and brought home the most sought after item. It was a brass belt buckle with the letters C.S.A. on the front. It is in perfect condition with a great green patina on it. I have already been offered $2200.00 for it from a local collector! I hope to upgrade to a White’s or Garrett detector someday but I will never doubt what my Bounty Hunter can find. It has already proven itself!”

Found by Joyce W., on March 23, 2003
Burna, Livingston County, Kentucky

“Proven itself” - Well that’s one way to put it!

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Talk about a cache!

A ‘unique silver treasure has been uncovered near Sweden’s Arlanda airport.’

On Tuesday, archaeologists from the Swedish National Heritage Board dug up the largest collection of Viking-era silver coins found north of Stockholm in ‘modern times.’

The cache consists of 450 silver coins and was discovered during an investigation of an Iron Age grave site. But the coolest part is that not all of the coins are from the area.

Many of them come from Baghdad and Damascus, and are thought to be from 500 to 840 AD. They appear to have been buried around 850 AD and were found on the edge of a grave which is believed to be about 1,000 years older than the treasure itself!

“This shows that the people who lived at the site had distant contacts” said archaeologist Karin Beckman-Thoor.

Meanwhile, a medieval silver ring, thought to be from the 13th or 14th centuries, was found earlier this year in the U.K. and has been officially declared as treasure by the British Museum. It was found with a metal detector by Ruth Cattermole from London. The ring was believed to have properties which protect against fever and is made of about 10% precious metals.

This just goes to show that there is still plenty of treasure to be found all over the world! So get out there and metal detect!

~ Liz ~

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A 2,000 year old silver jug handle was discovered on a beach in the United Kingdom.

63 year old amateur archaeologist and metal detecting enthusiast Graham Ryan discovered the handle while he was combing the beach with his metal detector. The British museum says that it could date from anywhere between the first and fourth centuries, since its made mainly from silver and is in the form of a stylized snake’s head.

Ryan told reports that he “was not surprised to find Viking artifacts on the beach. There’s a Roman Fort at Beckfoot. It has a cemetery and with the soil erosion I have found cremation urns too. We’ve had some lovely finds.”

He belongs to the Senhouse Museum Archeology Society, who he thanks for encouraging his hobby of metal detecting. “I think from being a boy I always thought I’d find treasure.”

His find may be entered into the Senhouse Roman Museum, but for now it will have to be appraised so that Ryan can be rewarded for finding it.

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In my usual online stroll for treasure stories I came across a museum show in Detroit called “Shipwreck!” I am completely fascinated by the things that are on display and the article is really informative about past shipwrecks. However, I was impressed that these items weren’t found on the beaches, washed ashore and found by people in bathing suits. These treasures were discovered right where the fell - 1,200 ft beneath the surface, on the bottom of the ocean floor.

Since a human can’t go to depths that far under water, a “Remote Operated Vehicle” was used named Zeus. The shipwreck they excavated from the bottom of the ocean was the remnants of the USS Republic. “The 210-foot-long steamship was built in 1853. It survived the Civil War, when it fought for both the Confederacy and the Union. And it survived three hurricanes, though it could not survive a fourth.

When it sank, on Oct. 25, 1865, most of the roughly 80 passengers escaped unharmed. The Republic was eight days into its journey from New York to New Orleans, bearing tens of thousands of gold and silver coins, medicine bottles, everyday items like toothbrushes made out of cow bones, and anything else to help rebuild the South after the Civil War.”

Check out the entire article at Freep.com.

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Greek workers were in the process of excavating tunnels for a new subway system in the Mediterranean’s second largest city - Thessaloniki - and they stumbled upon almost 1,000 graves. The state archaeological authority said Monday that some were filled with gold treasures, and the graves themselves dated from the first century B.C. to the 5th century A.D.

Ancient treasures include jewelry, coins and various pieces of art from the city that was founded around 315 B.C. and flourished during the Roman and Byzantine eras.

Most of the graves (886) were just east of the city center in what was the eastern cemetery during Roman and Byzantine times. Those graves ranged from traces of wooden coffins left in simple holes in the ground, to marble enclosures in five-room family mausoleums.

A separate group of 94 graves were found near the city’s train station, in what was once part of the city’s western cemetery. More findings were expected as digging for the Thessaloniki metro continues. Digging started in 2006 and the first 13 stations are expected to be done by the end of 2012.

This makes you wonder when a cemetery crosses the line from ’sacred burial ground’ to ‘treasures that represent ancient civilizations.’

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Thanks to the folks that submit their stories to Kellyco. Just saw this one pop up and I wanted to share. Gotta love those Civil War relics! These were found with a Nautilus Metal Detector, which are for those serious relic hunters.

- Shaun

“About 20 years ago a friend told me about “Relic Hunting.” He took me out one day and after the first 3 ringer I was hooked!

Now-a-days my favorite place to hunt is private property, with permission of course, for Civil War relics. I’ve also gotten into beach hunting in Virginia and the Outer Banks, N.C.

My best find so far includes a lot of things which were all firsts for me. I was using a Nautilus DMC IIB that I was very familiar with – it was my machine of choice for over 5 years. I also had my Gator trowel with me to help dig.

After about three hours out, my Nautilus read a deep iron signal in a place that’s called “Stoneman’s Switch,” a very well known Civil War winter camp site, or “hut.” I started digging with my friend Cory who was with me, and about 2.5 feet down I hit the “barrel bands” that were used as a chimney on old winter huts from the Civil War camps.

What lay beneath my finger tips was a 140 year old time capsule that contained a variety of relics including buttons, bullets, bottles, coins, a religious medal and a comb. The value of this cache is literally priceless, and I can’t describe the excitement I felt upon finding it.

The attached photos show the ground conditions I found this in, a picture of a Confederate button with bullets in the background, and two 1861 coins - front and back. Enjoy!” - Jeff B. Newport News, Virgina.

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Once again our metal detecting friends across the pond have found an ancient relic.

A 2,000 year old Roman coin was found by retired butcher Roy Page, and is believed to be the oldest coin ever found in the country. Page uses a Minelab X-Terra metal detector and says he puts in about 10 hours a week with it. On the way to his car for a drink he heard the high-pitched beep that signals a coin. Then, he “flipped the soil back and it was there, only six inches down.”

Page said he “was thirsty and so he popped it in his pocket with his other finds.” Later he showed it to a Roman coin expert in the Portable Antiquities Scheme who helped him identify it as from the second century BC. “When he told me I nearly fainted, I was over the moon. It is living history. The last person who held the coin was probably a Roman.”

The coin was probably brought over some time after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, or during earlier visits in the first century BC. Page is shocked and awed at his find, not caring how much it’s worth as he doesn’t intend to sell it. “When you look at a map of where old coins have been found in Wales there have not been many found around St. Asaph. I haven’t even bothered to find out its worth.”

Just like a true metal detectorist,… he doesn’t care what it’s worth, just wants to enjoy having it. What’s your favorite find? What’s your oldest find? Heck, who wants to organize a metal detecting trip across the pond?

- Shaun

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