Walking Liberty Hoard
John Mason
father was a dealer in Military surplus through the 60's-70's80's. But
at the same time he owned a very large Flea Market around the Sacramento
area.
Well he past away about a year ago. His wife in going through his papers
came across directions to a hoard of coins that he had stashed away.
Well last week they went to the site that they were supposed to be
located. Anyway to cut to the chase............. they dug up what he
told me was hundreds of gold coins, various denominations, bags of
mercury dimes, bags of silver bullion rounds, and what really caught my
attention boxes of rolls of Walkers. My friend told me that there was
probably 500 rolls that came right from the bank, brand new in the
original rolls. Then he said there were just boxes and boxes of rolled
up Walkers. There are so many that they are going to have to get out a
back hoe they have out at the surplus yard and dig them out, as they are
to heavy to lift out. Most of the stuff was kept in 50 MM ammo boxes and
then coated with cosmolean which if your were in the military know as a
waterproofing material that is a combination of paper and tar. He told
me that the coins are in perfect condition, and show no trace of wear or
tarnish. So needless to say i will be going out there next summer and
going to spend a couple of weeks going through everything for them. His
Mother told him that because I am the coin collector (and she doesn't
need the money) that I can have first pick of anything that i want. I'm
sure that i will have to buy most of what I want, but she is like a
second Mother to me, and I'm sure she will be giving me a bunch of
stuff. Not to appear greedy or anything, but I hope she gives me some of
the gold coins, as I will never be able to afford them in my lifetime,
unless I hit the LOTTO.........:-)
My buddy loaded up a bunch of the bullion rounds, he says they are 500
to the box, and is going to sell them right off the bat. he's going to
send me a few of them and I will post a photo in the binary NG maybe
somebody knows of them. They are made by a company in So.Calif I forgot
to ask the name of the minter but I will.
Well I just wanted to share this, as you never know when stuff like this
can pop up. I have a number of friends that are into metal detecting and
they are always looking at old settlements in the gold country of Calif.
hoping they will find some drunken gold miners stash........ and it's
there somewhere and somebody is gonna find it some day.
Well when i find out the name of the silver manufacturer I will pass it
along.
John
--
Your Friend in Gold Mining......John
Artificial Intelligence is No Match for Natural Stupidity
The Fausts
"John Mason" <plac...@bellsouth.net> wrote...
Amazing!
You say you're going out there next summer, I think I'd be booking a flight
tonight ;)
I wish my collection was too heavy to lift.
Eric
Alan & Erin Williams
>
(snip)
> they dug up what he
> told me was hundreds of gold coins, various denominations, bags of
> mercury dimes, bags of silver bullion rounds, and what really caught my
> attention boxes of rolls of Walkers. My friend told me that there was
> probably 500 rolls that came right from the bank, brand new in the
> original rolls. Then he said there were just boxes and boxes of rolled
> up Walkers. There are so many that they are going to have to get out a
> back hoe they have out at the surplus yard and dig them out, as they are
> to heavy to lift out. Most of the stuff was kept in 50 MM ammo boxes and
> then coated with cosmolean which if your were in the military know as a
> waterproofing material that is a combination of paper and tar. He told
> me that the coins are in perfect condition, and show no trace of wear or
> tarnish.
No Lincolns? What a major disappointment. A couple rolls of BU 1931-S
or 1911's with excellent strikes would certainly have been a major piece
of news.
No copper *at all*? They might as well rebury it. ;-)
But....if you want to throw a roll of Walkers *this way*...it would be
rude to refuse, no?
Alan
'history will honor the misers'
so ne
Sorry to hear of the death of your best friends dad. On the other
side of the coin!!
WOW, how really exciting. Have heard people say buried treasure, but
never quite believed it. This is so very cool.
Have a great visit.
Doris
I'm not a complete idiot----some parts are on back order!
Harv
| / _ [thud]..
Need any help digging??.. ;) ..
Harv
John Carney
"John Mason" <plac...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3EF230C7...@bellsouth.net...
> I just got a call last night from my best friend out in Calif. His
> father was a dealer in Military surplus through the 60's-70's80's. But
> at the same time he owned a very large Flea Market around the Sacramento
> area.
> Well he past away about a year ago. His wife in going through his papers
> came across directions to a hoard of coins that he had stashed away.
> Well last week they went to the site that they were supposed to be
> located. Anyway to cut to the chase............. they dug up what he
> told me was hundreds of gold coins, various denominations, bags of
> mercury dimes, bags of silver bullion rounds, and what really caught my
> attention boxes of rolls of Walkers.
-snip-
Wow.....I would love to paw around through rolls and rolls of Walkers. Let us know if
they're bank wrapped.
--
John
Visit the RCCers favorite coins web page
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jcarney44/coins/rccers.html
DFloyd
Too bad you weren't there to share in the excitement as they were
unearthed.
John Mason
From the description he gave me, they appear to be 1 oz silver rounds, just
bullion, nothing special. I'm going to call him back tonight and have him
send me a couple so I can post the photo's and find out who made them and
where. He remembered when his Dad bought them because it was a big joke how
he got screwed when he bought then high and then the silver market crashed. I
think he said something like $30 a piece for them, and now what could they be
worth, $4.50-4.75 each?
As far as where they found them........ yes they own the property so there
isn't a problem there. Just curious as to how much more is buried there or
other places that will never be found. He had a gold mining operation
(trommel) going on the American River up in the Grass Valley area of Calif.,
so chances are there is gold buried on that property for sure. He caught the
guys that were running it for him high grading, and got them off the
property. Lord only knows how much they ripped him off before he caught them.
He was the kind of guy that would go out of his way to screw the Gov't out of
taxes...etc.......etc, so it's there, just have to find it. I can go to the
property anytime that i want to, but I live in Florida and it's in Calif. so
not a real easy thing to do. I go mining every year on the property they own
up in Pine Grove Calif. a placed called Roaring Camp on the Mokelumne River.
When he told me about the Walkers....... well I kind of got a little excited
and it was just almost as good as sex........ I felt like smoking a cigarette
after he told me about the banker rolls. I asked him what years they are and
all he could tell me that they were Walkers, and the one roll he looked at
was dated 1944. I asked him about MM's and couldn't tell me anything along
that line. He knows absolutely nothing about coins, and could really care
less.It's like the gold operation, he has nothing to do with it, and me I go
crazy when I get out there every summer, oh well different strokes for
different folks.He said that there were some of the GSA Carson City silver
dollars that were in boxes, and all kinds of different gold coins, but didn't
give me the specifics......... I'll find out though.
Well when i get the silver rounds I will post a photo over in the other NG so
maybe somebody can identify them and give me a starting point. Seems like the
nam was something like "American Coin C." or American ????, I can't
remember.Well I'm just about ready to fall all over myself knowing that
somewhere in that pile of Walkers there are 1916's-17's-21's-38-D's.... just
waiting for me to find them.......... I feel like a little school boy who has
just fallen in love for the first time.
John
Cliff wrote:
> John,
> Sounds like a great find. Hope it was all on land that the family
> owns. As to your friend taking boxes of silver rounds out to sell, he
> should just sit on everything until you or some other trusted person
> who knows about coins looks over the entire hoard at one time. It
> would be silly for him to draw attention to the coins and to himself
> before you have a chance to look it over and determine exactly what is
> there.
> After all, the rounds might not really just be rounds.............
> Cliff
> p.s. I have a big bucket of cosmoline down in the basement where I've
> scraped it off surplus rifles and pistols as I've cleaned them up and
> refurbished them.
John Mason
You know the thoughts were bouncing around in my head all night long, but the
wife would have no part of it. This is the slow time of year for me at work
(entertainment business) but we (my wife) has another trip planned for us this
summer. I will be going next summer anyway because I have my gold mining trip
already planned, so this will be added in at the same time. Yeah I couldn't
believe it when he said he was going to start the back hoe and dig this stuff
out. He told me the 50 MM ammo cans weighed about 40 lbs each and then were a
bunch of them.
Remember the story about the Binion kid that was a heroin addict and he had all
that silver buried out in the desert in Las Vegas......... kind of reminds me
of this type story.
There is no way that they will sell any of these coins before I get a chance to
look at them, that he has already promised me. His Mother is very wealthy and
these coins would surely make a heck of a lot of money for her, but really is
won't matter to her one way or the other.......... sure wish I was in the
position......... hahahhaaa......... now I stop and think about kicking myself
in the butt for not marrying Debbie (my friends sister).......hahahahaa. In
case the wife reads this post I better say........naw I was only
kidding......... really honey, I'm very, very happy.. :-)
John
John Mason
You can't take it with you. Yeah Robert was a pretty nice guy, he always
did me right when we were kids and worked for him.......... but he had a
treacherous side to him as well. It didn't surprise me at all when Rick
called and told me about it, because we all suspected it, but then his Mom
knew all along.
I just can hardly wait to get my looking glass and loupe, and sit down and
just devour them...........
John
so ne wrote:
--
Chrysta Wilson
thef...@sbcglobal.net says...
I somehow managed to delete the original post before reading it...what an
incredible story! Where is the guy who posted the other day about the
coin dealer telling him all the good coins are already found? It seems
that this is not the case!
--
~~~Chrysta~~~
ANA#R-206318
My Collection: http://www.geocities.com/chrystawilson/index.html
The Truth About Eric Tillery:
http://www.geocities.com/chrystawilson/aboutk6az.html
John Mason
Wouldn't that be a dream come true, to find like rolls of 09 S VDB's and
31-S's........ and what the heck throw in a few rolls of 22 "No D Lincoln's
for good measure. He didn't mention anything about any copper just the silver,
and knowing his father like I did, I don't think he would have kept Lincoln's.
He wasn't a coin collector, he was in it strictly for the money, and the fact
that he was screwing the Gov't and they couldn't stop him. He had a cash
business, and back in the 60'-70's you could get away with a whole lot more
than you can today. And we are looking back at a time where to have silver in
your pocket was just an everyday thing, there were no clads back them. He had
the foresight to save all the silver he did. I just wonder how much he sold
when silver sky rocketed, and all the wonderful dates and MM's that were
turned into silver ingots............. makes me sick to think about that. My
parents went with my aunt and uncle and sold all their silver back then, I
remember as it was a big event for my mom an dad, they had coffee cans full of
dimes and quarters. I remember my dad went down and bought my mom a brand new
Caddilac Sedan DeVille... funny how certain thing stick in your memory.......
John
Alan & Erin Williams wrote:
> No Lincolns? What a major disappointment. A couple rolls of BU 1931-S
> or 1911's with excellent strikes would certainly have been a major piece
> of news.
>
> No copper *at all*? They might as well rebury it. ;-)
>
> But....if you want to throw a roll of Walkers *this way*...it would be
> rude to refuse, no?
>
> Alan
> 'history will honor the misers'
--
John Mason
Funny thing I felt the same way when he first told me.
John
Harv wrote:
--
John Mason
were 44's...no MM's that he could see. He's not a collector so he doesn't even know
what's he looking at. Some of them are stamped Bank of America, I do know that much so
far.
John
John Carney wrote:
>
> Wow.....I would love to paw around through rolls and rolls of Walkers. Let us know if
> they're bank wrapped.
>
> --
> John
>
> Visit the RCCers favorite coins web page
> http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jcarney44/coins/rccers.html
--
Byron L. Reed
As a bit of advice, have them talk to a lawyer before they go hog wild. In addition to
possible claims by outside parties, there is always Uncle Sam to placate. Given the
windfall, it would be a shame to visit one of his free hotels because somebody forgot to
pay some taxes.
BLReed
Remove the "R_E_M_O_V_E" from the email address to reply directly.
Cool things: http://www.byronreed.com/byrons_collections/default.htm
Talk bust coins: http://www.byronreed.com/phpBB2/index.php
John Carney
> Oh yeah there were certainly multiple banker rolls. He did say that he say one roll that
> were 44's...no MM's that he could see. He's not a collector so he doesn't even know
> what's he looking at. Some of them are stamped Bank of America, I do know that much so
> far.
That's OK....the 44 Philly is bringing well over $100 in MS65 PCGS slabs now. Where
original rolls of Franklins only yielded one or two gems with a lot of rolls being of
abysmal quality, original Walker rolls typically contained more than a few gems. What a
find.
John Mason
You know Uncle Sammy is going to want his fair share of the pie...........
"Byron L. Reed" wrote:
> As a bit of advice, have them talk to a lawyer before they go hog wild. In addition to
> possible claims by outside parties, there is always Uncle Sam to placate. Given the
> windfall, it would be a shame to visit one of his free hotels because somebody forgot to
> pay some taxes.
>
> BLReed
--
John Mason
been there when they did that. I don't know how I will react when i
actually get to see them all at once, but I got a pretty good
hunch........... it's gonna feel real good.
John
DFloyd wrote:
--
John Carney
"Cliff" <cli...@bellsouth.net> wrote
> John,
> Did you say there was a California RCC field trip coming up this
> summer? I've got my metal detector, my gold pan and my Ruger. Just
> save me a seat :)
> Cliff
> j/k cause they won't let my Ruger into California and I don't leave
> home without it.
I'll bring the beer. Road trip!
The Fausts
"John Mason" <plac...@bellsouth.net> wrote...
> Your Friend in Gold Mining......John
>
> Artificial Intelligence is No Match for Natural Stupidity
Well then, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably be having a lot of dreams
for the next year about lustrous Walking Liberties dancing before my eyes.
:)
Eric