Back from weekend camping- got silver !

kevinstang · August 6, 2006 4:35AM

Well I made it out two days in a row while camping to do some hunting, hitting an old beach/picnic site that I had done some last year with my 8 1/2 coil. Needless to say there was alot of trash, but this year I had my new 4 1/2 sniper coil. Last year found a few older wheats and I was optimistic about what the new coil might find from the very start. Very first signal was a coin- good- and a dime, a 1994. Got back up and went no more than two feet and had another hit- and with a flip of the sod- silver! A 1954 Rosie, forgot how good silver looks. Less than five minutes at the site and silver already, my hopes were up, then down, and down- lots of trash showing up as silver/quarter signals on my garrett gtax 1000's screen, dug a lot of old pull tabs and bottle caps. In the next hour or so I hit a few wheats and regular lincolns, the oldest being a 1936. As I was getting ready to quit for the night (getting dark), hit my second silver- reverse popped up first- knew instantly what it was- a Mercury dime (my second this year), amazing how clean it came out of the ground, it was a 1944. Called it quits for the day and got out early the next morning and immediately started hitting lots more trash and a few pennies here and there. Then about 1 hour in I got silvered again- again the reverse came first and was instantly recognizable- and worn- another merc, crossed my fingers as I flipped it over- 1923 ! My oldest coin ever so far metal detecting. Hard to tell, but it may even have an S mint mark. I called it quits for the afternoon and went back in the evening when things had cooled down. Only spent about 1/2 hour or so and just as I was ready to leave gotta another "good" signal by a tree base and dug out a 48-D Rosie, a little dirtier than the others, but not bad. Just before leaving this morning I snuck in a quick 1/2 hour trip and got my first and only two quarters- 1983 and 1984 (no silver - that was what I was hoping for now after the 4 silver dimes) Ended up with about 52 coins total, 2 quarters (83 & 84), 9 dimes (1923 to 1994), 8 wheaties ( 1936 to 1956 - including a 50-S, 31 memorial cents (1961 to 1990) and finally two Canadian pennies- 1973 & 1980. Most of the coins were probably lost in the parks hey-day, the late 60's and 70's, it has steadily declined since then, and the wild goose population inhabiting the beach and picnic area I believe has alot to do with it (forgot to mention I dodged alot of sh*t over the weekend as well!)Anyways took a few photos- one shows just a sampling of the pull tabs/bottle caps I kept (the rest went into the campfire- and side note: Schaefer seemed to be a popular beer choice way back when) and finally some photos of the coins- as they came from ground, uncleaned - will have to get some potatoes for the coppers. The dimes actually look quite nice (the silver ones anyways). Anyways, how'd I do? - this is my first significant post about my findings here on the forum. Had hoped for maybe a silver or gold ring as well (lots of luck with all the pull tab signals) , but the 4 silver dimes made my weekend.

lordmarcovan · August 6, 2006 7:48AM

Silvered four times!

Congrats on setting your oldest date back...that's always a nice milestone! I remember my oldest dug coin was a 1926 Wheatie, for years. Then an 1899 Barber dime, then an 1875 Indian, then an 1829 half dime, then a 1776 half real, then a 1658 Spanish four-maravedis. I doubt I will set any new oldest-date milestones for quite some time, unless I take a trip overseas (which ain't happenin' any time soon).

Next stop for you... 1800s! It will likely be an Indian cent.