Looking somewhat familiar but can not figure out what this is or what it's from.
Cast iron weighs 140 grams, 3 7/8" long x 7/8" wide x 1/2" thick at the ends... the bend looks centered so probably made that way.
Anyone else seen something like this?
Found in the Arizona desert.
Yesterday, the mid-Atlantic received over an inch of much-needed rain, which kept me indoors or running errands most of the day. This morning, the skies parted and allowed me to roll out just before sunrise to hit an old park that’s been on my research radar for a while now. I could tell the usual “trafficked” areas had already been pounded hard after @ an hour of swinging the Manticore in/around some of the trails. I then scouted and decided to move over to an “off the grid” area that was cleared, but a little bushier in grass maintenance. After swinging several measured passes, the Manticore pinged on a couple of wheaties, and then I hit paydirt.
After making another turn, this one started pinging a 92-93. Pulled the plug and found it peeking out…
What does one do when they leave work early and the late evening & weekend threaten a rain/snow mix? Ya get out and sling the Manticore for a couple of hours back at the park that yielded two silver Washies the weekend prior…
Amid hitting mostly copper memorial cents and a few clad dimes & quarters, a couple more goodies popped up….
Rosie:
You are absolutely killing it! 6 silvers already and the year has just begun.
I hope the waether in your region will allow you to continue with your hunts all winter long.
@Göttinger said:
You are absolutely killing it! 6 silvers already and the year has just begun.
I hope the waether in your region will allow you to continue with your hunts all winter long.
Thanks G. The forecast for the weekend has been calling for sleet & rain today, and then snow tomorrow, so breaking free from work yesterday likely presented the only opportunity all weekend to get out. Winters in the mid-Atlantic states can be hit & miss… with groups of stormy/windy days in the 20’s & 30’s, followed by sunny days in the 40’s & 50’s, and sometimes pushing the 60’s.
In meantime, here’s the final muster from yesterday:
As of yesterday afternoon, the prospects of getting out today for some hunting did not look good. Rain, changing to sleet and finally snow, with the next morning temps in the low 20’s usually equates to staying in or pursuing other activities on a long weekend. Fortunately, the snow didn’t amount to much, and with temps forecast to climb into the balmy low-40’s, I thought I’d venture back out to the same park I’ve visited the previous two times once the sun was up. This time, I focused on a large swath of cleared area, where the grass was allowed to grow a little “bushy”. The area paid off big time…
The first good hit turned out to be two Mercs, nestled together in the same spot:
Next reveal was a shocker… only pinging at @ 2” depth, causing the manticore to scream in the 94-95 range. I was almost certain it was a piece of junk metal, but noooo… first big silver for 2026!
The next good target was pinging a solid 84-85:
And then another… not a foot away from the one just found:
And finally another… about 2 feet from the previous one:
There was one other interesting find that I couldn’t tell if it was some type of token, or a large copper. Upon getting it home, I’m leaning towards it being a large cent.
Roll call with the “mystery copper”:
It was an excellent outing, even more so since I was debating on going out at all.
@CharlotteDude said:
As of yesterday afternoon, the prospects of getting out today for some hunting did not look good. Rain, changing to sleet and finally snow, with the next morning temps in the low 20’s usually equates to staying in or pursuing other activities on a long weekend. Fortunately, the snow didn’t amount to much, and with temps forecast to climb into the balmy low-40’s, I thought I’d venture back out to the same park I’ve visited the previous two times once the sun was up. This time, I focused on a large swath of cleared area, where the grass was allowed to grow a little “bushy”. The area paid off big time…
The first good hit turned out to be two Mercs, nestled together in the same spot:
Next reveal was a shocker… only pinging at @ 2” depth, causing the manticore to scream in the 94-95 range. I was almost certain it was a piece of junk metal, but noooo… first big silver for 2026!
The next good target was pinging a solid 84-85:
And then another… not a foot away from the one just found:
And finally another… about 2 feet from the previous one:
There was one other interesting find that I couldn’t tell if it was some type of token, or a large copper. Upon getting it home, I’m leaning towards it being a large cent.
Roll call with the “mystery copper”:
It was an excellent outing, even more so since I was debating on going out at all.
$1.00 face in silver. That is a day to celebrate. Congrats.
Agreed @No Headlights. I consider any day I’m able to recover even one silver a good one, so I was feeling very fortunate to pull six…, plus the large cent yesterday. From what I can make out of it, she appears to be of the “Matron Head” design from the 1816-1838 time period, although I can’t make out a date.
Final muster:
@CharlotteDude said:
Agreed @No Headlights. I consider any day I’m able to recover even one silver a good one, so I was feeling very fortunate to pull six…, plus the large cent yesterday. From what I can make out of it, she appears to be of the “Matron Head” design from the 1816-1838 time period, although I can’t make out a date.
Final muster:
Do you collect series from the coins you have found? I found that added some extra enjoyment to the hobby. A common date coin that filled a hole was added excitement. I enjoy your posts. I don't get out as much as in my youth but still enjoy the occasional dirt diving. Best wishes.
Jim
@No Headlights - “ Do you collect series from the coins you have found?”
I do. While my collecting pursuits have mostly centered on early and branch-mint gold, I have put together and completed a complete 1932-1964 set of circulated Washington quarters from mostly detecting finds, with a few side purchases ( ie, 32-D & 32-S), and stared a set of Mercs and Standing Liberty Qtrs.
@lordmarcovan said:
Keep 'em beepin', y'all! Love the "down n' dirty" action shots!
Will do, as soon as I can find the ground again!
You should see it up North further into CT.
We got about 20 inches of snow and no sign of melting soon either. I finally put my detector in the closet for the Springtime. Too cold for this old man.
@lordmarcovan said:
Keep 'em beepin', y'all! Love the "down n' dirty" action shots!
Will do, as soon as I can find the ground again!
You should see it up North further into CT.
We got about 20 inches of snow and no sign of melting soon either. I finally put my detector in the closet for the Springtime. Too cold for this old man.
They got 15.6 in. At the airport in ct. It brought us to an almost standstill. Just the same irs over 🙂
Does anyone live near Jack London State Park in Sonoma County, California? I'd like to do some detecting near Jack London's old estate. I asked the park docents if anyone has found anything, and they were rather vague about it. Im sure there a ton of coins and stuff near his old farmhouse and the swimming hole (London Lake).
“When you don't know what you're talking about, it's hard to know when you're finished.” - Tommy Smothers
After nearly a month hiatus due to a major snow/ice storm in January (there's STILL snow/ice in places from it) and a week-long trip to Aruba, I was able to get out again this morning, hitting a 1930's permission I've had lined-up for weeks. Today's high temp reached @ 50 degrees w/lots of sun... a window of opportunity before the next winter storm is expected to roll onto the mid-Atlantic coast, bringing more snow.
Starting off the morning with a Merc peeking through, which appeared to be in surprisingly good shape -
Next up is a Washie....
Check out Washington's "head" imprinted in the dirt towards the bottom of the image, after breaking the clump open:
Reverse shot, with the imprint to the right:
Next, the glimpse of a silvery rim is visible... Rosie dime:
Finally, another Merc which I had to wrangle out from under the root in the image:
Had to take an unexpected trip to my home state of NC for @ week to assist in some family matters, but managed to get out a couple of times to get some fresh air and swing the Manticore…
First up is a Rosie:
Then another Rosie:
Finally, this one is a toss up… ringing up a strong 84-85, and I was fairly confident it would be another silver dime, but it turned out to be something foreign… very likely silver:
Lastly, a couple days later, another spot yielded a Merc:
Temps in the mid-50’s after a rollercoaster week ranging from the 20’s to mid-80’s with an occasional tornado mixed beckoned me out to cover a pair of properties dating back to the 30’s and early ‘40’s.
Rosie:
Merc, which also happened to be sitting in the hole with a wheatie:
Out for a brief hunt this morning in a cool, misty rain.. didn’t stay out long, but managed to recover a few good finds.
- Had to pry this Washie out from under a stubborn root… finally broke free.
Rain expected tomorrow, so decided to head out mid-morning today for a couple of hours… and I initially was hitting memorial cent and clad for a while. On the Manticore, a good silver dime signal will ring @82-83 rather consistently. While I did come across an occasional 84-85, the signals turned out to be what I to refer to as “yard trash”. Finally, I hit what I like to call a “tight” signal, ringing up at 82-83 consistently. When I pulled the plug, I hit it withe pin pointer… and just inside its bottom, I could see its rim peeking out.
Then, not one foot from that spot, another tight 82-83. Anticipation was building… again pulling the plug and just under the surface of its bottom…
After a few more rounds, I hit another “tight” 81-82… a bit better than the typical 80-81 I get with a clad Rosie. Managing expectations, I pulled the plug and it popped out. Had to do a double take as it was a bit darker than the typical silver dime…
Roll call… the Army rank insignia was an added bonus as it’s stamped as “sterling”,
Final muster.
The sterling silver rank (SSG, US Army) insignia looks like it was part of a pin for display purposes (due to the two eyelets), rather than one normally worn on a uniform. I’d forgotten about the sterling union pin, which soaked with all the other copper and clad finds overnight. Pretty cool piece of history - representing the Dallas Typographical Union No#173. The original recipient appears to have been a charter member from 1885-1910.
A mid-day appointment enabled me to get out of the office early today. Once some personal business was concluded, I was able to head back out to the location I began hunting this past weekend to get in a couple more hours. Most finds included a wheatie here and there, but the best one came right before I was about to wrap things up and head back home.
Yesterday, the wife played golf with her ladies league after work. What did I do? I went back out to the same spot as before… scouring adjacent to the spot where I found the darkly toned ‘27 Merc over the weekend. Hit a quarter signal… deep, although a couple earlier hits were deep and turned out to be clad. I almost mistook this one for another clad because it was so dark… a bit more than even the Merc I found on Saturday, only it was more “blue” than the burnt-crispy looking brown look that most clad have. Had to rub the date area a bit to confirm, and yup!
@CharlotteDude said:
Yesterday, the wife played golf with her ladies league after work. What did I do? I went back out to the same spot as before… scouring adjacent to the spot where I found the darkly toned ‘27 Merc over the weekend. Hit a quarter signal… deep, although a couple earlier hits were deep and turned out to be clad. I almost mistook this one for another clad because it was so dark… a bit more than even the Merc I found on Saturday, only it was more “blue” than the burnt-crispy looking brown look that most clad have. Had to rub the date area a bit to confirm, and yup!
Final muster from Tuesday’s & Thursday’s afternoon hunts. The oldest wheatie dates 1926. Unfortunately, I kissed the smack out of the Standing Lib @ 5 o’clock on the reverse, but happy I can at least read the date! The Washie turned out to be a San Fran product.
Another opportunity to get out on a cloudy morning yesterday for a short hunt, following a night of rain. I was fortunate to recover a couple more pieces of interest.
I think the sun came out for @ 20 minutes before the cloud cover came back. I had just hit a wheatie, and then this old guy only @ 1-2ft away.
Comments
Looking somewhat familiar but can not figure out what this is or what it's from.
Cast iron weighs 140 grams, 3 7/8" long x 7/8" wide x 1/2" thick at the ends... the bend looks centered so probably made that way.
Anyone else seen something like this?
Found in the Arizona desert.
Yesterday, the mid-Atlantic received over an inch of much-needed rain, which kept me indoors or running errands most of the day. This morning, the skies parted and allowed me to roll out just before sunrise to hit an old park that’s been on my research radar for a while now. I could tell the usual “trafficked” areas had already been pounded hard after @ an hour of swinging the Manticore in/around some of the trails. I then scouted and decided to move over to an “off the grid” area that was cleared, but a little bushier in grass maintenance. After swinging several measured passes, the Manticore pinged on a couple of wheaties, and then I hit paydirt.
After making another turn, this one started pinging a 92-93. Pulled the plug and found it peeking out…
Roll call:
Final muster… a bit surprised there were so few wheaties.
👍 nice
MIKE B.
What does one do when they leave work early and the late evening & weekend threaten a rain/snow mix? Ya get out and sling the Manticore for a couple of hours back at the park that yielded two silver Washies the weekend prior…
Amid hitting mostly copper memorial cents and a few clad dimes & quarters, a couple more goodies popped up….
Rosie:
And a third Washie from the same location:
Roll call:
You are absolutely killing it! 6 silvers already and the year has just begun.
I hope the waether in your region will allow you to continue with your hunts all winter long.
Thanks G. The forecast for the weekend has been calling for sleet & rain today, and then snow tomorrow, so breaking free from work yesterday likely presented the only opportunity all weekend to get out. Winters in the mid-Atlantic states can be hit & miss… with groups of stormy/windy days in the 20’s & 30’s, followed by sunny days in the 40’s & 50’s, and sometimes pushing the 60’s.
In meantime, here’s the final muster from yesterday:
We're still all frozen up here still. I can't wait to post something good here. Cool scores cd, I like
As of yesterday afternoon, the prospects of getting out today for some hunting did not look good. Rain, changing to sleet and finally snow, with the next morning temps in the low 20’s usually equates to staying in or pursuing other activities on a long weekend. Fortunately, the snow didn’t amount to much, and with temps forecast to climb into the balmy low-40’s, I thought I’d venture back out to the same park I’ve visited the previous two times once the sun was up. This time, I focused on a large swath of cleared area, where the grass was allowed to grow a little “bushy”. The area paid off big time…
The first good hit turned out to be two Mercs, nestled together in the same spot:
Next reveal was a shocker… only pinging at @ 2” depth, causing the manticore to scream in the 94-95 range. I was almost certain it was a piece of junk metal, but noooo… first big silver for 2026!
The next good target was pinging a solid 84-85:
And then another… not a foot away from the one just found:
And finally another… about 2 feet from the previous one:
There was one other interesting find that I couldn’t tell if it was some type of token, or a large copper. Upon getting it home, I’m leaning towards it being a large cent.
Roll call with the “mystery copper”:
It was an excellent outing, even more so since I was debating on going out at all.
$1.00 face in silver. That is a day to celebrate. Congrats.
Agreed @No Headlights. I consider any day I’m able to recover even one silver a good one, so I was feeling very fortunate to pull six…, plus the large cent yesterday. From what I can make out of it, she appears to be of the “Matron Head” design from the 1816-1838 time period, although I can’t make out a date.
Final muster:
Do you collect series from the coins you have found? I found that added some extra enjoyment to the hobby. A common date coin that filled a hole was added excitement. I enjoy your posts. I don't get out as much as in my youth but still enjoy the occasional dirt diving. Best wishes.
Jim
@No Headlights - “ Do you collect series from the coins you have found?”
I do. While my collecting pursuits have mostly centered on early and branch-mint gold, I have put together and completed a complete 1932-1964 set of circulated Washington quarters from mostly detecting finds, with a few side purchases ( ie, 32-D & 32-S), and stared a set of Mercs and Standing Liberty Qtrs.
Cheers,
‘dude
That matron coin always bring a smile here when I got them as well, wtg
Keep 'em beepin', y'all! Love the "down n' dirty" action shots!
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Will do, as soon as I can find the ground again!
You should see it up North further into CT.
We got about 20 inches of snow and no sign of melting soon either. I finally put my detector in the closet for the Springtime. Too cold for this old man.
They got 15.6 in. At the airport in ct. It brought us to an almost standstill. Just the same irs over 🙂
6-8 inches here in the mountains of Tennessee last night and this morning. Won't stay long but it's pretty. Be safe everyone.
You be safe as well 🙏
Does anyone live near Jack London State Park in Sonoma County, California? I'd like to do some detecting near Jack London's old estate. I asked the park docents if anyone has found anything, and they were rather vague about it. Im sure there a ton of coins and stuff near his old farmhouse and the swimming hole (London Lake).
I thought his house burned down before it was even occupied.
After nearly a month hiatus due to a major snow/ice storm in January (there's STILL snow/ice in places from it) and a week-long trip to Aruba, I was able to get out again this morning, hitting a 1930's permission I've had lined-up for weeks. Today's high temp reached @ 50 degrees w/lots of sun... a window of opportunity before the next winter storm is expected to roll onto the mid-Atlantic coast, bringing more snow.
Starting off the morning with a Merc peeking through, which appeared to be in surprisingly good shape -
Next up is a Washie....
Check out Washington's "head" imprinted in the dirt towards the bottom of the image, after breaking the clump open:
Reverse shot, with the imprint to the right:
Next, the glimpse of a silvery rim is visible... Rosie dime:
Finally, another Merc which I had to wrangle out from under the root in the image:
Roll call:
Final muster - most of the wheaties are from the '40's and '50's with a date from the teens, a '29 and a '33 representing the earlier years.
Had to take an unexpected trip to my home state of NC for @ week to assist in some family matters, but managed to get out a couple of times to get some fresh air and swing the Manticore…
First up is a Rosie:
Then another Rosie:
Finally, this one is a toss up… ringing up a strong 84-85, and I was fairly confident it would be another silver dime, but it turned out to be something foreign… very likely silver:
Lastly, a couple days later, another spot yielded a Merc:
Don't recognize it. I would think Morocco or somewhere else in North Africa.
How did it clean up? Love so see more detail ( I'm thinking Turkish, will see )
Looks like a ¼ Riyal from Saudi-Arabia to me - 3 grams of .916 silver.
Final muster… @Göttinger nailed it. It’s a 1935 Saudi 1/4 Riyal, minted by the British Royal Mint on behalf of the Saudi Kingdom.
That Saudi riyal is way cool 🙂
Temps in the mid-50’s after a rollercoaster week ranging from the 20’s to mid-80’s with an occasional tornado mixed beckoned me out to cover a pair of properties dating back to the 30’s and early ‘40’s.
Rosie:
Merc, which also happened to be sitting in the hole with a wheatie:
Final muster:
A lovely day with temps eventually climbing into the 70’s, starting with a little fog, giving way to sunny skies.
First up, a Washie that has seen a few miles…
Next, a Merc hanging out in the edge of the hole…
Then a Rosie pulled out in the bottom of the plug…
Once the fog cleared, the sun took over w/cloudless skies, revealing another Washie…
Roll call… I think the medallion is sterling. Will confirm after cleanup.
Final muster… the ‘54 shows pretty well having been in the ground as long as it likely has.
It be nice if that 1914 cent had a D on it, next time 👍
Out for a brief hunt this morning in a cool, misty rain.. didn’t stay out long, but managed to recover a few good finds.
- Had to pry this Washie out from under a stubborn root… finally broke free.
Them roots can be a royal pain. Glad ya found something
Final muster. The pendent and ring are both .925 silver. The wheaties start w/a 1925, 193(7), and then into the ’40’s & ‘50’s.
Made it out for a few hours this past weekend, which turned out to be fruitful.
A very nice surprise:
And then,
And wrapping it up with,
Roll call,,,
Final muster…
Looks consistent to for good reasons, I like 👍
Rain expected tomorrow, so decided to head out mid-morning today for a couple of hours… and I initially was hitting memorial cent and clad for a while. On the Manticore, a good silver dime signal will ring @82-83 rather consistently. While I did come across an occasional 84-85, the signals turned out to be what I to refer to as “yard trash”. Finally, I hit what I like to call a “tight” signal, ringing up at 82-83 consistently. When I pulled the plug, I hit it withe pin pointer… and just inside its bottom, I could see its rim peeking out.
Then, not one foot from that spot, another tight 82-83. Anticipation was building… again pulling the plug and just under the surface of its bottom…
After a few more rounds, I hit another “tight” 81-82… a bit better than the typical 80-81 I get with a clad Rosie. Managing expectations, I pulled the plug and it popped out. Had to do a double take as it was a bit darker than the typical silver dime…
Roll call… the Army rank insignia was an added bonus as it’s stamped as “sterling”,
Final muster.
The sterling silver rank (SSG, US Army) insignia looks like it was part of a pin for display purposes (due to the two eyelets), rather than one normally worn on a uniform. I’d forgotten about the sterling union pin, which soaked with all the other copper and clad finds overnight. Pretty cool piece of history - representing the Dallas Typographical Union No#173. The original recipient appears to have been a charter member from 1885-1910.
A mid-day appointment enabled me to get out of the office early today. Once some personal business was concluded, I was able to head back out to the location I began hunting this past weekend to get in a couple more hours. Most finds included a wheatie here and there, but the best one came right before I was about to wrap things up and head back home.
Roll call:
Yesterday, the wife played golf with her ladies league after work. What did I do? I went back out to the same spot as before… scouring adjacent to the spot where I found the darkly toned ‘27 Merc over the weekend. Hit a quarter signal… deep, although a couple earlier hits were deep and turned out to be clad. I almost mistook this one for another clad because it was so dark… a bit more than even the Merc I found on Saturday, only it was more “blue” than the burnt-crispy looking brown look that most clad have. Had to rub the date area a bit to confirm, and yup!
Roll call:
its always nice to dig the silver, wtg
Final muster from Tuesday’s & Thursday’s afternoon hunts. The oldest wheatie dates 1926. Unfortunately, I kissed the smack out of the Standing Lib @ 5 o’clock on the reverse, but happy I can at least read the date! The Washie turned out to be a San Fran product.
Another opportunity to get out on a cloudy morning yesterday for a short hunt, following a night of rain. I was fortunate to recover a couple more pieces of interest.
I think the sun came out for @ 20 minutes before the cloud cover came back. I had just hit a wheatie, and then this old guy only @ 1-2ft away.
Roll call:
Final muster:
Love the way the quarter turned out, nice catch 👌