Finally made it out after what has seemed like an eternity of sub-freezing high temps with lows consistently in the single digits. The thermometer finally punched over freezing a couple days ago, and was forecasted to tease 40 today. I did make some use of the down time by researching more sites and tried one out this morning… It was still tough for digging, but I think I did okay…
Finally a 2-3 day run of days above freezing temps to loosen up the ground. Made it out for @ 3 hours this morning, and while this morning’s temps started out in the mid-20’s and my fingers were numb, the 800 was on fire…
First find of the morning - Washie
A bit later, a same hole spill - Merc and Standing Lib
Merc in the plug -
Standing lib still hiding in the hole -
Moving along, a Rosie -
Then another Rosie -
And bringing up the rear, another Merc -
Also recovered a “lady’s” knife, which is currently drying after a good rinse and cleaning… pic pending.
Group shot… the best wheatie turned out to be the oldest with a readable date - 1930-D. The 2 Franc coin was a nice find also, albeit aluminum and corroded. The Washie looks as if it was dropped the day it came home from the bank.
@No Headlights said:
One more dime for a dollar in silver. I have done that a few times. Consider it a great day. Congratulations on a good day of hunting.
Jim
Thanks Jim. Yesterday, the temps reached into the 60’s, and an early appointment from work allowed for a 2-hour revisit to Sunday’s location. I started on an area adjacent to the place I covered earlier, looking for that silver dime to even the weekend’s recent score to a dollar. I didn’t find the dime, but I may have overdone it by finding these…
Washie
Washie #2
The ring looks sterling… appears to have had a stone that had broken off at some point.
Here are yesterday’s finds after the wash. Also recovered were 11 quarters, 5 dimes and 20+ Memorial cents. The ring is sterling, but the stone, likely turquoise, is missing.
The only times I dig for nickels are:
A ) When they’re part of a group of other coins; ie, as part of a spill, or
B ) When there’s a big fat mint mark over Monticello…
Congratulations on your 35% silver wartime nickel.
What exactly do you mean by "The only time I dig for nickels are..."? Are you usually digging the high tones while leaving the lower tones/ low vdi number signals behind?
I have to admit that I often only dig the higher vdi numbers. Especially if the permissions are very trashy or when I don't expect significant amounts of relics or jewellery on a permission.
But in retrospective many of my better finds had either low vdi numbers or sounded pretty bad. That's why in 2025 I want to dig all signals I find (not on every hunt, but at least more often). It's going to be a lot of work and effort, but I hope eventually it may result in more relics, gold jewellery and old (pre 1870's) coins with low silver content.
@Göttinger said:
Congratulations on your 35% silver wartime nickel.
What exactly do you mean by "The only time I dig for nickels are..."? Are you usually digging the high tones while leaving the lower tones/ low vdi number signals behind?
Correct. Many of my hunts are on permissions, so I try to keep digging to a minimum, especially when the ground makes for a more challenging dig during cold weather. Sometimes I’ll open it up if I’m searching for something in particular for a homeowner or if the property isn’t too trashy.
Post weekend soak and cleanup pic. There were @ 15 wheaties also, but I had to clear them out of the kitchen early to make room for Super Bowl party food and fare.
@Bayard1908 said:
I have dug every war nickel except a 1943-D, and have found many duplicates of other dates. Not sure why it remains elusive.
Definitely the first ‘43-D nickel I’ve recovered. The ‘46 Rosie is another story. That seems to be the predominate date I find in the Rosie series… I’d just recovered one the previous weekend also.
After the rinse n dry. A total of 18 wheaties, most ranging in the ‘40’s & ‘50’s. Also 11 clad quarters, 9 dimes, 35 copper memorials and an aluminum love token to round out the count.
Went out for a few hours this morning, working it in mid-January like, windy conditions. The temp this morning was 20 degrees with the windchill making temps feel like the single digits. Hit quite a few wheaties, but the silver was elusive. I did manage to recover one Rosie with a little glint…
Actually I'm surprised that you barely find any Indian Head Cents. Did they dissappeare from circulation that fast?
Here in Germany after the hyper inflation of 1923 they re-introduced the 1 & 2 Pfennig coins minted between 1873 - 1916.
They are a pretty common find in coin spills from the 1920's and 1930's, so they seem to have circulated pretty well with the new Rentenpfennig and Reichspfennig coins. But in 1942 they were withdrawn to gain copper for the war efforts so they are way less common in coin spills from the 1940's (consisting of mainly zinc wartime coins from 1940 - 1945). They were eventually demonetized in 1948.
If compared to your pretty consistant Barber finds (dating from roughly the same time periode as the Indian Head Cent), Indian Head Cents are definitley underrepresented in your finds. But it would not have made any sense to withdraw or hoard them back in the day, so their absence remains mysterious...
@Göttinger said:
Actually I'm surprised that you barely find any Indian Head Cents. Did they dissappeare from circulation that fast?
Here in Germany after the hyper inflation of 1923 they re-introduced the 1 & 2 Pfennig coins minted between 1873 - 1916.
They are a pretty common find in coin spills from the 1920's and 1930's, so they seem to have circulated pretty well with the new Rentenpfennig and Reichspfennig coins. But in 1942 they were withdrawn to gain copper for the war efforts so they are way less common in coin spills from the 1940's (consisting of mainly zinc wartime coins from 1940 - 1945). They were eventually demonetized in 1948.
If compared to your pretty consistant Barber finds (dating from roughly the same time periode as the Indian Head Cent), Indian Head Cents are definitley underrepresented in your finds. But it would not have made any sense to withdraw or hoard them back in the day, so their absence remains mysterious...
Good question Gottinger. The only rationale I can think of is that the soil in this area is highly acidic and literally “eats” copper up. Given their small size and lengthier amount of time an Indian Head cent will likely have spent in the ground, compared to a wheat cent, it will have disintegrated enough that my Nox just doesn’t pick it up. I usually have my discrimination set to cancel out anything w/a VDI less than a largely intact copper cent, so if a small copper has broken down/disintegrated enough, the Nox won’t pick it up. Large cents are a different story. Even though the vast majority that I’ve recovered were highly corroded and lacking mass/detail, they’re still big enough to register in the VDI sweet spot.
Back out this morning before the rain set in. Weather forecast is calling for severe T’storms this evening… we’ll see how that turns out. Meanwhile one particular target had the 800 screaming @ 31-33 on a moderately deep (6-7 inches) target.
I always react with skepticism when I uncover a larger copper-looking target, especially when it’s impossible to make out any details fresh from the ground… a good soak n rinse may shed some light.
Comments
Finally made it out after what has seemed like an eternity of sub-freezing high temps with lows consistently in the single digits. The thermometer finally punched over freezing a couple days ago, and was forecasted to tease 40 today. I did make some use of the down time by researching more sites and tried one out this morning… It was still tough for digging, but I think I did okay…
Brief revisit today after work.
Finally a 2-3 day run of days above freezing temps to loosen up the ground. Made it out for @ 3 hours this morning, and while this morning’s temps started out in the mid-20’s and my fingers were numb, the 800 was on fire…
First find of the morning - Washie
A bit later, a same hole spill - Merc and Standing Lib
Merc in the plug -
Standing lib still hiding in the hole -
Moving along, a Rosie -
Then another Rosie -
And bringing up the rear, another Merc -
Also recovered a “lady’s” knife, which is currently drying after a good rinse and cleaning… pic pending.
The “lady’s” knife, with unladylike inscription on the blade. It was found at @ 3” under the surface, with the blade locked open.
Group shot… the best wheatie turned out to be the oldest with a readable date - 1930-D. The 2 Franc coin was a nice find also, albeit aluminum and corroded. The Washie looks as if it was dropped the day it came home from the bank.
One more dime for a dollar in silver. I have done that a few times. Consider it a great day. Congratulations on a good day of hunting.
Jim
Thanks Jim. Yesterday, the temps reached into the 60’s, and an early appointment from work allowed for a 2-hour revisit to Sunday’s location. I started on an area adjacent to the place I covered earlier, looking for that silver dime to even the weekend’s recent score to a dollar. I didn’t find the dime, but I may have overdone it by finding these…
Washie
Washie #2
The ring looks sterling… appears to have had a stone that had broken off at some point.
Over the top in a big way. Congrats.
Jim
Here are yesterday’s finds after the wash. Also recovered were 11 quarters, 5 dimes and 20+ Memorial cents. The ring is sterling, but the stone, likely turquoise, is missing.
The only times I dig for nickels are:
A ) When they’re part of a group of other coins; ie, as part of a spill, or
B ) When there’s a big fat mint mark over Monticello…
Congratulations on your 35% silver wartime nickel.
What exactly do you mean by "The only time I dig for nickels are..."? Are you usually digging the high tones while leaving the lower tones/ low vdi number signals behind?
I have to admit that I often only dig the higher vdi numbers. Especially if the permissions are very trashy or when I don't expect significant amounts of relics or jewellery on a permission.
But in retrospective many of my better finds had either low vdi numbers or sounded pretty bad. That's why in 2025 I want to dig all signals I find (not on every hunt, but at least more often). It's going to be a lot of work and effort, but I hope eventually it may result in more relics, gold jewellery and old (pre 1870's) coins with low silver content.
Correct. Many of my hunts are on permissions, so I try to keep digging to a minimum, especially when the ground makes for a more challenging dig during cold weather. Sometimes I’ll open it up if I’m searching for something in particular for a homeowner or if the property isn’t too trashy.
A couple more from the weekend…
The first one was the yield after a tussle with a couple of tree roots… ole’ Rosie was deep!
This one was much easier to pull. Popped the plug and there he was, embedded in the bottom.
Post weekend soak and cleanup pic. There were @ 15 wheaties also, but I had to clear them out of the kitchen early to make room for Super Bowl party food and fare.
I have dug every war nickel except a 1943-D, and have found many duplicates of other dates. Not sure why it remains elusive.
Definitely the first ‘43-D nickel I’ve recovered. The ‘46 Rosie is another story. That seems to be the predominate date I find in the Rosie series… I’d just recovered one the previous weekend also.
Finally… some mild weather arrived to the mid-Atlantic area, beckoning…
First hit was a Merc -
Then a Washie -
Then a Rosie -
And one more Washie -
Plus the usual clad, copper memorials, and wheaties.
The quad before the rinse:
After the rinse n dry. A total of 18 wheaties, most ranging in the ‘40’s & ‘50’s. Also 11 clad quarters, 9 dimes, 35 copper memorials and an aluminum love token to round out the count.
Went out for a few hours this morning, working it in mid-January like, windy conditions. The temp this morning was 20 degrees with the windchill making temps feel like the single digits. Hit quite a few wheaties, but the silver was elusive. I did manage to recover one Rosie with a little glint…
The cheek says it all…
From Sunday morning’s hunt….
Beautiful, albeit windy morning today…
A couple more to share after they dry out… all copper, but cool finds .
Here’s the lineup from yesterday… the Indian cent was the first in over a year. I had no idea what the “big guy” was…
Until she was cleaned up and I got a good look at her reverse…
Dirt fishing has been on my to do list lately.
Actually I'm surprised that you barely find any Indian Head Cents. Did they dissappeare from circulation that fast?
Here in Germany after the hyper inflation of 1923 they re-introduced the 1 & 2 Pfennig coins minted between 1873 - 1916.
They are a pretty common find in coin spills from the 1920's and 1930's, so they seem to have circulated pretty well with the new Rentenpfennig and Reichspfennig coins. But in 1942 they were withdrawn to gain copper for the war efforts so they are way less common in coin spills from the 1940's (consisting of mainly zinc wartime coins from 1940 - 1945). They were eventually demonetized in 1948.
If compared to your pretty consistant Barber finds (dating from roughly the same time periode as the Indian Head Cent), Indian Head Cents are definitley underrepresented in your finds. But it would not have made any sense to withdraw or hoard them back in the day, so their absence remains mysterious...
Good question Gottinger. The only rationale I can think of is that the soil in this area is highly acidic and literally “eats” copper up. Given their small size and lengthier amount of time an Indian Head cent will likely have spent in the ground, compared to a wheat cent, it will have disintegrated enough that my Nox just doesn’t pick it up. I usually have my discrimination set to cancel out anything w/a VDI less than a largely intact copper cent, so if a small copper has broken down/disintegrated enough, the Nox won’t pick it up. Large cents are a different story. Even though the vast majority that I’ve recovered were highly corroded and lacking mass/detail, they’re still big enough to register in the VDI sweet spot.
Back out this morning before the rain set in. Weather forecast is calling for severe T’storms this evening… we’ll see how that turns out. Meanwhile one particular target had the 800 screaming @ 31-33 on a moderately deep (6-7 inches) target.
I always react with skepticism when I uncover a larger copper-looking target, especially when it’s impossible to make out any details fresh from the ground… a good soak n rinse may shed some light.
Here’s the ‘small’ group after a wash n dry. The large cent dates 1847 and is the second large cent in as many weeks.
The thermometer hit 72 today with sunny skies…
Almost forgot the post-soak/rinse/dry follow-up.
A little Friday morning action before taking a quick trip over to the Baltimore Whitman show.
It was Merc kind of morning…
With a little silver & nickel mixed in…
Merc #2:
Merc #3:
