The Urban Treasure Hunter: A Practical Handbook for Beginners

Front Cover
Square One Publishers, Inc., Nov 30, 2003 - Antiques & Collectibles - 240 pages

Every city possesses countless hidden treasures waiting to be discovered--ancient artifacts, valuable jewelry, and vintage coins, as well as hundreds of other highly sought-after collectibles. Michael Chaplan, treasure hunter extraordinaire, has written a complete and practical guide to locating, unearthing, and identifying all of those treasures. The book begins with the basics, and then presents a working knowledge of digs. An up-to-date resource section provides useful lists of specialized catalog companies and helpful websites, organizations, magazines, and books.

Whether you are an avid collector of artifacts, a weekend explorer in search of adventure, or simply a creative person in need of something fun to do, you will find that The Urban Treasure Hunter provides the perfect rewarding hobby.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Introduction
1
An Urban Historical Perspective
5
Treasure Hunting in a City
9
Public Relations
29
Hazards
37
Legal Considerations
51
Tools of the Trade
59
Picking Up the Trail
85
Bottle Digging
147
Caring for Finds
171
Cashing In
191
Last Thoughts
209
A Sample Treasure Hunting Reference Library
211
Suppliers of Treasure Hunting Books
215
Useful Journals for Treasure Hunters
217
Websites for Treasure Hunters
219

Learning From an Archaeological Site Report
99
Anatomy of a Park
113
Hunting for Prehistoric Native American Artifacts
129

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2003)

Michael Chaplan received a master's degree in anthropology from Long Island University and a master's degree in public health from Columbia University. While maintaining a successful professional career in public health, the author has pursued his interest in treasure hunting for over twenty years. Traveling both here and abroad, he has recovered thousands of old coins, hidden caches, museum quality relics, Indian artifacts, and valuable collectibles.

Bibliographic information