Apocryphal story

ttekushan_3

Remodeling contractor discovered a lot of money behind a wall. Feud ensues:

<a href ="http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=13594">Money found in bathroom wall of Lakewood, Ohio home</a>

Then someone finds the heirs:

<a href ="http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/10/most_of_found_money_belongs_to.html" >Heirs entitled to most of the money</a>

Finally, the not so happy ending:

<a href = "http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/whatever_happened_to_the_fight.html" >whatever happened to the fight over money found in Lakewood bathroom wall</a>

Bad Karma from greed?

nicholas bonham-carter

Apocryphal story

i heard a story about some one repairing the loose panelling around a basement stairway. when they removed it to reinstall it, they found a huge amount of old silver coins, apparently shoved in the cracks, one at a time for safe-keeping.

these sorts of stories are always told with a connection to the characters ["i heard this from a lady at work--it had happened to her next door neighbor"...etc.]

maybe a hydro-apocryphal story would be the discovery of an ancient "The two dollar solution... "[ lately rediscovered by Mark Eatherton]. the discovery could be ancient silver coins under the legs of the radiators, the sale of which then finance the cost of the new boiler!

any other stories out there?--nbc

ttekushan_3

No. Well maybe.

Last time I removed loose paneling all I found was Black Mold:-(

Come to think of it, although it wasn't incredibly valuable, I had an interesting find when our family had to sell my grandmother's house. This was around 1979, I was the ripe old age of 17. At the back of the house was an airing porch that was enclosed around 1920 which had an enclosed light fixture that never worked according to my father who was born there (1918!). No one ever bothered fixing it. That last moving day, huge thunderstorms came through as we were ready to leave forever and the power went out. And the rental van didn't start. So there was time to wander around. Everyone else was upset, but I didn't mind.

"I wonder what kind of light bulb is under that cover" I thought, since the fixture didn't work in my dad's memory. So in the poor lighting I took that glass cover off for the first time since it was installed in 1918.

There it was- a pristine GE birdcage carbon filament lamp with the exhaust tip on the end. Looked brand new. To this day I have that lamp on display, and occasionally power it up with a variac. Yes, I was a geek then too. Never seem to have recovered.

Paul Fredricks_11

We've taken down plenty of plaster walls in our house over the years and have yet to find the million dollars. We're still looking.

We did, however, find a skeleton in one wall. Around it's neck was a necklace and medalion that read "Connecticut Hide and Seek champion, 1927"

sorry

csmclean_2

Antique light bulb

What a neat find, the old bulb! Check out:

www.bulbcollector.com for info and photos of old light bulbs.

Nothing as old as your GE bulb, but in a house I bought in the mid-1990s, the previous owners had left a couple of oddball-wattage Mazda bulbs, 23 watts, which lit just fine. In looking up old Mazda bulbs, I found they may be old street car lighting bulbs, which were wired five-in-series, for interior lighting. Probably 1930s vintage.

Darrell_6

I replaced a disposer once, and peeked in the paper bag wedged between the kitchen sink bowls...10,000 in twenty dollar bills. No lie...yes, I did bring it to the owners attention, who immediately claimed it and made excuses for it being there. Probably had something to do with the locked basement bedroom door with the purple glow under it...

Dope doesn't affect your thinking tho...

Timco

I have been in a lot of attics and basements. Seen all types of drugs, nudie mags all the way back to the 20's & 30's, stashes of liquor & drugs, grow operations, hidden guns, cash stashed, and so on. Never 'old money', but EVERYTHING else...Usually just inside the attic access panel. Best old thing I found was a large bag of old keys & fountain pens, in an old bank bag. Gave it to cust, big renovation...

Tim

The Boiler Dr.

Bathroom or bedroom walls seem to be common hiding places

In late 1976 while opening a wall to remove a leaking pipe from the old expansion tank in the attic, I found a metal tin hidden inside a bedroom closet wall. Inside was a roll of something wrapped in what I was later told was tanned buffalo hide and tied with what appeared to be some type of coarse cloth like burlap. In spite of being very curious I turned it over to the owner. The owner/occupant of the home, a long time regular customer was a sweet older lady who I later found out was 4th generation family to the original owner.
When we unwrapped the papers on her antique dining room table, we found two letters folded inside Northwest Company and Hudson Bay Stock Certificates. Other than the first few, they were in pristine condition. I suggested she contact someone to verify exactly what they were and if they may be of value.
She contacted her attorney, who contacted HBC, who searched their old records and determined they were original Stock Certificates for the Hudson Bay Company from the 1800 & 1900's. The Company agreed to purchase the lot for a substantial sum in addition to giving her some current stock.
Prior to the find I had met one daughter in law who regularly visited her and helped pay her bills. Suddenly she had a hoard of "outlaws" clamboring for a piece. Thankfully she had taken my advice to have a professional handle everything. To her credit the fiesty old gal stood her ground! She was able to enjoy her later years without severe hardship.
I received a "gift" for my "honesty and assistance" and retained her as a loyal customer until she passed away in 1998 at 103. The daughter in law, who had lived with her for the last 11 years was willed the home. Of course another fight ensued over the will.
In February of 2000 I received a registered letter advising me I had also been included in her will and received 500 HBC shares dated 1980. They may not be worth much monitarilly in today's market but to me they are completely priceless.
From what I understand some of the documents are on display while the rest have been placed in Company archives.

I still service the property today.

lee_7

I found an 1825 1/2 penny on basement floor of an old house we had just finished replacing boler in, HO said I could keep it, as the coin collectors were at her house on and off during summer and were finding them outside wherethe old timer used to hang laundry to dry. I took it to coin collector and was told it is worth anywhere from $150.00 to $400.00. I have it on display in my office. Looks pretty good for almost 200 years old. Probably sat in the mud for 100 years in that basement. Go figure.

Mark Hunt_6

You win!


Post that made me laugh!

Mark H

JJ_4

No money...but

I found the signatures of the builder/framer on two different houses I remodeled. They wrote their name and the date on studding before the lath and plaster. One was built in 1912 and the other in 1925.

I did the same when I closed back up and put my name and the date....plus a $1 bill stapled in for a treasure!

This last year, for fun, I placed a time capsule with our family story, what we know of the building history, and pictures into a void next to cabinets in our kitchen remodel (the last one we will ever do!) for the future owners to find.

Paul Fredricks_9

We too found the builders names and dates at our house. They were written on the paper they had used behind the siding. 1928

I like the time capsule idea.

Bob Grindrod

Things Found

A "nickle bag" of marijuana in a return air duct (it was sucked to the drop to the boot, caught on spur. I bet someone was bummed, man). A civil was era muzzle loader rifle in a wall cavity. A mouse skeleton whose owner's last act was to bite into a 110 V wire. A cat I walled up during a construction project. (she lived) Many pre prohibition whiskey bottles, stashed in the attics of homes and prohibition era "prescription" ethanol bottles. A teenage love "nest" in an attic: blankets spread over fiberglass insulation, candles, KY jelly, ew. Old periodicals, of course. A really nice steel fly rod. Never money gold or IBM stock certificates.

Charlie from wmass

In eastern Mass some roofers found silver dollar bills the old blue notes. It was quite a find. They of course lied about how they found them, did not tell the owners but did tell the media and made up a wild story of finding them in a box in their back yard. They went to jail and the owners got the money. I hope the roof did not leak, at least they can pay for the new one. I will look for a link to the story. I have only found hidden booze bottles and the odd coin. Da was in a crawl space under a building and found two boots burried toes up to look like it was a body. The boots were quite old and it was not until we were done that Da pointed them out and checked for bones in them. He also found a burlap sack with a dog or wolf skull and two brass candle sticks. Not sure why they were there but the still are there far as I know. looked like bad JuJu to move them.

Ben_14

Tools lost & found

I'm second generation in the HVAC/R business. My father has been doing residential work in Upstate NY for close to 40 years. About 7 years ago, he and my younger brother went out and finally started their own company.
A year or two back, my brother was replacing an oil furnace, and when he moved it off the base, he heard something rattling down near the heat exchanger. When he got it out of the basement, he grabbed a magnet and pulled out a 9/16" wrench. Got back to the office and was telling my father about it, and he got this funny look on his face. He says "Whose house were you at?" So my brother told him. My dad began to laugh. Turns out, he had dropped that wrench in the bottom of the furnace when he originally installed it over 30 years ago.
It's not money or valuables, but its a good story to tell over a cold brew.