Man unearths box filled with Depression-era cash

[harvey8542]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Dan Deming had heard the rumors about the buried treasure on his central Wisconsin farm.

 

At first he made some halfhearted attempts to find it, and then searched in earnest for two or three years after receiving a metal detector for his birthday.

 

"I don't know what I thought, if I thought it was really there or not," he said.

 

The mystery ended recently while Deming was tearing down a 100-year-old shed on his property. A rusted box tumbled from the rubble and wads of currency dating back to the Depression spilled on the ground.

 

"I couldn't believe it. I started running to the house with it," Deming, 34, said Sunday. "My wife thought I broke my arm because I was just hooting and hollering."

 

The bills were so deteriorated that it was hard to count the money. But the box also contained scraps of newspaper with dollar amounts written on them, a possible tally of the loot.

 

Deming briefly considered selling the bills to collectors, but the money was in poor condition. Instead, he turned it over to the U.S. Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which redeems mutilated currency for face value, he said.

 

"I'm hoping it'll be for $1,700 because that's what the paper said," Deming said. "It's hard to say, though. It's really difficult to tell what was in there."

 

The legend of the buried treasure dates back more than 40 years.

 

"I heard from my grandfather that a man who lived here during the '30s and '40s was eccentric and might have stashed money," Deming said.

 

When he first saw the bills, he thought they were play money. Then he saw the words "silver certificate" across the top of a $1 bill and realized it was real. He also noticed the bills were dated between 1928 and 1934.

 

Deming says he'll use whatever money he gets from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to build a replacement shed.

 

He also plans to tear down a rickety old barn on his land, and wondered for a fleeting moment whether there might be more money stashed there.

 

"I'm hoping maybe there's something there — but I doubt it," he said. "I mean, $1,700 during the Depression was probably this guy's life savings."

 

 

[James_OldeTowne]

That is a really neat story! Too bad he need the cash, as that would be cool to just keep the stash intact.

[pendragon1998]

Too bad that the money hadn't gotten put into some sort of interest-bearing account instead. If the cash had been deposited at 5% interest for the last 74 years, he'd be looking at more like $63,800. Ah, compound interest...Yummy.

[Oldtrader3]

That amount was a year's wages in the depression.

[TomB]

I would imagine it could be freeze-dried and then pried apart and sold individually.

[WoodenJefferson]

Hmmmmmm...I wonder if D.B. Cooper was blew way of course when he jumped out of that airliner and landed in central Wisconsin farm land?

 

Cool story, to bad the bills were in such a state of disrepair, they would have been worth way more than face value.

 

Also, hard to find bills with a metal detector!

 

I bet there is more out there on that place...coins

[cpm9ball]

Cool story, to bad the bills were in such a state of disrepair, they would have been worth way more than face value.

 

He could always have them graded with the notation "Wrecked-Shed Effect". Then watch how they would sell!

 

Chris

[WoodenJefferson]

Cool story, to bad the bills were in such a state of disrepair, they would have been worth way more than face value.

 

He could always have them graded with the notation "Wrecked-Shed Effect". Then watch how they would sell!

 

Chris

Some are already graded and on the bay...they are selling like hot cakes!

[harvey8542]

[rrantique]

Cool story, to bad the bills were in such a state of disrepair, they would have been worth way more than face value.

 

He could always have them graded with the notation "Wrecked-Shed Effect". Then watch how they would sell!

 

Chris

Some are already graded and on the bay...they are selling like hot cakes!

 

[EZ_E]

[font:Courier New]Uh-Oh.......... Teaming Chris and Woody up is a dangerous combination! It is like a match, covers and a small, methane emission all meeting together. Just not good ju-ju.[/font]

[ant]

[gpnyc]

I just can't believe this guy turned those bills in for face value. There is a collector market for such items...

[Conder101]

That amount was a year's wages in the depression

Or five and a half years for a semi-skilled laborer. My grandfather was a businessman during the depression and he hired people here in town to build buildings for him and mechanics (automotive and truck repair). He mainly hired people who owed him money and paid what was considered to be good wages at the time, two dollars a day six days a week. One dollar in cash and one dollar on their accounts. He ws never shorthanded and he had people constantly coming to him looking for a job.

[jtryka]

too bad he stashed worthless paper instead of silver dollars!

[rbrown4]

As a side note, many years ago, my Dad took me out to his Mother's back yard in Colorado City Texas and told me he had buried a jar with a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. During one visit, we searched and found that jar, looked at it but at that point I was so young I just thought it was "neat". We re-buried it and it is still there to this day. The house has been sold over and over, but someday I would love to go back to find that jar. Talk about Natural Toning!!!

 

With his birthdate of 1917 the coins were probably from his teens.

 

Rey