On Burying Treasure

spadoosh

A central reservation if its grassed and diggable if not the embankments of motorways/train lines. Unlikely to get people coming along with metal detectors, unlikely to have issues with the water table. Unlikely to have building work/digging effecting it (occasional resurfacing but shouldnt mess up the areas.)

Malthusian

spadoosh wrote: »

A central reservation if its grassed and diggable if not the embankments of motorways/train lines. Unlikely to get people coming along with metal detectors, unlikely to have issues with the water table. Unlikely to have building work/digging effecting it (occasional resurfacing but shouldnt mess up the areas.)

What about when they expand the motorway? Bit difficult to access in order to bury / retrieve the stuff without anybody noticing as well.

There is no 100% safe place to leave anything as this thread illustrates. To have a reasonable confidence that you haven't overlooked something like the water table, or something else that I hadn't even thought of until I read this thread, you need to go back to the cache periodically and check it, and if you check it periodically you raise the risk of discovery. Or you need to bury it somewhere that you control (under your house, or a commercial property you own) but that's no help if the police decide to dig up all the properties you own or put surveillance on them.

In the same way as with normal investments you have to trade investment risk for inflation risk, there is no getting away from the seesaw relationship between the risk of discovery that comes with having it under your control and the risk of having it slip out of your hands that comes with not having it under your control.

Zanderman

spadoosh wrote: »

A central reservation if its grassed and diggable if not the embankments of motorways/train lines. Unlikely to get people coming along with metal detectors, unlikely to have issues with the water table. Unlikely to have building work/digging effecting it (occasional resurfacing but shouldnt mess up the areas.)

Not safe at all, as Malthusian has already pointed out.

Having spent most of my life working with civil engineering structures and maintenance I'd argue such places are the last place to choose.

Central reservations are very insecure as they are changed every few decades to meet new regs (loads of grassed ones have been concreted over in recent years on motorways for example)or moved sideways to accommodate widened roads etc

All civils structures are apt to be dug up for repair, maintenance or expansion, re-grading or enlargement anytime, especially embankments.

They may look stable and permanent but, by their very nature, they're not. They're artificial and temporary and constantly under review. They may not be dug very often but they definitely will be eventually!

LHW99

Each threat needs a mitigating design feature in proportion to it's likelihood and gravity of consequences.

I think the pirate that chose Oak Island thought of that aspect - however by the time he'd added the layers of planking, iron trapdoor and secret water inlets from the local beach no one was ever able to get at the treasure - even the guy who buried it.

kidmugsy

Get a length of narrow bore PVC piping and fill with gold sovs, and a bit of paper money too, if you wish, secured from moisture in a poly bag. Cap both ends. Go to a field used as sheep pasture, with the sort of stony outcrops that will never be removed or cultivated or built on. Prod the ground with a sharp rod until you find a bit of soil with reasonable depth between the rocks. Carefully remove a bit of turf and use an auger to excavate a small hole. Pop the piping down it, back-fill with earth from the auger, replace the turf, and tread down. If you want to water it in, pee on it. You could always trim the bit of turf very short using a pair of scissors. That should stop the sheep grazing it until it's had time to re-establish itself.

The question: are you capable of recording its whereabouts with the necessary precision?

AndyT678

FatherAbraham wrote: »

If I asked a question about how to organise some critical-illness insurance, I'd be surprised if someone started asking me what type of cancer I was planning to develop, and how soon.

I'm not planning to become a fugitive any more than my house-contents insurance implies I'm planning to be burgled, or have my possessions destroyed by fire.

The time to arrange insurance is when one doesn't need it. The time to prepare for unpleasant or dangerous circumstances is when one is safe and comfortable.

Sorry to be a dog with a bone but I don't buy this at all.

I can understand wanting critical illness insurance because I've known people get seriously ill and recognise that it's a very real possibility.

I also understand having house insurance. I know people who have been burgled and can imagine the possibility of something serious happening to my house.

What I don't know of and have never heard of is people becoming fugitives unless they're villains or heroes in spy stories or somesuch. Maybe it's a failing of my own limited imagination but I cannot conceive of any set of circumstances where I would want or need to become a fugitive.

I get that you're not planning to go on the lam but I am really curious to know what possible set of events you imagine happening and what good does a month's salary do you if you have to live out the remainder of your days disguised as a Chinese washerwoman?

Gadfium

Bury it in an altar boy and hey presto, two birds killed with the one stone. You've hidden your treasure and you become a fugitive all at the same time. Winner! :D:D

FatherAbraham

kidmugsy wrote: »

Get a length of narrow bore PVC piping and fill with gold sovs, and a bit of paper money too, if you wish, secured from moisture in a poly bag.

Thanks for a nicely technical answer, although gold sovereigns are just a needless encumbrance when one simply wants unremarkable liquidity to buy groceries, a used car, or rent a room.

Warmest regards,
FA

FatherAbraham

AndyT678 wrote: »

What I don't know of and have never heard of is people becoming fugitives unless they're villains or heroes in spy stories or somesuch. Maybe it's a failing of my own limited imagination but I cannot conceive of any set of circumstances where I would want or need to become a fugitive.

Then it's just a bad and needlessly-specific example which I chose. I'm not going to make things better by coming up with an even more specific example.

Try imagining a scenario where you need access to liquidity which you can use immediately. You can always carry some cash upon your person, you can keep some more in your home, but if you want to cache any more, it'll need to be somewhere else in the big, bad world.

The interesting question is how to do that in such a way that the cash remains secure yet accessible.

Warmest regards,
FA

Alice_Holt

FatherAbraham wrote: »

Try imagining a scenario where you need access to liquidity which you can use immediately. You can always carry some cash upon your person, you can keep some more in your home, but if you want to cache any more, it'll need to be somewhere else in the big, bad world.

Perhaps your Bank via an ATM?