My Best Find Of '05 first key date!

itsmechris

After talking with a gentleman about his former property, I began metal detecting. With little area to spare as the construction had already began on the site of a former rooming house and garage. The man had informed me of where the house stood as well as the parking area. As usual, I started with the driveway. Staying close to the property line I was soon greated with the familar sound of asbestos nails, Silver/copper. It can be frustraiting at times digging nail after nail however, where there are nails there are usually coins. After finding a few wheat pennies some silver came to light. A 1917 mercury dime. I had already combed over much of what little lot I could, and with little to show. I decided to redirect my appraoch and went back to where i had found the wheaties and merc. I marked out a 10x10ft area and every time a icleared it of trash I would increase my sensitivity and do it again. Pieces of rebar and alot of other trash had to be removed. Not to metion a led pipe spanning the zone. I used my shovel and made a line marking the tract of the pipe. When I encontered what seemed like a separate signal from the pipe(which isn't easy when led registers as silver) I would just through the dirt far from the pipe and rescan the pile. Three passes later I had found a few more wheat cents, an nice 1880 indian, and another mercury dime '44. It was late and I was getting hungry and needed a smoke. I decided to call it quits considering how much work i had already put in. As I walked past the urinal i stopped to tie my shoe and eyeballed a Liberty nickel. "No way" LOL I took a quick look around, and left. I bought some cigarettes and decided to return for a little more considering the "V" nickel. I swept around the urinal to no avail, and returned to the 10x10 area. Again the pipe made it's undeniable presence. Then I got a low copper signal, I dug down about 12" or so and out can a nice badge type pin from philadelphia. Now you know I can't give up. I finally surcame to bordom when an hour or so passed and nothing new surfaced. I decided to play with a target I found previously but abandoned thinking it was the pipe. With little effort I grabed the signal again and began removing dirt. After digging about 12" I lost the signal. I scanned the pile but nothing. So I put the detector down and began digging the hole even bigger. As I leveled the dirt each time with my shoe. I scanned again and nothing. So I scanned the pile and each time I moved some dirt. Then as I was sifting the pile I caught a glint of silver reflecting under the sunlight. How I lost the signal Im not sure, prhaps it was the pipe interfearing. But there in my hand I held 2 firsts. My first fully dated Standing Liberty, and my first key date coin, 1921. What a day! Thanks for reading, and be sure to look at the picture.

hughesm1

Nice find Chris! Oh yeah, to the boards.

BoxTopp

Great story! Awsome finds as well. Keep them coming

loditom

Sweet!!!!Nice going on the key date Chris!!HH,Tom

mdless

Nice WORK. I give you credit for the tenacity with the pipe. I would have given up.

itsmechris

Hey I'm telling you, that pipe was a feat. U know I was using my bounty hunter. It's simplified to the point that pipes come right out, when I have a questionable silver/copper signal, regardless if I have depth or not i hold the detector up a few feet from the ground. You won't always be able to follow a pipe across it's tract. Sometimes on properties conatining pipes, I hav come across pockets of coins(not caches) and thought because of the fluctuating signals that it was yet another pipe. So what you have to do is through the dirt far from the signal area and keep digging untill u physically see a pipe! My XLT is no match for lead pipes, I suppose it's because none of my detectors can tell an objects size. I wonder how a Garret holds to that test? Take care everyone and thanks for the compliments. Good luck, Chris in S Jersey