Another enjoyable year of metal detecting has come to an end. I didn't spend nearly as much time as usual metal detecting this year. A number of important matters demanded my time and attention, largely crowding out the ability to go metal detecting.
I found 23 U.S. silver coins this year. The finds break down as follows:
Silver:
2 Barber dimes (one of which was found with a Minelab Vanquish 540)
5 Mercury dimes
12 Silver Roosevelt dimes
3 Silver Washington quarters
1 War nickel
A small quantity of silver jewelry
Obsolete non-silver coins:
1 Indian cent
1 Liberty nickel
4 Buffalo nickels
Approximately 70 Wheat cents
Although finding good public sites seems to be becoming more difficult, I have not lost my enthusiasm for metal detecting.
The weather was in the 60s today, and I had a surprisingly nice start to the metal detecting season. My expectations were very low because I decided that I wouldn't travel far from home. I usually drive 30 or more miles each way to hit promising new sites that I have researched; however, my car has been acting up with an intermittent problem. I'm not sure if the car is completely fixed, and didn't want to risk getting stranded far from home.
I went to a local site where I have dug up about two dozen silver coins in the past; however, it has been years since I pulled a silver coin out of this place. The silver coins I have found at this site were dropped between the late 1930s and the 1960s, based on both the dates of the coins and the degree of wear on the older coins. The silver coins also typically have stains on them, which I believe is from the use of fertilizer.
My second signal at this relatively modern and hunted out site was an 1885 Seated dime. The coin has lots of detail, definitely was dropped way before the 1930s. Although the coin has some great detail, it also has some unfortunate staining.
I never imagined that a Seated coin would come from this site. This is only the second Seated coin I have ever found, and it is the oldest silver coin I have ever found. I didn't find anything else worthy of mention today other than a 1920-D wheat cent from another site. Cold weather and snow are in the forecast, not sure when I'll be able to detect again.
Today I went back to the place where I detected last weekend and dug up my first ever Shield nickel. I won't be able to read the date until I give it a chemical cleaning. I also dug up two wheat cents.
I tried something completely different today. I put my Vanquish 540 in a duffel bag and rode my electric scooter to the train station. I then took the commuter train to as near to one of my favorite detecting sites as possible. I rode the electric scooter the rest of the way there. I have a monthly train pass; so, other than the little bit of electricity used, my travel cost for 60 miles was zero.
I was mainly trying to learn if this method of metal detecting is feasible. The Vanquish 540 was more than light enough to carry on my back comfortably while riding. I didn't feel too handicapped using the Vanquish 540 instead of my preferred Etrac, and I managed to find a sterling religious medallion. This is probably going to become my standard method of metal detecting for the foreseeable future.
@Bayard1908... Nice silver find... and the commute method sounds great as long as the weather is friendly - but that applies to MDing in general. Good luck, Cheers, RickO
I took the train, electric bike, and Vanquish 540 to several historic Chicago parks today. The only old thing I found was a wheat cent. I dug some deep targets, including quite a few aluminum screw caps that were 10 inches or more deep, almost the length of my pinpointer.
I was out of town yesterday and took my Equinox 600 to my favorite old coin producing site for a few hours. I hadn't been to this site since October. I found three wheat cents and the most worn Barber dime I have ever seen. The Barber dime is an S mint and I am still trying to decipher the date. The last digit is likely a 5, which would make it 1895-S, a key date, or 1905-S.
Although the Barber dime is very worn, the wheat cents were all in great condition with lots of detail, including a 1919 and 1919-S.
I had my best day for finding silver coins in years today.
I recently bought a scruffy second hand Etrac for my electric-bike-metal-detecting trips. For the last few months, I have been using a Vanquish 540 because I didn't want to risk damaging my favorite Etrac while riding my electric bike. The Vanquish 540 is a very nice machine; but, I could never get over the suspicion that I was leaving good targets in the ground by not using the Etrac.
For the first time ever, today I packed up the "new" Etrac in a duffel bag and rode my electric bike to the train station. I don't have any new places to hunt; so, I took the train to one of my old favorite spots. I was specifically hoping to find my first Mercury dime of the year, which I thought was long overdue as of late July. This site has produced some Mercury dimes in the past, although I don't believe that I have found any silver coins at this site in years. It's the place where I found a bunch of old glass bottles several years ago, if that gives any context.
Putting the Etrac together on site wasn't too big of a nuisance. I used a Sun Ray X-1 probe to make the job easier, eliminating the need to pull the coil cable through the shaft. I have hammered this site many times in the past; so, my expectations were low. I ended up finding five silver dimes and nine wheat cents, a quantity of silver that I didn't think was possible at this site. The silver dimes are 1941 Mercury, 1941-D Mercury, 1951-S, 1954, and 1959.
Three of the silver dimes came from the periphery of the site and were easy signals. I probably had never put a coil over any of them in the past. Two of the silver dimes were extremely faint signals in an area that I have covered many times in the past, and neither was particularly deep. I don' know if this particular Etrac is a little hotter than my usual Etrac or if conditions just happened to be optimal today. The settings on both Etracs are identical, plus I used the same coil and headphones that I usually do. Whatever the reason, today was a great day of metal detecting.
Here's the Barber dime I found on July 3rd. This is the most worn Barber dime that I have ever seen, much less dug. For some reason, I initially thought the last digit in the date was likely to be a five, but, now doubt that I will ever be able to confidently identify the date beyond it being an S mint.
Nice collection of silver. I swung an e-trac for about 5 years and enjoyed it.
With the barber being worn, might not be a terrible idea to polish it up (I know I know) but since it's just silver value now, it might help bring the date out.
Last weekend I was out of town and went to my favorite old coin site again. I couldn't find even a single old coin, although I did find six links from a heavy chain that I believe is gold.
I haven't had the opportunity to metal detect in recent weeks; but, I managed to use my electric bike and Etrac today. I revisited a site that I hadn't been to in years and did alright: 1936 Mercury dime, 1946 dime, and two wheat cents. The Mercury dime is my 497th U.S. silver coin.
In other news, Minelab has announced a new detector which appears to be an improvement on the Equinox and seems to be the replacement for the Etrac in Minelab's product line. The new detector has a dopey name, the Manticore, and has a retail price of $1599. Normally I would get on the wait list and be among the first people to use a new Minelab machine, but, am probably going to watch and wait on this one.
@Bayard1908... Glad to see you back at it... and finding silver. Get back out there and find the three silver coins to make your 500 total. Cheers, RickO
Today I visited an old Chicago park that I had never been to before. I dug quite a bit of deep clad and was about to leave the place in disgust when I decided to dig one last deep signal. It was a 1913 wheat cent. That encouraged me to stay for a while longer.
I managed to get a very clean 1945 Mercury dime and a total of two wheat cents. I would have stayed even later; but, by the afternoon my headphones were only working sporadically. Unfortunately, I don't carry a spare pair of headphones when I am metal detecting with my electric bike.
Back to the old Chicago park today on my electric bike:
U.S. silver coin #499 = 1937-S Mercury dime
U.S. silver coin #500 = 1947 dime
I also dug 9 wheat cents and 2 sterling religious medallions. One of the sterling medallions came from a side trip to another Chicago park that was otherwise no good.
I had a great day of metal detecting today: five silver coins, a Buffalo nickel, 15 wheat cents, and a complete .32 rimfire cartridge.
The silver coins are 1941 Mercury dime, another 1941 Mercury dime, 1942 Mercury dime, 1964 dime, and 1947 quarter. This is the first silver quarter I've found in the last 18 months or so.
As I have mentioned previously, I enjoy finding coin spills because they give a good indication of when the coins were dropped. The first 1941 Mercury dime that I found was part of a coin spill with two wheat cents. The wheat cents were 1942 and 1942-D. The Mercury dime is XF/AU, probably was dropped in 1942 or thereabouts.
This is the second complete .32 rimfire cartridge that I have found. This round was popular in the late 1800s and became obsolete before WWII.
Due to working late, I only got four hours of sleep on Friday night, but, decided to spend Saturday metal detecting anyway. I enjoyed myself; but, it was a difficult day where several things went wrong. I managed to hurt my ankle before I even started detecting, and then I had two equipment failures while detecting that initially hampered me and then cut the day short.
The only old coins I found were five wheat cents. There are probably several reasons why I didn't find any silver coins today. The ground was very dry. A little dampness would make the silver coins easier to hear. After not getting enough sleep, my concentration was probably not as good as usual too. I also don't think I dug as many holes as usual today just from lack of energy. Finally, it's possible that this site, which has produced eleven silver coins recently, does not have any more silver left to give, although I doubt that. Regardless, I am going to try some new sites the next time I go detecting.
@Bayard1908.... Get some rest, fix the equipment. That site will produce more silver. Of course, new sites are always fun. You will be back on the silver ride soon. Cheers, RickO
The weather was in the 60s today, and I went back to the Chicago park: 1935 Mercury dime, 1946 dime, 1952-D quarter, and 16 wheat cents.
The 1952-D quarter looks like it was dropped when it was brand new. It was part of a coin spill with two wheat cents and the remains of a steel cent. The signal was odd, probably because of the steel cent. One of the wheat cents was a 1948. I think the other one was from the teens.
The 1946 dime was under a tree root. My Sun Ray probe convinced me that I was chasing a silver coin; so, I dug around the root and also broke through the root.
Comments
Another enjoyable year of metal detecting has come to an end. I didn't spend nearly as much time as usual metal detecting this year. A number of important matters demanded my time and attention, largely crowding out the ability to go metal detecting.
I found 23 U.S. silver coins this year. The finds break down as follows:
Silver:
2 Barber dimes (one of which was found with a Minelab Vanquish 540)
5 Mercury dimes
12 Silver Roosevelt dimes
3 Silver Washington quarters
1 War nickel
A small quantity of silver jewelry
Obsolete non-silver coins:
1 Indian cent
1 Liberty nickel
4 Buffalo nickels
Approximately 70 Wheat cents
Although finding good public sites seems to be becoming more difficult, I have not lost my enthusiasm for metal detecting.
Nice totals... Even though you did not get out as much, you did very well. Best of luck in 2022... Cheers, RickO
The weather was in the 60s today, and I had a surprisingly nice start to the metal detecting season. My expectations were very low because I decided that I wouldn't travel far from home. I usually drive 30 or more miles each way to hit promising new sites that I have researched; however, my car has been acting up with an intermittent problem. I'm not sure if the car is completely fixed, and didn't want to risk getting stranded far from home.
I went to a local site where I have dug up about two dozen silver coins in the past; however, it has been years since I pulled a silver coin out of this place. The silver coins I have found at this site were dropped between the late 1930s and the 1960s, based on both the dates of the coins and the degree of wear on the older coins. The silver coins also typically have stains on them, which I believe is from the use of fertilizer.
My second signal at this relatively modern and hunted out site was an 1885 Seated dime. The coin has lots of detail, definitely was dropped way before the 1930s. Although the coin has some great detail, it also has some unfortunate staining.
I never imagined that a Seated coin would come from this site. This is only the second Seated coin I have ever found, and it is the oldest silver coin I have ever found. I didn't find anything else worthy of mention today other than a 1920-D wheat cent from another site. Cold weather and snow are in the forecast, not sure when I'll be able to detect again.
@Bayard1908 .... Try an acetone soak on that coin... Will not hurt the metal and might remove the stains. Cheers, RickO
Today I went back to the place where I detected last weekend and dug up my first ever Shield nickel. I won't be able to read the date until I give it a chemical cleaning. I also dug up two wheat cents.
Congratulations on the Shield nickel... but no silver??
Cheers, RickO
Back to the same site for a few hours today: Buffalo nickel and two wheat cents.
I tried something completely different today. I put my Vanquish 540 in a duffel bag and rode my electric scooter to the train station. I then took the commuter train to as near to one of my favorite detecting sites as possible. I rode the electric scooter the rest of the way there. I have a monthly train pass; so, other than the little bit of electricity used, my travel cost for 60 miles was zero.
I was mainly trying to learn if this method of metal detecting is feasible. The Vanquish 540 was more than light enough to carry on my back comfortably while riding. I didn't feel too handicapped using the Vanquish 540 instead of my preferred Etrac, and I managed to find a sterling religious medallion. This is probably going to become my standard method of metal detecting for the foreseeable future.
@Bayard1908... Nice silver find... and the commute method sounds great as long as the weather is friendly - but that applies to MDing in general. Good luck, Cheers, RickO
I took the train, scooter, and Vanquish 540 to four new sites today, but, didn't find anything old.
Train, electric bike, and Vanquish 540 got me two wheat cents today, one of which was a 1918.
Long trip.... 1918 was the end of World War One..... Cheers, RickO
I took the train, electric bike, and Vanquish 540 to several historic Chicago parks today. The only old thing I found was a wheat cent. I dug some deep targets, including quite a few aluminum screw caps that were 10 inches or more deep, almost the length of my pinpointer.
I was out of town yesterday and took my Equinox 600 to my favorite old coin producing site for a few hours. I hadn't been to this site since October. I found three wheat cents and the most worn Barber dime I have ever seen. The Barber dime is an S mint and I am still trying to decipher the date. The last digit is likely a 5, which would make it 1895-S, a key date, or 1905-S.
Although the Barber dime is very worn, the wheat cents were all in great condition with lots of detail, including a 1919 and 1919-S.
@Bayard1908 ... Nice finds, good luck with deciphering the date. Cheers, RickO
I had my best day for finding silver coins in years today.
I recently bought a scruffy second hand Etrac for my electric-bike-metal-detecting trips. For the last few months, I have been using a Vanquish 540 because I didn't want to risk damaging my favorite Etrac while riding my electric bike. The Vanquish 540 is a very nice machine; but, I could never get over the suspicion that I was leaving good targets in the ground by not using the Etrac.
For the first time ever, today I packed up the "new" Etrac in a duffel bag and rode my electric bike to the train station. I don't have any new places to hunt; so, I took the train to one of my old favorite spots. I was specifically hoping to find my first Mercury dime of the year, which I thought was long overdue as of late July. This site has produced some Mercury dimes in the past, although I don't believe that I have found any silver coins at this site in years. It's the place where I found a bunch of old glass bottles several years ago, if that gives any context.
Putting the Etrac together on site wasn't too big of a nuisance. I used a Sun Ray X-1 probe to make the job easier, eliminating the need to pull the coil cable through the shaft. I have hammered this site many times in the past; so, my expectations were low. I ended up finding five silver dimes and nine wheat cents, a quantity of silver that I didn't think was possible at this site. The silver dimes are 1941 Mercury, 1941-D Mercury, 1951-S, 1954, and 1959.
Three of the silver dimes came from the periphery of the site and were easy signals. I probably had never put a coil over any of them in the past. Two of the silver dimes were extremely faint signals in an area that I have covered many times in the past, and neither was particularly deep. I don' know if this particular Etrac is a little hotter than my usual Etrac or if conditions just happened to be optimal today. The settings on both Etracs are identical, plus I used the same coil and headphones that I usually do. Whatever the reason, today was a great day of metal detecting.
Here's the Barber dime I found on July 3rd. This is the most worn Barber dime that I have ever seen, much less dug. For some reason, I initially thought the last digit in the date was likely to be a five, but, now doubt that I will ever be able to confidently identify the date beyond it being an S mint.
@Bayard1908 .... Very nice silver dimes .... That site sure does produce for you.... Cheers, RickO
Nice collection of silver. I swung an e-trac for about 5 years and enjoyed it.
With the barber being worn, might not be a terrible idea to polish it up (I know I know) but since it's just silver value now, it might help bring the date out.
Back to the same site to see if I left any silver behind, apparently not. I dug a 1935 Buffalo nickel and three wheat cents.
Last weekend I was out of town and went to my favorite old coin site again. I couldn't find even a single old coin, although I did find six links from a heavy chain that I believe is gold.
I sure hope they're gold. Can you share some pics?
That is great... Gold is always a good find. Let us know if you confirm gold, and the weight/purity. Cheers, RickO
I haven't had the opportunity to metal detect in recent weeks; but, I managed to use my electric bike and Etrac today. I revisited a site that I hadn't been to in years and did alright: 1936 Mercury dime, 1946 dime, and two wheat cents. The Mercury dime is my 497th U.S. silver coin.
In other news, Minelab has announced a new detector which appears to be an improvement on the Equinox and seems to be the replacement for the Etrac in Minelab's product line. The new detector has a dopey name, the Manticore, and has a retail price of $1599. Normally I would get on the wait list and be among the first people to use a new Minelab machine, but, am probably going to watch and wait on this one.
@Bayard1908... Glad to see you back at it... and finding silver. Get back out there and find the three silver coins to make your 500 total. Cheers, RickO
Back to the same site for two more wheat cents. I also tried a new site and revisited another site, but didn't find anything good at either of them.
@Bayard1908.... What?? No silver?? I am shocked and appalled.
Just a bad day... Cheers, RickO
Today I visited an old Chicago park that I had never been to before. I dug quite a bit of deep clad and was about to leave the place in disgust when I decided to dig one last deep signal. It was a 1913 wheat cent. That encouraged me to stay for a while longer.
I managed to get a very clean 1945 Mercury dime and a total of two wheat cents. I would have stayed even later; but, by the afternoon my headphones were only working sporadically. Unfortunately, I don't carry a spare pair of headphones when I am metal detecting with my electric bike.
Well, you did manage silver anyway.... And an old park like that deserves another visit. Cheers, RickO
I visited my out of town site today for a few hours. The only old coin I could find was a 1920 wheat cent.
That is rare for you... and even more rare, no silver. Good luck on the next search. Cheers, RickO
Back to the old Chicago park today on my electric bike:
U.S. silver coin #499 = 1937-S Mercury dime
U.S. silver coin #500 = 1947 dime
I also dug 9 wheat cents and 2 sterling religious medallions. One of the sterling medallions came from a side trip to another Chicago park that was otherwise no good.
Nice finds... and #500 scored!! The journey continues... Cheers, RickO
congrats on #500
I had a great day of metal detecting today: five silver coins, a Buffalo nickel, 15 wheat cents, and a complete .32 rimfire cartridge.
The silver coins are 1941 Mercury dime, another 1941 Mercury dime, 1942 Mercury dime, 1964 dime, and 1947 quarter. This is the first silver quarter I've found in the last 18 months or so.
As I have mentioned previously, I enjoy finding coin spills because they give a good indication of when the coins were dropped. The first 1941 Mercury dime that I found was part of a coin spill with two wheat cents. The wheat cents were 1942 and 1942-D. The Mercury dime is XF/AU, probably was dropped in 1942 or thereabouts.
This is the second complete .32 rimfire cartridge that I have found. This round was popular in the late 1800s and became obsolete before WWII.
That is a nice haul of silver. Go back to that site, there will be more. Cheers, RickO
I took the train and electric bike to Chicago again: 1943-D Mercury dime, 1946 dime, 1943 quarter, and twelve wheat cents.
2 quarter nearly back to back. Wow!
Excellent finds.... Your silver streak continues. Cheers, RickO
Due to working late, I only got four hours of sleep on Friday night, but, decided to spend Saturday metal detecting anyway. I enjoyed myself; but, it was a difficult day where several things went wrong. I managed to hurt my ankle before I even started detecting, and then I had two equipment failures while detecting that initially hampered me and then cut the day short.
The only old coins I found were five wheat cents. There are probably several reasons why I didn't find any silver coins today. The ground was very dry. A little dampness would make the silver coins easier to hear. After not getting enough sleep, my concentration was probably not as good as usual too. I also don't think I dug as many holes as usual today just from lack of energy. Finally, it's possible that this site, which has produced eleven silver coins recently, does not have any more silver left to give, although I doubt that. Regardless, I am going to try some new sites the next time I go detecting.
@Bayard1908.... Get some rest, fix the equipment. That site will produce more silver. Of course, new sites are always fun. You will be back on the silver ride soon. Cheers, RickO
Back to Chicago with the electric bike and train: 1961-D dime, 1945-S quarter, and eleven wheat cents.
The silver streak continues.... Nice finds. Cheers, RickO
The weather was in the 60s today, and I went back to the Chicago park: 1935 Mercury dime, 1946 dime, 1952-D quarter, and 16 wheat cents.
The 1952-D quarter looks like it was dropped when it was brand new. It was part of a coin spill with two wheat cents and the remains of a steel cent. The signal was odd, probably because of the steel cent. One of the wheat cents was a 1948. I think the other one was from the teens.
The 1946 dime was under a tree root. My Sun Ray probe convinced me that I was chasing a silver coin; so, I dug around the root and also broke through the root.