Man Unearths Box Filled With Depression-Era Cash

[comedyfreak]

MILWAUKEE - 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."

[ponytail]

Good for him! I love treasure hunting!

[comedyfreak]

I thought it was cool to find something like that.

[catlover79]

Awesome...with the economy being what it is now, I'm sure it'll come in handy for him.

[TJL]

I found 31 cents in the couch the other day.

A quarter, a nickel, and a penny.

[catlover79]

^ That's more than I have right now - until next payday. This month's bills wiped me out!!

[coffield3]

Originally Posted by TJL

I found 31 cents in the couch the other day.

A quarter, a nickel, and a penny.

[BarneyFife]

Originally Posted by TJL

I found 31 cents in the couch the other day.

A quarter, a nickel, and a penny.

Can I borrow 31 cents?

All kidding a side, that reminds me of Stringbean,who use to be on Hee Haw. He was robbed one night coming back from the Grand Old Opry and killed. but the robbers never found the cash he had stashed. About 30 years later, the dude that owns Stringbeans old home found the stashed cash behind a brick in the fire place. it was thousands of dollars but over the years mice had gotten into it and chewed it into little bitty pieces.

[The Great One]

Great story!!!

[Stormtracker TF]

That sounds awesome. I always wanted to find buried treasure somewhere.