Cache Found (Updated With New Photos)

Hi guys, Well today I finally found my first cache other than a few coins in a hole. I was detecting a wooded area in a old neighborhood. I got a strong signal overtop of a flat big rock on the surface. I moved the rock dug down about 8 inches and out pops this box. I shook it for the sound of coins but didn't hear much. I put it in my pouch and went on hunting.

When I got home a few hrs ago the box appeared to be sealed with some kind of solder. I went down to the basement got some wire cutters and started to cut it open. I started to see a cloth and was able to pull a earing out. I then knew I had something. I saw a pocket watch also. I was very excited to open it up and see what was in it.

Some of the stuff appears to be gold and silver but not marked. I haven't done much to the stuff but rinse it and scan it for you guys. There was a small coin inside the compact thing with the old English writing. It has on the front a eagle on a shield with a star badge under it that looks like the one's police use. The back has alot of writing but I have to look over it with a loop. It is also dated 1861 1866. The medal I found says 35th annual encampment Pennsylvania divisions of veterans u.s.a. It says at the top delegate. One the back it has the picture of the capitol. It says on the front 1915 phila.

Wish I knew who and why this was buried. I am guessing it was buried in the teens. Let me know what you guys think. I don't know much about this stuff and the brand watches. I will leave more info as I look the stuff over and as you guys reply to it.

Thanks again HH Jer

[JerDfx]

WOW!!!! What a haul!!! Fantastic finds you lucky dog! Congrats! Congrats! Congrats! JerDfx You are the man! Thanks for an awsome post! HH omnicognic 

very cool find, hope someday i can share the same.

Awesome find,especially the watch band with the price tag still on it...cool!

what detector do you use?

WOW! I bet you heart was REALLY beepin' ! That's a great find! 

Nana

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Love those old pocket watches! Were did you find these Jer. Amazing!

That is FANTASTIC. I am looking at the cuff links and wondering if they are real diamonds. the watches alone are worth a nice amount and I believe the Medal could be worth a lot more than oyu think. You really need to research it. Great Finds. I dont know if I could Type after all that. Nice work JerDFX.HH Keep us posted on your story here.

Great find, wish I was that lucky!!!
Pepperpump

NICE!!  Unbelievable stuff!

I would love it if you could make you pics juuuuuuuuust a little smaller tho, so I don't have to scroll over!

That is an absolutely FANTASIC find! My regards!

I especially love the one bracelet that still has the price tag on it! Some of this stuff may be very, very valuable.. ?if you don't know Pappy from the TreasureQuestXLT board, here's his thread where people ask him what stuff is - please visit this and link him here. He'll be able to tell you what most if not all of what that stuff is!

http://www.treasurequestxlt.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=84

Again, congratulations!

(just makes you stop and think of all those "big iron signals that were too deep to dig....")

Very Cool find. Way too go. I have heard of several catches being found under rocks. One was a jar of silver dollars in a flower bed at a old house. So start moving those rock guys.

WOW, thats a years dig for most.Great find.HH

Very Cool find. Way too go. I have heard of several catches being found under rocks. One was a jar of silver dollars in a flower bed at a old house. So start moving those rock guys.

Good Job- I bet your hand was shaking.
What a thrill!     Is that blood on that cloth or just rust?

Way to Go
George

Hats off to you, man!!!  Excellent finds!

vicki

That is totally awesome!, Jer
You really deserve it. I've seen some of your other post, and you are one hard core hunter,,, WTG!!!
I bet ya can't buy a bracelet like that for $2 bucks these days... I would definitely have some of that stuff checked out...
Good luck, as if you need it, & Happy hunting~

P.S.> What's the dimensions on the box?  It doesn't look to be too big...

nice digs jer,thanks for the post,you have some nice stuff there,the watches are nice and may be worth something right along with the other stuff,great job.


Mark

Thanks alot guys, I can't even make it to the local club tonight after this find. Tomorrow is my birthday and every year I make a extraordinary find for some reason on my birthday. I happened to go out today because the wife came home from work early. I found a seated dime yesterday and was going to put it up along with the rest of the stuff I found yesterday until I found this today. I will get more picks together for you guys. Sorry that my picks are so close up. I hate that myself but I have to try and figure out how to make them smaller when needed and zoomed in when needed. I think that 2 of the pieces are solid gold but not sure. I don't know if it is common for the casing of the pocket watch to be stamped with the karat it is. They have writing but don't say gold or gold plated or anything.

I was able to carry the cache because believe it or not it is the size of a bar of soap. But it was really heavy. Everything was wrapped up in that cloth so when I shook it I couldn't really here anything but knew something was in it. I didn't want to get my hopes up to high so I actually went on with my hunt. I found a buffaloe nickle and a v-nickle and was happy with that. I was only out today not even 1 and a half hrs.

When I got home was when I started to get excited again as to what may be in it. It was hard to get open. I wanted to keep it in the best as shape as I could but I was forced to cut it open. It was sealed. I was shaking a little ?as I took every artifact out carfully. It has to be something great for me to start shaking. Just one coin in the cache. It was sealed in the locket like a surprise. I took every thing out and said no coins. I rinsed everything off. I decided to open it up to find a picture of the person and there was a tiny coin the size of a 3 cent silver in it. It has a hole in it that you would need a bit smaller than a tooth pick to drill it.

Thanks again guys. I will work on getting it cleaner and showing you guys the insides of the watches. It really is out there. I did not expect it at all. If that cache where 2 feet deep I would have found it. The box is made of copper. It looks like it has a nickle plating over it. With all the good metal in the box my detector read it as a plus 93 on the dfx and came in very strong. It was probably 8 to 10 inches deep after I moved the rock off the surface.

HH Jer

Nice finds for sure jerdfx!! con-grats on such a nice cache!

1 thing though, and I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but,

take a look at the "wrist watch"

the common man didn't use/own wrist watches until the mid 20th century (1940s/50s) (they weren't even invented until the very end of the 1800s and were considered "womens pieces" even into the teens/20s/30s.

Also, it looks as though the back of that watch is "stainless steel??"

Stainless steel wasn't even invented until 1924 (which how long before they started using it for general items, and then using it on watches?).

Judging by the design, and composition of that watch (if that back is stainless steel??)

this cache was buried no earlier than the 50s at the earliest.

Some of the items contained within are older (that's obvious)

I believe the Elgin pocket watch to be solid silver case (1930s)

the gold pocket watch to be "solid gold case" (1910s - 1920s)

the other pocket watch "silver plate" (1930s/40s)

the locket (gold plate) 1920s/30s

the stick pins (1920s/30s)

the medals, cuff links, etc. etc. - brass, silver, and silver plate and or gold plate (1910s thru 1940s)

I see this kind of stuff almost daily, and sell a lot of it (along with coins- my main business/income). My business partner owns an antique shop that we do business together at. I'm not 100% sure on these estimates (without holding them in my hands to check) but, I have bought/sold a lot of similar items from these eras and a lot that have been almost identical to a lot of yours.

No matter though, it's a great find for dam sure!

Wish I could find one like it!

HH

Lonewolfe

thats awsome bud!!!

How about a pic of the pic of the person you found inside the locket...
Sounds like a tongue twister...

I resized your pics and adjusted the color a bit... hope you don't mind...

oops, hang on...? something isnt right

that cache is VERY cool we all wish to find something that cool someday yours came a little earlier than ours!not to pop your bubble but my guess is it was stolen and stashed many years back. y would someone hide some off this stuff that seems perfectlly fine in a jewelry box?just a thought but still a cool find,i found a ammo box(metal) buried at the base of a large lone tree. if you all could have seen my eyes, was on new years eve during a warm spell.took me 1/2 hour too dig it out frost frozen ground etc,the things running threw my mind, i was all over the page!!!!well it turned out to be some college kids time capsule so anti climatic,oh well   way to JER  you the man

Now thats a treasure I can believe and envy,  Thanks for sharing.

    way to go  nice find  have to disagree with dekalb though, a stolen cache would not have been in a soldered box.  are there any markings on the stickpins?  again  nice find  :::::drool::::

 ?J--
 Thats one of the coolest post ive seen in awhile-- :oThat musta been sumpin' else!! Could have easily have been full o J.S. Ormsby $5 gold pieces......Hey -could happen!! Still your find and whole soldered box thing and its contents each have a rich little story behind them.Thats what its all about!!!And your overall story really encompasses our coolest of cool hobby--Detecting !! Man, keep it up your next box could have your retirement in it !!

Wow, Jer! ?Just looking at your pics got my heart going! ?If a newbie has any doubts about really being able to find treasure out there, all they need to do is read this thread for inspiration!

WTG and HH!
Barb

Thanks alot everyone. I am attachimng some picks of the stuff cleaned up. Hope you all like them. I am working on some coins and artifacts right now as we speak. As soon as I get them done I will post tonight or tommorow.


Good luck to all HH Jer

congratulations on a wonderful find. keep on digging !!!!

All you have to do it open the picture files with windows paint (start menu> programs> accessories) click "image" at the top, then "stretch-skew" then type something less than 100 in BOTH the horizontal and vertical boxes.  Save as whatever and bam! smaller picture. 

And/Or you can drag the blue dot at the edge of the pic to get rid of empty space at the edges while keeping the main part of the pic the same size.  While doing this, you may have to rotate the pic also using the "image" tap at the top!

hehehe  I found a gold-plated cufflink today...not quite as exciting as your box!! 

Thanks for the picture tips MD. I will look into that. They would be alot better to look at. Sometimes they turn out good and sometimes they don't. As much as I'm loading and scanning all the time I'm happy just to get the story write and up. But it does suck scrolling through them to see all the stuff. Thanks again man. I'll try and get them looking better.

HH Jer

This is a very cool cache find. I would display all of it for sure.

WTG Jeremy!! That is too cool.  Got to love a Cache like that!!!

Dave

JERFFX I am still in awe here. The Delegate Medal really has me wondering too. There may be some good history behind that.My thoughts just wander and I become speechless. Great job on the cleaning too.I,m going to take you up on that offer soon af the cleaning tips. HH

Awesome cache find, what a great feeling to dig that up and discover!  HH, Mike

Are you a roofer in Massachusetts by chance? 

Just joking of course!  That is truly a wonderful find.  Congratulations!

COOL, COOL ,COOL!!! Thats what I`m talking about! CONGRATS! I`m jealous as all get out!

Congrats ! Jer

? ?It's shure Nice to see a real Cache Posted.

 Even if it wasn't found with a Sovereign  ;)

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Jeff

  Very Cool?


 

Thanks guys, Sorry about the post above. I must have been logged in and my son made a post for me.

The rag actually isn't blood. From the moisture of the rag inside one of the cuff links was rusted to it. I just ripped it off of the towel and it looks like blood. I was up until 2:30 last night cleaning and finding a good display box to store it all in. Figured I would keep it all together.

Don't know anything about the coin or medal that was found. It was alot of fun to find. Hopefully I'll be able to find somemore in the future.

Good Luck Jer

That is a once in a life time find. I don't know if my heart could take it.Great stuff,congratulations!

Wow, Can't wait till i get my first cache, right now i am GREEN with envy, but
Thats one of the best finds i have seen on the forum, and i've seen alot, congrats, and HH CS

Way to go Jer, very impressive finds! Also, Happy Birthday Make sure you get out tomorrow too, since you have such a good history of finds on your BD! HH

Best find I've seen in a long while.

Thanks alot guys. Hey surfrat Thanks man, I didn't get out today because I feal I would have went to the same spot today as yesterday and found that cache. Would have been better today but I know it was a small gift from up above. I just got it a day early. This whole story has been crazy. The wife bought me this nice box to store finds in on Saturday right. Gave it to me early instead of on my b-day. And I guess there was a good reason for it all. I needed to have the box to store the cache in when I found it. There was a cycle to this whole matter.

I have been doing some thinking on this cache and there was a old wall built where I was that I think workers back in the day built. I think that possibly after they finished this wall they all took something they had and threw it into this box. Sort of like a time capsule. Then the rag looks exactly like one that a worker would carry to wipe sweat off. They then wrapped the stuff sealed it on site with a torch and solder or something and then buried it. I could be wrong but it is a thought.

Thanks for all the replies from everyone. Glad I was able to share a once in a long while find.

HH Jeremy

Great job!? What kind of detector are you using??
Have you ever hunted this area before or was this a first?? I would think it might pay off to keep hunting there.? I would also get all the information I could about the immediate property and see what turns up.? It might be interesting to find out who owned the property at the time the cache was burried, and where they lived prior to and after this property.? Might be 2 great search locations.? They obviously liked to hide valuables in the ground, and my guess is that won't be the only "cache" they burried.
Just a thought.
xXx

I have for words to say about your cache Jeremy, WOO HOO and HOLY @#$! That's the best cache find I've ever seen posted. My hands would have been shaking too! WTG!!! Now, go get another one!!!

Wish ya could find out some more info on the cache jer,

would be nice to know how it got there, why, etc.

guess all ya can do is "take it as it comes" and be greatful!

Sure is a nice find, I'd be shaking too if I found it! lol

HH and keep us posted on any more finds from that area,

Lonewolfe

Awesome finds!! I can't believe that you waited till you got home to open it though.. I would have ripped that baby open with my teeth if I would of had to..  HH WTG

Thanks guys, I thought about it. I tried to open it in the Field but it was sealed solid. I don't know how I managed to go on with my hunt with that small treasure I didn't even know I had. All I was concerned was finding a few coins to add to my pouch. When I shook it if I would have heard coins I would have cleaned the hunt up at that minute and went to the car. Since it was wrapped in a cloth I couldn't here anything moving around inside. I knew there was something in there just didn't know what. I actually thought it may be filled with bullets Riffle bullets. I didn't want to get my hopes to high so I actually forgot about it and went on with my hunt.

The whole ride home I didn't even think about it. I actually forgot I even had it until I got home. That's when I started to get a little excited. I really doubted it's contents inside. It just didn't look like a treasure box. It had no design on the box or no lip for opening. It was just a solidly sealed up little box.

The first glance inside after cutting a few inches of metal revealed a rag. I was thrown off by it until I got more of it cut open. I then seen metal and out poped a cuff link. At that very moment I knew I had found some kind of cache. I got the whole thing open and couldn't believe how much stuff they where able to pack in that little box. The spoon was bent all up to fit it in the box. I was bending it back and it broke.

Althoe it wasn't filled with gold or silver it gave me more hope that these things are out there they do exist and you never know where there going to turn up. Hopefully this is just one of the caches I am going to find over my detecting life. There is alot of excitement to a cache.

Thanks for all the views and replies guys. I'm going to go back to this area and hit it really hard to make sure there is nothing else around.

Good Luck Jer

Way to go, Jer.  I'm happy for you.  Keep it up.

[one]

Very coll find..... I would love to find any one of those finds...they cleaned up quite nicely...congrats...

great finds! makes me want to get out more!   darn honey dew list......

Thanks alot everyone. I am still kinda stunned I found it. It's kind of weird now in the Field. I'm walking around looking for that loud hit to come up again. I guess I'll get back to normal after a few hunts or so. It was exciting and something I hope others out there will experience on day for themselves. Even though it wasn't gold or silver coins it still was just as cool to find actually something hoarded away for some reason.

Thanks for all the replies HH Jer

[& Now to Snipe Some 2010 Silver]

                             I would be sooooooo happy to find a cache like that.........Or ANY cache (Haven't found my first yet)...That is exceptional..................I am so happy for you tears are falling on my keyboard (Cause I'ts Not Mine)  KOOOOOOL

Your funny as hell man and thanks. I might wipe these picks out. And repost them in a much better looking picture. I have been working on learning how to cut and get the pictures sized and zoomed right. I had the wife take me through the steps. If you haven't noticed I never had nothing by my name. I just haven't played around on this site much. But I'm learning it fast. I actually was able to put one of my finds by my name like the rest of you have something. I did a test with it and it don't look to bad. I am on 2 web sites that I load up so much stuff all the time. It's time consuming  when your loading this much stuff all the time. And I'm doing it twice. And rewriting stories twice. I'm always on the computer and the wife gets irritated.

So look forward to some better photos from me guys. I will play around this weekend and see if I can get this cache up looking better. And sized right so you guys can see them better. I'll get some detecting in this weekend. I work and I play in a baseball league. Trying to run a family and cram all this stuff in is brutal. I'm one of those people who just never stops.

Sorry to make this so long. It's late and I can't sleep. Take care Jer

wow i dont have words to say is awesome & amazing finds

Thanks brla, I appreciate it. Nothing like finding a cache.



Good Luck Jer

Wow, that is really awesome!!!!

You must be thrilled.  I'm glad for you.  Happy Birthday. 

Thanks alot Frankie, and welcome to the forum. Great place to be if your in the hobby. Hope to see ya around more. Take advantage of the vast information you can receive from here.

Good Luck Jer

Hey Jer,,,
I was searching threw some of the older post and saw that you have several of the " What's it " I have been wondering about...
Any clue as to what these little things are?  Cuff links 
I cropped one out of your pic, but the one I have looks to be identical to it...

Jeremy, I don't know how I missed this when you posted. Anyway, What an awesome find!!!!!

Congrats on the cache, some awful cool stuff you got there

                                   HH  surfrat

Hey Jer,,,
I was searching threw some of the older post and saw that you have several of the " What's it " I have been wondering about...
Any clue as to what these little things are?? Cuff links?
I cropped one out of your pic, but the one I have looks to be identical to it...

Leon, I found a cuff link at the shark pit that looks just like that from the back. I would say it is a cuff link.

Be still my beating heart!     That would make any day one of the best hunting experiences of any life!  Happy Hunting!

No question, that had to be an exciting thing to find! I can't imagine how you held off opening it and kept hunting, I couldn't do that, I would have been way too curious to do anything till I knew what was it it. Congrats! Not a day you will soon forget.

-Mike

Wow! It must be a find of the century for Bria the internationally renowned treasure hunter to come on and comment on it! What caused you to scan the flat rock?  Was it out of place or did it seem to have been placed there?  I'm asking because I have a bad habit of going around such "obstructions". What would intrigue me more than what it's worth is, who put it there?  Why were those items particularly important to him/her? Why would anyone go to such lengths to spend so much time sealing the box in that manner?  What in that person's life made it necessary to cache and hide those items?  Who is "Mary", an unrequited love, a childhood sweetheart, a deceased loved one, perhaps a cherished child?  And a million other questions.  If I found such a cache those unanswered questions would drive me nuts.....heck, it's even bothering me now!  In my day to day rounds I keep those things that make me question why instead of coins, jewelry , etc.  To me it's those things that are true treasures.  They whet my appetite for more, stir my imagination and make this hobby so fascinating.  JIM

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the replies on this one. I have the same thoughts Jimmy. The area I was hunting has alot of flat sand stone rocks on the surface. Nothing you can't swing your coil  right over. I was just hunting normally and got a solid 93 on the dfx that blew up my head phones. I looked down and there was abot a 8 by 8 by 2 inches thick rock in the way. As soon as I moved the rock I saw a dug hole already. The box was under the dirt so I couldn't just see it when the rock was turned over. You could tell they just laid it in there and the years of dust and dirt from the side walls covered it up.

When it first came out of the hole it was heavy. It was sealed so nice that i wasn't sure it it weren't just a solid peice of cast metal. I tried to shake it and there was no movement at all. At the time all I was concerend about was my first keeper for the day. Not even knowing I held this great treasure in my pouch that could have easily have fallen out in the rough terrain I was in.

I actually got home beleive this or not took this small box out onto the deck and started banging and chipping away at the side of it with my leche digging tool. Not taking and thought to what may be in it. I got a small secting chipped away and took some wore cutters and cut it open like a sardine can.

After I cut the first few inches of metal assuming something like nuts and bolts were going to come out I see this rag in there. I then second questioned myself to what may be in this box. I then saw a small glint of gold and seen a cuff link in there. Man my heart started racing at that point. By the time I got it open it felt as though I neede it on home video to actually see how i was acting. I was so gently I couldn't have hurt a feather. I was shaking with excitement and it's something I will always remember finding in this hobby that has been more than fair to me.

Thanks to everyone again.

Hope your adventures are filled with caches

nice to see it all cleaned up very nice.how about them cuff links did they clean up as well..


once again beautiful find congrats

Sweet finds, Jeremy. I bet your heart was really racing Nice looking old pocket watches

Hey, JerDfx.  Excellent find.  Did you notice that the whitefaced wrist watch in the lower right corner of your last picture was designed to be worn on the right wrist?  I don't recall ever seeing a wrist watch made specifically for left-handed people.  That's pretty unique in itself.   

I say this because the winding stem is on the left side as you're looking at the face. (with the number "12" at the 12 o'clock position.  cough, cough. no pun intended.)

Thanks alot guys,

It was a day to remember. It was like it was yesterday. One of the biggest moments excitement wise for me in this hobby. Finding a single old coin is great. Or even hitting a great site. But when you find a sealed box and start to open it and see gold. Man does your blood start pumping.

Yes the left handed watch is from the 1930's. It's a molly starks. Had the watches looked over buy a jewler. I love the gold one with the old english styling lettering. It just goes to show that there really are hidden caches out there. Not the typical mass of coins type of cache either.

It screamed a 93 on the dfx. I can recall moving a peice of flat sandstone right. I started to dig in the dirt. The hole was already hollowed out. The dirt was like powder. I picked it up and said to myself man this is heavy. Thought it was filled with nuts and bolts. When I got home and started to cut it open and seen gold I got really excited.

I think now I could get the items cleaned up better. But wanted to show some authenticity to the items by leaving a little bit of that green disease that gets on metal when it touches each other.

Thanks again for making this post come to life on the best of treasurenet.

HH Jeremy

awesome find!!!

Wow, what an awesome dig.
I would be back there really checking for more cache holes,
maybe even probing for more big rocks in that yard.
WTG buddy, congrats on the find!

Smiles!
BDoo

congrats. super find.

Thanks alot guys

Yes, from time to time I will recheck the area. I Hit it fairly hard. Was a day to remember that's for sure. Hope the the next one is gold coins.

HH Jer

awesome