My E-Trac arrived by the little brown truck Thursday evening. The anticipation had been working on me all week waiting for the package and I had been trying to decide where best to start with it. There are a few parks that date back to the later 1800's in my area, but they are very trashy. There were also some older homes I had lined up to hunt that showed some promise. I decided on an old farm house built in 1904. The grandparents of the current owners had built it originally and family members have lived there ever since. The old barn and chicken coops had been removed a number of years ago and grassed over. Much of the farmland had been sold off and was now homes.
I quickly assembled the E-Trac. grabbed some batteries and headed over to the old farm house before it became too dark to hunt. On arriving, I checked in with the owner, one of the nicest people you'd ever meet and off I went to take a quick sampling of what the yard might hold.
A quick sample of the side yard turned up some new and shallow clad coins. Two huge old trees were set a little further back in the yard and were my next stop. Here I found 4 'pocket spills' of clad coins. Still nothing interesting. As time moved along I slipped up to the front yard to see if it held any promise. I found a couple of odds and ends and just before calling it a night found what I was sure was a wheatie. You will need to cut me a little slack here, it was dark, I had no flashlight and no 'reading' glasses. I had to go by feel.
It turned out to be a 1927 Wheat Cent.
Work Friday couldn't go quick enough. I wanted to stop by one of the old parks nearby and have a go. Upon arriving at the park, the area I had wanted to try was already occupied by two detectorist, so I defaulted to plan B, an area not too far away from the first. I started hunting and within a few minutes, a local 'tie dye' T-shirt vendor started running climbing ropes between the trees I was hunting around to hang his wares from. Obviously, this wasn't meant to be. So I cut my loses and headed back over to the old farm house.
I checked in with the owner and headed over to the front yard area. There were some huge old rose bushes that had been cut back for the winter. I began checking in the rose garden as it was next to the stone foundation and turned up a 44-S wheatie. Nothing exciting, but at least it was a start.
Moving over in the main yard area as the sun was fading below the horizon, I turned up a large brown coin that I thought was a large cent, but it was the wrong era for the house and the thickness wasn't quite right. No reading glasses again. I put it in the coin pouch and moved on. There next target read around 08 / 45 and has a nice tone to it. It was a huge sterling silver ring. Being that the owner's family had been in the house since it was built, we agreed than any jewelry would be returned. His face lit up when I presented the ring and was surprised at it's weight. (Biggest silver ring I've ever found by a long shot)
It was now officially after sunset, I turned on the backlight and moved back into the yard and picked up what I was sure would be some more wheaties by the feel of them. I hunted another 45 minutes before deciding to come back Saturday morning.
I found a pair of wheaties back to face in the same hole, 1918-S and 1919-S.
The 1911-D wheatie must have been lost the week the coin came from the bank. Unfortunately, the soil wasn't kind and the rim was hit with something that left a little metal spur. (The wound isn't a fresh one)
What I thought was a wheatie was a 1905 IH penny.
The large 'coin' turned out to be a George Washington Bicentennial coin or medallion made in 1932 and are somewhat collectible.
Well Saturday was rain and snow. So, the hunting will continue Monday after work. Here's some pics of the finds.
Good luck out there.
I quickly assembled the E-Trac. grabbed some batteries and headed over to the old farm house before it became too dark to hunt. On arriving, I checked in with the owner, one of the nicest people you'd ever meet and off I went to take a quick sampling of what the yard might hold.
A quick sample of the side yard turned up some new and shallow clad coins. Two huge old trees were set a little further back in the yard and were my next stop. Here I found 4 'pocket spills' of clad coins. Still nothing interesting. As time moved along I slipped up to the front yard to see if it held any promise. I found a couple of odds and ends and just before calling it a night found what I was sure was a wheatie. You will need to cut me a little slack here, it was dark, I had no flashlight and no 'reading' glasses. I had to go by feel.
It turned out to be a 1927 Wheat Cent.
Work Friday couldn't go quick enough. I wanted to stop by one of the old parks nearby and have a go. Upon arriving at the park, the area I had wanted to try was already occupied by two detectorist, so I defaulted to plan B, an area not too far away from the first. I started hunting and within a few minutes, a local 'tie dye' T-shirt vendor started running climbing ropes between the trees I was hunting around to hang his wares from. Obviously, this wasn't meant to be. So I cut my loses and headed back over to the old farm house.
I checked in with the owner and headed over to the front yard area. There were some huge old rose bushes that had been cut back for the winter. I began checking in the rose garden as it was next to the stone foundation and turned up a 44-S wheatie. Nothing exciting, but at least it was a start.
Moving over in the main yard area as the sun was fading below the horizon, I turned up a large brown coin that I thought was a large cent, but it was the wrong era for the house and the thickness wasn't quite right. No reading glasses again. I put it in the coin pouch and moved on. There next target read around 08 / 45 and has a nice tone to it. It was a huge sterling silver ring. Being that the owner's family had been in the house since it was built, we agreed than any jewelry would be returned. His face lit up when I presented the ring and was surprised at it's weight. (Biggest silver ring I've ever found by a long shot)
It was now officially after sunset, I turned on the backlight and moved back into the yard and picked up what I was sure would be some more wheaties by the feel of them. I hunted another 45 minutes before deciding to come back Saturday morning.
I found a pair of wheaties back to face in the same hole, 1918-S and 1919-S.
The 1911-D wheatie must have been lost the week the coin came from the bank. Unfortunately, the soil wasn't kind and the rim was hit with something that left a little metal spur. (The wound isn't a fresh one)
What I thought was a wheatie was a 1905 IH penny.
The large 'coin' turned out to be a George Washington Bicentennial coin or medallion made in 1932 and are somewhat collectible.
Well Saturday was rain and snow. So, the hunting will continue Monday after work. Here's some pics of the finds.
Good luck out there.
Nice thing with the ring