Show Number 200. A good, clean stopping point. I really love doing this program, but after 200 shows, I've just about run dry. It's just become really difficult to come up with new and different topics after eight years of programs. So, I'm calling it quits with this episode. I'll still post new shows when I have something interesting to say, b ...…

First, the powers-that-be decided it was past time to get a woman on our currency.Their initial thought - Sacajawea on the ten-dollar bill.But the public didn't want Sacajawea, they wanted Harriet Tubman. Okay, done.And they didn't want to lose Alexander Hamilton on the ten, mainly because he was suddenly in the public spotlight, thanks to a bi ...…

Oh, no. Dental check-up time again! What good could possibly ensue? Well, there was this great book full of treasure leads, right there amongst the Sports Illustrateds and Ladies Home Journals. And since I was a bit early for my appointment, I was able to sit down with it for a while. I was able to identify two good locations for old coins befo ...…

"Psst! Hey Bud! This penny cost me almost two cents - yours for just a penny! And this nickel cost almost eight cents - wanna buy it for a nickel?"That's the United States Mint, selling its coins for below cost. As they have been doing for years. How to handle the problem? Suggested fixes include using cheaper metals, or simply doing away with ...…

Who designs our coins? The Chief Engraver of the United States? Sometimes. An artist or sculptor invited by the US Mint? Sometimes. You? Maybe! The World War One Centennial Commission has bravely invited all voting-age Americans to enter the competition to design a new silver dollar. I cover the basic details of the contest in this episode. Com ...…

Mr. Longacre was in trouble. His boss didn't like him. And his boss was Director of the United States Mint. But Mr. Longacre had friends in high places. Like the Presidency. Here's the story of the man who served under eight presidents and designed eight of our United States coins, all the while fighting every day to save his job. (By the way, ...…

The year, 1915. The new Director of the United States Mint, Robert Woolley, misunderstood the law. He thought he had to redesign the dime, quarter, and half dollar. So he did. Chief Engraver of the Mint, Charles Barber, had designed all three of those coins being replaced (shown here in this photo). He was furious. But coin enthusiasts cheered. ...…

The regularly-scheduled episode for this week has been put on the back burner because of a tragedy in Texas. Instead of one long show, here are two short ones. Part I - The night after Christmas, a tornado destroyed the home of metal detecting legend Dick Stout. (I neglected to mention it in the show, but his dogs are fine). You can help him re ...…

Out with the old, in with the new. The old calendar is all used up, and a fresh one is raring to go.New Year's Resolutions? Nah. They only last a week or two, mainly because they're just too difficult. But howsabout a list of baby steps that you can do at your leisure, without deadlines that just encourage failure?This show has some tips on thi ...…

They were never issued, the mint said. But Sam Brown had five of them. He said they were sold to him by various collectors around the country. Right.King Farouk owned two of them. One is in the Smithsonian. One of them was featured in an episode of Hawaii Five-O. And one was lost in a car wreck, and rediscovered over 40 years later. Total value ...…

Question: What do malted milk balls, garbage disposals, and coin-collecting treasure hunters have in common? Answer: Racine, Wisconsin. Listen to the show and it will all make sense. A look at the publisher who specializes in all things coins. And for one book you should have that ISN'T published by Whitman, visit my web site, http://treasurema ...…

The girl who sent me the email was frantic. Her husband's wedding ring had come off his finger while he was raking leaves. Did I know where she could rent a metal detector? So of course I offered to try to find his ring for her. This show is the story of that hunt, with tips on choosing the best detector for the job, and how to set your detecto ...…

Other sports do it, why not us? Yes, keep a lot of stats on your treasure hunting, impress your friends! I hope your CFPT is high, and your NUFHPO is low. (And remember, your CFPT is determined by dividing your NOCF by your NOHT.) Confused? I explain it all in just over three minutes. And thank treasure hunter extraordinaire Dick Stout for thes ...…

You May Have Valuable Coins In Your Pocket Right Now!Well, okay, probably not. For the past century, businesses have spent money trying to convince you that your pocket change might bring you a fortune. But the odds are about the same as being hit by lightning. No, I take that back. More people get hit by lightning.So why do these businesses ad ...…

Coin collecting has become quite sophisticated in the past fifty years. Eagle-eyed collectors with lots of time on their hands have identified thousands of "mutant" coins - coins that have blemishes or faults cause by faulty dies or stamping machines at the United States Mint. Books have been written, web sites created, and eBay auctions abound ...…

Beginning coin collectors learn many terms unknown to the general public, and one of the first terms they encounter is "VDB." These initials refer to Victor David Brenner, the designer of the longest-running United States coin of all time, the Lincoln Penny. Who was originally hired by Theodore Roosevelt to redesign all our United States coinag ...…

Memorial back or wheat back? Did Ike really look like that? And that Susan B. Anthony dollar - what was THAT all about?Frank Gasparro was the Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, and it was his job to design our United States coins. Here are his hits and misses. Mostly misses.For better or worse, the artwork of Frank Gasparro appears on mo ...…

The "In the Treasure Corner" podcast has just completed its seventh year, and in this birthday program we look back at the Top 10 Episodes of All Time (well, all seven years). These are the shows that have been downloaded the most, and the shows you should listen to if you haven't heard them yet. But there are a couple of shows in the Top 10 li ...…

Before electronic pinpointers, there were probes that were pushed into the ground to locate the coins that our detectors told us were there. Many treasure hunters still use probes.Here's how to make your own probe, and how to use it without damaging your targets. And also a warning about what NOT to use when you make a probe. (Photo is a probe ...…

Electronic pinpointers can help you find your targets a lot faster, some say. But others say they they don't save you time, they cost you time - that if you're sharp, all you need is your metal detector to pinpoint your coins. This show looks at the granddaddy of pinpointers, Fred Wagner's Tinytec (pictured here), and current pinpointers that r ...…

There's a new coin book in town, and it dwarfs anything else you've ever seen. It has over 1,500 pages and nearly 6,000 illustrations. And it weighs in at almost 6 1/2 pounds. It's called The Official Red Book - Deluxe Edition. This week's show tells you all about it. And to read about MY book, visit http://treasuremanual.com. Thanks!…

In 1941, the United States went to war. And from late 1942 through 1945, our nickels were zero percent nickel, but 35 percent silver. These silver nickels are known as War Nickels.Why the change in composition? And why was a less-expensive metal replaced by a more-expensive metal? Why were those huge mint marks put on our War Nickels but no oth ...…

Soon, the face of a woman will adorn our ten-dollar bill. But which woman?Mr. Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury, wants your help in choosing. Sacajawea? Eleanor Roosevelt? Miley Cyrus?There is no one woman who really stands out, but there are plenty of women who should be seriously considered. This program explains which women, by law, cannot ...…

The Official Blackbook Price Guide to United States Coins is a normal-size paperbook book with over 650 pages of coin history, coin information, and coin values. It's a great backup book to the Bressett-Yeoman Red Book, which is the best book available for coinshooters and coin collectors. Though the two books overlap a lot, they also have enou ...…

Meeting actress Kathy Garver made me wonder if any celebrities were into treasure hunting. Kathy, who played big sister Cissy on the TV show Family Affair (with Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot, and two twins named Buffy and Jody - remember?), asked my advice on what detector would be good for a beginner. She sounded eager to get into the hobby! ...…

Why did Shirley Temple turn down the lead role in The Wizard of Oz? Who named his sidekick after his high school shop teacher - and for good reason? Which actor did Lassie himself pick to be in his TV series? How old was the Naughty Lady of Shady Lane?All these questions were asked in the Trivia Bowl at last year's Cincinnati Nostalgia Conventi ...…

Wanna be a big TV star on a reality show that will be shown worldwide? I got a phone call yesterday from Naela Durrani, a casting associate for a new reality show that covers people who have suddenly come into a lot of money.People who won the lottery, or invented a popular app, or received an unexpected inheritance - or found a treasure with a ...…

Beautiful dames, psychotic criminals, and ominous organ music - the classic elements of the audio-noir private eye radio show. This one was called I Deal in Crime, and the detective was named Ross Dolan. He was played by William Gargan, who three years later would play private eye Martin Kane. Gargan was also a film actor, and he appeared in ov ...…

Not all hidden treasures are buried in the ground. I've seen many stories of treasures being found inside mattresses when an old person died, or inside walls when an old house was torn down. In this show, I review a book that covers indoor hiding places. It was written to help you hide valuables inside homes or vehicles, but with reverse-engine ...…

Edgar Rice Burroughs was destitute. He had tried several careers, from gold mining to running a retail store, from cowboying (?) to the army, and failed in all of them. Finally, at the age of 35, he turned to writing. He believed he could write better drivel than he was seeing in the pulp magazines, and his first effort, Under the Moons of Mars ...…

Lloyd Nolan and Claire Trevor were two movie stars who also starred in a short-run, kind-of-private-eye series in late 1944.Lloyd Nolan appeared in the movies for a full half-century, from 1935 to 1985. He was detective Michael Shayne in a series of films, and he appeared in such movies as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Peyton Place.Claire Trevor ...…

Pictured here are, top row, Gerhard Fischer (later spelled Fisher) and Kenneth C. White, and bottom row, Charles Garrett and Jack Gifford (Tesoro).They are the four men who founded the four premier metal detector manufacturing companies in the United States. And with the passing last week of Charles Garrett, we have lost all four.This week's In ...…

Here's another fun show that slipped through the cracks. What happens when an average American family is bequeathed a genuine English butler? That's easy - hilarity ensues, of course. Harry McNaughton, who for years was a panelist on the zany quiz show It Pays To Be Ignorant, was Higgins. The show ran for just three months, from July to Septemb ...…

The first thing you notice about a gold dollar is how tiny it is - about a half inch across. And it weighs about 1/25 of an ounce, or about half the weight of a dime.Then if you're especially perceptive, you might notice that Lady Liberty has the same facial outline as the Indian on the Indian head penny. Why? Because somebody was lazy....The g ...…

What do Superman, Popeye, and the Falcon have in common? The stars of all those shows were also stars in the detective radio drama, Philo Vance.Philo is played by Jackson Beck, who was the voice of Popeye's Bluto. His secretary was played by Joan Alexander, who was Superman's Lois Lane. And the DA was played by George Petri, who was the Falcon. ...…

Schoolbook controversies are nothing new. Nearly three-quarters of a century ago, the subject was covered in this episode of a CBS docu-drama called The Free Company. Should American history textbooks cover only the glowing, positive aspects of our early heroes, or should they present the complete truth, warts and all?The group that produced th ...…

Here's a rapidfire quiz about coins. The questions are hard but fun, and the answers are given right after the questions are asked. So if you want to make guesses as you go, keep your finger on the pause button and hit it just as soon as I finish reading the question. Which of today's coins have the least amount of copper content? How many mint ...…

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, television was exploding everywhere, and radio was fading. Radio producers went to great lengths to survive as long as they could. One of their tricks was to hire famous movie stars as radio actors. Hence Jimmy Stewart as the Six-Shooter, Alan Ladd in Box 13, and Bogart and Bacall in Bold Venture. The Ziv Comp ...…

The Blue Beetle began as a comic book in August, 1939. In 1940, CBS radio brought him to the airwaves. Dan Garrett was a rookie cop who had a good friend named Dr. Franz, who was a pharmacist and an inventor. Dr. Franz invented a lightweight bulletproof "superbeing" costume for Officer Garrett, and he also concocted a special formula called Vit ...…

New Minelab gold detector: $12,499.00Most expensive Garrett gold detector: $799.95*Is any detector worth twelve and a half thousand dollars? Are you buying more than just the parts that make up this machine? What exactly does "up to 40% more depth" mean? On the other hand, if you live in gold country, one good find could pay for this machine. T ...…

The Radio Hall of Fame was produced by Variety, the show-biz bible. Classical music composer and first president of ASCAP Deems Taylor was the host of the show, and conductor Paul Whiteman was the musical director. The Radio Hall of Fame was a variety show, with news, comedy, drama, music, and biographies all rolled into one show. It ran from 1 ...…

The San Francisco mint, 1917.Somebody was doing SOMETHING unauthorized with one of the new machines that made half dollars, and there were no clues as to who (or what?) was responsible. The Secret Service to the rescue...This is the exciting story of a counterfeiter who didn't really counterfeit - or did he? See what you think, as you listen to ...…

Joey Adams was in show biz for over 70 years. From vaudeville to the nightclub stage, from radio and TV to the authorship of 23 books, Adams was a stellar comedian.He hosted the radio quiz show Rate Your Mate on CBS in 1950 and 1951. This episode aired on August 5, 1950.

The Franklin half dollar was issued from 1948 through 1963. It was designed by John Sinnock, who died before the coin was issued. Sinnock had also designed the Roosevelt dime. Why was there a controversy about Sinnock's initials being on the coins? Was there a communist influence? What did the ex-governor of Wyoming have to do with the Franklin ...…

Cloak and Dagger was a high-quality spy thriller that ran in the summer and fall of 1950. Though it was short-lived, it made an impression and picked up a lot of fans, what with the star power of Willis Cooper, "Raymond" from Inner Sanctum, Everette Sloan of Citizen Kane fame, and Superman's "Look, up in the sky, it's a bird" announcer, Jackson ...…

An Irishman playing an Italian? Somehow it worked. Luigi Basco, newly arrived in Chicago from the Old Country, writes a letter each week to his mother back home in Ireland. And each episode of Life With Luigi is the story told in Luigi's letter.J. Carroll Naish was Luigi, and Alan Reed (TV's Fred Flintstone) was Luigi's friend Pasquale. The sho ...…

Are you itching to use that new detector you got for Christmas, but the ground is still frozen and snow-covered? Don't waste the next couple of months just waiting for spring - teach yourself the fine points of using that new machine right now, before you ever dig a signal.By setting up a test box in your living room, you can learn to recognize ...…

Space Patrol was on radio and TV simultaneously, from 1950 to 1955. Ed Kemmer was Commander Buzz Corry, and Lyn Osborn was his young sidekick, Cadet Happy. The Space Patrol took place in the 30th century, and the setting was the entire universe, thanks to the spaceship Terra 5. This episode, The Immortal Brain, first aired on May 30, 1953.…