Idaho Treasure Hunters

I purchased the ebook version of “The Successful Treasure Hunter’s Secret Manual – Discovering Treasure Auras In The Digital Age” for the sole purpose of giving it away this month to a lucky winner. This ebook sells for $19.97 but you can get it for free! All you have to do to enter is click on the link below to enter the drawing. You may only enter once a day per email address. All duplicate entries will be discarded. This month’s drawing will run from the time of this posting until 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on May 9, 2009.

If this month’s drawing gains enough interest I will offer the same ebook next month or another title related to treasure hunting and metal detecting. If I offer the same book next month that I am giving away now I will purchase another copy to make sure the author get’s the monetary credit he deserves for his time and effort in making this book available.

I hope that prizes will get bigger and better if this experiment is a success.

The full rules for this drawing are posted on the entry page. Enter here!

Good luck!

The other day my wife reminded me that I had an antique pewter cup that I found metal detecting 24 years ago that I have absolutely no idea of it’s origin. She thought that I should post it on this blog to see if my readers might have any information. It is very doubtful that it is worth much, but I would mostly like to know how old it might be, who made it, where it was made, etc.

When I found the cup I was metal detecting in a shallow section of the Mississinewa river in Marion, Indiana after the corp of engineers had opened the nearby floodgates to the dam. It was about five feet from shore under about a foot of mud.

When the flood gates are opened there are several places along the river bank where you can walk on dry land halfway across. It is prime hunting ground for metal detecting and bottle collecting during this time. I have found many old coins detecting in these areas as well as tons of fishing sinkers which I melted down to make my own.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks for visiting, and don’t forget to subscribe!

Back in the 70's, long before I came to the Treasure Valley, a child blew out an ankle by stepping in a hole created by a irresponsible metal detectorist in one of the Boise parks. Metal detecting in Boise parks and at schools was outlawed soon after which remained in effect for several years. Donna J. Conn (DJ) of Conn's Wampum Hut tried for years to get the city to again allow metal detecting in the Boise parks and schools.

In 2001 "metal detecting rules" for the Boise Parks And Recreation Department in accordance with Boise City Code was created. This allowed metal detecting to continue in Boise parks and schoolyards after a "recovery test" is given by DJ and a permit issued. The cost of the permit is currently $3.00,  and comes with a plastic cover and clip that must be visible on the detectorist while metal detecting. These permits are issued yearly commencing from June 1 through May 31 of the following year. Anyone under 18 can get a permit but must have a parent or guardian signature on the register when the permit is issued.

DJ has several (probably hundreds) coins buried on the Wampum hut property for teaching customers how to use their new metal detectors as well as to teach proper recovery methods for the yearly permits.

Below are the recovery methods you need to master, as well as the rules you must follow to get a permit:

• Remove items properly from the turf
• Do not use a knife or trowel
• Do not dig plugs
• Do not pull grass
• No probes longer than 8 inches or 1/4 inches across
• Always heel probed ground
• Abide by all Boise parks rules and regulations
• Do not interfere with reserve activities, organized sporting activities, or other Boise parks uses

You can get more information by contacting DJ at Conn's Wampum Hut at (208) 343-2813. They are located at 209 E. 36th Street in Garden City. You can also visit their website by clicking on "Wampum Hut" under the links category on the right side of this blog.

On another note, the city of Nampa now requires permits to metal detect in their parks, but I believe there is no charge for the permit at this time and it doesn't expire. You can get more information by contacting the Nampa Parks and Recreation Department.  And, finally, make sure you get your Boise Parks and schools permit to metal detect or you could face a heavy fine if caught without one.

I have received a few emails asking why I haven’t divulged the location where I believe David Levy buried his cache and who shared the information with me about it’s recovery . If you missed the original story you can read it here: David Levy Treasure. I thought it best to post my reasons to this blog than send an email explaining myself every time the question arises. I am sorry, but out of the utmost respect I have for my source of the information I can’t give a name. This person has been very kind to me and shared information on different subjects relating to metal detecting and treasure hunting that I would not have found elsewhere.

The reason I have not given the location where the cache was found is two-fold. First, I want to wait until the snow is gone in the area so I can take some photographs that I can post, along with directions to the site. When I was there last summer my son and I searched the area thoroughly with my metal detector to make sure nothing was missed which took most of the day. Time got away from us and it got too late to take good photographs. The other reason is because the easiest route to the location involves going past what some might consider a sensitive area; something I can’t discuss at this time without giving up the location. This will be fully explained when I post the photographs and directions to the site and I am sure you will understand.

I will say, though, that the area was very easy to get to. Almost too easy. Even for a middle-aged, out-of-shape, super-sized guy like me………

And, before you ask, I am still working on my contest idea and hope to have it running soon.

As some of you metal detecting gurus that visit my blog already know, coins constantly shift in the ground. Over time, a coin that is buried on edge can shift a quarter turn allowing a larger surface area for your metal detector to find. In areas of high foot traffic or areas along roads that pick of the vibration of automobiles this can happen more frequently.

Did you know that a deep winter freeze can have the same effect? As the ground freezes and thaws, shrinks and expands coins will also shift positions. Also, With the added moisture in the ground oxidation occurs at a faster pace leaving a bigger “target” for a metal detector to find. This oxidation occurs mostly in the spring as the ground thaws and only lasts a short while before additional moisture thins out the oxidation.

A perfect example of coins moving in the ground can be illustrated by those who have metal detected in an old park and found a coin at a depth of 7″ only to find a much older coin close by at a 4″ depth.

Several years ago while living in Oregon I would visit Shute park in Hillsboro several days a week to metal detect. This park was searched heavily on a regular basis not only by me, but about 10 others that I recognized. I visited the park in the spring after an unusually cold winter and while searching between a concrete walkway and a tree that I had searched several times before and I found a 1934 mercury dime at a depth of only 2″! The oxidation on the coin led me to believe it had been in the ground for several years and not recently dropped. I had a lot of fun metal detecting in Oregon, but with the rain and salt in the air coins do not survive as well. I found indian head pennies in Astoria that were so corroded I could barely tell what they were.

I am still battling the flu but hope to be 100% within three or four days. The contest is getting closer to a reality, and I am hoping to have it running by April 1 but we will have to wait and see.

Thanks for stopping by.