dime, quarter, dollar, or half-dollar coins minted before 1965 was made of 90% silver and hold a much higher value than the face value of the coin,” says Silverman.

“Many people don’t know this, but any U.S. Assess the valueĮven if you don’t find something as obvious as a pot of gold coins, that doesn’t meant your discoveries aren’t valuable-even an old pile of change can have surprising potential. “The more expensive machines will provide better target identification at lower depths and offer other features like the ability to discriminate out iron and other undesirable targets.” For a reasonably priced, reliable introductory model, experts suggest the Garrett Ace 350 ($350), since rather than fiddling with complicated settings, you simply select jewelry, coin, or all-metal mode and you’re good to go. Not ready to commit? You can also rent them. While sophisticated models will run upward of $10,000, “for metal detecting in your backyard, you can expect to pay between $350 and $1,000 for a very capable detector,” says Ben Silverman, webmaster for the Granite State Treasure Hunters Club in New Hampshire. Get the right equipmentĪ treasure hunter’s main sleuthing tool is a metal detector. So is a home where three walls are plaster (the material typically used during the early 1900s) and one wall is modern drywall (which will feel warmer and smoother to the touch). “So if any room seems two feet smaller than the floor plans suggest, that’s a good sign,” says Dankworth. Some treasure hoarders even went so far as to build hidden spaces behind whole new walls. “Another guy was doing plumbing work in the crawl space under his house and came across a bag of gold coins worth $40,000.” Covered fireplaces are another oft-overlooked area Dankworth says another couple doing remodeling found their fireplace stuffed with silver bars worth $2,000 apiece. “One woman who came into my store found a box of silver dollars from the early 1900s worth $7,000 under floorboards in a closet,” recalls Dankworth. A prime area to look is under loose floorboards.

Obviously, valuables would be stockpiled in a spot that would elude easy detection. That’s because paper money was nearly worthless during the Depression, so Americans hoarded gold, even though it became illegal to do so in 1933.Ĭlaim your home to stay up-to-date of your home‘s value and equity. We don’t literally mean “gems,” though-most of these Depression-era stashes will take the form of gold or silver, in coins or bullion.

A stash like that could still be sitting on the property, particularly if no major remodeling has been done that would have unearthed those gems. Back then, people were leery of putting their savings in banks.

“Ninety-five percent of the people who hide valuables in their home lived through the Great Depression in the 1920s and ’30s,” says Jason Dankworth, manager at Bellevue Rare Coins in Washington. Contrary to popular belief, they don’t have to be mobsters or millionaires to have squirreled away something. Check your home’s historyįirst off, it helps to know a bit about people who have lived in your home. Many stumble across such treasures by accident, but if you want to be a bit more proactive about treasure hunting on your own property, here’s some advice. When news surfaced that the FBI had dug up $600,000 in cash buried in a backyard in Fontana, CA, we got to wondering: How common is it for homes to contain hidden riches? More than you might think-stories abound of homeowners who’ve unearthed sizable sums in the form of cash, gold, jewelry, and other valuables.

Valuable coins in your house