Treasure Hunting May Mean Finding Worthless Trash
The term treasure means different things to different people and as a result, treasure hunting can be anything from diving in several hundred feet of ocean water looking for sunken treasure chests to going to neighborhood garage sales. As the old saying goes, one person's trash is another person's treasure and treasure hunting can reveal something of extreme value to one person that is nothing more that trash can food to another.
The key to successful treasure hunting is determining the type of treasure being hunted. With people often collecting different types of artifacts from different periods in history, there is really no way to plan a trip. There may be some indications that the type of treasure being sought will be available in a specific location, but typically, successful treasure hunting is often being in the right place at the right time.
For example, persons who collect civil war artifacts may visit shows that bring collectors together. Many will offer to sell certain pieces of their collection to others, provided they have more than one, and often at a price related to their availability. For these collectors, treasure hunting involves keeping track of a calendar of upcoming shows and making the time to visit their scheduled appearances.
Being Vigilante While In Certain Locations
Some areas of the country are known for being storehouses for certain types of valuables and treasure hunting in those locations can mean riches, or more realistically simply having fun looking. Arkansas, for example, offers people the opportunity to search for diamonds in certain known fields and there have been several people who have managed to find large precious gems while treasure hunting in these areas.
Other parts of the country offer people the opportunity to pan for gold, reliving the mid-19th century gold rush with a few actually finding nuggets that made their treasure hunting trip worthwhile. Not everyone who searches for diamonds, gold and silver walks away a winner, but the trip can be worth it just for the fun of trying.
Some people liken finding a valuable collectable at a garage or yard sale to finding a large hunk of gold. There are numerous stories of people finding expensive pieces of history in garage sales, at which the seller had no idea of what they were selling. Many people used to treasure hunting will offer the seller more than they are asking, explaining they do not want to take advantage of their lack of knowledge about an item, but many others will choose to keep their mouth shut and take the treasure and run.
