Brierfield
Member
I've already posted this on the Today's Finds thread, but thought it might be of interest on the F75 thread.
Yesterday I set out for an old plantation site that pre-dates the WBTS. It is about a hundred miles from my house, so I left just after 7:00 AM for the 2 hour drive. I first hunted two vacant lots for several hours that once were the site of very old homes in the small town near the plantation, but found very little of note there.
I allowed myself 2 and a half hours to hunt around the old plantation home site, and then I would have to start for home. I got directions to the plantation, located it, and started my hunt. It is a beautiful site, with a partial chimney remaining from the ~1840s home that burned after a lightning strike ~20 years ago. I hunted for close to two hours with very little success; the only decent targets found being two wheat pennies. I had about decided that the site must have been worked over pretty well, when I moved over to an area on the fringe of the mowed part of the site, and got a good quarter-range hit on my F75. It turned out to be a 1957 Washington quarter. About a foot from that coin I got another good hit, and dug a dime-sized silver coin, but it was so disfigured I could not at first even tell what it was (these two coins pictured on bottom row of attached photo). I was finally able to pick-up the date as 1957, so then I knew it was a silver Rosie dime.
Realizing my time to start for home was drawing near, I moved from the mown area around the old home site out to a nearby freshly planted corn field. I had been hunting in a turn-row at the edge of the field for about 2 minutes when I got a solid hit of around 65 VDI and dug the target. To my surprise, it was an 1838 Seated half-dime in good condition, albeit a little bent on one side - the "Liberty" on the shield is still quite readable. I dug a few brass rivets and then noticed it was indeed time to leave the site and start for home.
On my way to my car I passed the spot where I had previously dug the two silver coins, and about 3 feet from them I got another good silver dime-range hit. It was indeed another silver dime, so I scanned the area again with my coil and got another hit, and another silver dime. This happened a third time, and out of the hole was another silver dime! I kept repeating this over and over, till I lost count of how many I had dug! I moved my coil over to one side and the whole process seemed to repeat itself all over again - more and more silver dimes kept coming from the second hole that was only inches from the first hole (see second photo for a picture of the two holes). I kept digging this small area for over an hour, and needless to say my departure for home was delayed. I called my wife to tell her I would be late, and I was literally shaking with excitement! I finally stopped getting hits and stopped to count the dimes. There were nineteen in all! I've included in the photo two clods of dirt with dimes still embedded within - the clod on the left contains two dimes and the clod on the right contains one.
I dug a total of 22 silver coins at this site, and needless to say this was the best silver total I've had, or will likely ever have! I have no explanation for why this many silver coins would have been dropped in this small area; there was no sign of a jar or any other container that could have once held them. They are all Rosies, except for 5 Mercs. One of the dimes in the left clod is still a mystery, as I haven't removed it and can't see details, so I don't know if it's a Rosie or a Merc. Some of the coins have a dark stain, as if they were exposed to fire. They also have a very "white" appearance instead of a more "silvery" look that most silver coins display just out of the ground. I don't think the coins went through the fire that destroyed the old antebellum home 20 years ago, as most were around 4-5 inches deep - too deep to have been there for only 20 years, IMO.
Well that's my story. I'm still amazed a day later to have stumbled upon such a large collection of silver coins. I plan to return to the site next week and hunt more in the nearby fields, as well as the site of an old 1800s general store that was on the same property.
Yesterday I set out for an old plantation site that pre-dates the WBTS. It is about a hundred miles from my house, so I left just after 7:00 AM for the 2 hour drive. I first hunted two vacant lots for several hours that once were the site of very old homes in the small town near the plantation, but found very little of note there.
I allowed myself 2 and a half hours to hunt around the old plantation home site, and then I would have to start for home. I got directions to the plantation, located it, and started my hunt. It is a beautiful site, with a partial chimney remaining from the ~1840s home that burned after a lightning strike ~20 years ago. I hunted for close to two hours with very little success; the only decent targets found being two wheat pennies. I had about decided that the site must have been worked over pretty well, when I moved over to an area on the fringe of the mowed part of the site, and got a good quarter-range hit on my F75. It turned out to be a 1957 Washington quarter. About a foot from that coin I got another good hit, and dug a dime-sized silver coin, but it was so disfigured I could not at first even tell what it was (these two coins pictured on bottom row of attached photo). I was finally able to pick-up the date as 1957, so then I knew it was a silver Rosie dime.
Realizing my time to start for home was drawing near, I moved from the mown area around the old home site out to a nearby freshly planted corn field. I had been hunting in a turn-row at the edge of the field for about 2 minutes when I got a solid hit of around 65 VDI and dug the target. To my surprise, it was an 1838 Seated half-dime in good condition, albeit a little bent on one side - the "Liberty" on the shield is still quite readable. I dug a few brass rivets and then noticed it was indeed time to leave the site and start for home.
On my way to my car I passed the spot where I had previously dug the two silver coins, and about 3 feet from them I got another good silver dime-range hit. It was indeed another silver dime, so I scanned the area again with my coil and got another hit, and another silver dime. This happened a third time, and out of the hole was another silver dime! I kept repeating this over and over, till I lost count of how many I had dug! I moved my coil over to one side and the whole process seemed to repeat itself all over again - more and more silver dimes kept coming from the second hole that was only inches from the first hole (see second photo for a picture of the two holes). I kept digging this small area for over an hour, and needless to say my departure for home was delayed. I called my wife to tell her I would be late, and I was literally shaking with excitement! I finally stopped getting hits and stopped to count the dimes. There were nineteen in all! I've included in the photo two clods of dirt with dimes still embedded within - the clod on the left contains two dimes and the clod on the right contains one.
I dug a total of 22 silver coins at this site, and needless to say this was the best silver total I've had, or will likely ever have! I have no explanation for why this many silver coins would have been dropped in this small area; there was no sign of a jar or any other container that could have once held them. They are all Rosies, except for 5 Mercs. One of the dimes in the left clod is still a mystery, as I haven't removed it and can't see details, so I don't know if it's a Rosie or a Merc. Some of the coins have a dark stain, as if they were exposed to fire. They also have a very "white" appearance instead of a more "silvery" look that most silver coins display just out of the ground. I don't think the coins went through the fire that destroyed the old antebellum home 20 years ago, as most were around 4-5 inches deep - too deep to have been there for only 20 years, IMO.
Well that's my story. I'm still amazed a day later to have stumbled upon such a large collection of silver coins. I plan to return to the site next week and hunt more in the nearby fields, as well as the site of an old 1800s general store that was on the same property.
