James N.D.
New member
Hello again.
I chatted with Tim on Friday after the meeting and supposedly he wasn't going out this last weekend due to wanting to help his nephew on Sunday so it was me going solo once again.
I thought about going to try out some Road Construction I know about but didn't make it there.
I decided to stop by what I am calling now the "Super Park", to see what I could find in a little while and then go try the Construction out. I must say this Park is really becoming interesting since I just keep pounding away at it and it just keeps producing Coins for me. This time, I decided to try up where the Restrooms are located. This area looks like it was filled or pushed up since it is higher than normal....especially compared to the Street that goes by. Something wasn't right though because I started to find a few Wheats in this area that were in the 6"-8" Range which would be normal for any Park.
Maybe the ground was built up early when it was made into a Park or maybe this is the way it always was but I know now that the Old Coins were present in this area that was overlooked by everyone else. I believe the other hunters I had with me before may have passed thru or by this area but never got enough targets or walked by them to stick around and work it.
I started along a Cabled Fence and started to find Wheats shortly after I started my hunt. I didn't get started until 11:00am so it was a real late start for me on Saturday but it didn't matter because it was going to be a very interesting and successful hunt.
I worked around this area now doing a tight pattern to see just what was in the ground and was surprised to see quite a few Wheats show up along with a few Merc's and a nice Silver Washington Quarter as a bonus. This Park is AMAZING!!!
I worked this section which would be about 50'x50' and exactly after 2 hours into the hunt, I decided to see just what I had found so far. It wasn't a lot of finds but the Silver had me excited and knew there must be more! I pulled the Coins out and counted 11 Wheats, a Silver Quarter, 3 Mercury Dimes, and a Silver Rosie.
This all in 2 hours!!!
I then continued hunting further down the side of the road heading East towards another road that went into the Park Area. I popped out a few more Wheats here and all were in the 6"-8" Range. I then got a signal that bounced a bit but read 27 and sometimes a 28 on Digital. I dug down and out pops a Merc, Wheatie and a 1940-d Jefferson Nickel. This was at 6" tops and also in the area where Tim worked with the E-Trac. I'm thinking Tim missed the target all together or he maybe thought it was a Screw Cap and left it since I did dig a few of these in this area that read like a Wheatie.
I no sooner covered the hole up and the City Cop pulls up. At first, I thought maybe he was going to tell me that there was no digging in the Park or he had a call about me digging but he didn't. I soon found out that he himself had a detector but it was only a cheap Bounty Hunter. I sat and chatted with him for about 15 minutes. He asked if I was getting rich yet and I told him hardly. I then went on and told him I was finding some Wheat Pennies and also found a Couple Mercury Dimes and a Silver Quarter. He was shocked to hear that I had found some Mercury Dimes here and then he asked how Deep they were. I told him a lot of them are approaching the 8" Mark and he then told me that his detector was only good for 6"-7" Deep. I then told him about my detector and what they run and he was surprised.
He then told me he likes to go out and find Jewelery with his but hasn't found any Gold yet but did find a few Silver Rings and other things. He also told me he wasn't much into the Coins but I'm sure that may change. I then went on and told him that there was even 100 year old Coins in the Park and he said he believed it since it is quite Old. As we chatted, a call came over the radio where a Highway Patrol couldn't get a person to pull over. Soon after, all active units in the area were dispatched and were told the suspect was supposedly from the Fort Worth, Texas area and came up to South Dakota on a Drug Deal which he was now returning from which was pretty neat to hear. I'm not sure what happened or when they finally stopped the vehicle but to just know that something like that was happening just down the interstate was pretty exciting.
Anyways, the officer told me he should keep moving and I told him thanks for stopping and chatting with me and have a good day. He said the same and off he went to patrol the city again.
I continued hunting and had wished I had a Barber Dime or Injun to show him but didn't......at least at that moment. I soon come across what I thought was going to be another Screw Cap. I was getting tired of diggin' them but decided I better since I didn't want to pass up something good. I dug down and about 8" Deep, out pops a worn Silver Disc. I picked it up and it was a well worn Barber Dime dated 1912-d. WooHoo!!!
Filled the hole with a smile on my face and kept working.
I then came across another Deeper Signal but read 28. I dug it hoping to see another Dime or something Silver but was pleasantly rewarded with a nice Tag. On the Tag it read Dell Rapids Pavilion 311. On the back it has a 35 stamped into it also. Pretty neat find and should be a good Relic for next month's Find Of The Month Competition if I can't find anything else.
I then decided to wander into the Park where it was Pounded many, many times and was still rewarded with 2 Injuns and yet another 1899 Barber Dime next to a tree. This was a tough signal to get for some reason and had a really small window where the Pro Coil could see it. Don't know if the roots of the tree had something to do with it since I have had tree roots give false signals before which is weird but I was just lucky to get on top of the Coin to know that it was there. It is worn and could have been at a weird angle or on edge which could be why everyone else had missed it before.
I then started to wander around a bit since the Signals started to disappear due to the heavily worked area's that I and the others had worked on other visits. An occasional Wheat would show up but it was pretty dead. I then decided to go through the area next to the River again to see if I could find at least a couple more Coins before I ended my hunt which was around 9:00pm. It was slow but did pick up a few more Wheats and a Mercury Dime that was further down where I haven't hunted yet. Not much for signals down that way except for Junk Signals but you never know. I then decided to pack it in and kinda regretted not making the Road Construction I had in mind for Saturday so I guess it would have to wait.
I got home and counted my finds on Sunday Morning. To my surprise, I had found 13 more Silver in that Park which really was amazing since I didn't think I would find 4 but had those the first 2 hours. Totals for Saturday during that 10 hour hunt were 1 Silver Quarter, 2 Barber Dimes, 8 Mercury Dimes, 2 Roosevelt Dimes, 1 Jefferson Nickel, 2 Indian Heads and another astounding 39 Wheat Pennies!
Still don't know how I got that many Wheats from that Pounded Park or even the amount of Silver but I guess that's the way it goes when you keep working a Park and it helps when you find an area that was fairly loaded and passed up until now. Now onto Sunday's somewhat dis-appointing hunt.
Sunday, I decided to go give an ole Park that I had found a ton of finds at 2 years ago a try and test my luck since I knew it was pounded heavily by me and many others. I arrived at 11:30am....another late start but didn't really matter since I did so well on Saturday.....and started to hunt. About 10 minutes into the hunt, I find my first target at 6" Deep. Wheat Penny. Decided to start patterning this area just a bit to see if there were others nearby and there was only a few more Wheats in the area. I then got a Nickel reading that bounced a bit from 5 to 6 on Digital and showed about 6"-8" Deep. I decided to dig it thinking either Pull Tab Tail or Crown Cap but was rewarded with a Buffalo Nickel. Cool I thought since I haven't been finding many Nickels lately.
I continued working and it was fairly dead in this area so I moved over by some Evergreens nearby and on the opposite side where there was at one time a lot of Wheats found. I worked my way towards a Picnic Shelter passing up the usual Pull Tab Readings and other signals. I then got another signal that read 5 and then 6 on Digital and decided to see what it was. Another Nickel shows itself and it turns out to be a Jefferson from the 50's. I then worked towards the Evergreen Tree's and get a double signal. There were 2 separate signals that were about 6" apart and both were reading in the 5 and 6 Range again. Nahhhh! Couldn't be!!!
Dug both targets and both were Jefferson Nickels again....both in the 50's! I then said what the heck is going on here! How could anyone leave all these Nickels behind but then realized that everyone was going after the Wheats and Silver before since there was hardly ever a Nickel pulled from this Park. I probably passed these signals up just because the were with Trash and thought Pull Tab Tails or Crown Caps so I'm glad I decided to try this Park again. I then pulled a few Pull Tab Tails and a few Crown Caps also which was a reality check since it just seemed odd to pull that many Nickels in such a short amount of time. It didn't matter though because the Nickels were not over yet.
I then got over by the Picnic Shelter and got a good 27 but occasionally bounced to 28 on Digital that showed about 8" Deep. I knew right then and there that it had to be Silver just by the way it sounded and it was acting so dug a plug and popped out a much welcomed Mercury Dime. Didn't really expect to pull a Silver Coin from this Park but guess there is always a few waiting to be found still. I then decided to go into another area and worked this for quite awhile with very little to show for the effort. I only worked this Park for a few hours and decided to leave because the Nickels seemed to be everywhere and thought that a lot of the members on this forum would never believe how many Nickels I pulled from this one Park which kinda sucked since I was hoping to pull a V but didn't. I left this Park at around 2:00pm due to the Nickels but was an interesting hunt though. Before I left I found a small area that produced a couple Wheats and a 1900-O Barber Dime which is a better date but it is worn. It was fun to see Barber still here so I know I will be back sometime during this month if I don't get a V somewhere else. When I left this Park I checked to see what I had found here. Now a few of you will probably call me a liar but this is the HONEST TO GOD TRUTH! I had pulled 9 Wheat Pennies, 1 Mercury Dime, 1 Barber Dime, 5 Jefferson Nickels and 5 Buffalo Nickels....one being about 10" Deep and dated 1915. If I would have stayed and hunted the rest of the day...who knows how many more Nickels I would have pulled but just couldn't take being called a liar when every find I post is ACTUAL FINDS I get EVERY TIME OUT. Can't help the sites I hit are producing for me and sure the heck won't stop hunting them just because a few don't believe my finds are real. I know what I'm finding is FACT so it really doesn't matter much to me....I just wish a lot of other hunters would EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS and DO THE RESEARCH and possibly do a little ROAD TRIPPIN' and find some spots that I have so fortunately be able to find time and time again. Anyways....enough of my little rant here.....now to the other short stop before going home.
I stopped off at a Town Park that really hasn't produced much for finds except a couple Wheats, a Silver Dime or 2, a Silver Quarter and a CCC Token so I thought what the heck. I worked this for about an hour and towards the end of the hunt finally found a Silver Rosie. Other than that, Clad was found and very few of them also. After this I thought about trying a Fairgrounds but decided to just head home and call it a day and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Now onto the totals.
Total Silver count for the weekend was another 16. Still can't believe the Silver I'm pulling and now am up to 232 Silver for the year!
They included 1 Silver Washington Quarter dated 1944, 3 Barber Dimes dated 1899,1900-o,1912-d, 9 Mercury Dimes dated 34,37-d,(2)41-d,42,42-d,(3)44-d and 3 Roosevelt Dimes dated 1947-s,1948-d and 1950-d. I found an ASTOUNDING 11 Nickels this last weekend which just doesn't happen for me so I am really pumped about this even though Sunday didn't produce much Silver for me but the Barber Dime helped.
There were 5 Buffalo Nickels found dated 1915,1919-s,1926,1928-d,1936-d and 6 Jefferson Nickels pulled dated 1940-d,1941,1948,1952,1954 and 1958-d. I was lucky to find 2 more Injuns and they were dated 1901 and 1908 (no S
). I also included a Pic of a Lincoln Memorial Penny I found that had been shot by most likely a .22 which still has the Lead melted into the Coin. Neat find I thought. Wheats totalled another whopping 48 of them and they are dated 10,13,14,15,16,16-d,16-s,17,17-d,18,(2)19,(2)20,20-d,(3)25-d,26,27,27-d,28,29,(2)29-d,34-d,35-d,36,37,39,39-d,40,41-d,42,(2)42-d,44,(2)44-d,44-s,(2)45-d,48-d,51-d,53-d,55-d and 56-d. Misc. items included a Dell Rapids Pavilion Tag numbered 311 on the front and has 35 on the back, an Old Pin with Flowers in it, part of an Aluminum Tag of some sort with the number 2 on it, a neat Pendant that has a Egyptian King or Pharoah on it ( 2 piece that was together at one time), a Copper Ring, a Peace Sign item and a Rusty Steel Button off of some Jeans or something. I also found 17 Quarters, 30 Dimes, 1 Nickel and 31 Pennies for Clad during both hunts......along with over 100+ Junk Items from Screw Caps, Pull Tab Tails, Crown Caps, Rusty Nails, Can Slaw, and just about anything else you can imagine that might come up as a Coin while out hunting. Just wanted to note the Junk also to give you an idea on how much crap I dig as well. Anyways, thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the pics and the story. Good Luck and HH to you all!
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I chatted with Tim on Friday after the meeting and supposedly he wasn't going out this last weekend due to wanting to help his nephew on Sunday so it was me going solo once again.
I thought about going to try out some Road Construction I know about but didn't make it there.
I decided to stop by what I am calling now the "Super Park", to see what I could find in a little while and then go try the Construction out. I must say this Park is really becoming interesting since I just keep pounding away at it and it just keeps producing Coins for me. This time, I decided to try up where the Restrooms are located. This area looks like it was filled or pushed up since it is higher than normal....especially compared to the Street that goes by. Something wasn't right though because I started to find a few Wheats in this area that were in the 6"-8" Range which would be normal for any Park.
I started along a Cabled Fence and started to find Wheats shortly after I started my hunt. I didn't get started until 11:00am so it was a real late start for me on Saturday but it didn't matter because it was going to be a very interesting and successful hunt.



I then continued hunting further down the side of the road heading East towards another road that went into the Park Area. I popped out a few more Wheats here and all were in the 6"-8" Range. I then got a signal that bounced a bit but read 27 and sometimes a 28 on Digital. I dug down and out pops a Merc, Wheatie and a 1940-d Jefferson Nickel. This was at 6" tops and also in the area where Tim worked with the E-Trac. I'm thinking Tim missed the target all together or he maybe thought it was a Screw Cap and left it since I did dig a few of these in this area that read like a Wheatie.
I no sooner covered the hole up and the City Cop pulls up. At first, I thought maybe he was going to tell me that there was no digging in the Park or he had a call about me digging but he didn't. I soon found out that he himself had a detector but it was only a cheap Bounty Hunter. I sat and chatted with him for about 15 minutes. He asked if I was getting rich yet and I told him hardly. I then went on and told him I was finding some Wheat Pennies and also found a Couple Mercury Dimes and a Silver Quarter. He was shocked to hear that I had found some Mercury Dimes here and then he asked how Deep they were. I told him a lot of them are approaching the 8" Mark and he then told me that his detector was only good for 6"-7" Deep. I then told him about my detector and what they run and he was surprised.

I continued hunting and had wished I had a Barber Dime or Injun to show him but didn't......at least at that moment. I soon come across what I thought was going to be another Screw Cap. I was getting tired of diggin' them but decided I better since I didn't want to pass up something good. I dug down and about 8" Deep, out pops a worn Silver Disc. I picked it up and it was a well worn Barber Dime dated 1912-d. WooHoo!!!

I then decided to wander into the Park where it was Pounded many, many times and was still rewarded with 2 Injuns and yet another 1899 Barber Dime next to a tree. This was a tough signal to get for some reason and had a really small window where the Pro Coil could see it. Don't know if the roots of the tree had something to do with it since I have had tree roots give false signals before which is weird but I was just lucky to get on top of the Coin to know that it was there. It is worn and could have been at a weird angle or on edge which could be why everyone else had missed it before.
I then started to wander around a bit since the Signals started to disappear due to the heavily worked area's that I and the others had worked on other visits. An occasional Wheat would show up but it was pretty dead. I then decided to go through the area next to the River again to see if I could find at least a couple more Coins before I ended my hunt which was around 9:00pm. It was slow but did pick up a few more Wheats and a Mercury Dime that was further down where I haven't hunted yet. Not much for signals down that way except for Junk Signals but you never know. I then decided to pack it in and kinda regretted not making the Road Construction I had in mind for Saturday so I guess it would have to wait.
I got home and counted my finds on Sunday Morning. To my surprise, I had found 13 more Silver in that Park which really was amazing since I didn't think I would find 4 but had those the first 2 hours. Totals for Saturday during that 10 hour hunt were 1 Silver Quarter, 2 Barber Dimes, 8 Mercury Dimes, 2 Roosevelt Dimes, 1 Jefferson Nickel, 2 Indian Heads and another astounding 39 Wheat Pennies!


Sunday, I decided to go give an ole Park that I had found a ton of finds at 2 years ago a try and test my luck since I knew it was pounded heavily by me and many others. I arrived at 11:30am....another late start but didn't really matter since I did so well on Saturday.....and started to hunt. About 10 minutes into the hunt, I find my first target at 6" Deep. Wheat Penny. Decided to start patterning this area just a bit to see if there were others nearby and there was only a few more Wheats in the area. I then got a Nickel reading that bounced a bit from 5 to 6 on Digital and showed about 6"-8" Deep. I decided to dig it thinking either Pull Tab Tail or Crown Cap but was rewarded with a Buffalo Nickel. Cool I thought since I haven't been finding many Nickels lately.
I continued working and it was fairly dead in this area so I moved over by some Evergreens nearby and on the opposite side where there was at one time a lot of Wheats found. I worked my way towards a Picnic Shelter passing up the usual Pull Tab Readings and other signals. I then got another signal that read 5 and then 6 on Digital and decided to see what it was. Another Nickel shows itself and it turns out to be a Jefferson from the 50's. I then worked towards the Evergreen Tree's and get a double signal. There were 2 separate signals that were about 6" apart and both were reading in the 5 and 6 Range again. Nahhhh! Couldn't be!!!

I then got over by the Picnic Shelter and got a good 27 but occasionally bounced to 28 on Digital that showed about 8" Deep. I knew right then and there that it had to be Silver just by the way it sounded and it was acting so dug a plug and popped out a much welcomed Mercury Dime. Didn't really expect to pull a Silver Coin from this Park but guess there is always a few waiting to be found still. I then decided to go into another area and worked this for quite awhile with very little to show for the effort. I only worked this Park for a few hours and decided to leave because the Nickels seemed to be everywhere and thought that a lot of the members on this forum would never believe how many Nickels I pulled from this one Park which kinda sucked since I was hoping to pull a V but didn't. I left this Park at around 2:00pm due to the Nickels but was an interesting hunt though. Before I left I found a small area that produced a couple Wheats and a 1900-O Barber Dime which is a better date but it is worn. It was fun to see Barber still here so I know I will be back sometime during this month if I don't get a V somewhere else. When I left this Park I checked to see what I had found here. Now a few of you will probably call me a liar but this is the HONEST TO GOD TRUTH! I had pulled 9 Wheat Pennies, 1 Mercury Dime, 1 Barber Dime, 5 Jefferson Nickels and 5 Buffalo Nickels....one being about 10" Deep and dated 1915. If I would have stayed and hunted the rest of the day...who knows how many more Nickels I would have pulled but just couldn't take being called a liar when every find I post is ACTUAL FINDS I get EVERY TIME OUT. Can't help the sites I hit are producing for me and sure the heck won't stop hunting them just because a few don't believe my finds are real. I know what I'm finding is FACT so it really doesn't matter much to me....I just wish a lot of other hunters would EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS and DO THE RESEARCH and possibly do a little ROAD TRIPPIN' and find some spots that I have so fortunately be able to find time and time again. Anyways....enough of my little rant here.....now to the other short stop before going home.

I stopped off at a Town Park that really hasn't produced much for finds except a couple Wheats, a Silver Dime or 2, a Silver Quarter and a CCC Token so I thought what the heck. I worked this for about an hour and towards the end of the hunt finally found a Silver Rosie. Other than that, Clad was found and very few of them also. After this I thought about trying a Fairgrounds but decided to just head home and call it a day and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Now onto the totals.
Total Silver count for the weekend was another 16. Still can't believe the Silver I'm pulling and now am up to 232 Silver for the year!



