LovestheShiny!
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I met my friend Jason in Helena, and we headed out yesterday, Friday, for perhaps the last detecting hunt for a month or so, as some colder temps are due here for a couple of weeks. We went back to that same North East Central Montana town, and got busy detecting, hoping for another good day.
Our finds were sparse at the beginning, we did a couple of curb strips and got the OK from a couple of friendly homeowners in a one block section of town, but all we pulled out were a couple of wheat cents, some modern clad, and found some areas of frozen ground that made trying to wedge the Lesche into the soil pretty much a battle. There were tons of Zincolns and very shallow Copper Memorial cents that made it hard to listen for some of the better deeper signals.
We switched neighborhoods, and went back to where we left off from the "Stellar Day" trip. This proved wise, as my friend started the day with a Silver Rosie and a 1959 Silver Quarter. I ended up with a couple of Mercury Dimes out of a permission front yard, and Jason pulled another Silver Rosie with his Nox 800. I caught up with another Merc Dime, and we then finished a N/S curb strip and the incredible happened...
Jason called me over to his side of the street, and had me double check his 33-34 signal on the Nox. My AT Pro said 89-90 so we had hopes for something good, even though the signal was not crystal clear. I watched Jason cut the horseshoe plug, flip the turf over, and he saw a large copper coin. He handed it to me after seeing it, thinking it was a Canadian large penny, as we do run across those once in a while. I looked at the reverse, saw the "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," the wreath, and "ONE CENT" and freaked out! I told him that he had just made an amazing Montana find, a Braided Hair Large Cent! We couldn't quite read the full date while out, but did get the 18 and the 4. Jason toothpicked the coin at home and the 1854 date can clearly be seen. The coin looks like it has been in the ground for a long time, but still has excellent detail, unlike the "smooth as Brad's butt" coppers found in the heavily fertilized East Coast farmers fields. I was soooo happy for my friend, and now I've got to find a Largie!
We wondered how this coin got to where it did... the area we were detecting had homes mostly built in the 1940's but the plat and curbs were put in by 1920. The edges to the street curb are that early "cut concrete" and some of it has crumbled away from time. Since fill dirt is brought in when these curbs are being built to level the soil with the sidewalk and property, this coin was lost somewhere else in town and most likely brought to that spot in a load of dirt. Anyway, a great find!
Tom in CA is going to go into apoplectic shock over this Western Large Cent!
The rest of the day was fun, having that rare find in his pocket. We did another block and got a lot of yard permissions and finished one more section of curb strip. I got a no date Standing Liberty Quarter out of one yard, and a Silver Rosie out of another yard. Jason kept on the Dime Train and ended up with 6 dimes and the Silver GW. We both ended up with 15-20 wheat cents, and a fair amount of clad dimes and quarters. I did get about 45 Copper Memorials, as in this town the old coins and newer coins all seem to be pretty shallow. I didn't want to miss a worn Merc or Rosie by passing up a 82 signal on the AT Pro.
My silver totals on the year are 24 so far, and my friend is already at 31 FTY. Hope you enjoy the story and pics, thanks for your interest!
Our finds were sparse at the beginning, we did a couple of curb strips and got the OK from a couple of friendly homeowners in a one block section of town, but all we pulled out were a couple of wheat cents, some modern clad, and found some areas of frozen ground that made trying to wedge the Lesche into the soil pretty much a battle. There were tons of Zincolns and very shallow Copper Memorial cents that made it hard to listen for some of the better deeper signals.
We switched neighborhoods, and went back to where we left off from the "Stellar Day" trip. This proved wise, as my friend started the day with a Silver Rosie and a 1959 Silver Quarter. I ended up with a couple of Mercury Dimes out of a permission front yard, and Jason pulled another Silver Rosie with his Nox 800. I caught up with another Merc Dime, and we then finished a N/S curb strip and the incredible happened...
Jason called me over to his side of the street, and had me double check his 33-34 signal on the Nox. My AT Pro said 89-90 so we had hopes for something good, even though the signal was not crystal clear. I watched Jason cut the horseshoe plug, flip the turf over, and he saw a large copper coin. He handed it to me after seeing it, thinking it was a Canadian large penny, as we do run across those once in a while. I looked at the reverse, saw the "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," the wreath, and "ONE CENT" and freaked out! I told him that he had just made an amazing Montana find, a Braided Hair Large Cent! We couldn't quite read the full date while out, but did get the 18 and the 4. Jason toothpicked the coin at home and the 1854 date can clearly be seen. The coin looks like it has been in the ground for a long time, but still has excellent detail, unlike the "smooth as Brad's butt" coppers found in the heavily fertilized East Coast farmers fields. I was soooo happy for my friend, and now I've got to find a Largie!
We wondered how this coin got to where it did... the area we were detecting had homes mostly built in the 1940's but the plat and curbs were put in by 1920. The edges to the street curb are that early "cut concrete" and some of it has crumbled away from time. Since fill dirt is brought in when these curbs are being built to level the soil with the sidewalk and property, this coin was lost somewhere else in town and most likely brought to that spot in a load of dirt. Anyway, a great find!
Tom in CA is going to go into apoplectic shock over this Western Large Cent!
The rest of the day was fun, having that rare find in his pocket. We did another block and got a lot of yard permissions and finished one more section of curb strip. I got a no date Standing Liberty Quarter out of one yard, and a Silver Rosie out of another yard. Jason kept on the Dime Train and ended up with 6 dimes and the Silver GW. We both ended up with 15-20 wheat cents, and a fair amount of clad dimes and quarters. I did get about 45 Copper Memorials, as in this town the old coins and newer coins all seem to be pretty shallow. I didn't want to miss a worn Merc or Rosie by passing up a 82 signal on the AT Pro.
My silver totals on the year are 24 so far, and my friend is already at 31 FTY. Hope you enjoy the story and pics, thanks for your interest!
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