The ones you find together are the best!
What is the best Tons of Treasure site you have ever detected?
- Thread starter kamogawa
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The ones you find together are the best!
Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
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In my 45+ yrs. of this, I've had a lot of spine-tingling sites and finds. And while this one isn't necessarily the "most silver" and even though it didn't give me any of my gold coins, yet it stands out in my mind as one of the funnest :
There was a small CA town, that only had 400-ish persons @ population , during the 1880s to 1920s. I did my research and found mention of a country picnic site, where the entire town would "hitch up the wagons" and "wind up the model T's" and everyone would go out to this spot, for 4th of July, Mothers Day, Easter, etc....
But when I came across this reference, in the early 1990s, it didn't say exactly WHERE, along this certain country road, that the park was. And NO other source of material shed any more light on the issue.
But I researched the names of the old patriarch rancher families in the area , and found an elderly man, in his 90s age-wise, who could remember as a boy (1920s) where it was. He was able to describe instructions in vivid detail .
I was able to find this grove of Oak trees, in the middle of what is now only a cow pasture. By the time a few weeks was over, my buddy and I had found about 150 coins. The NEWEST coin was a 1925 merc ! There was zero clad, zero aluminum, etc.... Dates of the coins ranged from 1870s to mid 1920s (so there was plenty of pesky teens wheaties). The best coin was a rare CC $5 gold that my friend got.
You can imagine the fun when EVERY time you get a penny/dime signal, it will , by definition, be an old coin.
The only "junk" I recall finding, was an occasional bullet shell
There was a small CA town, that only had 400-ish persons @ population , during the 1880s to 1920s. I did my research and found mention of a country picnic site, where the entire town would "hitch up the wagons" and "wind up the model T's" and everyone would go out to this spot, for 4th of July, Mothers Day, Easter, etc....
But when I came across this reference, in the early 1990s, it didn't say exactly WHERE, along this certain country road, that the park was. And NO other source of material shed any more light on the issue.
But I researched the names of the old patriarch rancher families in the area , and found an elderly man, in his 90s age-wise, who could remember as a boy (1920s) where it was. He was able to describe instructions in vivid detail .
I was able to find this grove of Oak trees, in the middle of what is now only a cow pasture. By the time a few weeks was over, my buddy and I had found about 150 coins. The NEWEST coin was a 1925 merc ! There was zero clad, zero aluminum, etc.... Dates of the coins ranged from 1870s to mid 1920s (so there was plenty of pesky teens wheaties). The best coin was a rare CC $5 gold that my friend got.
You can imagine the fun when EVERY time you get a penny/dime signal, it will , by definition, be an old coin.
The only "junk" I recall finding, was an occasional bullet shell
Laxsaltman
Elite Member
Just went driving one day to a park that wasn't old enough for silver but I had that "hunch" it would be good. I pulled $400+ in clad, 16 silver rings 'n jewelry and 3 gold pendants out of it in about 6 months. I was the only hunter out there every time I went.
Let us know what you find next time you have a chance to return there to search.
Researching prospective sites
Your experience speaks to the power and importance of research. Metal Detecting veteran Dick Stout has written articles for decades in Western & Eastern Treasures about how to hone your research skills. That must have been awesome when you finally laid eye on the pasture knowing the types of items you would would likely find there.
In my 45+ yrs. of this, I've had a lot of spine-tingling sites and finds. And while this one isn't necessarily the "most silver" and even though it didn't give me any of my gold coins, yet it stands out in my mind as one of the funnest :
There was a small CA town, that only had 400-ish persons @ population , during the 1880s to 1920s. I did my research and found mention of a country picnic site, where the entire town would "hitch up the wagons" and "wind up the model T's" and everyone would go out to this spot, for 4th of July, Mothers Day, Easter, etc....
But when I came across this reference, in the early 1990s, it didn't say exactly WHERE, along this certain country road, that the park was. And NO other source of material shed any more light on the issue.
But I researched the names of the old patriarch rancher families in the area , and found an elderly man, in his 90s age-wise, who could remember as a boy (1920s) where it was. He was able to describe instructions in vivid detail .
I was able to find this grove of Oak trees, in the middle of what is now only a cow pasture. By the time a few weeks was over, my buddy and I had found about 150 coins. The NEWEST coin was a 1925 merc ! There was zero clad, zero aluminum, etc.... Dates of the coins ranged from 1870s to mid 1920s (so there was plenty of pesky teens wheaties). The best coin was a rare CC $5 gold that my friend got.
You can imagine the fun when EVERY time you get a penny/dime signal, it will , by definition, be an old coin.
The only "junk" I recall finding, was an occasional bullet shell
Your experience speaks to the power and importance of research. Metal Detecting veteran Dick Stout has written articles for decades in Western & Eastern Treasures about how to hone your research skills. That must have been awesome when you finally laid eye on the pasture knowing the types of items you would would likely find there.
There was a park like that in Lexington, Ky that was tucked in the middle of a section of town where you never would have thought would be a park. I spotted it on the map. It wasn't old, but it probably haven't been detected much because there was a lot of modern coinage and assorted jewelry. Not as lucrative as your site, but unexpectedly rewarding for the effort.
About 3 years ago they opened up an old golf course that before that was a farm. Turned it into a park and I just happened to come across the story in the news paper. I was one of the first out there. Hit it 3-4x/week. Five or six hours per day for about 5 months. Turned out to be a virgin site. I pulled just over 100 silver coins and a buddy pulled over 50. Only one gold and a few sterling pieces. Oldest coin was 1892 s dime. It was nothing to come out with 6-8 silver each day. Five half dollars and a ton of quarters and dimes. The detecting clubs finally found out about it but at that point we had cleaned the place out. It was a dream spot.
Laxsaltman
Elite Member
Must be one in SoCal NoxDude missed!
Agreed! I think I got lucky!
My best clad sites were 2 in MT. The best was a jr high that was virgin ground. We must have pulled 20 precious metal rings apiece out of there, not to mention several St. Christopher silver pendants. My two best were a 14K wedding band an a monster half oz silver ring. The amount of clad, especially quarters we found was outstanding. Spent a lot of time the first summer we hunted it there.
The second was a school athletic field about 20 miles away. I think the kids were throwing quarters at each other since it was common to find 60 to 75 quarters there very hunt.
My best old dirt sites are the current townsites we're currently hunting. #1 was occupied from 1903 to the late fifties, and then was rapidly turned into grazing and farmland. Like Tom said, everything we find there is old...along with the junk!
The second was a school athletic field about 20 miles away. I think the kids were throwing quarters at each other since it was common to find 60 to 75 quarters there very hunt.
My best old dirt sites are the current townsites we're currently hunting. #1 was occupied from 1903 to the late fifties, and then was rapidly turned into grazing and farmland. Like Tom said, everything we find there is old...along with the junk!
