AirmetTango
Forum Supporter
I was out hunting one of my worn-out farm fields - stuff doesn’t come out of the ground at the rate it used to anymore, but it still produces an interesting find or two on most visits. This particular visit was starting to look like a near skunking - all I had of note in the pouch was a small, unidentifiable decorative piece that I spotted on the surface. It rang up almost like a nickel when I ran the detector over it, but it cheated slightly too high on the VDI to be one (12-13, with occasional blips up to 14 on the Equinox - my experience has shown that if the target shows anything outside of 12-13, it’s not a nickel)
But after an hour and a half or so of almost no tones higher than a 10 on the Equinox’s VDI scale, I suddenly got blasted by a solid 27 - and I mean blow your ears off, stop you in your tracks, no doubt about it, “that’s a coin” kind of signal! So much so, I didn’t even bother swinging the coil over it more than maybe 1 and 1/2 complete sweeps before dropping to one knee to check it out. The sound and the display indicated it was at or near the surface, and as I bent down, I saw a round shape sticking out of the dirt...nope, that’s a rock. Then once down on my knee, I saw another distinct shape barely sticking out of the ground next to the rock - this one was clearly coin shaped, and had a reeded edge!!
A 1901 Barber dime, just enough out of the ground to be a potential eyeball find, but almost perfectly camouflaged...no way I would have noticed it without the detector’s sound off! In my original pic, you can actually clearly read the date on the edge sticking out of the ground! (Not sure how it’ll look in the compressed, uploaded version, above.)
I’ve been lucky enough to eyeball other old coins in farm fields in the past - a couple or three IHPs that stood out well thanks to their green patina against the brown dirt, a Buffalo nickel that also contrasted green against the dirt because of its copper content, and even a silver war nickel that was easy only because it was laying flat on the field like it was dropped yesterday. But this one? I probably would have walked right past it and never spotted it without the detector. And to top it off, clean up revealed the O mint mark on the back - my first coin from the New Orleans mint! That worn out field just keeps on giving!
But after an hour and a half or so of almost no tones higher than a 10 on the Equinox’s VDI scale, I suddenly got blasted by a solid 27 - and I mean blow your ears off, stop you in your tracks, no doubt about it, “that’s a coin” kind of signal! So much so, I didn’t even bother swinging the coil over it more than maybe 1 and 1/2 complete sweeps before dropping to one knee to check it out. The sound and the display indicated it was at or near the surface, and as I bent down, I saw a round shape sticking out of the dirt...nope, that’s a rock. Then once down on my knee, I saw another distinct shape barely sticking out of the ground next to the rock - this one was clearly coin shaped, and had a reeded edge!!
A 1901 Barber dime, just enough out of the ground to be a potential eyeball find, but almost perfectly camouflaged...no way I would have noticed it without the detector’s sound off! In my original pic, you can actually clearly read the date on the edge sticking out of the ground! (Not sure how it’ll look in the compressed, uploaded version, above.)
I’ve been lucky enough to eyeball other old coins in farm fields in the past - a couple or three IHPs that stood out well thanks to their green patina against the brown dirt, a Buffalo nickel that also contrasted green against the dirt because of its copper content, and even a silver war nickel that was easy only because it was laying flat on the field like it was dropped yesterday. But this one? I probably would have walked right past it and never spotted it without the detector. And to top it off, clean up revealed the O mint mark on the back - my first coin from the New Orleans mint! That worn out field just keeps on giving!
Great find!
. That looks like that Barber is in very nice condition. Congrats! Oh, I'm trying to give away a couple of Silver Half Dollars over in the Coinshooter's section. You might want to check out my thread. Trapper
Yes, it’s in pretty nice shape - a couple letters are visible in “Liberty” on the crown, and most of the other details are pretty crisp.
