Rocky Mountain Prospectors &

Treasure Hunters Newsletter

The News
v. 19, n. 5 May 2015

Going for the Gold

Visit RMPTH On The Internet At http://rmpth.com

Contents
1
2
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
15
16
18
19

Token Fever
About The News
Silver Cleaner
Electronic Gold Prospecting Tips
Backyard Treasure Find
How To Survive A Heart Attack
When Alone
Calendar of Events
Calendars
British Treasure From The Deep
Colorado Treasure Tale
Golden Facts
Trading Post
2015 Schedule of Events
Contact List

The Two Enemies of the People Are Criminals and

Government, so let us tie the second down with the
chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.
Thomas Jefferson

Token Fever
by Rick Mattingly

ne of the most welcome collectibles that I come

across in the detecting hobby are trade and commemorative tokens. Each one of these coin-like
gems relate a slice of history. Older trade tokens were
usually made of brass or copper while commemorative
tokens were made of brass, copper and sometimes
bronze.
Over the years tokens have been utilized for a wide range
of purposes; trade, replacement for short supply of coinage, advertisement, credit, membership, a chit for trade
at company stores and the list goes on. Trade tokens,
more affectionately known as "good fors", are among my
favorites. Especially so if they list the name of an establishment and a location. If the trade token lists a name
and place it's history can likely be traced and documented. In addition, it's value is greatly increased in
such case as well. Trade token values range from around
$10 to thousands, in the case of rare and desirable ones.
One rule of thumb is that if the token lists a name and
place it is commonly valued around the $200 range. The
more historical the location, the more valuable the token
to collectors.
The concept of trade tokens was actually quite ingenious. Trade tokens were given as change by the establishment and could only be redeemed at that establishment. A clever way to keep the real money in the proprietor's hands while insuring return trade. If the token
was forgotten, misplaced or lost in the interim the proprietor was definitely the winner. The fact that the trade
token could only be redeemed at one establishment has
resulted in some interesting finds. In the event, that the
establishment were sold the outstanding token supply
could become a liability for the new owner. In this case
the complete lot of tokens were many times disposed of.
This scenario has resulted in more than one exciting
modern day find by a lucky detectorist or dump digger.
Another interesting sidelight of the trade token are those
redeemable for fractional cents, 12 1/2 cents for exam-

About The News

he News is the official newsletter of the Rocky
Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters
Club (RMPTH): our mailing address is 278
Sierra Vista Drive, Fort Collins, CO. 80524.

Opinions expressed in The News are those of the

authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the
club or its members. Publication of information in
The News constitutes no guarantee of accuracy. Use
of any information found in this publication is at the
sole risk of the user. Neither RMPTH, nor its coordinators, nor The News, nor its editors or contributors
assume any liability for damages resulting from use
of information in this publication.
Submissions
Articles, letters and short items of interest on prospecting, detecting and treasure hunting topics are
welcome and encouraged. All items submitted for
publication are subject to editing. Submittals for publication may be made in writing or, preferably, in ASCII text format on IBM-compatible disk. If you have
questions about a submission, please contact the editor for information.

Advertising
Classified advertising for topic related items is free
for non-business ads. See the Trading Post section
for donation pricing of camera-ready display ads. Donations for ad makeup from sketches, etc., are available on request.
About RMPTH
RMPTH is an independent nonprofit hobbyist social
club, open to anyone interested in prospecting, detecting or treasure hunting. Its purpose is to provide an
educational and social forum of mutual benefit for
members. RMPTH holds a monthly meeting and conducts various field outings, as well as offers special
presentations and seminars. Active participants have
voting privileges. The monthly newsletter, The News,
is readily available on the Internet. Annual dues are
$25 payable in June. Applicants joining in any month
other than June pay partial dues of $2 per month for
months remaining prior to following June plus $1.

Copyright
Unless otherwise noted, other nonprofit groups
may reprint or quote from any articles appearing in
The News without prior permission, provided that
proper author and publication credits are given and
that a copy of the publication in which the article appears is sent at no cost to RMPTH at the above mailing address. Clubs wishing to exchange newsletters
with RMPTH are invited to send a copy of their newsletter together with an exchange request.

CLUB MEMBERS TAKE NOTE

Club Hats, Shirts, Jackets, & Patches are again available.
Ask for info at the club meetings to purchase your club items!
We will be running a 50/50 Drawing at each club meeting. At the end of each
meeting Tom will split the pot 50/50 and a lucky member will go home with more
money than they came with.!
The remaining 50% goes to the club treasury.
Page 2

The News, May 2015

(Continued from page 1)

ple. These tokens were most commonly associated with

saloons or taverns and were related to "two for" promotions. As in two shots of whiskey or two beers for a quarter. If the customer chose to partake of only one they
commonly ended up with a fractional token in their
pocket, hopefully to be lost or forgotten.
Advertising tokens, on the other hand, were given to customers to encourage them to return to the establishment
to redeem them, and to hopefully make other purchases
as well while there. In many cases these tokens were dispensed by manufacturers to encourage purchase of a
particular product, forerunner of the modern day coupon which we are all inundated with.

Cheyenne, Wyoming
Golden Anniversary and
21st annual Frontier Days, July, 1917!

Another type of token that is routinely detected are ones

that are plain with only a number on one side. These
mysterious tokens are "chit" tokens which were commonly used to acknowledge the efforts of laborers. The
number would signify such
things as 10, signifying ten
bushels of produce picked,
or 5, as in five tons of coal
dug. The laborer would
usually redeem the tokens
later for pay, or more commonly at the "company
store" for staples at grossly
inflated prices. Unless these
tokens also list a company
and/or place name they
have little value, other than Ingleside, Colorado Limestone
Quarry Chit Token
the fun of locating them.
Metal trade tokens were quite common up until World
War II. Due to the metal shortage resulting from the war
effort the manufacture and use of metal tokens fell by
the wayside.
Attached to this article are photos of a few of my token
finds from northern Colorado. One token which is not
depicted is one which I sold in a moment of weakness, a
moment which I will forever regret. This token was
crudely stamped from brass with a scalloped edge. Only
one side was stamped with lettering, which said it all ....
"5 cents, J.A. Wilkenson, Camp Sutler, Camp Collins,
KT" .... as in Kansas Territory. As fate would have it, just
as I dug this token I was approached by a gentleman
who turned out to be an avid collector of tokens. That
token, along with the considerable amount of cash I received for it, are now both long gone. Oh, how I wish I
still had that one in my collection!

Saloon and Billiard Tokens

The News, May 2015

Page 3

Verdigris

Find of the Month

Winners
April, 2015

Most Valuable Coin:

Bud Yoder 1889 Indianhead Cent
Oldest Coin:
Scott Sanders - 1866 Shield
Nickel
Largest Raw Gold:
Bud Yoder - Placer Gold Nugget
Most Raw Gold:
Bud Yoder - Placer Gold
Best Bottle:
Mike Noll - Antique Vicks Bottle
Best Jewelry:
Mike Noll - Silver Sled Pendant
Most Unique Find (Excavated):
Mike Noll - Trinket
Most Unique Find (Non-Excavated):
Chuck Russell - Antique Knife
Rock, Gem, Mineral & Fossil:
Mike Mehaffey - Ore Sample

Yeah . We have Gold!

\VER-duh-greess\
Definition
noun

A green or bluish deposit formed on copper,

brass, or bronze surfaces

Gold Glossary
Drywasher - A common desert mining tool. The drywasher is like a highbanker but lacks the need for
water. A drywasher operates by the use of wind. The
light junk material is blown off the top of the sluice
in the drywasher and the gold stays on the bottom.
The sluice riffles in a drywasher are backwards for
better recovery.

TREASURE HUNTERS
CODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect private property and do no treasure

hunting without the owner's permission.
I WILL fill all excavations.
I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural
resources, wildlife, and private property.
I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesy
at all times.
I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only.
I WILL leave gates as found.
I WILL remove and properly dispose of any trash that I
find.
I WILL NOT litter.
I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings, or what is left
of ghost towns and deserted structures.
I WILL NOT tamper with signs, structural facilities, or
equipment.

Page 4

The News, May 2015

Silver Cleaner
By Jay Pastor

here's a mild chemical on the inside of a banana skin that works well in cleaning grime
and tarnish from silver coins.

Simply wet the silver coin with water and rub it along
an inside segment of a discarded banana peel. Then
polish the coin's surfaces with a soft cloth or paper
towel and watch it get black.

Mineral Specimen Identification

As part of their community outreach, Metropolitan State
College of Denver, Dep. of Earth & Atmospheric
Science, Professional Services Division offers FREE
MINERAL SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION. Participants
will aid in the education of future Geoscientists!
Details and specimen submittal forms with instructions
can be downloaded
from:
SPECIAL OFFER FREE MINERAL SPECIMEN
http://college.earthscienceeducation.net/MINPET/
MINID.pdf

The procedure can be repeated several times to increase the shine without apparent damage to the coin.
It goes without saying, of course, that you shouldn't be
polishing any coin that has, or appears to have, numastic value. But you can make any other you find
look very nice for display. I don't know what this
chemical is, but I haven't found it to do much with
non-silver coins.
A few THers, however, have told me that it works on
other coins too. Try it out and see what happens. It's
not dangerous and won't damage anything.

Refreshment Volunteers
MayEd & Mai Edwards
JuneFred Sugden
JulyDick & Sharon French
AugustRay & Loralee Hettinger
SeptemberBard Schuldt
OctoberRay McGehee & Ann Nichols
NovemberGeorge & Peggy Stumpf

The News, May 2015

Property Wanted
For Detector Hunt
RMPTH is looking for private property on which to hold
an organized club detector hunt. Obviously, it would be
most ideal if this property is known to have seen some
past historical activity. If you have such property or
know of someone who does, please contact Rick
Mattingly to plan a club field outing event.

Page 5

Electronic Gold
Prospecting Tips
Prospecting Tips
Monday, 31-Aug-98

The trade off is the wide

scans ability to handle mineralization better, but at the
sacrifice of depth. To be thoroughly effective, imagine
you are painting the surface of the grid with a one inch
round paint brush, in effect, with a concentric coil,
thats exactly what you are doing, the hot spot is small,
and well centered.

Keep your coil moving at all times, the autotune circuit

(SAT) can cancel a signal if you stop the coil. Go slow,
dont be in a rush, make sure you overlap your sweeps,
ssuming you have ground balanced your unit
and recheck your ground balance frequently, just in
properly, and tweaked the gain to its optimum
case the level of mineralization changes. Check the
setting, here are some simple tips that might be
ground balance every three minutes or so, leave nothhelpful in your quest for gold.
ing to chance. I have found some respectable size nuggets over the years, only a few really screamed, most
Ground balance your detector slightly positive, giving a
were soft whispers that got louder as I dug down. Try
faint increase in threshold sound as the coil is lowered
to avoid digging a narrow trench (blade width), dig a
to the ground, at the height you normally swing the
wash bowl shaped hole when possible, a narrow deep
coil, just a very faint increase. This
hole upsets the SAT/ground balwill help you pick out tiny nugance, and the machine can start
gets, or weak signals. Always
sounding off over the hole
sweep the coil as close to the
itself, you may have missed the
ground as possible, work slow and
nugget by a few inches either way,
thorough,
become frustrated, then walking
away from a possible target, bealways believe there is gold there
lieving it was just a false signal, or
and you are going to find it on the
hot rock. Always find the source of
next sweep. Concentration is the
the signal, dont let the hole itself
name of the game. If you are not
cancel out your chances. Learn
confident there is gold where you
your machine inside and out, you
are searching, why are you there?
must be confident in your equipIf you are just starting out, it
ment, technique, and ability. If you
would be in your best interest to
dont believe what the machine is
learn the ropes from a pro, the
Whites GMT
telling you, 100% of the time, find
learning curve for electronic prosa better machine.
pecting

Dave writes:

is formidable, find someone who can teach you how to

maximize the potential of your particular machine. If
you use a Goldmaster, find someone who really understands the machine, and has a hunting area where you
will find some gold, even if its salted, practice, practice, practice.
Make sure you keep the search coil level with the
ground, and as close to the ground as possible, following the contours of the terrain. Work one small area at
a time, completely. Take the time to grid the site, and
work slowly, cover every square inch, at least twice, at
90 degree angles. 10X10 is a reasonable size, dont
look out over the vast expanse of the terrain wondering
where to try next, concentrate on where you are now.
Dont make the mistake of looking at the entire length
and width of the coil as being the hot zone. A wide scan
is like a wiper blade, the hot zone runs the length of
the coil, but the field is stronger in some spots than
others. Wide scans cover more area per sweep, but
lack the overall depth capabilities of a concentric coil.
Page 6

Work slow and thorough, leaving no rocks left unturned. Gold prospecting is a game of inches, always
bring a rake along, just in case you need to clear an
area of cobbles or loose rocks. Three inches in the air,
is three lost inches in the ground. Ive found more than
my share of small nuggets in areas where others were
lazy. A smaller coil is also helpful to get around and in
between rocks that cant be moved easily. Most hobbyists dont carry a small coil, so they miss opportunities
to find gold in these rocky conditions. The smaller
coils are useful for finding the tiny specks, the larger
standard size coils miss. Another advantage is that it
will force you to overlap your sweeps a little closer. I
move ahead 3-4 inches at a time, concentric coils have
a cone shaped search pattern, and its easy to miss a
nugget thats under the coil, but out of the hot zone.
Pin pointing should remind you just how small the hot
spot really is. Cover less area, more thoroughly, and
you will find more gold, guaranteed. If you find a nugget, concentrate on the immediate surrounding area,
(Continued on page 7)
The News, May 2015

(Continued from page 6)

nuggets are seldom alone, where

you find one, others are sure to be nearby, possibly
deeper in the alluvium, so scrape and sweep carefully,
this is what you have waited for.
Always use high quality headphones designed for use
with metal detectors. I prefer at least 20-25 db of noise
canceling, especially if the wind is blowing, or there is
extraneous background noise. When the weather is
sweltering, I don a par of Sennheiser open style headphones, they are cooler, and extremely sensitive. The
higher the Ohms, the more efficient the headphone,
most of mine range from 150-300 Ohms. When you
consider which pair to buy, look at the specs, they will
tell you how much current it takes to drive them at a
given sound pressure. The more sensitive and efficient
they are, the longer the batteries in the detector will
last. It takes a fraction of the power to drive efficient
headphones, as it does to drive an external speaker, of
questionable audio quality.
Good quality headphones make all the difference when
listening for a faint blip in the threshold, stay away
from models rated under 65 Ohms.
A well designed fishing, and some hunting vests, make
excellent prospecting vests. I use a mesh back vest with
several roomy pockets to store small items, like extra
batteries, tweezers, magnet (small 16# pull Ideal), film
canisters, nugget cups or nesting scoops (separators),
Power Bars (energy), spare Ear Buds (headphones),
hand gun, extra clips (lower back pouch pocket), snake
bite kit, miniature first aid kit, and jewelers loupe. I
hate to wear a wide web belt, holster, and pouch system because the belt cuts into me when I stoop and
bend, to recover a nugget. So, I sewed a 4" X 4" Velcro
patch on the left upper chest area, and stick mount my
control box to the patch. I made an elastic belt out of
wide black suspender type material that passes
through the belt loops on the
control housing, with a quick release buckle in the
front, this keeps it securely in place. Why??? I prefer
chest mounts to belt mounts, and since I carry a fairly
heavy automatic pistol, I can balance the load, and
spread the weight evenly across both shoulders, and
not have a strap (or straps) cutting into my neck or
shoulders. I mount the housing to my left side to avoid
perspiration from falling onto the face plate of the detector. I carry a hand towel, draped over the controls
to keep it free of dust and air born grit. If I need to
break free, one hand, one buckle, one zipper, and Im
out of it.
Happy hunting,
Dave, (Excavador)

The News, May 2015

Backyard Treasure Find

Unearthed treasure valued in thousands
Coin cache found in backyard
By Jon Mark Beilue
Publication Date: 06/27/08

solved.

he Case of the Missing 300 Silver Dollars, or

What In The World Is Something Like That
Doing In A Place Like This, likely will never be

That they were actually uncovered is astonishing

enough, but to find out why 300 Morgan silver dollars
from 1887 in mint condition were under a foot of
hardened soil on former Amarillo Mayor Jerry
Hodge's property, well, let your imagination be your
guide.
Our story begins June 11. Plumbers were digging a
trench to run utilities for a pool house and swimming
pool on property Hodge had purchased adjacent to
his home on Oldham Circle in Amarillo. Randy
McMinn had a backhoe about a foot deep when on
one particular scoop, mixed in with the dirt, was
found a bunch of dingy little objects.
Whoa, time out. Work came to a halt, and closer inspection revealed them to be coins - old coins from
1887. Careful digging found a lot more in some kind
of fine plastic, what Margaret, Hodge's wife, described
as sort of an old version of Saran Wrap. Lest anyone
think plastic is a recent invention, plastic was used as
early as World War I.
The coins had Lady Liberty on one side and the
American eagle on the other. A little bit of homework
found them to be Morgan silver dollars, which were
minted from 1878 to 1904. A count of the coins totaled 100 ... 150 ... 200 ...250 ... 300 of them.
Avast, matey, buried treasure!
"I'm thinking, 'Oh my stars, this is unbelievable,' "
Margaret said. "Then all these questions start running
through my head. Were they stolen? Who did they belong to? Were they really ours just because we owned
the lot?
"After you get over the initial excitement of buried
treasure, then I'm thinking, 'I don't want to keep them
if they're not ours. Is this illegal? I don't want to break
(Continued on page 14)

Page 7

Denver GPAA Gold & Treasure Show

National Western Complex
4655 Humboldt Street
Denver, CO 80216
May 16-17
Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm

Wells Fargo Express receipt for 12 gold bars (1867)

Before You Buy That Metal Detector Handbook Check:

http://www.mdhtalk.org/articles/before-you-buy-hb/before-you-buy-handbook.pdf
Page 8

The News, May 2015

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK

WHEN ALONE
1 Lets say its 7.25pm and youre going home
(alone of course) after an unusually hard day on
the job.
2 Youre really tired, upset and frustrated.
3 Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in
your chest that starts to drag out into your arm
and up in to your jaw. You are only about five km
from the hospital nearest your home.
4 Unfortunately you dont know if youll be able
to make it that far.
5 You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that
taught the course did not tell you how to perform
it on yourself.

Red meat is
not bad for
you. Fuzzy
green meat is
bad for you.

6 Since many people are alone when they suffer a

heart attack without help, the person whose
heart is beating improperly and who begins to
feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before
losing consciousness.
7 However, these victims can help themselves by
coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep
breath should be taken before each cough, and
the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when
producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough must be repeated about
every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
8 Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and
coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep
the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on
the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In
this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.
9 Tell as many other people as possible about
this. It could save their lives!
10 A cardiologist says If everyone who gets this
reads this, kindly pass it along to 10 people, you
can bet that well save at least one life.
The News, May 2015

Page 9

Calendar of Events
May Meeting
Wednesday, May 6. We will meet at the Pulliam Building in downtown Loveland at 6:00PM. Refer to the
adjoining map for directions.
Meeting Agenda
6:00 - 7:00 Social Hour & Finds Program
7:00 - 7:30 Business, Announcements & Find of
the Month Program
7:30 - 7:45 Break
7:45 - 9:00 "Gold Nugget Shooting With
Detector by RMPTH member Rick Mattingly.

Visit RMPTH On The Internet At

http://rmpth.com

RMPTH DUES
RMPTH is an unincorporated Social Club with
no income generated. All
expenses are covered by
$25 annual dues. Members are requested to
consider minor donations
at each monthly meeting
to cover refreshments.

MAP TO THE MEETING PLACE

Pulliam Community Building
545 Cleveland Avenue, Loveland, Colorado

Directions:
The Pulliam Community Building is situated on the west side of Cleveland Avenue in Loveland,
Colorado. Park at the rear of the building (west side). Entry to the meeting room is from
the doorway on the south side of the building (not the main entrance on Cleveland Avenue!).
Page 10

The News, May 2015

May 2015
Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

RMPTH Finds Program

& Social 6:00P
RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

10

11

12

13

14

15

RMPTH Board Meeting

6:00P

Mothers Day

17

9
Prospecting & Detecting Clinic at Lions
Park 9:00-12:00

16
Armed Forces Day
Denver GPAA Gold
& Treasure Show

18

19

20

21

22

23

25

26

27

28

29

30

Denver GPAA Gold

& Treasure Show

24

Memorial Day

31

June 2015
Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

11

12

RMPTH Finds Program

& Social 6:00P
RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

10

RMPTH Board Meeting

6:00P

14

15

21
Fathers Day
Summer Begins

28

22
State Annual Gold
Panning Championships Breckenridge
June 21

The News, May 2015

29

16
23

17
24

18
25

13
Clear Creek Gold
Outing

19

20

State Annual Gold

Panning Championships Breckenridge

State Annual Gold

Panning Championships Breckenridge

26

27

30
Page 11

them after trawling through archives to locate the

last known places where richly laden ships were
sailing.
But then, technology takes over. In a recent search
for sunken treasure believed to be resting at record
depth, British-led salvage company deployed a deep
-sea robot, the size of a car. Its equipped with
thrusters and cameras and video cameras and sonar and so on, says CEO John Kingsford.

Deep Ocean Search/F.Bassemayousse

Deep sea robot salvages
sunken British treasure from a record depth

British Treasure From

The Deep
Deep sea robot salvages sunken
British treasure from a record depth

reasure hunting has come a long way since

Long John Silver had a map marked with an
X. There are still maps. Researchers make

RMPTH Field Outing Statement

NOTE: The Coordinators and participants stay in touch
and continue to review and plan upcoming presentations
and outings for the year on a monthly basis. Our editor
Rick Mattingly needs timely event information for each
issue of The News. Please get information about any particular event to him by the 15th of the month to meet the
printing deadline for the next issue.
Planned trips, outings, activities, and meeting programs
are in the newsletter and on line at the clubs website.
Planning is a work in progress and additional outings and
activities are added and sometimes deleted on an ongoing basis. Events planned in the upcoming month are
emphasized to the attendees at the monthly meetings.
Contact the Presentations Coordinators or Editor if you
have any suggestions or ideas throughout the year for
fieldtrips, outings, and programs.
The best made plans may change at the last minute due
to the illness of the Trail Boss, weather, land access, vehicles breaking down, wrong meeting sites, etc. Please
be understanding of extenuating circumstances and contact the coordinator or Trail Boss of a specific event if
there is any question of an event being cancelled or
changed at the last minute.
Page 12

The company, Deep Ocean Search, announced on

April 15 that it had recovered several tons of silver
coins from the steamship, The City of Cairo,
which sunk in 1942.
The City of Cairo was carrying 100 tons of silver
coins, collected from across the British-controlled
Indian Empire to pay for the war against Nazi Germany. Then, on November 6, 1942, it was spotted
by a German U-Boat, which sank it with two torpedoes.
Using their Remote-Operated Vehicle, the salvage
team scoured an area of the South Atlantic using
sonar until they positively identified the City of
Cairo, perched on an undersea mountain at a depth
of 5150 meters, or just over 3.2 miles.
The robot then went into salvage mode, using a hydraulic bucket to scoop up the coins and some
other relics, including the propeller from one of the
torpedoes that sank the ship.
The vehicle had been designed to operate at a depth
of 6000 meters, but the rescuers found that it
quickly broke down. Kingsford says when they told
the manufacturers what they were doing, they said
they were mad. But his team persisted and overcame the problems, and ended up deploying the
vehicle for days at time. The whole operation took
almost two years.
The Remote-Operated Vehicle is in use with several
salvage companies, but had never been subjected to
such depths before.
The coins are the property of the British government, which got a good chunk of them but allowed
Kingsford and Deep Ocean Search to keep an undisclosed percentage.
From MSN.COM

The News, May 2015

Colorado Treasure Tale

South Park and the Reynolds Gang

n July 1864, Jim Reynolds and eight Confederate

raiders launched the only invasion of the Colorado
Territory during the Civil War. Their hope was to rob
the gold mines of the area to help finance the Confederate cause.
Immediately up to no good, the gang attacked the ranch
of Adolph Guirand on July 24, 1864, stealing his horses,
cash, and molesting his wife.
They then headed to Dan McLaughlin's stage station,
about eight miles out of Fairplay, where the town of Como
is today. Stealing cash, a gold
watch, and the horses, they
made off with about $3,000.
Then heading over Kenosha
pass toward Denver, they
again robbed the Michigan
House stage stop, taking more
horses.

As the five captured bandits were being taken to Fort

Lyon, the first stop on their way to Denver for a military
trial, a fight ensued. Three of outlaws were killed and two
managed to escape.
Years later, John Reynolds lay dying of gunshot wounds
suffered during a horse theft in Taos, New Mexico. However, before he died, he shared the story of how the gang
had buried their loot, to fellow outlaw Albert Brown. He
also drew a map, which showed the site of the ambush
and the vague location of the treasure. After Reynolds
died from his wounds, Brown and his partners traveled to
the South Park area, trying to find the treasure.
When they arrived at the site, they were disappointed to
find that a forest fire had destroyed many landmarks.
While they found an old white hat that supposedly belonged to the decapitated
Singleterry, a headless skeleton, and horse bones in a
swamp, they were unable to
find the rocked-in prospect
hole. Brown and his partners
made three more attempts to
find the treasure, but finally
gave up and returned home.
Albert Brown later died in a
drunken brawl in Laramie City,
Wyoming Territory.

A gentleman by the name of

Mr. Berry began to warn everyone of the gang and their
However, before he died, he
thievery trying to raise a posse
either gave or showed the map
without success. Not to be deto a Detective David J. Cook, a
terred, Mr. Berry followed the
Fairplay 1861
Colorado Lawman. In an autogang as far as the Omaha
biography by Detective Cook,
House stage station near the
published in 1897, Cook quotes Reynolds conversation
present day town of Conifer. From the Omaha House, the
with Alfred Brown as follows:
gang headed towards Shaffers Crossing.
Finally, a posse was organized and on July 30, 1864, the
outlaws were spotted camping in a forest. A gunfight
quickly ensued, leaving one outlaw by the name of Owen
Singleterry dead. One posse member, a Dr. Cooper, cut
off Singleterrys head, took it back to Fairplay and preserved it in alcohol, where it supposedly remained for
many years.
The gang buried their loot and split up, fleeing the area. It
was estimated that the gang had taken somewhere between $5,000 and $100,000 and area locals blamed them
for every robbery within miles.
An even bigger posse was raised to capture the fleeing
bandits. About seventy-five men were dispatched to find
the thieves and just four days later, four of them were
captured. Outlaw, Tom Holliman, was caught just days
later as he made his way to Canon City, Colorado. However, Jim Reynolds, his brother John, and another bandit
escaped to New Mexico.

The News, May 2015

"Jim and me buried the treasure the morning before the

posse attack on Geneva Gulch. You go up above there a
little ways and find where one of our horses mired down
in a swamp. On up at the head of the gulch we turned to
the right and followed the mountain around a little farther,
and just above the head of Deer Creek, we found an old
prospect hole at about timberline. There, we placed
$40,000 in greenbacks, wrapped in silk oil cloth, and
three cans of gold dust. We filled the mouth of the hole up
with stones, and ten steps below, struck a butcher knife
into a tree about four feet from the ground and broke the
handle off, and left it pointing toward the mouth of the
hole.
By all accounts, the money remains buried somewhere in
the South Park area.

Page 13

(Continued from page 7)

the law. We're not going to end up in jail, are we?' "
Let's see, the answers would be don't know, don't
know, yes, no and no.
So, how much of a buried treasure do we have here?
The coins had no mint identification. The Hodges did
some research and asking around, and no identification meant the coins were made in Philadelphia. It
also meant the coins, in their uncirculated mint condition, were worth about $20 to $30 apiece.
Franky Hill of Amarillo Coin Exchange confirmed as
much. And too bad the coins didn't have an 'S' on
them.
"If they had been made in San Francisco, they would
be worth about $200 each starting out," Hill said.
"And if they are in real good condition, they are worth

hundreds of dollars, depending on the number of

contact marks."
Well, it's known now how much they are worth, and
how they were found. What's not known, and what's
most intriguing of all, is how these 300 1887 mint
condition Morgan silver dollars got there.
"When was Billy the Kid shot?" Jerry Hodge said. "And
Frank and Jesse James were in this part of the country, too."
Alas, Billy the Kid went to his maker in 1881, and
Jesse James was shot in the back in 1882, too early
for the 1887 coins.
What about Bonnie and Clyde? What about some unsolved bank robbery when the bad guy was killed before he could get away and find his stashed loot?
(Continued on page 15)

Thanks to Matchbox I can now run a detector from my easy chair by remote!
Page 14

The News, May 2015

(Continued from page 14)

Hodge, chairman of the board of Maxor National Pharmacies, recalls

a conversation 40 years ago with the late Dr. George Royse. Royse
told of his tending to Clyde Barrow back in the 1930s after a car
wreck. Royse also told Hodge of two men he knew in Oklahoma who'd
robbed a bank and came to Amarillo in a getaway. Hmmm.
Hodge has tried to piece together the history of the property, which
the city first owned in 1927. Before that, it was the Wolflin family
farm. The property, which is actually on Parker Street, has gone
through several owners, including two former attorneys in the 1940s
and early 1950.
The most likely theory is that someone, probably during the Depression, was afraid of banks and buried some valuable coins and may
have died without telling anyone of them. Sounds good to me, though
not quite as thrilling as Clyde Barrow's ill-gotten gains.
Interesting times in those days. Former Amarillo National Bank President Tol Ware told Hodge he used to play baseball in that area back
in the 1930s and it was not uncommon for a fun-loving fellow to hide
his alcohol near there during those Prohibition days.
"I've told Tol we have not yet found his Scotch," Hodge said.
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/062708/new_10643262.shtml
The Amarillo Globe-News Online

Gold Glossary
Flour Gold/Gold Dust - Gold
that is so fine that it looks and
feels like flour or dust. "The
bread and butter of prospecting." Nuggets are just a bonus.

Gold Facts
Symbol: AU
Atomic Number: 79
Atomic Weight: 196.967
Melting Point: 1063 (1945 F)
Specific Gravity: 19.2
MOHs Scale of Hardness:
2.5 - 3
Karat
24K = 100% Pure Gold
18K = 75% Pure Gold
14K = 58% Pure Gold
10K = 42% Pure Gold
Troy Weights
1 grain = 0.0648 grams
24 grains = 1 penny
weight (DWT) = 1.552 grams
20 DWT = 1 ounce =
480 grains = 31.10 grams

Michael Norris / Amarillo Globe-News

A bag of 1887 Morgan silver dollar coins was found while the Jerry Hodge family
was having some construction work done on property adjacent to the house they
recently bought. The disintegrating plastic bag contained 300 coins.

The News, May 2015

YOUR
ADVERTISEMENT
COULD BE HERE!
Call Rick Mattingly
at 970-613-8968
or rickmatt@q.com
Page 15

Trading Post
WANTED: By NRA Card Holding Law Abiding Private
Citizen. Colt S&W Ruger Taurus .357 Wheel Gun/
Revolver for Home/Personal Defense. If you have a
Collectors Item, Please keep it. Im looking for a gun
to shoot/Not display. LMK what ya got. Thanks.
970.222.2323
FOR SALE: Jewelers propane/oxygen torch, many cabochons, beads and tools. Contact Ann at
(970) 6667-3705.
FOR SALE: A "MUST HAVE" T-Shirt for every Prospector
and Treasure Hunter. Quality 100% cotton tees. See and
order from:
http://BestBlackandGold.com.
FOR SALE: Minelab SD2200 Gold Nugget Metal Detector:
10-1/2" Mono Super Coil, 10-1/2" SD Series Super Coil, two
batteries w/wall & car charger, headphones, backpack,
waist battery pack, signal enhancer, extra lower stem, instruction booklet & video, carry case. Ready to go for the
gold. New Price: $1625. Contact Paul at (970) 482-7846.
FOR SALE: 5HP pump motor, Gold King 3" Hi-banker with
dredge attachment w/adjustable stand, Gold Grabber Hibanker, 125 feet hose, Rock net and steel cable, misc. fittings and valves & large metal bucket. Prefer to sell all together for $1,350 but negotiable. Call Eric Stickland at
(303) 833-6848 or
estick@live.com.

About Trading Post

The News runs classified ads in Trading Post
for three consecutive issues. Trading Post ads
for topic related items up to 10 lines (or 70
words) long are free. To place an ad in Trading
Post contact Rick Mattingly at (970) 613-8968
evenings
or e-mail at: rickmatt@q.com
Commercial Advertising
Specifications
(Monthly Donation Rate)
Full Page (8 1/2" X 7")
Half Page (3 1/4" X 7")
One Third Page (3" X 4")
Business Card (2 3/4" X 1 1/2")

$30
$20
$15
$ 5

Ads must be received by the 15th of the

preceding month. Contact Rick Mattingly for information on this service at
(970) 613-6968 evenings or e-mail at:
rickmatt@q.com.

WANTED: Used lapidary equipment. Call Kathie 970-2211623

WANTED: Federal or state duck stamps; mint or used. Contact John Hart at (307) 778-3993.

NOTE:
Purchase arrangements are between the buyer and
seller only and involves no financial benefit to RMPTH.

All mistakes and

misspellings were
intentionally made so
that you could have the
pleasure of finding them.

Colorado School of Mines

Geology Museum
Golden, Colorado
Contact us: 303-273-3815 or
geomuseum@mines.edu
Identification of specimens is performed
between 10 a.m. and noon, Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
Page 16

The News, May 2015

WEEKEND & SMALL-SCALE

MINERS CODE OF ETHICS
I WILL respect other prospectors claims and not work
those claims without the owners permission
I WILL have on-site all necessary permits and licenses
I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only, and
in accordance with current State and Federal guidelines
I WILL be careful with fuels and motor oils and be cognizant of their potential destructive effect on the environment
I WILL remove and properly dispose of all trash and
debris that I find - I will not litter
I WILL be thoughtful, considerate and courteous to
those around me at all time
I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural
resources, wildlife, fisheries and private property, and
respect all laws or ordinances governing prospecting
and mining
I WILL NOT remove stream bank material, destroy
natural vegetation or woody debris dams, nor discharge
excess silt into the waterways
I WILL NOT refuel motorized equipment in the stream
I WILL NOT allow oil from motorized
equipment to drip onto the ground or into the water
I WILL NOT prospect in areas closed to prospecting
and mining

Golden Facts

hroughout the history of mans involvement with

gold, the precious metal has been cherished not
only for its beauty but for golds ability to withstand
the rigors of time. No substance that appears commonly in
nature will destroy gold. Unaffected by air, moisture, heat
or cold, this noble metal will not tarnish, rust or corrode.
Shimmering gold dust, golden nuggets of placer gold and
brilliant vein occurrences have survived 4.5 Billion years
of cataclysmic geologic and climate changes; volcanic
Eruption, earthquakes, upheavals and deposition. Treasures of gold jewelry, bullion and coins, buried for thousands of years beneath land and sea have been recovered
intact; as brilliant as the day they were abandoned.
A relatively rare native metallic element, gold ranks fiftyeighth in abundance amongst the ninety two natural elements that compose the earths crust. Although considered
a rare element, of all metals Gold is, with the exception of
iron, the most broadly distributed over the planet. Gold
has been located on 90% of the earths surface and is
mined in deserts, high mountain ranges, in the deeply
weathered soil of the tropics and in the permanently frozen ground of the Arctic.
Gold is commercially mined on every continent except Antarctica . The foremost gold producing area of the world is
the Witwatersrand District in South Africa . This ultra-rich
area has already yielded eighteen thousand tons of gold
with no end in sight. Other main gold bearing areas
around the world are Siberia in the former USSR, the Porcupine District in Ontario , Canada and in the United
States the famous California Mother Lode District and the
Yukon District of Alaska.
In America nature was extremely generous. Thirty-two
states have recorded significant commercial gold production. The highest yield areas are located within the western
states, California, Colorado, Alaska, Nevada and South
Dakota. Other abundant locations for prospecting include
Georgia, Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Washington,
New Mexico, Wyoming, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan, Vermont and New Hampshire. The recreational gold prospector can find gold in practically every
state of the union.
Gold is an ideal media for craftsmen. It is a metal that can
be deformed by pounding without crumbling or breaking.
Gold, in its pure form is the most malleable of all metals.
A solitary ounce of gold can be drawn and stretched into
an ultra fine wire over 50 miles in length without breaking
or hammered to the amazing thinness of one hundred
thousandth of an inch without disintegrating. Gold is easily carved, readily buffs to a gleaming polish, can be heated
repeatedly without discoloration and joins to itself or other
metals by soldering without the need for a bonding flux.

Offer Your Assistance To Any

Of Our Program Coordinators
The News, May 2015

Page 17

Rocky Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Club

2015 Schedule of Events
Month

Meeting Program

Trip/Activity

January

Cheyenne War: Indian Raids on the

Roads to Denver, 1864-1869
By Jeff Broome

No Trip/Activity Scheduled

February

Cache Hunting
By Rick Mattingly

No Trip/Activity Scheduled

March

Setting Up A Gold Sluice Box

By RMPTH Members

No Trip/Activity Scheduled

April

Metal Detecting
By Tom Warne & Rick Mattingly

Local Detector Hunt

Map, Compass & GPS Clinic

May

Gold Nugget Shooting With Detector

By Rick Mattingly

Prospecting & Detecting Clinic at Lions Park

Denver GPAA Show
Lets Go Gold Panning On The Arkansas Event GPOC

June

Gold Dredging
By RMPTH Members

Clear Creek Gold Outing

State Annual Gold Panning Championships

July

Map Reading for Prospectors

by Wayne Sutherland WSGS

Clear Creek Gold Outing

Eldora Ski Resort Detector Outing - Robert Crain

August

Surface Finds
by Tom Warne

Vics Gold PanningBlackhawk

September

Map & Internet Research

By Bud Yoder & Rick Mattingly

Local Detector Hunt

October

Gold, Silver & Gem Recovery

by David Emslie

Local Detector Hunt

November

Annual Show & Tell &

Silent Auction

No Trip/Activity Scheduled

December

Annual Find of the Year Awards &

Christmas Party

Flatirons Mineral Club & Model Train Show

Good Hunting in 2015!

Page 18

The News, May 2015

Rocky Mountain
Prospectors & Treasure Hunters
Contact List
RMPTH Coordinators

Home

E-Mail

President

Bud Yoder

Interim Vice President

Shane Manenti

1-970-590-9183

manentiwe2@msn.com

Treasurer

Dick & Sharon French

1-970-482-2110

dickyf99@centurylink.net

Secretary

Rick Mattingly

1-970-613-8968

rickmatt@q.com

Rick Mattingly

1-970-613-8968

rickmatt@q.com

Rick Mattingly

1-970-613-8968

rickmatt@q.com

Finds Program

Dave Landes
Betsy Emond
Joe Johnston

1-720-985-4186
1-970-218-0290
1-303-696-6950

midnightoil45@aol.com
bemond@fcgov.com
cjoej1@peoplepc.com

Presentations

Rick Mattingly

1-970-613-8968

rickmatt@q.com

Club Historian

Volunteer Needed

Club Meeting Greeter

Barbara Schuldt

1-970-407-1336

Club Librarian

Joe Johnston

1-303-696-6950

Club Photo Librarian

Volunteer Needed

Meeting Setup

Jim Friedricks

1-970-590-9183

Door Prize

Shane Manenti

1-970-590-9183

manentiwe2@msn.com

Zinc Penny Project

Tom Marschall

1-970-396-0133

tmarschall47@gmail.com

50/50 Drawing

Woody Hogdon

1-970-667-5010

ftcolwoody@juno.com

Coin Raffle

Woody Hogdon

1-970-667-5010

ftcolwoody@juno.com

bydu812@yahoo.com

The News Staff

Editor-in-Chief
Internet Web Site
Web Master
Volunteers/Coordinators

cjoej1@peoplepc.com

General Information Contact: Rick Mattingly at 1-970-613-8968

Visit RMPTH on the Internet at: http://rmpth.com

Lets Go For The Gold !

The News, May 2015

Page 19

The News
Rocky Mountain Prospectors &
Treasure Hunters Club
278 Sierra Vista Drive
Fort Collins, CO. 80524

MAY, 2015 ISSUE