Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO
Member
I almost forgot which end of the detector to hold! I haven't been out hunting since my trip to Massachusetts in October last year for Bob's hunt. Weather always didn't cooperate and I had too much other business that fell on my days off. a couple weeks ago I was laid up in bed for 6 days with a wicked chest cold that was so bad I ended up in the hospital - they didn't find anything seriously wrong, but they didn't like the way my EKG looked and they think my heart may be getting more problems that I supposedly fought off years ago. I have to wear a monitor for a month while they sort out what, if anything , is wrong. That kind of put me down in the dumps with the prospect of having to go back in for a 5th heart procedure 
Anyway, the weather was looking stormy this weekend, but when it cleared up I found myself in the basement digging out the detector and charging up the batteries for a trip out Sunday morning. I decided to put in some time with the 15X12 SEF coil today. I brought my 4 year old boy with me to get him some sun and fresh air.
I went to my old haunt - my favorite city park that pretty much has been beat to death by every Explorer user in the bi-state area, but I had a goal to go and pound a couple old spots to get a seated coin. I jumped out ready and rarin' to go but 5 minutes into hunting my son was in tears because the wind was like 30+ miles an hour and he was having NO fun whatsoever. I reluctantly went back to the van and got him inside out of the wind. I went to drive to the museum to let him run loose when I passed a spot that had always produced well for me in the past and I got a "feeling". I parked and told the kid to watch me out the window. I went over and started sweeping. This spot was in an old picnic area and produced many seated dimes over the years. About 10 minutes in I get a solid deep silver hit that broke up pretty bad and nulled out when swept from different directions. It was right in a spot that I had dug 4-5 seated dimes out of nails in the past, so I thought this signal warranted a dig. It was in a shallow depression where a tree had been cut out years ago, so I thought it might be a clad coin that ended up deep down after the tree was removed. Sure enough, after pulling up a deep plug, the probe sang out over a deep coin! I read right at penny - where most seated dimes hit - and when I broke open a clump of dirt from the bottom of the hole I saw that wonderful sight of silver... 1876S Seated Dime!!!
Man I really NEEDED that one! That chased away all the cabin fever and worries immediately! I dug out a giant nail an inch away from where the dime lay in the ground. The SEF saw that signal even with the nail in the way!
[attachment 119757 08mar09seated.JPG]
A couple minutes later the sky opened up and dumped rain all over me, so I went back and took the kid to the museum and turned him loose for a few hours. When we left, it was sunny and beautiful outside and he immediately fell asleep in the van so I decided to let him sleep while I hunted some more in a different spot where I'd be close by to him. This spot had been absolutely nailed to death in the last year by explorer users with several seated coins being found. I figured I'd see if the winter freeze turned over any signals. I spent an hour and a half in astonishment as I got one signal after another to dig. You couldn't buy a signal out here last fall now they are everywhere. I added a dateless Shield Nickel, 1900 V Nickel, a wheatie, streetcar token from Danville, IL., a really nice Bell's Pine Tar Honey fob, a neat gold-filled cuff link, a gold filled button with a silver dogs head inside the glass top, a mangled hunk of sterling silver that looks like eyeglass frames, a Hutchison bottle stopper still inside the broken blob top. Last but not least the final signal I dug was a shocker! I got a signal that LOCKED on half dollar no matter which way I swung and it was deep! I couldn't believe that this signal was here - right where dozens of explorers had been many times. I cut a plug and the the probe howled half dollar down deep! I think I was drooling all over myself but I can't remember... I was too busy imagining a seated half coming out of the ground. I finally reached the target 10 inches down and pulled a big dark disc out of the hole. It turned out to be an 1830 Large Cent! That made a good end to a great day of detecting!
[attachment 119758 08mar09finds.JPG]
I didn't include the 30 or so bullets and junk targets that I also dug... the ground conditions were perfect and the signals were popping everywhere.
That is some nice finds for the first trip of the year, especially when I wait til March to take it. I need to get out more often... especially if I can still strangle these kind of finds out of the used up parks. Take care and HH, Mike.
Anyway, the weather was looking stormy this weekend, but when it cleared up I found myself in the basement digging out the detector and charging up the batteries for a trip out Sunday morning. I decided to put in some time with the 15X12 SEF coil today. I brought my 4 year old boy with me to get him some sun and fresh air.I went to my old haunt - my favorite city park that pretty much has been beat to death by every Explorer user in the bi-state area, but I had a goal to go and pound a couple old spots to get a seated coin. I jumped out ready and rarin' to go but 5 minutes into hunting my son was in tears because the wind was like 30+ miles an hour and he was having NO fun whatsoever. I reluctantly went back to the van and got him inside out of the wind. I went to drive to the museum to let him run loose when I passed a spot that had always produced well for me in the past and I got a "feeling". I parked and told the kid to watch me out the window. I went over and started sweeping. This spot was in an old picnic area and produced many seated dimes over the years. About 10 minutes in I get a solid deep silver hit that broke up pretty bad and nulled out when swept from different directions. It was right in a spot that I had dug 4-5 seated dimes out of nails in the past, so I thought this signal warranted a dig. It was in a shallow depression where a tree had been cut out years ago, so I thought it might be a clad coin that ended up deep down after the tree was removed. Sure enough, after pulling up a deep plug, the probe sang out over a deep coin! I read right at penny - where most seated dimes hit - and when I broke open a clump of dirt from the bottom of the hole I saw that wonderful sight of silver... 1876S Seated Dime!!!
Man I really NEEDED that one! That chased away all the cabin fever and worries immediately! I dug out a giant nail an inch away from where the dime lay in the ground. The SEF saw that signal even with the nail in the way![attachment 119757 08mar09seated.JPG]
A couple minutes later the sky opened up and dumped rain all over me, so I went back and took the kid to the museum and turned him loose for a few hours. When we left, it was sunny and beautiful outside and he immediately fell asleep in the van so I decided to let him sleep while I hunted some more in a different spot where I'd be close by to him. This spot had been absolutely nailed to death in the last year by explorer users with several seated coins being found. I figured I'd see if the winter freeze turned over any signals. I spent an hour and a half in astonishment as I got one signal after another to dig. You couldn't buy a signal out here last fall now they are everywhere. I added a dateless Shield Nickel, 1900 V Nickel, a wheatie, streetcar token from Danville, IL., a really nice Bell's Pine Tar Honey fob, a neat gold-filled cuff link, a gold filled button with a silver dogs head inside the glass top, a mangled hunk of sterling silver that looks like eyeglass frames, a Hutchison bottle stopper still inside the broken blob top. Last but not least the final signal I dug was a shocker! I got a signal that LOCKED on half dollar no matter which way I swung and it was deep! I couldn't believe that this signal was here - right where dozens of explorers had been many times. I cut a plug and the the probe howled half dollar down deep! I think I was drooling all over myself but I can't remember... I was too busy imagining a seated half coming out of the ground. I finally reached the target 10 inches down and pulled a big dark disc out of the hole. It turned out to be an 1830 Large Cent! That made a good end to a great day of detecting!
[attachment 119758 08mar09finds.JPG]
I didn't include the 30 or so bullets and junk targets that I also dug... the ground conditions were perfect and the signals were popping everywhere.
That is some nice finds for the first trip of the year, especially when I wait til March to take it. I need to get out more often... especially if I can still strangle these kind of finds out of the used up parks. Take care and HH, Mike.
