Another Half!

angellionel

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
2,223
Location
Western MA
I had planned to head to a site near the Connecticut River, but then I convinced myself that the soil would probably be frozen, and the time would be better spent at the site I hit yesterday. I’m not sure if I was right, but I’m sure glad I gave the meadow a second shot.

I only had about three hours to detect, so I got to work as soon as I arrived at the meadow. I began near the area where I found yesterday’s silver, but I didn’t find anything after an hour or so. At that point I headed towards an area that still held snow, with some spots having surface water from the snow that had already melted. I worked that ground for nearly an hour without getting any good signals, when on one swing I heard that distinctive tone of a high VDI coin. I re-swept the coil and there it was, a good strong tone, with the VDI hitting the 90 to 92 range. Pinpointing gave me a surprisingly deep target. What happened next, though, was agonizing.

As tried to cut through the soil it became evident that it wasn’t giving way as the other area had done yesterday. The ground here was frozen! I paused for a moment trying to decide if I should leave the target for another time when the ground has thawed out, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it, and so I plunged to the work that was ahead of me. Little did I realize just how difficult it would be!

I tried making a circular indentation in the soil, hoping to pry some of the soil lose from the side, but it was to no avail. I tried chipping away at it, the same as would be done with a block of ice, in the hopes that I could reach the more pliable soil. It took me about 20 minutes, with some pauses in between to get a breather, and breaking through what must have been three to four inches of iced ground before I did hit the crumbly soil underneath. My jeans were muddied up, one of my gloves was torn, and the poor Gator took a beating, with the tip getting somewhat bent. To top it off, I was exhausted.

I had to straighten my Gator before I could dig any further, so I headed to a nearby tree line to find some rocks to do just that. I did the best I could with the rocks. The digger’s point wasn’t perfect, but at least I could now dig with it. Back at the hole I began to carefully remove the unfrozen soil to retrieve the target, and it was deep, as I kept measuring the hole with the Gator, since I wanted to make sure that I didn’t scratch whatever was there. I pushed my digger down the edge of the hole to pry some more soil from the center, and that’s when I saw it, that glint of silver. It’s another half! Not a bad looking one either, and it’s dated 1936. I had to take a five minute break after all that effort. There’s no way I would be able to do that again, not that the Gator was in any shape to tackle such a frozen ground either.

After the break, I headed to the woods to detect for another half-hour. There were no coins in that area, but I did find a buckle and some type of fob with an “M” and a number on it. That was it for me. I began the long walk back to the car, tired, but happy to have added another half to my collection.

Angel

She took a lot of work to obtain, but it was worth it.
coins022106.jpg


Found in the woods.
finds022106.jpg
 
That is sweet angel. I can't wait to find some old coins. I'm still on top of the mountain after finding that gold ring, but I'd love to start finding some silver coins too. Way to go. I think I might carry a geologists pick for such a frozen venture though. I got one that will do just that, but luckily I haven't had to contend with much frozen ground. At most its been frosty in places that were pretty easy to get through.
 
Very nice and very much worth the effort. BTW, I was thinking that "M" tag could be a dog tag or something similar maybe?
 
Nice going Angel... I can relate when I used to detect in dirt in winter...
 
Nice finds! That half is beautiful, and the tag and the buckle are outstanding as well. Your hard work sure did pay off! Great work Angel!
 
Thank you everyone! I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment on my posts! :grin:

epi-hunter said:
Last time I went out, last week, I had the same digging experience through five inches of frozen ground before hitting the loose ground. Dug up a silver medallion and was exhausted.

Digging through five inches?! Wow! I do feel your pain! I can only imagine how exhausted you must have been. :shock:

The silver medallion is a nice reward for the effort though. :D

Hey, don?t forget about that target you had to abandon because of the frozen ground. You never know! :yes:

Thanks, Epi!

OkieDigger said:
Very nice and very much worth the effort. BTW, I was thinking that "M" tag could be a dog tag or something similar maybe?

I didn?t think about it being a dog tag, since it doesn?t have a year, but you could be right. Folks do walk their pets in that area. It is an interesting item. :grin:

Thanks, Okie!

Angel
 
Angel, congratulations on the wonderful find. I know how hard that soil can be sometimes.
 
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