It should be understood from the start that metal detecting (known in the business as relic hunting) in the boom towns of Washington, or any other state, is a far more enjoyable hobby for the whole family, than it is a get-rich-quick scheme. There is still wealth in “them thar” mountains. There always was, there is now, and there will always be old, rare, and valuable coins, jewelry, trinkets, square nails, and artifacts resting undetected where they were lost or hidden away many years ago.


          Old tobacco tins such as this can sometimes reveal small caches

          Gold and silver caches are sometimes still right where their depositors secretly buried them, for sometimes sickness, accidents, exposure, or other abrupt fatal mishaps prevented their original owners from recovering them. Small caches of coins, as well as the fewer, larger caches, are still waiting to be found. Circumstances sometimes canceled any knowledge of these caches and ended any chance of their recovery. Even so, those overgrown paths and boom town streets are not paved with gold and silver. Perhaps this is why finding a relic of a hundred years past is so rewarding, as is the search for such items.