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Skunky to Awesome!

AirmetTango

Forum Supporter
Joined
Apr 14, 2017
Messages
3,111
Location
NW Ohio
It's amazing how a hunt can go from skunky to awesome in a matter of seconds, and at the last moment! I got home from work relatively early today, and I figured I'd have plenty of time to get some detecting in before I had to get back home for my daughter getting home from school. Well, a comedy of errors conspired to whittle away my time, and I suddenly found myself with only about an hour to hunt...including drive time! Since time was short, I decided to opt for convenience - I went down to a local park that is generally trashy and well hunted. I've still eeked out the occasional good find, but it's been getting harder and harder to come back with anything from the site.

I had my gear strapped on by 2:35, my alarm set for 3:20 to hightail it home, and started swinging with pretty low expectations. And sure enough, it was starting to look like one of those days - by 3pm I was getting skunked hard. Barely any signals even worth investigating, and those that were ended up as junk.

And then my good luck charm drove past :lol: You see, this park happens to be along fellow forum member Dan B.'s path to work - and it's bizarre, but every time he's stopped or driven past while I'm hunting there, I have or end up with a nice find out of the place. So at about 3pm, I hear a honk from the road, and I look up just in time to see his truck cruise by on his way to work. Knowing that my time was running out and my pouch had nothing but junk, I thought to myself, "Well, this might be the end of that streak".

But I had 15-20 minutes left, so I decided to try something different and moved to a new-to-me section of the park. Within a few minutes, I hit on a really nice high tone, bouncing just slightly between 88-91 and showing 6" depth - the sound was unmistakably a coin. I assumed it was a quarter - but what kind? I dug the plug, and popped out the coin from a full 6" down - no shiny, but big! It was heavily caked with dirt, but I knew right away - Large Cent! This hunt had officially gone from skunky to awesome in no time flat!! This is the second Large Cent I've gotten out of this same park - I dug one in February just below the surface while I was still using my Ace. While I was taking my field pictures, a text came through from Dan letting me know he saw me and inviting me to hunt one of his permissions with him again, so I sent him a shot to give him the first look at the Largie :cool:

Anyways, clean up at home with a toothpick revealed an 1838 Coronet Liberty Head Large Cent - my new oldest coin! As sometimes happens, the date was almost easier to read before cleaning - oblique lighting still shows the date fairly well though. The pics below show the full hunt (like I said, there were very few worthwhile signals), and the Largie both before and after cleaning.

Thanks for looking!
 

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I am glad that I was able to be of some assistance to you.:hi5: Nice job that cleaned up well.
 
Champion find! Way to keep at it! Every so often I squeak out a good find just before I have to head home.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
That’s amazing! I’d love to find a large vent!


Bounty hunter - treasure hunter - cabelas
Best find to date - 15g platinum ring
 
That 1838 Large Cent cleaned up beautifully. I've detected since 1976, and a US Large Cent is the most commonly found coin I've never found, so congrats. HH, George (MN)
 
Awesome Find and great story! Nice job!

Thanks, WyoTom! I was definitely pleased to see that baby pop out of the ground! Gives me hope to keep at that site - it's a nice go-to location when time is short :yes:

I am glad that I was able to be of some assistance to you.:hi5: Nice job that cleaned up well.

Thanks Dan! I need all the help I can get sometimes! It is odd - I don't know if you remember, but you stopped there last Feb just after I dug that other Largie, and I've dug silver there on the other times you've driven past while I was detecting. Whenever I'm not having any luck at that park from now on, you're getting a call from me, and you're just gonna have to go into work! :laughing:

Champion find! Way to keep at it! Every so often I squeak out a good find just before I have to head home.

Thanks Tundra! Yep, I don't know what it is - maybe we get more focused when we know we're running out of time or maybe it's just blind luck, but some of my best finds have come just before I need to pack up for the day.

That’s amazing! I’d love to find a large vent!

Keep swinging - hopefully you'll get your coil over one soon!

Sweetness! One of those is high on my wish list. Congrats!
Any chance Dan B. might be driving through west central Wisconsin?

:lol: :lol: I know right? I'm tempted to give him a call on each of my hunts and have him do a drive-by! :laughing:

That 1838 Large Cent cleaned up beautifully. I've detected since 1976, and a US Large Cent is the most commonly found coin I've never found, so congrats. HH, George (MN)

Thanks George! Sorry to hear you've gone so long without finding one - has all your hunting been in Minnesota? I guess it would make sense that they get rarer the further west you go.

Congrats on the Large Cent...cleaned up pretty well too!

Thanks Capt Silver! Didn't take long either - just a few minutes on each side and the rim with a good toothpick, then a light coating of Renaissance wax. I'm definitely happy with the results :grin:

Very nice looking LC. Congrats.

Thanks waltr! It sure made for a memorable hunt for me!
 
Congrats - that's a beauty! I just dug my first Large, I think. Same dimensions. It's copper, but crusted so bad that - as one forum member described it - looks like a Large with fertilizer dumped on it. I've been getting some crust off and am going to go more aggressive with it...
 
Congrats - that's a beauty! I just dug my first Large, I think. Same dimensions. It's copper, but crusted so bad that - as one forum member described it - looks like a Large with fertilizer dumped on it. I've been getting some crust off and am going to go more aggressive with it...

Ben, nice save. Happy New Year. Mark

Thanks guys - it was fun to re-live that hunt...but it was from almost a year and a half ago! I was still using my AT Max when I found this Large Cent. I revisited the park when I first got my EQ800, but I really should hit it again now that I’ve gotten more comfortable with the machine.

Happy New Year!
 
I get excited when I find those pull tabs you have pictured. Slow way down and the silver is always sure to follow.It's there, no one can completely hunt an area out.Congrats on the large cent,it is in nice condition.:cool:
 
Those last minute finds are becoming old habit for you Ben. Congrats on the new oldest coin with that Largie. Great job with the clean up. Trapper
 
That LC looks like one of those where the word "cent" has been altered into a naughty word, or maybe just the photo?
 
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