I went out with these goals. 192 coins (to hit 8,000 in 2009.) 52 quarters (to fill my quarter bottle to 3/4 full.) 13 nickels (to fill my nickel bottle.) I had four spots in mind which was a road trip I had made 3 times this spring. Never made it to four. Site one is a very old school. Site two is an older school with a large park attached. Next to it is the church I inadvertently strayed onto and was booted off. Third site is a modern school. The coins are arranged by site but overlap a bit.
Site one. The fields produce a lot of clad and I started there. I got a lot of clad including a nice 1952D nickel which is a semi rare date. Also the dragonfly fob and American Flag pin. I moved out to the front to cool off and got an iffy signal. I got down to about 10 inches and was pretty sure it wasn't a coin. My Pro-Pointer batteries died while looking and I had to keep switching it off to get it to work for a few seconds. When I reached into the hole I thought big washer. I was shocked to retrieve a Matron Head Large cent. This is my second of the year and my second oldest US coin ever. Oddly I now have more large cents than silver quarters in 2009. The date is either 1823 or 1828. I am leaning toward 1823 which is a fairly uncommon date. It has a nice strong liberty but the date is very faint. When you find something older than Uncle Willy it's a good day. When you find something 100 years older than Uncle Willy it's a great day. This school is in a very small town and I walked to a nearby general store to buy a 9 volt battery. Stupidly, I forgot to buy a spare when I changed it last time. Anybody care to guess how much I paid? For reference, gas at this store was 80 cents a gallon more than it is here in town. I handed over my money and asked if had broken a window which is my standard line in this situation. Went back to the front yard and got a few good signals one of which was a tube of toothpaste that contained 7% alcohol. I should have saved it.
Site 2. Down the road a piece. Lot of clad again including a 1945 wheat and a 1940 nickel. Also a silver Rosie which is always welcome. I was getting very tired and dehydrated. I was drinking a lot of water too. Over a gallon. I was also getting tired. Me a nice kid fishing right by the church mentioned above and he told me he had been booted for fishing on their side of the creek too. This minister is a real stickler. I asked around and the access to the park is through the church. I reckon they get tired of all the traffic though their property. I didn't have the energy to count my coins to see how close I was to 192 but I figured it was 50 or so coins.
Site 3. There was a good site on my way home but I chose this place because it was close to site 2 and I didn't know when I'd be able to get back. The other site is one I can drive to from home fairly quickly. Tons of clad again. When I got the ring I was 95 percent sure it was silver. My acid test kit told me it was plated. I can't understand why the maker didn't just use two buck of silver when he made this very pretty ring. I counted the coins from there an had 62 and I was fairly sure that would be enough.
Hit all three goals. 210 coins. 16 nickels. 63 quarters. It got pretty hot. I was and remain exhausted. Made the long trek home and on one road I got behind a guy who was driving 25 miles an hour below the speed limit no matter what it was. Twice he just stopped in the middle of the road blocking both lanes. He had 5 or 6 kids in the car. It was a very windy road with no passing zones and by the time I managed to get by him the line cars behind him was 30 or 40 cars. I bet he was drunk and not a citizen of this country. It was the first real road rage I've had since I got that ticket.
Anyway, I got home, showered, and weighed myself. I was down 5 pounds. All sweat of course which I am replacing as fast as I can. Total time hunting was 5 hours. Three hours driving which should have been 2 1/2. Super day which would have been super duper if that ring was silver. I dug a can at site 3 which was the second or third of the year. My technique had gotten awful as I got more and more tired. The 2500 told me it was size C but I wasn't centered. When I can't pinpoint a can, it's time to quit.
The rechargeables in my 2500 are only lasting about 10 hours now. Down from about 20. I think I need new ones.
Is that a long post or what? Took me 25 minute to write it which is 20 minutes too long. If you made it to here, thanks for looking!
Chris
Site one. The fields produce a lot of clad and I started there. I got a lot of clad including a nice 1952D nickel which is a semi rare date. Also the dragonfly fob and American Flag pin. I moved out to the front to cool off and got an iffy signal. I got down to about 10 inches and was pretty sure it wasn't a coin. My Pro-Pointer batteries died while looking and I had to keep switching it off to get it to work for a few seconds. When I reached into the hole I thought big washer. I was shocked to retrieve a Matron Head Large cent. This is my second of the year and my second oldest US coin ever. Oddly I now have more large cents than silver quarters in 2009. The date is either 1823 or 1828. I am leaning toward 1823 which is a fairly uncommon date. It has a nice strong liberty but the date is very faint. When you find something older than Uncle Willy it's a good day. When you find something 100 years older than Uncle Willy it's a great day. This school is in a very small town and I walked to a nearby general store to buy a 9 volt battery. Stupidly, I forgot to buy a spare when I changed it last time. Anybody care to guess how much I paid? For reference, gas at this store was 80 cents a gallon more than it is here in town. I handed over my money and asked if had broken a window which is my standard line in this situation. Went back to the front yard and got a few good signals one of which was a tube of toothpaste that contained 7% alcohol. I should have saved it.
Site 2. Down the road a piece. Lot of clad again including a 1945 wheat and a 1940 nickel. Also a silver Rosie which is always welcome. I was getting very tired and dehydrated. I was drinking a lot of water too. Over a gallon. I was also getting tired. Me a nice kid fishing right by the church mentioned above and he told me he had been booted for fishing on their side of the creek too. This minister is a real stickler. I asked around and the access to the park is through the church. I reckon they get tired of all the traffic though their property. I didn't have the energy to count my coins to see how close I was to 192 but I figured it was 50 or so coins.
Site 3. There was a good site on my way home but I chose this place because it was close to site 2 and I didn't know when I'd be able to get back. The other site is one I can drive to from home fairly quickly. Tons of clad again. When I got the ring I was 95 percent sure it was silver. My acid test kit told me it was plated. I can't understand why the maker didn't just use two buck of silver when he made this very pretty ring. I counted the coins from there an had 62 and I was fairly sure that would be enough.
Hit all three goals. 210 coins. 16 nickels. 63 quarters. It got pretty hot. I was and remain exhausted. Made the long trek home and on one road I got behind a guy who was driving 25 miles an hour below the speed limit no matter what it was. Twice he just stopped in the middle of the road blocking both lanes. He had 5 or 6 kids in the car. It was a very windy road with no passing zones and by the time I managed to get by him the line cars behind him was 30 or 40 cars. I bet he was drunk and not a citizen of this country. It was the first real road rage I've had since I got that ticket.
Anyway, I got home, showered, and weighed myself. I was down 5 pounds. All sweat of course which I am replacing as fast as I can. Total time hunting was 5 hours. Three hours driving which should have been 2 1/2. Super day which would have been super duper if that ring was silver. I dug a can at site 3 which was the second or third of the year. My technique had gotten awful as I got more and more tired. The 2500 told me it was size C but I wasn't centered. When I can't pinpoint a can, it's time to quit.
The rechargeables in my 2500 are only lasting about 10 hours now. Down from about 20. I think I need new ones.
Is that a long post or what? Took me 25 minute to write it which is 20 minutes too long. If you made it to here, thanks for looking!
Chris
if ya keep this up you"ll have to change your name to John 
Chris you never cease to amaze me! Good for you.
Especially that large cent!
Happy Hunting!