Every city and town in America has an old section that was built sometime during WWII or in the 40s-50s era. There is one particular city in Washington State that has an early 40s era section of town that has yielded treasures from days gone by. A housing project in Tacoma, Washington called Salishan Housing Project, that rose as part of the industrial miracle that won World War II for the Allies. On 1 May 1944, the first 10 families moved into Salishan. After the war, the project first served veterans and military families, then low-income families and immigrants. So how does this translate to treasure?

Robert Stack, a member of the Puget Sound Treasure Hunters Club (PSTHC) in Tacoma, WA is living proof that treasures are not found just in “them thar hills” but in “old abandoned housing areas” as well. Robert found out from his postman in late 2006, that nearly half the Salishan residents had moved, and the homes were being torn down in the future to replace existing homes with new homes. Shortly after that Robert packed up his reliable White’s DFX detector and made a bee line to Salishan. Boy was he in for a big surprise, for what he would find over the next two years of detecting in Salishan.

Robert met another detectorist in Salishan that day, that was a good friend of another PSTHC member, named Larry Webb, that Robert also knew. The other detectorist had been detecting in the area for quite some time. It was evident to Robert that the far south end of the housing project had been vacant for some time. The houses were literally falling apart and grass was knee deep in the yards and driveways. Robert knew from past experience that this particular section of the vacated housing area would probably be a “bonanza” for detecting. He contacted two other PSTHC club members, Larry Trigg and Bob McSwain, and the three of them embarked on what stretched into a two year, yard-by-yard search, of the area with their trusty detectors.

Their “treasure” finds were more than one might expect from hunting front and back yards, drive ways and playgrounds. Robert and his detectorist companions carefully cataloged their finds for future reference. During one stretch of 17 days of one month, Robert’s cataloged finds were:

• 1,184 pennies
• 40 nickels
• 99 dimes (3 silver)
• 64 quarters (1 silver)
• 2 halves
• 1 dollar coin
• 8 tax tokens
• 17 other tokens
• 26 keys
• 33 toy cars and parts
• 3 foreign coins

Robert’s finds totaled 17,645 coins with a value of $1,035.80 for the two year period. A breakdown showed a staggering 11,050 pennies; 1,428 nickels; 3,028 dimes; 2,120 quarters; 13 halves and 6-1 dollar coins. He laced the 17,645 coins in a 5 gallon jug with another 1,503 coins that he had previously found and placed it in his living room for all to see. All told, the jug now has 19,148 coins worth approximately $1,156.53.

Between Robert and his hunting companions, he estimates they have found 25,000-30,000 coins and 100s of toy cars, jewelry, pins, silverware and extraneous items in the vacated housing project over the past two years. Yes, there are uncovered “treasures” out there, just waiting to be found. Just ask Robert!