When paper currency became the standard in 1934 it was in the depths of the depression and not many folks trusted paper money. A good many people refused to turn in their gold and take worthless paper for it and they did not want to be caught with it either. They buried it knowing gold has a value of its own around the world and if the new money turned out to be a bad idea they still had gold.
In the country people got downright ingenious figurin' out a
stash for their gold. Some placed it in the brick fireplaces but many
would walk down the fence line until they could find a loose fence post
that they could pull out. They might tie a string to their stash and
drop it into the bottom of the fence hole. Some would walk into the
woods and put it in a hole in a tree and then mark a nearby tree so
they could find it again. Finding it
back could be a problem for forgetful old folks so some would place it
nearby in a garden, at the well, or of all
places "under the trash pile!". I believe that many places that predate
1934 are worth searching but remember the signal may not show up as
gold (or nickel) but were buried in snuff cans, tobacco cans, glass
jars and such.
Before you dig try to place yourself in their place and think where you
would put your gold.
