Home Metal Detecting

A Confession, a "What the Heck is That?", and Further Adventures.

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Comments

  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 44,035 ✭✭✭✭✭

    All these action shots are great!

    Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.

  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Had the opportunity to go out and hunt an 1890 permission this afternoon. The owner is in the process of rehab’ing the house after a long term renter moved out. During the break in its occupancy, the owner allowed me to let loose on the @ 1/2 acre yard sitting on a moderate slope down to the street. The soil was very dry & “crumbly”.
    First silver I hit is a pretty significant find. When I pulled it out into the sun, I could just make out the date… found close the back corner of the house on flat ground.

    Next up, a Barber dime close to the bottom of the slope.

    And finally a Merc, at the very bottom of the slope, about 12-15 ft from the Barber.

    Roll call. And yes, that’s a “D” mint mark on the quarter.

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • Bayard1908Bayard1908 Posts: 4,108 ✭✭✭✭

    If you can avoid putting hairlines on that quarter, so that it will grade, it's a better find than gold.

  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I tried… just let soak for 3-4 hours last night, and then rinsed it while working a cotton swab in the crevices. Dried overnight… there’s still some stubborn dirt in the tight spots along the outer design elements, but I think she turned out pretty well…

    Final muster:

    Unreal amount of detail remaining. Most of the time, I’m lucky to even get a date off of a recovered SLQ.

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • GöttingerGöttinger Posts: 125 ✭✭✭

    Congratulations, that's a incredibly good find!

  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,685 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Beautiful quarter.

    Congrats.

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,700 ✭✭✭✭✭

    i love getting silver like that <3

  • No HeadlightsNo Headlights Posts: 2,114 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Congratulations. I believe it has a chance to straight grade, I certainly hope it does. I found a high grade 1893-O dime that did straight grade with PCGS. Good luck! Great find!

  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Circled back to the 1890 build to finish covering the property, this time working on the front yard and a smaller side yard opposite to the side with the slope I scanned last week. Found a few interesting pieces.
    Washie

    Rosie

    Merc

    This 40% Kennedy was likely a more recent drop. When the Manticore picked it up, it was reading @ 3-4 inches deep when it was actually just embedded in the surface roots of the grass. I only realized it after I dug the plug and flipped it out, using the pinpointer to confirm it was much closer to the surface than I expected. I only had to pry it out from the surface roots to reveal it.

    Roll call:

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Final muster.
    Very few wheaties recovered with this group yesterday. I only recall 1 or 2 other times that I’ve come back with less wheaties than silver.


    Other finds:
    18 Clad quarters
    6 dimes
    21 memorial coppers

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 22, 2025 1:04PM

    I had a little extra time this afternoon following an appointment, so I decided to circle back to the old build I scanned twice over the last two weeks, focusing on a remaining a separate, small section in the rear of the property and also the curb strips that line the property. The property sits at the intersection of two streets, with the sidewalks crumbling in places and obviously dated. The grassy strips between the sidewalks and streets run about 5 to 6ft wide with several very large oak trees growing within, and run @ 150 ft in length in both directions along the two streets. I started with the back section, and hit all clad and memorial copper. I figured the strips had already been detected, so my expectations were pretty low. I started down the first strip @ 15-20 feet, not hitting anything but lower-VDI trash, but upon approaching the base of the first oak, the Manticore started pinging a hi-tone, but the target was reading shallow… so shallow that my pinpointer was picking it up from the surface. I figured it was another clad quarter, but hey… a quarter is a quarter, right? Well… not THIS quarter…!



    Finds like this is why a I love chasing the hunt!

    Keeping things going, I hit more copper clad, with a few wheaties to boot. Mixed in, close to the sidewalk in the grassy part and @ 6-7 inches deep…


    Roll call:

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Final muster. The quarter turned out to be surprisingly decent for a ground recovery.

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Today’s highlights -




    Roll call -

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • No HeadlightsNo Headlights Posts: 2,114 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CharlotteDude said:
    Today’s highlights -




    Roll call -

    Looks like an S mint dime. Good luck with the date!

  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I wish, but alas… turns out she’s a Philly strike. Oldest wheatie comes in @ 1927.
    Final muster -

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What does one do when they have a couple of hours to burn when the wife is running late coming home from work on a cool Fall afternoon? He goes hunt a couple of curb strips near a long-retired electric rail line stop. The results leaned more heavily on wheaties, but there was one silver highlight…


    Roll call:

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Final muster. Added a 1960-something copper to the bunch as all the wheaties are severely scorched.

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What does a guy do when the missus goes to play nine holes with her golf girlfriend? Let’s just say I didn’t lace up any golf shoes… A deal was struck as long as I was home by the time she returned.

    A respectable number of wheaties and one silver highlight made it worth the effort…

    Roll call:

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • GöttingerGöttinger Posts: 125 ✭✭✭

    What a beautiful find!

    I wish I could go detecting a few times before the weather gets too bad. But unfortunately lately detectorists are not so welcome in my area anymore because it came out that a local guy "forgot" to report a massive Roman hoard he found a few years ago....

  • MtW124MtW124 Posts: 446 ✭✭✭✭

    Great stuff!

  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 3, 2025 3:00AM

    @Göttinger said:
    What a beautiful find!

    I wish I could go detecting a few times before the weather gets too bad. But unfortunately lately detectorists are not so welcome in my area anymore because it came out that a local guy "forgot" to report a massive Roman hoard he found a few years ago....

    That is unfortunate Gottinger. Many of my hunts are on private property, and while there’s very little chance I’ll ever find a Roman coin hoard here, some of the locations offer the opportunity uncover old Spanish and/or early US coinage. Permission to hunt the properties comes from simple door knocking and talking to people, and co-worker or personal friend referral. I work with one of the largest employers in my county, and area friends/acquaintances are helpful also. For example, my tax preparer lives in one of the older communities in the area - some of the homes built in the early/mid 1800’s, and he has referred me to many of his client-neighbors, so it’s definitely a plus to know people who know people.

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • CharlotteDudeCharlotteDude Posts: 3,203 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Final muster:

    Got Crust....y gold?
  • GöttingerGöttinger Posts: 125 ✭✭✭

    @CharlotteDude said:

    @Göttinger said:
    What a beautiful find!

    I wish I could go detecting a few times before the weather gets too bad. But unfortunately lately detectorists are not so welcome in my area anymore because it came out that a local guy "forgot" to report a massive Roman hoard he found a few years ago....

    That is unfortunate Gottinger. Many of my hunts are on private property, and while there’s very little chance I’ll ever find a Roman coin hoard here, some of the locations offer the opportunity uncover old Spanish and/or early US coinage. Permission to hunt the properties comes from simple door knocking and talking to people, and co-worker or personal friend referral. I work with one of the largest employers in my county, and area friends/acquaintances are helpful also. For example, my tax preparer lives in one of the older communities in the area - some of the homes built in the early/mid 1800’s, and he has referred me to many of his client-neighbors, so it’s definitely a plus to know people who know people.

    Congratulations, your friends and co-workers seem to offer you some great opportunities to persue your hobby! I wish you very good luck to find some early American and colonial era coins and artefacts.

    In my country it does not really matter if you are on public land or on a private permission - certain finds have to get reported to the authorities and as soon as you realize what you have found, you need to leave the item(s) in situe for the archeologists. Also the forest and unploughed meadows are legally off limits, even if they are privately owned and the owner gave you permission to detect there. If you primarily search for any kind of old relics or want to search on / near places of even the slightest historic relevance, you need to apply for a license to be allowed there.

    If you make a find wich is relevant enough that you need to report it, you will not receive any compensation.

    So the rules are strict - probably even a little too strict - but I suppose we need certain rules to protect our historical and cultural heritage...

    If every detectorist in my country would stick to these rules, life would be way easier and the public image of our hobby would profit aswell. But there will always be some reckless diggers who don't really care about the hisorical relevance of the stuff they are unearthing.

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