ducktrapper
New member
Research had pointed me toward a couple smaller sites for Saturday, but those quickly turned sour. They turned out to be either devoid of all signals, or else trashy surface areas where a repeatable signal of any type was rare. Manual +3 readings of 15-18 indicated I wasn’t going to get deep signals and any signal over 3 inches (even the junk) was rare. At times like these, I start wondering if the coil or detector is broken or if I have lost my touch.
Nothing cures that like a return to a favorite old site that has produced in the past, with nice soil that you know will let you find 8 and 9 inch deep coins. Not that there are many signals left, but it is a good park to get your confidence back. Sure enough, about 15 minutes into it, a solid 12-46/47 that pinpoints tight, repeatable from multiple directions, 8 inches down. Those slam dunks have been rare for me in the last year. Digging deep produced a ball of dirt with a beautiful silver rim. Gently patting with water revealed an 1898 in excellent condition. It ended up being my only keeper of the day, an awful day in other respects as even my clad total was tiny. Amazing how a 6 hour hunt can be turned around that quickly with just one find.
I did not notice the S mintmark until I got home. Crazy-low mintage for this one, but like many of the Barber dimes, it does not translate into a huge value. It still is arguably my most valuable coin find.
Nothing cures that like a return to a favorite old site that has produced in the past, with nice soil that you know will let you find 8 and 9 inch deep coins. Not that there are many signals left, but it is a good park to get your confidence back. Sure enough, about 15 minutes into it, a solid 12-46/47 that pinpoints tight, repeatable from multiple directions, 8 inches down. Those slam dunks have been rare for me in the last year. Digging deep produced a ball of dirt with a beautiful silver rim. Gently patting with water revealed an 1898 in excellent condition. It ended up being my only keeper of the day, an awful day in other respects as even my clad total was tiny. Amazing how a 6 hour hunt can be turned around that quickly with just one find.
I did not notice the S mintmark until I got home. Crazy-low mintage for this one, but like many of the Barber dimes, it does not translate into a huge value. It still is arguably my most valuable coin find.