Old town demolition site finds - updated with more pix

WOW! Congrats on some nice coins Tom. Must have been fun! Wouldn't it be nice to find a place like that to hunt once a month....or once a week...ahh don't get greedy now.
 
Nice!!!!! What an awesome hunt and big time results. Bet you went home smiling that first day.

If you dont mind sharing, what was your approach in getting permission? Or was this a stealth job?

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Great clearing of tear out! I would have been beside myself! What you did was clear/ clean out all of the history that was spilled 100 years ago, and to this,... I salute you sir
 
So sweet. Congrats on some outstanding finds.

Last year I had a similar situation. A restaurant was razed in the historic section of a very historical town. Before the restaurant was a house that burned to the ground.

At first the owners did not want me searching it. But when I learned they were putting in a miniature golf course I asked since kids would be playing there, didn’t they want somebody to remove the buried metal. That did the job.

First I uncovered and removed hundreds of pounds of pipe, wiring, nails, etc. I recycled all of it.

First I found my first horseshoe. Then 4 axe heads including a broadaxe. Then I started finding Minie balls(2and 3 ringers) and musket balls. In one hole I found a brass drawer pull, pocket knife and a revolver. I believe they were in a nightstand when the house burned.

Coins were next. Indian heads, Barbers, Mercuries, V nickels, seated dimes and half dimes.

Eventually it dried up. But 2 weeks later I saw 50’ of sidewalk was torn up and I found another 2 ringer and my second oldest coin, a 1718 1 Reale.

If only they could all be that rich.
 

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In a certain city near me, an old-town district building was torn down.

First day : 2 seated dimes ('77 cc and '74), 4 barber dimes ('99s, '03 O, '08, '14D), 2 standing quarters (1918 & ??), 2 V nickels ('03 & '07), 2 buffalos, a hosed shield nickel, 3 war nickels, 4 mercs, , a '44 Washington Q, and 20 wheaties .

Went back the next day to scrounge for leftovers. Got a '97 IH, a '35 merc, and 2 more wheaties.

My buddy got a 1900 barber quarter, an 1891 seated quarter, a '72 half dime, misc. barber dimes and wheaties and a shield nickel.
Awesome finds Tom, and thanks for taking us along! However, I am somewhat disappointed that there’s no “insitu” pics. :lol:
 
That would be a legendary search for 95% of the people on here - but in your legendary career it's a "nice" :-)

Congratulations on those incredible finds, I enjoyed imagining the old tavern setup and guys dropping a few coins while deep into the whiskey

WOW! Congrats on some nice coins Tom. Must have been fun! Wouldn't it be nice to find a place like that to hunt once a month....or once a week...ahh don't get greedy now.

Incredible finds Tom, you know the three L’s and then some. Congrats!

Great research paid off again, well done!

Great finds right there Tom, and timing is everything!

Great clearing of tear out! I would have been beside myself! What you did was clear/ clean out all of the history that was spilled 100 years ago, and to this,... I salute you sir

Awesome!!!

Hey guys, thanx for coming along !

....If you dont mind sharing, what was your approach in getting permission? Or was this a stealth job? ...

So....did you hop the fence ?

Haha, well as it turns out : This time the person who invited me was involved in the demolition contract. So .... as long as we "kept it low-key", we could just go there after they cut out for the day.

Awesome finds Tom, and thanks for taking us along! However, I am somewhat disappointed that there’s no “insitu” pics. :lol:

I have some in-situ pix, but was worried that someone could use background features to discern where I/we were at. Because, as you most certainly know (since you're a conspiracy-theory-follower) : Big govt. watches geeky forums like this, and has staff-archies that are simply chomping at the bit to swoop in and make-a-stink about (gasp) , finding something old . (Right ? :laughing:)

.... Last year I had a similar situation....

Loved your story chipk ! Although it sounds like you worked harder for your oldies. Removing "hundreds of pounds" ? Sheesk, if so: You EARNED your keepers !
 
Great finds Tom. You hunted after the crew left for the day , which left you a couple hours of daylight. We often talk about night hunting. How many hours did you hunt the 1st trip ? Well into the night ? Headlamps ? Because on your 2nd trip , they moved dirt. Not as good. Seems like you could have gotten more if you hunted longer the 1st trip. Knowing this possibility from your "demo" friend , why not hunt a solid 8 hours or so and clean out that 50x75 lot the 1st time there ?
 
Great finds Tom. You hunted after the crew left for the day , which left you a couple hours of daylight. We often talk about night hunting. How many hours did you hunt the 1st trip ? Well into the night ? Headlamps ? Because on your 2nd trip , they moved dirt. Not as good. Seems like you could have gotten more if you hunted longer the 1st trip. Knowing this possibility from your "demo" friend , why not hunt a solid 8 hours or so and clean out that 50x75 lot the 1st time there ?


Kobenstein,

I did not keep track of my hours, on either day #1 or day #2. But I recall that the majority of the 40-ish old coins came at the very start of the hunt (5:30-pm-ish, well-before dark). But knowing me, I stubbornly hung around and re-traced my steps , looking for lone-hold-outs, for hours after that ! :laughing:

On the 2nd night (wrapping up 4 more oldie leftovers) I think I was only there for an hour-ish, before I gave up and admitted "it's over".

Could I have hunted longer the first night and added a potential few other coins ? SURE ! But I tend to "save my graces" with my wife, and spend my allotted hours @ the high-end potential stakes. I have an arm's length list of places I'm dying to get to, on the west coast of the USA, but am perpetually bedevilled by the "honey-do" list, guilt trip, need-to-make a living , etc.... So I have to play my cards carefully with my md'ing time (Remind me again why we guys get married ? :laughing: )

Here's some pix of my buddy's finds that first night : An 1893s barber dime, and an 1891 seated quarter (dunno the mint mark on the seated quarter).
 

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I love to see it. Well done Tom, you continue to amaze and prove that no matter how much gets found, there will always be more to find.
 
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