Obtainable Coin Types (In your area)

[Westernlegend1]

Sometimes we find a coin type that we never had on our lists. Sometimes the unexpected happens.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Generally I have found the silver quarters were one of the least found coin types. In fact the types of areas I prefered to hunt produced more seated and barber quarters than the washington silver ones. Another interesting fact is all those wheat cents that turn up, I have only dug one standing quarter. Maybe this is due to the fact that those places were hunted for about 30 years before I got into this hobby. That and those quarters being larger were easier to find.

 

[history_freak]

I live in Croatia, Dalmatia, Split.
Dalmatia was under ancient Rome so there could be something old. My town is called Split. The Center of town is Diokletians palace which is 1700 years old. There is Salona and Diokletians sewer which is above ground. I will search that one time. I don't have metal detector but 1-2 years ago I found a gold button I think. I will post a picture soon when I get my camera.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Interesting posting about sewers, back where I use to live there was a story about some local project involving the sewer system. The story goes that some old coins were found where the old sections were dug up.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The realization that some older types of coins were possible to find in my old home area lead to hunting for them. The older coins seemed to be deeper and this prompted me to quit hunting in city parks. I had to find spots where the older dirt was exposed. The older dirt appeared to be darker than the rest of the top soil. In the mid-west it looked black, dirt/soil conditions do differ in other parts of the country. Once a person finds the deeper older dirt one needs to dig all postive signals. Doing so is important for several reasons, one being the older coin types read lower than the modern counter-parts. An example is the modern nickle compared to the buffalo or liberty and shield types. Another hard to find coin type is the 3 cent nickle, this coin reads in the foil range. If memory serves me correctly on the Whites MXT this is a 8-10 V.D.I.

 

[Orlando Auction]

North vs. South

What is everyones opinions on the north east vs. the "old" south? Being in Florida, It seems folks up north find more old coins.

 

[Westernlegend1]

What is everyones opinions on the north east vs. the "old" south? Being in Florida, It seems folks up north find more old coins.

I will post a reply to this question. 90% of metal detectorists do not post on forums. So if we take our numbers from what we see being posted on forums then we start out with inaccurate numbers to begin with. Ask folks you see metal detecting if they are members of internet forums related to the hobby. I have found that most I ask do not even realize that there is such a thing as metal detecting forums. Looking at the numbers of members of several of the major metal detecting sites I have noticed many members are members of several sites and even have the same names. I would guess there are 10,000-13,000 forum members total on the sites for this hobby. I do believe the companies that produce our toys have sold many times this number. So I believe the finds I see posted whatever part of the country are but a small portion of what has been and is being found.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The first of those older nickel types as I remember. I believe the first older nickel that I found was with a low cost machine. The coin was in a boulevard strip, there was a little spot where the grass and topsoil was removed. I got a decent signal and out popped a 1916 D Buffalo. The nice part was even though the coin was dark there was a strong date and a full horn. The second buffalo was found in a old school yard off the beaten path. Once my pal and I saw the place we just had to stop and hunt it for a while. This buffalo was one of the few coins found there, it turned out to be a 1917. Looking back after several years I was amazed at the number of older buffalo?s that had readable dates, most are worn off.

 

[wedjlok]

I live in Florida and thought that it was a bit odd to have found a 1933, 5 Franc piece. Weird, but interesting considering that the area that I found it in was the woods where there was not really anything more than an old Seminole Indian encampment with no real historical evidence that I could find of any French settlements ever being there.

 

[Westernlegend1]

I don?t recall what year my first Liberty nickel was, but the important thing is the feeling we all experience when we find an older coin type that we had not dug up till that point in our metal detecting adventure. So lets move on to the shield nickels. The place I had lived at was old enough to have these types in abundance. It took about 2 seasons of metal detecting to find the first one. After that they became common finds. The secret was to find a location where they were commonly used and lost. In my case this was the sidewalk tear up. The older part of town had old wooden boards walks and these were upgraded to cement ones over the years. After years of trees growing and frost causing the walks to crack or heave the city decided to replace many sections. Even the advent of handicap access cause many sections to be remodeled. The corners of the blocks produce the most dropped older coins. Another good producing spot in a walk replacement project is where the old bus or better yet trolley stops were located. In the case of an old trolley stop all the coins from over 100 years ago remain to this day. Take the time over the frozen winter months to research where these were located. Another sound piece of advice is to never over look a single section, sure a series of sections has more potential, but I have heard of a fellow in Minnesota who found a gold coin in such a location. This was related to me from a Rochester, Minnesota friend who was hunting with the fortunate individual.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The shield nickles

These are generally low reading coins, I believe I might have posted they read about 14-18 on the MXT. A detector such as the bounty hunter models this would be foil/pulltab. Most of mine were worn, the first was just a fairly smooth disk with just enough detail to be able to make out that it was a coin. I do remember that moment of holding it in my hand and spitting on it and seeing that I had finally found one. Later I was to find a good spot that produced two that were dropped close togather. They might of been dropped by the same person or they just could of been dropped by seperate people a year or two apart. The years of those were 1869 and 1868.
Another one I do recall finding had read at a 8 on the mxt but this was most likely caused by being on edge. This coin was a latter dated one I remember. The side walk was removed and I was hunting along and had a low positive reading, thinking it was a wind blown piece of foil barely covered by soil, I scraped the dirt with my foot and there it was.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The 3-cent nickel

The 3-cent nickels
This was one of the obtainable coin types that was on my list. I ended up finding three in a one-year period. This coin will read at about an 8-10 on the MXT. Bounty Hunter machines it is a foil range reading. The story of finding my first one of these actually starts out where I ended up finding the third of the three, which was kind of weird.
In less than 2 years of being involved in this hobby, I was detecting an area where some houses were torn down, the yards were shaved down in preparation for the pouring of the foundation to a new apartment complex. I received at screw cap reading and dug a gold coin. So what does a gold coin have to do with finding a 3-cent nickel? Well, it went like this, the gold coin was found and it was the first one ever recorded as being found in the town I use to live in. There was a famous cache found in the old hometown and there were reports of gold coins being found by folks panning the mud off the decks of an old steamboat that had sunk in the Mississippi River 130 and years ago. But the gold coin I had found was the first recorded as being found in the city. I had only told about three folks about it, but news traveled fast and folks ending up informing me of a twenty dollars gold piece that was found by someone metal detecting. The truth was it was a Half Eagle. But word leaking out had caused it to become a little more difficult to receive permission to metal detect.
Moving ahead about 6 months later a corner lot in the heart of the oldest part of town was also being redone for another new building. I stopped and asked for permission to metal detect and the fella in charge told me that the last time someone had metal detected at one of their construction sites someone had found a gold coin worth $1600. I looked this guy in the face and told him that must be the one I heard about. He paused and said, “Aw just go ahead if you find anything I want you to show me before you leave.” I said thanks and started to hunt. Near a corner I received a low positive signal and out popped a dull grayish small coin. I looked at it and saw it was a 3 center (1873) and in great shape too? I stuck it in my pocket and before I left I showed the guy in charge my collection of old bits of brass I had also dug.
The important lesson here was word of a great find can cause folks to not let you detect. Also put the good stuff in a different pocket. Who knows this fellow might of claimed the old coin was his. More later.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The next 3-cent piece was found at a location about ? of a mile away. It was in a spot where two sections of sidewalk were being replaced. I was detecting and received a positive signal reading about 8-10 on the MXT. I looked down at the spot and there it was lying right on top. Anyone walking by could of picked this coin up! This coin and many others can be found lying on top of the ground at these types of sites that I post about in this thread. All it takes is the availability of older dirt, a project of modern times and a dash of rain and these older coins are washed clean and exposed to those who take the time to search for them. Oh, the coin in this case, yet another 1873 date.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The third 3-cent piece was found in the yard right next to the project where the gold coin was found, but a year later or so. I was at that time night hunting with the MXT and got a high tone. I dug for the target and got it in my hand. In the dark without a light it felt like a dime and being dark I had no idea where the V.D.I. numbers read on it. After I had gotten into my car for the ride home, I checked the coin out and found it was dated 1865 and in great shape. Course being nickel and dark the value of the coin was nowhere near what the blue or red book stated for detail remaining. If it was not dark it would rate in at XF condition, but due to the discoloration it was most likely a very strong ?G? grade. Would most have dug this low reading? Those who hunt these types of sights are among the few who realize the valuable old items that read in the lower ranges. I considered myself lucky to have found three of these coins in the space of a calendar year. In the past on another site I had seen about two of these posted over the same time period. This coin type is a rare find and speaks well of the skill of the detectorist, as a side note it also reads in the range of the gold one dollar piece another of the truly hard to find coin types.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Fattys

As long as we are covering low reading coin types, the next one I shall post about is the Fatty Indian Head Cents. Theses are the copper/nickle varities and for those who do not know it they read in at about the pull-tab range.
So the next post will cover some of those finds I remember. They are fun and interesting coins to dig, I hope the posts I am making help others to get their share too.

 

[beerdoodle]

southern ILL

Interesting posting about sewers, back where I use to live there was a story about some local project involving the sewer system. The story goes that some old coins were found where the old sections were dug up.

was where the septic tank collapsed and the contractor hired to dig up and replace the tank uncovered a huge cache of gold coins. Seems like this was back in the mid 80,s. No metal detector and pure luck, but those caches are still out there.

 

[Westernlegend1]

"Fatty" Indian Head Cents

The first of the ?fatty? Indian head cents that I found was at a site where a house was torn down and an apartment complex was being built. The topsoil was for the most part removed and I was using a low end Bounty Hunter model. I received a pull-tab range signal and dug down to find an 1863 Indian Head Cent. It was in pretty good shape with a full liberty and no corrosion. Like anyone that has found one of these for the first time, I was impressed with how thick the coin was. The reason that I was digging a signal that would normally be a piece of trash was because in these locations many older items of value could be found that where worth a nice bit of money to collectors. The odd non-coin finds that these sites produced ranged from tokens to dog tax tags and even Civil War coat and cuff buttons. It pays to check any positive reading signals in locations where the older dirt is exposed.
Other ?fatty?s? were dug over time, many were found where sidewalks were replaced and even where road construction projects were taking place, after all in the old days when the coins were dropped the roads were dirt. Good luck on hunting these interesting coins that were not produced for too many years. Find the spots where they are lying waiting for you and you will discover many other coins from that era.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The Twenty Cent Piece

The Twenty Cent Piece​

I will post about this coin type that has been on my dream list at this time. The area I had lived in should have had a couple of these around. I never found my own, but I did hear of one being found by a hunting buddy, at least the story of one. The fellow belonged to a detecting club in Minnesota. One day he went to the club meeting and placed his entry, his find paled in comparison to a seated quarter a fellow member had entered. My friend had thought there was something odd about the coin and looked at it closer. It turns out the find was a Twenty Cent Piece! Till then the finder did not even realize it. The guy had found it just before the club meeting and rushed home to get ready for the meeting. The particulars are as follows; the hunt site was a court house lawn and the detectorist received a signal and at four inches dug a Type I buffalo nickel (1913), re-scanned the hole and got another signal, about 2 inches down was the supposed seated quarter. He then left to get ready for the club meeting. This all happened 15-18 years ago. My friend who had told me this has detected for 34 years and has never found a twenty cent piece yet, and has never heard of another either. The general belief was both of these coins in one hole were dropped years apart. On the phone today we talked about this coin type and both remember seeing only one other having been posted on another site in the past. They are rare to find, but are out there, maybe someday you or someone you know will turn up one.

 

[Westernlegend1]

A Tale of Two Gold Coins​

This is a true story of a friend of mine and his brother-in-law who did a little metal detecting back in the early 1990?s. The one fellow had done a little bit of library research and discovered that a certain school yard in I believe Rochester, Minnesota had at one time been a business area in the old days. He went and detected the area of the flag pole and found a $5 gold piece, I am sure there were other older coins found during his hunt, but the gold one was the big news. Folks converged on the site and the rush was on when word leaked out. In time things settled down and the incident was forgotten.
One year to the day latter, the fellow who found the gold coin was hunting with his brother-in-law (my friend) and had a friendly wager on who would find the first old coin. My friend (Bruce) crossed the street and proceeded to hunt the schoolyard in the area of the flagpole. He received a signal and dug a $5 gold piece. His brother-in-law could not believe it, the second gold coin was found on the exact day, only one year latter than his, and within 10 feet of the first one!
This was even more amazing considering the first wave of detectorist?s had pounded the area after the first gold coin was discovered. Needless to say another wave of optimists descended upon the site, metal detectors in hand, but nothing in the way of gold coins were ever reported having been found there since.
I believe the gold coins were dated something like 1907 and 1909 if I correctly remember the story. I do know that Bruce?s made Western and Eastern?s Silver and Gold issue, I think it was one of the early 1990?s issues.
So how is it that so many passed over the second gold coin?

 

[Westernlegend1]

Seated Quarter Finds Part 1

Seated Quarter Finds​

I remember talking to my friend Bruce about finding seated quarters, he told me a certain section of my home town would produce a few of these once they redo some of the sidewalk sections. He was to be proven correct later when the chance arose to hunt the newly exposed virgin dirt layers. Once the project was underway these layers were exposed for the first time since the invention of the metal detector. I will post about some of those that stand out in my memory.