Ed (Upstate NY)
Active member
I really have to thank Charles for convincing me to put my cladsweeping on hold and get back to digging the old stuff. Hit one of our favorite city parks this morning and was doing great with 5 indian head cents in my pocket after about an hour (1864-1880-1881-1888 & 1905). Charles showed up to test one of his new custom built coils and joined in the hunt. I got a decent deep silver sounding hit and dug down about 6 inches, X-1 probe told me the target was a little deeper in the edge of the hole. Dug out a large clump of dirt of when I threw it on the ground I immediately saw silver, not one but two coins. When I looked closer and saw that one was quarter sized, I got a little excited because I was hoping for at least a Barber. When I looked a little closer to the coin lying in the dirt, I could plainly see the outline of a Shield and knew that after nearly 18 years of metal detecting, I had just dug my first Seated Liberty quarter. And to top it off, the second coin in the dirt pile was clearly a Seated Liberty dime. You could see the outline of the dime on the face of the quarter from where it had been resting for 100+ years. I called Charles over to take a look at the coins as they rested in the dirt. I got that Rat Bastard look from him because both of us had been lacking that Seated quarter from our found list. After digging the coins, I put the probe back in the hole and got a iron signal. I dug out a rusted nail which looks like it rested near the obverse of the quarter because of the apparent rust stain on the quarter. Maybe that nail masked those coins for years and because the ground is so dry and the iron has quieted down, I was able to get a good hit on the silver. Well, it sure made my day, heck it even made my year !!! That was my first ever multiple Seated in the same hole find as well. Rest of the coins pictured I found during the last week at the same park. The 1842 large cent was a pleasant surprise as it came from a spot Charles and I have covered multiple times. Other Indians pictured included an Indian Head sandwich of three IH's stacked together (1873-1880 & 1881) All would have had great detail except for the green crude that glued them together. I'll post a better shot of the dime and quarter later when my grandson returns with my digital camera.
Quarter was an 1877-CC in the VF-20 to EF-40 grade.
Quarter was an 1877-CC in the VF-20 to EF-40 grade.