Gotta Dig the Zincoln Signals!

Very nice ! Great to see you're still getting out and finding the good stuff .Congrats !

Thanks, Soil Surgeon! The good find rate is definitely plummeting thanks to lack of time and new permissions with everything that's going on, but I'm making do with the local park which fortunately has some good history.
 
OOOooohhh, and I am especially envious of the pulltab on the upper left. How deep was it ? :jester:

And here I thought you'd be more enthralled with my snazzy in-situ pics :lol:

I know you're just bustin' my stones because of the novel I wrote over a key, Wheatie, and small ring, but since you asked ;)...

That pulltab was an annoyance because it was actually pretty deep - about 7 inches - and rang up as an ideal candidate for an old nickel. You see, it's no stage stop, but this park does have an interesting, worthwhile history, and I've dug several silvers, IHPs, and other older items from the 6-8" range in my recent visits, so I dig all signals that come up "deep" there. The headless beaver tail was the same kind of deal as the pull tab. It rang deeper (because of size), and I was hoping for an older nickel even though it rang slightly low. The bent/rusty nails were calculated, known risks on iffy signals.

Skippy, let's be totally honest here : You know that there's environments where "digging all the zinc penny signals" will get you what ? ZINC PENNIES (99.9999% of the time). Right ? I can take you to urban blighted junky parks, turn you loose to dig zinc penny signals all day, and guess what you will dig ? :roll: Thus, yes, If I'm deep-silver-hunting at a junky urban park, then yes, I'll pass shallow zinc. Might I miss a shallow silver ring ? SURE !

Versus other venues/locations like A) beaches after storm erosion has washed out all the light stuff (including light-weight zinc). Or a stage stop location in the middle-of-nowhere, that was totally abandoned after 1870, and no habitation since-then.

Thus, the TID (zinc or tab or penny or whatever) is only a small part of the equation. The much bigger part of the equation is: Location location location.

Sure, "location location location" is definitely key, and digging every signal in any park, regardless of its historical pedigree, is not my cup of tea. In this particular park, I almost always skip anything below a US penny signal other than the nickel range if the signal also appears shallower than about 6" inches. If a target is repeatable, has reasonably solid tones and VDI as I circle, and shows depth as 6" or more, I'll dig it as long as it rings up as non-ferrous. As can be seen in the picture, it keeps my trash pile pretty manageable. Plus, as I mentioned in one of the posts above, digging the occasional penny signal breaks up the monotony of the barrage of trash signals. Sure, it's usually just a Zincoln as advertised, but I'm personally okay with the limited rate of return when that occasional ring or other goody pops out.

I'd rather be hunting a stage stop, old Victorian home, or a ghost town site turned farm field, but for now, I'm not going to be doing any door knocking for new permissions, so I'm going to be excessively reliant on parks until Ohio's shelter-in-place is lifted, especially while my free time is short. For me, I don't mind occupying myself by digging some Zincolns in between the deeper signals for the possibility to nab a couple rings - but I also understand that others would rather stay home and do something else.
 
Pretty little red stones! Did one of your daughters lay claim to that ring. I noticed the deep rim and the missing letters on that one wheat penny interesting.
 
I should have spotted this post earlier. The little ring practically jumped out at me, screaming "KIDDIEGEM!" One look at the markings confirmed it. Even though they come in many variations, they have a certain look. I've dug 3 or 4 Kiddiegem rings in my town in the last couple years. Always a welcome find. I think the stones are always glass, but just digging a little ring with a colorful stone setting, a big STERLING mark, and the name "Kiddiegem", is a special thing.
Having said all that, I say the error wheat cent is the highlight of your hunt! Very unusual find! Glad to see it is good condition too!
 
It is COMPLETELY true that when you have exhausted all other options to find the targets you WANT, in order to hunt and come home with anything perhaps worth mentioning, you have to now dig the signals you GET. I’m on board man, that’s every public place within 50 miles of my house! If you don’t know, OnXHunt is the best app out there to show WHAT is public land and what isn’t. It’s a resource that can open up small areas you never knew you could possibly hunt, so when school is done for the day check it out!
You did pretty damn well for the type of place you’re talking about, and trust me, I know what you’re talking about! It’s a good thing to hunt places like that, because you become a wily-er coyote, and a more skilled hunter doesn’t have to rely on “gimmes” or “permissions”. You did great. There should be a huge degree of satisfaction from that.
 
Cool finds! The wheat with high rim and wear in spots is typical of a “dryer” coin, stuck in a cloths dryer spinning round and round for who knows how long.
 
Pretty little red stones! Did one of your daughters lay claim to that ring. I noticed the deep rim and the missing letters on that one wheat penny interesting.

Thanks Dan! Yep, my 11 year old has been dropping hints multiple times a day...once she heard it was a “Kiddiegem” ring, her eyes lit up! “See Daddy, it was meant for my finger....” :laughing:

Like the ring and I'd say it is an older one, congrats on the wheat also!

Thanks aviationgale - yes, I’m thinking the ring is likely 30s or 40s. Later examples of the the Uncas “Kiddiegem” rings seem to all have a slightly different look and script to the logo. Sure was a fun find and hunt!
 
...The little ring practically jumped out at me, screaming "KIDDIEGEM!" One look at the markings confirmed it. Even though they come in many variations, they have a certain look. I've dug 3 or 4 Kiddiegem rings in my town in the last couple years. Always a welcome find. I think the stones are always glass, but just digging a little ring with a colorful stone setting, a big STERLING mark, and the name "Kiddiegem", is a special thing.
Having said all that, I say the error wheat cent is the highlight of your hunt! Very unusual find! Glad to see it is good condition too!

Thanks Foragist! Yep, as soon as I saw DougF’s posts mentioning the partial name, I remembered seeing some posts about them in the past and I was able to find some more info on them pretty quickly. Agreed, even as glass, it was cool to see those little red “stones” glisten in the sun after cleaning!

I really like the Wheatie, too. I’ve never dug a 1909 before, so it would have been neat even without the potential die error...that just added to the interest for me!
 
It is COMPLETELY true that when you have exhausted all other options to find the targets you WANT, in order to hunt and come home with anything perhaps worth mentioning, you have to now dig the signals you GET. I’m on board man, that’s every public place within 50 miles of my house! If you don’t know, OnXHunt is the best app out there to show WHAT is public land and what isn’t. It’s a resource that can open up small areas you never knew you could possibly hunt, so when school is done for the day check it out!
You did pretty damn well for the type of place you’re talking about, and trust me, I know what you’re talking about! It’s a good thing to hunt places like that, because you become a wily-er coyote, and a more skilled hunter doesn’t have to rely on “gimmes” or “permissions”. You did great. There should be a huge degree of satisfaction from that.

Thanks IDX! Yep, we are absolutely on the exact same page here, I think! And like you mentioned, I feel like I’m continuing to learn a lot about my machine as I hunt and dig in a more challenging environment, improving my skills as a hunter overall.

And thanks for the tip about OnX Hunt - I did already know about it and I use it very heavily, but it’s always worth mentioning for others to check out, too! Fantastic app for finding out who owns an interesting looking property, especially while out and about. Here’s a link to a post I made a couple years ago briefly describing some of the ways I put it to work for me: https://metaldetectingforum.com/showpost.php?p=2902693&postcount=3
 
Cool finds! The wheat with high rim and wear in spots is typical of a “dryer” coin, stuck in a cloths dryer spinning round and round for who knows how long.

Thanks amc! Interesting thought on the Wheatie - I’ve never heard the “dryer coin” idea before. I took a peek on a Google search and found this page with an explanation and some examples: Coin Community Forum: Dryer Coins Explained. Pretty neat, and thanks for pointing out the alternative possibility! I still think the grease filled die is more likely in this case, though - there isn’t really any damage to the rim on the Wheat I found, the rim is just completely unworn compared to the very weak date and missing lettering right next to it.
 
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