Well, They finally took the beans off the field that I've been wanting to hunt (I'd thought that they had taken them off earlier, but that was a field further down). An 1854 topo map showed how the road had had a dogleg in it to go around a sinkhole, and where it came back into line there had been a house. On an 1874 plat map, the road had been made straight and the house was gone. It has been farm field ever since.
Since I had no idea what to expect there or even where the house was exactly, and since it's a huge area, I took the 705 w/Coiltek 15" 3kHz All Terrain coil so I could cover some ground. Within ten minutes I dug my first coin, an 1848 Large Cent! And it was a beauty! Remembering all of the times that the first find was the best of the day, I almost packed it in right then. Instead, I pressed on. About 30 minutes later I got another good hit. A drilled no-date Large Cent! Woohoo! Two in one day! I kept on, and in another 45 minutes I got another solid 44-46. An 1850 Large cent! And it was pretty good looking too! By this time I'd been out in the cold and wind about long enough. I have still only gotten just past the headlands into the field, so I've only scratched the surface in terms of area that I need to hunt. So working my way back towards the van I get ANOTHER hit. A drilled and shot 1847 Large cent!
These are the oldest American coins that I've dug in this neighborhood, and they were RIGHT NEXT DOOR!! I can walk there!
Anyway, it was a banner day, and I'll be back there soon and often between now and the time that the ground freezes. I have no clue as to what else might still be awaiting me, but if I find anything else you can be sure that I'll be posting about that hunt too.
Since I had no idea what to expect there or even where the house was exactly, and since it's a huge area, I took the 705 w/Coiltek 15" 3kHz All Terrain coil so I could cover some ground. Within ten minutes I dug my first coin, an 1848 Large Cent! And it was a beauty! Remembering all of the times that the first find was the best of the day, I almost packed it in right then. Instead, I pressed on. About 30 minutes later I got another good hit. A drilled no-date Large Cent! Woohoo! Two in one day! I kept on, and in another 45 minutes I got another solid 44-46. An 1850 Large cent! And it was pretty good looking too! By this time I'd been out in the cold and wind about long enough. I have still only gotten just past the headlands into the field, so I've only scratched the surface in terms of area that I need to hunt. So working my way back towards the van I get ANOTHER hit. A drilled and shot 1847 Large cent!
These are the oldest American coins that I've dug in this neighborhood, and they were RIGHT NEXT DOOR!! I can walk there!
Anyway, it was a banner day, and I'll be back there soon and often between now and the time that the ground freezes. I have no clue as to what else might still be awaiting me, but if I find anything else you can be sure that I'll be posting about that hunt too.
congrats
Time to bundle up and give it another "go".
