Hidden Treasure - Two Examples

Most hidden treasure is not in a pirate's stash, and there is no map to it. It is in almost ordinary places, left there by ordinary people. The bottom line is that hiding things is human, and money is one of the things hidden most often.

For example, a relative of mine hid cash in books. He had learned to mistrust the banks during the great depression, so this was how he saved his money. This was more common than you might think. It may still be a common practice.

He never told anyone that he was doing this, so after he died it was discovered by accident. As his things were being packed up and readied for removal, a relative saw a bill drop out of a book. That got her thinking, and soon she was taking the books back out of the boxes and leafing through them all. When she was done she had a pile of thousands of dollars in currency.

Now, you have to wonder what would have happened if she hadn't found that first bill. I don't know if all of those books were thrown away at some point, or ended up in a used book store somewhere. It does make me wonder if searching for hidden treasure in a used book store might be worthwhile.

By the way, I have heard that people often put cash in hotel bibles to keep it safe while they are out for the evening. They then sometimes forget that they put it there (a night out can have that effect on memory). At least one treasure hunter claims to have found bills in those bibles.

Hidden Treasure Under The House

I once buried 100 ounces of silver and left it there for years. It was in a plastic container five feet from the south and west wall of the house, six inches underground. With silver approaching $35 per-ounce (2011) I wish I hadn't cashed it in at six dollars.

I also realized that until I dug it up I had told nobody about it. I had nothing written down about it either. That means that if I had died before removing it, not a soul in the world would have a reason to suspect there was $3,500 worth of silver (today's price) buried under there. It might be discovered only a hundred years later when the house was torn down and even then perhaps only if someone hit the area with a metal detector.

I have read that there are billions of dollars of currency that are not accounted for in bank accounts, far more than we are carrying around in our wallets and purses. How much of that is buried under a house or stashed between the pages of books is anyone's guess. But these two examples from my own family makes me suspect that hidden treasure is a lot more common than we think. Peruse the pages of this website and you'll learn how to find some of it.

Note: also check out the page:
Hidden Treasures - More Examples

And:
The Treasure Index

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