LovestheShiny!
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I recently got permission to detect a vacant lot in Lewiston Idaho. A large home was shown on my 1928 Lewiston Sanborn Map, the house burned down some time ago. I was detecting the adjacent curb strip when the owner happened to come by, and gave me full permission to detect the property. He mentioned that the dirt, except for where the old foundation was located and in the back which he filled in after the fire, was original, not disturbed.
His info was good, and the soil probably had not had a lawn in a long time, as almost all the coins I found were probably 1-2" deep in the hard packed soil, with the deepest being maybe 4" down. Some wheat cents I could even pick up with my Garrett Carrot! This dirt yard was so much fun to detect, wheat cents everywhere, old stuff all over the place! There was not much in the way of copper Memorial Cents, though I did pull a fair amount of clad quarters and dimes, and some modern Jefferson Nickels.
I spent 6 1/2 hours detecting this property, going super carefully, gridding, overlapping w/ my coil on the AT Pro. Very nice weather, temps about 60 and partly sunny! I ended up with 9 Indian Head Cents (the most I've ever found in one hunt!), dating 1890-1907, a first year Canadian 1920 small KG 5 cent, 26 wheat cents including my first 1909-S (no VDB darn it!) Lincoln cent, a 1913-D, and 1921-S, and other wheaties back to 1910. One Buffalo Nickel showed up, a 1914-S, and I was delighted to find a bunch of Lewiston Idaho trade tokens, all look like they are from liquor dealers or saloons. Most were for 6 1/4 cents with some being for 5 cents, all were Nickel size and bronze. I really enjoy finding local history in the way of trade tokens! One of the tokens had some cement crust, I dipped it in a cleaner, took care of the crust but left the token copper looking. A couple of silvers were pulled, including a 1905-P Barber Dime and 1924-P Mercury Dime. Always happy to snag some silvers. Am getting close to 200 Silver Coins for the year, I have three more to go, and some decent weather still in this part of Idaho might make it happen. Pictures follow of my finds, thank you for your interest!
His info was good, and the soil probably had not had a lawn in a long time, as almost all the coins I found were probably 1-2" deep in the hard packed soil, with the deepest being maybe 4" down. Some wheat cents I could even pick up with my Garrett Carrot! This dirt yard was so much fun to detect, wheat cents everywhere, old stuff all over the place! There was not much in the way of copper Memorial Cents, though I did pull a fair amount of clad quarters and dimes, and some modern Jefferson Nickels.
I spent 6 1/2 hours detecting this property, going super carefully, gridding, overlapping w/ my coil on the AT Pro. Very nice weather, temps about 60 and partly sunny! I ended up with 9 Indian Head Cents (the most I've ever found in one hunt!), dating 1890-1907, a first year Canadian 1920 small KG 5 cent, 26 wheat cents including my first 1909-S (no VDB darn it!) Lincoln cent, a 1913-D, and 1921-S, and other wheaties back to 1910. One Buffalo Nickel showed up, a 1914-S, and I was delighted to find a bunch of Lewiston Idaho trade tokens, all look like they are from liquor dealers or saloons. Most were for 6 1/4 cents with some being for 5 cents, all were Nickel size and bronze. I really enjoy finding local history in the way of trade tokens! One of the tokens had some cement crust, I dipped it in a cleaner, took care of the crust but left the token copper looking. A couple of silvers were pulled, including a 1905-P Barber Dime and 1924-P Mercury Dime. Always happy to snag some silvers. Am getting close to 200 Silver Coins for the year, I have three more to go, and some decent weather still in this part of Idaho might make it happen. Pictures follow of my finds, thank you for your interest!
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