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Built up some good karma, and had a great day

jhanson

Forum Supporter
Joined
Feb 1, 2022
Messages
742
Location
NE Illinois
I built up some good karma by doing end-of-year yardwork, putting up outdoor Christmas decorations and helping with Thanksgiving preparations instead of detecting over three BEAUTIFUL days Wed, Thurs and Fri. Yesterday was the last nice day of the batch, and I got out for a few hours to a spot I've had on my radar.

The location is a (now) historic county courthouse that was built in the early 1860's, and stands on the site of the original courthouse from 1838 that burned down in 1860. There is very little of the original grounds left, as most has been paved over for parking, and two "wings" were added to the building in the late 40's/early 50's. I know what is left must surely have been hit hard over the years, and I anticipated a lot of old iron and construction materials from all the work on the grounds over the years.

Boy, was I right about the iron. EVERYTHING had to be sussed out around the iron signals, but I knew if I was diligent, I'd find something.

After nearly an hour, on the third diggable signal I scored a 1928 Buffalo! A Buffalo has been eluding me all year, so I was pumped! Bonus that the Buff had really nice detail, with a super sharp date!

After a couple of clad dimes, I caught a copper penny sound amongst the iron, and pulled a 1941 Wheat. Short time later a 1920 Wheat.

Hitting the last quadrant of lawn before sweeping back down a parkway strip, I got a nice high tone and suspected silver, but was prepared for disappointment with a high ringing wheat or maybe a clad quarter on edge. I quickly saw the shiny in the hole, and thought "cool, a silver Rosie or maybe a Merc". I was ecstatic to see a Barber dime instead! 1898, and my first Barber!

Sweeping the last curb strip back to my car, I hit a 1955 wheat, then got another wheat sounding signal just a few feet away. I pulled out a button that looked old, but I know nothing about buttons and I couldn't read the maker engravings on the back. The location I found it made sense though, because I've seen pics of community picnics and military events held on that area of the grounds, and was hoping to find some military buttons.

After cleaning the button when I got home, I was able to make out "Leavenworths and Kendricks Extra Rich" on the back. Front was smooth, with no sign of engraving, and the button is quite heavy and appears of very high quality. A little internet research shows it was likely from the mid 1820's to the mid 1830's, which made it my oldest find of the day!

Thanks for reading my long post. It was one of the hardest, and most fun days of detecting I've had!


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[/url]1928BuffaloInField_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]1898BarberInField_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]Buff_Barber_Wheats_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]1928BuffaloFace_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]1928BuffaloBack_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]1898BarberFace_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]1898BarberBack_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url]LeavenworthsandKendricksExtraRichbutton_11_26_2022 by Jeff Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Thanks, MDM. I was surprisingly thrilled with the button because, even though I'm not really a button guy, I really saw myself finding one or two because of all the pics I'd seen of Civil War/WWI events with soldiers in uniform there.
 
Looks like a great place to detect despite things getting paved over. You have to wonder what got covered up, though. There is a church site near my house that dates to the 1830s like your courthouse site, and it would be a great place to detect... except the entire property is nothing but parking lot and fill dirt. Wish I could travel back in time with my detector. Glad you were able to find some oldies.
 
Looks like a great place to detect despite things getting paved over. You have to wonder what got covered up, though. There is a church site near my house that dates to the 1830s like your courthouse site, and it would be a great place to detect... except the entire property is nothing but parking lot and fill dirt. Wish I could travel back in time with my detector. Glad you were able to find some oldies.

You and me both on the time travel, Chroma. I will definitely go back. There's certainly more there, even given the small amount of original land. No way previous detectorists have unmasked it all.
 
Nice to see research and hard work pay off. You're right, that buff has some real nice detail and who wouldn't be super stoked about a Barber dime? Congrats!
 
Congrats on the Barber dime Buff and wheats. Should be some Ihps laying there. Sounds like a great hunt. Good luck on your return. Mark
 
woww!! nice stuff. Still waiting on my 1st barber and buffalo. I know that must have been thrilling. sounds like you had to work for it though.
 
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