Obtainable Coin Types (In your area)

[Westernlegend1]

More Hecklers and Scoffers

Hecklers and Scoffers Part 2​

This is yet another ironic thing that happened to my friend Bruce. A few years back he was hunting in a mid-western town at a sidewalk tear-up right in front of a coin dealer?s shop. Now most of us know what coin dealers think of our finds and what they will offer for them, but just put one of our finds in a holder and in his case and watch the value of that coin go up!
Well there he was hunting and the shop owner came out to watch. Right in front of the owner Bruce digs a nice Liberty Nickel. The thing was it was dated 1885! The owner not knowing what date is on the coin asks to see it. Bruce tosses the key-date coin to the coin dealer. When the dealer sees the date his eyes pop out and he offers $100 on the spot for it. Bruce ended up keeping the coin and now is the owner of two of them. Yes, he ended up finding a second one! I did tell you he is a better hunter than me didn?t I?

 

[Westernlegend1]

Hecklers and Scoffers Part 3

Hecklers and Scoffers Part 3​

I got to thinking and realized that the worst heckling I ever received came from the hands of fellow metal detectorists themselves! Back when I got into this hobby I had purchased that Bounty Hunter, actually from Radio Shack no less. That first year I ended up going to an organized hunt with a friend that also bought a Bounty Hunter. Here we were among about 60-80 people who metal detected and we were the only two with Bounty Hunters. You can imagine the ribbing we got over our so-called toys. We had never been to one of these things before, but did good enough at finding the shallow targets with our cheapies. One fellow told us he was getting one for future hunts. It seems that this low-end detector was great at shallow targets such as newly planted coins. On the other hand a high price unit needs the sensitivity turned down or one picks up deep trash as a good signal at the high speed one must hunt to get ones share of what is planted.
Still I did not like being treated like a joke. I did not go back until two years later, but when I did I took the Bounty Hunter and my new MXT. They remembered me and said, ?So, I see you up graded, it?s about time!? I told them yes, but I?ll never top my best find, it was then that I pulled out my gold coin. It might not of been a nice thing to do, but it sure felt good!

 

[Westernlegend1]

Good News

This weekend I talked to my friend John down in Texas, and he told me that he has logged in to the check out this thread. He likes what he sees and wishes that the site he is currently on will eventually get the ball rolling again. I told him to come on over full time, it's a great place here.
Also my friend Bruce is interested in the pictures of his finds being used in the thread. I told him when he emails them, include some details of finding them. I also told him it would be even better if he had the time to post them himself. Bruce is one of those people who likes to help others have success metal detecting.

 

[Westernlegend1]

A New Golden Age of Metal Detecting?

A New Golden Age of Metal Detecting?​

The nature of the talks on the phone I usually have with my friend John down in Texas revolves around the seeking of those deep older coins. This is the primary focus of the hunt type selection of my friend Bruce in Minnesota. I have gotten to the point where places to go to hunt have to be pretty lean, for me to even consider hunting a park or schoolyard. I figure this is all due to my own personal experiences of what I have found and where.
Every once in awhile John tells me of a story that he heard where someone somewhere out his way found a bunch of good ones and it happened to be where some of that deeper dirt was exposed. Looking back spots like that happened to be were Bruce and I first met. Are these just chance random happenings? We on occasion read posts and see pictures of the finds of others and sometimes they tell under what conditions they happened to discover those nice older finds.
I said to John, ?It?s just like the California gold rush, they picked the easy stuff, the bulk is still out there.? I wasn?t referring at the time to the 49ers; I was talking about those metal detectorists who hunted back in the day when almost every other coin was a silver one. He understood and agreed with me on this point. There are places out in the gold fields where old timers claim the mother lode was not even touched and is still waiting. Could it be your area holds a wealth of coins that are just under the reach of even the best machines available?
So what to do to get to those hypothetical coins beyond the reach of almost every machine on the market? Why let others do the work for you, I think it is just that easy. Watch for opportunities where you can just step in with any machine and make a haul. I remember an article in a Western and Eastern issue entitled, ?Follow the Bulldozer.? The fellow who wrote that one gave out a big secret and I ended up finding he really knew what he was talking about.

 

[Westernlegend1]

My (trip) hunt plans update

A call was placed to Mike about local tear-ups. Two houses were recently knocked down in a section of town just less than a block from where i got my gold coin. The big question that remains to be seen is how much top soil is removed in this area! I need a good 8 inches to reach the coins from the 1840's-1850's.
Also another site that Mike found a Civil War button has had a foundation put in for the new building going there. Mike runs his discrimation a bit high so this spot might produce a older nickel or two, and maybe something a little better.
On the down side the snow that is falling here in Montana could work it's way there about the time I arrive. We shall see, either way some pictures of the sites to post as samples would be good!

 

[Westernlegend1]

Hecklers and Scoffers Part 4

My First Internet Adventures​

This one is a real trip when one thinks about the beginning of my adventures on metal detecting forums. I had been metal detecting with that old Bounty Hunter for about a year and a half before I ever looked on the internet for something or other. I might have been searching for Treasure magazines or something similar. Well I found there were sites for those who hunted coins and such and you could post stuff on them and talk to others. Seeing as how I was pretty much alone in the hobby in my area I decided to join one of these sites. It might have been a mistake to go about things the way I did. I posted old stuff, civil war relics and other good stuff. Some one asked where I found the Civil War relics and I posted Wisconsin. They asked what machine I used and I posted a Bounty Hunter I bought at Radio Shack.
Next thing I knew some fella was posting: ?Hey everybody we going to let this clown get away with this?? then he posted: ?When is the last time anyone here posted a gold coin?? Then he posted: ?Most of us have hunted 30 years and never found a gold coin.?
The moderator had to step in and do what needed to be done, Yes, all my posts and pictures were deleted off their site! I still remember that moderators words, ?No newbee is going to come on here and post finds I can only dream of!? So if someone feels they got some rather shabby treatment on a metal detecting site, I can relate!

 

[Westernlegend1]

Well after that first internet adventure I figured that maybe I needed a better name than "Idjit Savant."

 

[6000 Di Pro]

The people and moderator on the other website probably felt you were jumpin' there claim(: Sounds like there was a lot of jealousy from them about the finds you were making. Most of the finds today happen by either Luck, researched information, or just plain stumble upon them by being in the right place at the right time.

The last 3 times i've been out with my brother and went to spots that i have "found" through quite a few hours of research and talking to the old timers over 80 years old has resulted in some old finds and some nice one's on his part by me putting in the time. Certainly now i wouldn't do that work for some stranger every time/unless they wanted to work on the piece's of the puzzle with me so to say. My brother robert always kinda tease's me and says let me know next time you get another spot. Hey the last 3 times out he's found $60(Valued) coins each time we've gone to "my Spot". In some of those spots you couldn't pay someone to detect as there so brushy that the saplings are coming up 2' apart and you can't really do a search pattern/But the coins are there.

I've been to other spots out in the woods though that i've put 20-30 hours into detecting only to find remnents of the activity and a newer jefferson nickel (Probably from a hunter or hiker?) to show for my efforts/but hey you never know what your going to run into. You could be in your hands and knees all day long digging Barbers and shields all day-Just never know=Maybe a gold coin or two in this area also??..
Kevin

 

[Ed in KC]

Missed Opportunities

Western, I wish I could have some how stumbled upon your posts around May of 2006, because that's when I started a large project in the heart of downtown Kansas City, where several square blocks were completely removed--buildings, sidewalks, and streets. Spring of 2007, at the very last place that was still exposed, while digging a trench for some conduits, my operator dug into some kind of old wooden beam, I made a joke about it being part of Daniel Boone's old cabin, and the next thing it's 9:30 pm and I'm out buying a metal detector. Too late!

 

[Westernlegend1]

Western, I wish I could have some how stumbled upon your posts around May of 2006, because that's when I started a large project in the heart of downtown Kansas City, where several square blocks were completely removed--buildings, sidewalks, and streets. Spring of 2007, at the very last place that was still exposed, while digging a trench for some conduits, my operator dug into some kind of old wooden beam, I made a joke about it being part of Daniel Boone's old cabin, and the next thing it's 9:30 pm and I'm out buying a metal detector. Too late!

Well, you can hit the next one, Even I put off getting into this for too many years. I figure the best coins and the bulk of them are still out there.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Well, the trip is out of the question due to snow and bad roads and we never made it to the Big Pass on the way to Sheridan, Wyoming! Coming out the first time in May two years ago, we went over the pass at Buffalo, Wyoming and actually made it in a small Ford Contour. On the other side folks were stunned due to they recieved 10-12 inches of snow on the elevations. We make our plans and God laughs!

 

[Westernlegend1]

Has anyone ever had a treasure found in their very own hometown? We had that happen back in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, now this was before I ever got into detecting for the stuff. It still amazes me how when this happened the whole thing got blown out of proportion. Still to this day when folks talk about it, the amount found is much greater than what was actually discovered. I guess I'll do a little story called, "The Merchant Prince" after all that is what they called him, he ended up dying a pauper.

 

[Westernlegend1]

The Merchant Prince A True Story

The Merchant Prince ​

Mons Anderson was his name and he came to LaCrosse in 1851. He made a sizeable sum in the garment industry and in 1864, he bought an elegant mansion located at 4th and Cass Street. He then became known as the Merchant Prince of the City. In 1905 he died and at the time he was considered penniless.
The state placed the mansion on the historical list and it was bought by a resident and in 1983 a restoration project was begun. Little attention was given to the house or who once owned it, and certainly if anyone was asked who Mons Anderson was, only a handful of people in a city of 40,000 would have had the answer.
But that all change when the workers found under the kitchen floor a blacken kettle. Inside the kettle was an old metal bank, when opened, out spilled gold coins! News spread like wild fire! The local newspapers carried the story, and up and down the Mississippi River Valley it grew with every telling of the tale. People with little knowledge of coin values were interviewed about these coins that they in fact had never even seen. Estimated values ran high, some into the hundreds of thousands of dollars! For the safety of the gold coins, they were taken into custody by the District Attorney’s Office and the Local Police Department. Little was said about the one coin that mysteriously disappeared!
What was really found that day?
The actual contents of the old metal bank were as follows: 7-$20 gold pieces, 6-$10 gold pieces, and 23-$5 gold coins. Imagine only $315 dollars caused all this fuss! Most folks earn at least that much a week! Does that tell one what effect gold can have? Maybe the mysterious missing gold coin was the real pearl here? For some reason that remains unknown still to this day someone just had to have it. Could it have been the cause of the estimated values that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars?

 

[Westernlegend1]

I just did a search on the internet for the Mons Anderson House. What I found was a link to an article where the owner of the house at the time of the gold coin discovery is now complaining that city planning is wrecking her business and she threatens to abandon the property.
Another link to a story stated the old gas station next door, might be torn down and they mentioned that the site was once the garden to the original Mons Anderson House! Now I hope I'm in LaCrosse when they tear that one down!
Go Google and type in: Mons Anderson House Lacrosse

 

[Westernlegend1]

Does anyone reconize any of these guys in this photo? Two of them are some pretty neat fellas. I met them at a hunt in Stevens Point Wisconsin.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Two days ago I found the password to my e-mail address and managed to open it up. I expected mostly junk mail which was the case. But there dated Oct 8th was a very interesting one from another site. This is from the site that said I stole my articles off their web page and that they had paid for them. I requested a proof of payment from them and we heard nothing.
But check this email out!
Sender: "Treasure Quest" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: TQ Website Contact Form
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 17:19:48 -0400
To: "pete netzel" <[email protected]>

What is it your wanting? How much will it cost to take TQ back to #1

 

[Westernlegend1]

My price is much too high for most folks to pay. The Truth is a rare item.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Anyone can do what I can do, so why do some think that I have the ability to make a site number one?
This site Gometaldetecting.com is full of good people, where I come from there were less good people. Here I started the "Obtainable Coin Types (in your area)" thread. So what made this thread hit over 2,000 views? The answer is simple. First everyone remembers their first coin found and wanting to find older coins. The topic is one everybody can relate to! It is full of tips and stories of everyday metal detectorist's who went and done what every who hasn't yet and wants to. An inspiring thread to read and when you find some of those older coins you can add them to the thread. It is just that simple!

 

[Westernlegend1]

Thoughts about that First Year Part 1

When I hunted that first year, or season as I like to think of them (from the ground being diggable to frost setting in). I was just getting those clad coins with a few older ones on occasion mixed in. But one thing I did notice was it seemed like there was at least a couple of bucks in change in every yard. Seeing as how there were a couple of thousand house yards in the town I lived in. It was a simple decuction that there was a easy couple of thousand to make off a purchase of a $200 detector.
But who had the time to hit them all? And was this even pratical? Getting all that permission, sure most said it was ok, and I got to hunt. But most folks will find getting the go ahead doesn't happen often. Just looking at what can be recovered from places one gets to hunt, it is just a matter of time before the cost of what ever unit one gets is paid for.

 

[Westernlegend1]

I think the fastest way to pay for that first unit one purchases is in the area of the collectibles. These are the tokens and other what's-its that everyone does find. It is also one of the easiest ways to make a rare find that has high value too. Just look at all of the little things that have value that we run across!