AirmetTango
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I haven’t had a lot of finds worth posting about this year - COVID concerns and other reasons have dampened my ability and desire to do any real door knocking for new permissions, so I’ve mostly been spending my hunt time this year in parks and other public areas. But earlier this year, I managed to catch a farmer on the day he was planting a field that I’ve had my eye on for awhile and secured permission to detect once the beans came down in the fall. Last week was finally that time, and I was eager as a hound to hunt - finally an opportunity to get out of the parks and worn out permissions and into a new field location with some history! I couldn’t strap my gear on fast enough!
Well, three hours later the only old, non-iron target I managed was exactly this:
Yep, that’s all. The shank off of a button. Plenty of iron signals, brick, broken ceramic, and pieces of bottles to show that a homesite was there, just nothing good left behind that I could find. Maybe it’s already been hunted hard...maybe the people who lived there didn’t drop much - who knows.
Yesterday, I decided to hit an old park for two hours or so - I had been there once before last year and found several Wheats and a couple other interesting finds, so I figured I would try again in a another section of the park. I got a ‘53 Jefferson just steps from the car and only 3 or 4” down, so I thought things might go well. But as time was running out before I had to leave to pick my girls up from school, all I added to the “good” pouch was a ‘37 Canadian cent, a Hot Wheels Mean Machine motorcycle circa 1971, a bent 9mm pistol charm, and 27 cents in clad. Not wanting to give up on the hunt, I kept swinging my way back to the car, and I was thrilled to get over a sweet high tone, the kind that stops you in your tracks because you know immediately it’s a deep coin. Nice and tight, 29-32 VDI (EQ800), solid all the way around the target, and the depth meter was pegged. Cut a 5” deep plug, and the signal tightens up even more, but nothing on the pinpointer. Seven inches down, I’m getting worried - still nothing on the pinpointer, and I don’t like digging graves in parks!
Finally, at about 8” the pinpointer starts to chirp, and from at least 9.5-10” down, I was able to pull out a beautiful, big, green, coin-shaped disk!! I had no idea what it was - the green patina was obscuring all the detail, but it had to be old and it had to be copper!! I immediately started snapping pictures, as my mind raced through the possibilities...not quite the right size or heft for a US Largie - must be a token or medal, or maybe a Canadian Largie??
I packed up right away so I could go pick up my girls, but I was excited enough that I took that beautiful greenie out of my pouch and brought it into the front seat with me in the hopes of spotting some detail as it dried to get a hint on an ID. Well, I hadn’t gone more than a half mile before my house of cards came tumbling down. First, as I handled the edges of the coin, I wore off enough crud to reveal a reeded edge...”uh oh”, I thought, because I can’t think of a single reeded copper coin:
Then I got brave and started to gently rub a section of the coin, and managed to get enough grit off to reveal some detail. Here’s what I saw, and my heart sank the rest of the way:
Yep, nothing to do now but laugh at myself for getting all excited over a 10” deep clad quarter! At least my clad count went up by 52 cents instead of 27 The final dagger came once I got home and I was able clear off more of the crud to reveal the date: 1965.
Yep. I’m ready for 2020 to be over.
Well, three hours later the only old, non-iron target I managed was exactly this:
Yep, that’s all. The shank off of a button. Plenty of iron signals, brick, broken ceramic, and pieces of bottles to show that a homesite was there, just nothing good left behind that I could find. Maybe it’s already been hunted hard...maybe the people who lived there didn’t drop much - who knows.
Yesterday, I decided to hit an old park for two hours or so - I had been there once before last year and found several Wheats and a couple other interesting finds, so I figured I would try again in a another section of the park. I got a ‘53 Jefferson just steps from the car and only 3 or 4” down, so I thought things might go well. But as time was running out before I had to leave to pick my girls up from school, all I added to the “good” pouch was a ‘37 Canadian cent, a Hot Wheels Mean Machine motorcycle circa 1971, a bent 9mm pistol charm, and 27 cents in clad. Not wanting to give up on the hunt, I kept swinging my way back to the car, and I was thrilled to get over a sweet high tone, the kind that stops you in your tracks because you know immediately it’s a deep coin. Nice and tight, 29-32 VDI (EQ800), solid all the way around the target, and the depth meter was pegged. Cut a 5” deep plug, and the signal tightens up even more, but nothing on the pinpointer. Seven inches down, I’m getting worried - still nothing on the pinpointer, and I don’t like digging graves in parks!
Finally, at about 8” the pinpointer starts to chirp, and from at least 9.5-10” down, I was able to pull out a beautiful, big, green, coin-shaped disk!! I had no idea what it was - the green patina was obscuring all the detail, but it had to be old and it had to be copper!! I immediately started snapping pictures, as my mind raced through the possibilities...not quite the right size or heft for a US Largie - must be a token or medal, or maybe a Canadian Largie??
I packed up right away so I could go pick up my girls, but I was excited enough that I took that beautiful greenie out of my pouch and brought it into the front seat with me in the hopes of spotting some detail as it dried to get a hint on an ID. Well, I hadn’t gone more than a half mile before my house of cards came tumbling down. First, as I handled the edges of the coin, I wore off enough crud to reveal a reeded edge...”uh oh”, I thought, because I can’t think of a single reeded copper coin:
Then I got brave and started to gently rub a section of the coin, and managed to get enough grit off to reveal some detail. Here’s what I saw, and my heart sank the rest of the way:
Yep, nothing to do now but laugh at myself for getting all excited over a 10” deep clad quarter! At least my clad count went up by 52 cents instead of 27 The final dagger came once I got home and I was able clear off more of the crud to reveal the date: 1965.
Yep. I’m ready for 2020 to be over.