"I am also interested in going... I am laid off from work so I am free to go. I ordered a metal detector. It was only like $120.00 I hope it works well. The more expensive ones tell you exactly whats in the ground?

What do you all know about the antique bottles that are in buried outhouses? Those go for thousands of dollars. I hear you can get a map of outhouses from the 1600,1700's and 1800's. These outhouses can be "anywhere". I find it amazing that people pay 10s of thousands of dollars for these bottles because back then each bottle was hand made........."

"While it is true "some' bottles can go for a large price most average under a hundred dollars. Bottles like the fiddle whiskey bottle are very hard to find since due to there shape they broke easily when buried or when being dug up. If you choose to get into antique bottles I would make two suggestions. First get in touch with an antique bottle diggers club in your area for history, locations, digging techniques, and appraisal information. Second acquire some books on bottle identification.
I have been a bottle digger with my dad for over 35 years and we have a lot of bottles. Some are quite valuable but most average about fifty dollars or so a piece. Given the fact that we have a room full of them they add up to a good amount. However we do not dig for the sake of selling we dig for the sake of finding. We love to share them with people and tell of the dig stories and the origin and history of the bottles. I know of a gentleman who was digging in a location along side of a pit my dad and I dug and he found a hand made four ounce solid gold belt buckle that ended up appraising for fifty thousand in 1990. We got two fiddler whiskey bottles from that area also that appraised to two thousand a piece because they were in perfect condition with no chips or scratches. So there are real treasures out there but they are by no means common. Good luck on your hunting and if you find something please post it for all to share.
Tom"

"Outhouse diving?!

I own an old farm, complete with a barn and outhouse; but I'm not going down in the outhouse. :) At my grandparents farm there were always snakes in/by the outhouse.
Hmm. . . There is a pit on the back of my property with an old wringer washer and other rusted junk it it. I never even jumped in the hole. You make me wonder. .

I do have a bottle collection, however. My late husband was a tugboat captain who worked in the marine construction business. When he and his crew would use hydrolotic dredges to drege a channel or river mouth, he would often find old bottles. We also use to pick old bottles to add to our collection at yard sales/antique shops. That was kind of before they became popular.
I have little collections of a lot of things; probably nothing worth much.

Pam"