# A Hidden Fortune in My New House? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523 "2013-06-09T03:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/1 "2013-06-09T03:25:28Z")
Okay, I know this could simply be local urban neighborhood legend, but at least four people (including the previous owner and his grandfather, since deceased, who built the house) have told us that there is a very large fortune hidden somewhere in the house. Tthree of these folks who stopped by I don’t know, they just came by to intro themselves and mention the fortune. The house is almost 100 years old and 50 years ago a plumber found about $35,000 in silver dollars and valuable coins in the bathroom behind a wall he was replacing. I have a metal detector I’m going to dork out and use around the yard; is there any equipment that can be used inside the house to detect what I assume is paper money or something like railroad bonds? I assume paper and the like will not give off heat like those stupid heat signatures EMF ghost hunters use in their so-called “investigations.” We also have a ghosty. I’m a dyed-in-da-wool skeptic ( a la Michael Shermer), but some strange shit has happened. More later if anyone is interested. Okay, I’m off with my sledgehammer and sheetrock saw. LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/2 "2013-06-09T03:29:53Z")
Makes perfect sense for him to have sold the house, then. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/3 "2013-06-09T03:36:47Z")
Good luck! I found a small treasure in my first house. It was a lot of fun and I didn’t tell anyone about it for years. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/4 "2013-06-09T03:41:25Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Makes perfect sense for him to have sold the house, then. :dubious: Apparently, the money hoarder was a gramma who forgot where she distributed the moola and war/railroad around the house, or some such thing. Believe me, I’m skeptical, but it’s fun to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/5 "2013-06-09T03:43:56Z")
> [@\_Olive](#): > > Good luck! I found a small treasure in my first house. It was a lot of fun and I didn’t tell anyone about it for years. Cool! Maybe I’ll unearth Jimmy Hoffa’s body back near the lilacs 🙂 Though I’d rather have $ or find a lost civilization’s pyramids in the yard. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/6 "2013-06-09T04:30:17Z")
Tell us about the weird shit! Might be clues to the fortune? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/7 "2013-06-09T06:00:04Z")
Yeah, are there secret passages and rotating library shelves? Do any of the old portraits follow you with their eyes? Are there two little boys\* asking to search the house for clues? 😃 Good luck with your search. I’d love to hear you’d found something. We left a “treasure” for future owners. It isn’t really worth anything, just some pictures of the bathroom before we remodeled and pieces of floor and wall tile. It’s all behind the 4’X8’ mirror over the sink. (It’s a tiny BR, the mirror helps it not be so claustrophobic.) \*Last name Hardy. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/8 "2013-06-09T09:14:05Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > We also have a ghosty. Ooohh…this sounds neat! A ghosty…Gee, that sounds like such a nice, happy, cute little thing. Like a kitty. I wish my house had one. So tell us more, please…! (But not anything too scary …No hair-raising ghost tales , just some little ghosty stories. ) 🙂 (and, if you’re a bit more serious about searching the house. you can rent [equipment to spy inside walls](http://www.hss.com/g/49613/Inspection-Endoscope.html) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/9 "2013-06-09T10:16:40Z")
One of my husband’s uncles was well-known in the family for secreting large sums of cash (in the 5-figure range) into coffee cans and burying them around his property. He died a few years ago and we’re pretty sure his kids have been digging up the yard - heck, one went so far as to demand her inheritance from her widowed mother because “…you don’t need it.” Classy, huh? Anyway, no one knows for sure how many cans were buried over the years or where they were buried, but it’s entirely possible that there are some remaining. Plus my inlaws have hidden cash in their piano :rolleyes: - I think they watch Fox News too much, but that’s beside the point. Bottom line, you just never know what someone before you might have done on the property. All we left behind at one house were chalk drawings behind the dining room drywall… 😃 Good luck finding goodies!! ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/10 "2013-06-09T17:34:16Z")
My niece’s ex-husband was excavating the basement in his house (to lower the floor and make room for a pool table) and found $90,000.00 in a strongbox under the concrete. You never know… ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/11 "2013-06-10T13:26:01Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Yeah, are there secret passages and rotating library shelves? Do any of the old portraits follow you with their eyes? Are there two little boys\* asking to search the house for clues? > 😃 Also, have there been in your general vicinity reports of a VW van painted with psychedelic motifs carrying two guys, two women and an unaccountably large Great Dane? If so, make sure to keep a corridor in your house with plenty of doors you can easily run into or out of. Also, make SURE not to be the first person to interact with the aforementioned individuals – otherwise you’ll find yourself arrested while bemoaning those “meddling kids” who spoiled your master plan. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/12 "2013-06-10T14:09:56Z")
There was. It was found 50 years ago by a plumber. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/13 "2013-06-10T14:14:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > There was. It was found 50 years ago by a plumber. 😛 That’s my guess as well. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/14 "2013-06-10T14:20:25Z")
> [@\_Olive](#): > > Good luck! I found a small treasure in my first house. It was a lot of fun and I didn’t tell anyone about it for years. Oi! This isn’t fair! What did you find? Where was it hidden? Who did it belong to and why did they hide it? Why were you looking? My parents found a forgotten secret passageway in their house, leading to the cellars. But no treasure… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/15 "2013-06-10T14:35:35Z")
People you don’t know are randomly stopping by your house to tell you about an apparently well-known “fortune” hidden in it? Invest in surveillance cameras and an alarm system. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/16 "2013-06-10T14:47:30Z")
Not exactly the same but after my Dad passed away my Mom found all totaled a couple grand worth of cash he had been squirreling away in different pockets and places around the house. He used to joke that after he was gone we shouldn’t throw anything away because he hid money all over and it turned out he wasn’t kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/17 "2013-06-10T14:52:55Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Not exactly the same but after my Dad passed away my Mom found all totaled a couple grand worth of cash he had been squirreling away in different pockets and places around the house. He used to joke that after he was gone we shouldn’t throw anything away because he hid money all over and it turned out he wasn’t kidding. When my grandpa died, we went through everything with a fine-toothed comb (including the barn that hadn’t been cleaned in over sixty years) because we were all sure he was the kind of guy that hid money. All we found was tetanus. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/18 "2013-06-10T15:20:14Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Yeah, are there secret passages and rotating library shelves? Do any of the old portraits follow you with their eyes? Are there two little boys\* asking to search the house for clues? Maybe you’ll find [a clue in a crumbling wall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clue_in_the_Crumbling_Wall). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/19 "2013-06-10T15:25:31Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Okay, I know this could simply be local urban neighborhood legend… Technically, it’s a local legend, but not an urban legend. All that means is that it’s a recognizable story pattern. Could be true, could be untrue. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![60wag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/7ba0ec/32.png) [@60wag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/60wag)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523/20 "2013-06-10T15:32:24Z")
Get a cheap bore scope form Home Depot. Then get to work drilling small holes in the walls and have a peek with the scope. You might not find anything but it’ll be a load of fun and the holes will be easy to patch. After that at least you won’t be lying awake at night wondering about a stash of money in the walls, you’ll be able to focus on the ghosts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hidden-fortune-in-my-new-house/660523.md?page=2)