Andy Sabisch
Active member
For the past 40+ years I have always gone out on New Years Day as a ritual to start out the new year and see what the first keeper turns out to be. I've gotten a number of fellow detectorists to pick up this ritual as well and even if the weather is such that hunting time is limited to 15 minutes, I force myself to get out and make that first find.
Research plays a factor in selecting a site that holds the potential for making a find that stands out and having spent many of those New Year hunts in the north, finding a site that is not frozen solid adds to the challenge.
I always look at the first find as setting the stage for the upcoming year and (knock on wood), it seems to have been an accurate foretelling of what came as the months unfolded.
Being in Tennessee this New Years Day I had thought that weather would not play a factor but that was not the case as anyone that has watched the weather can attest to . . . . single digit temperatures as far south as central Georgia tend to put the Global Warming idea in question and when we woke up New Years Day in Tennessee, it was in the low 20's. Thankfully it warmed up to some degree and by noon it was above freezing.
There was a small pocket park in town that had caught my eye and that was where we headed. Expecting a great deal of trash based on the age of the area and the general conditions, the Deus was the detector of choice without hesitation. Loading one of my custom programs, it was readily apparent that trashy was an understatement. In amongst the chatter from the non-ferrous trash I did pickup the unmistakable sound of a higher conductive "keeper" and with a little wiggling and turning different directions, I zeroed in on the target and removed a plug. Well, from 9" down I recovered a penny well caked with decades of dirt which turned out to be a 1919 Wheat Cent . . . . not silver but a great first coin for the year. I put it in a 2x2 holder when I cleaned it up and it went into the book with the firsts from years gone by.
We stayed out a little while longer and added a number of other coins - both clad and older (Wheats, 3 silver dimes and a 1927 dog license) - before errands called.
I hope everyone has a productive 2014 in whatever type of hunting you plan on focusing on and look forward to seeing the photos of the finds being made worldwide.
Andy
Research plays a factor in selecting a site that holds the potential for making a find that stands out and having spent many of those New Year hunts in the north, finding a site that is not frozen solid adds to the challenge.
I always look at the first find as setting the stage for the upcoming year and (knock on wood), it seems to have been an accurate foretelling of what came as the months unfolded.
Being in Tennessee this New Years Day I had thought that weather would not play a factor but that was not the case as anyone that has watched the weather can attest to . . . . single digit temperatures as far south as central Georgia tend to put the Global Warming idea in question and when we woke up New Years Day in Tennessee, it was in the low 20's. Thankfully it warmed up to some degree and by noon it was above freezing.
There was a small pocket park in town that had caught my eye and that was where we headed. Expecting a great deal of trash based on the age of the area and the general conditions, the Deus was the detector of choice without hesitation. Loading one of my custom programs, it was readily apparent that trashy was an understatement. In amongst the chatter from the non-ferrous trash I did pickup the unmistakable sound of a higher conductive "keeper" and with a little wiggling and turning different directions, I zeroed in on the target and removed a plug. Well, from 9" down I recovered a penny well caked with decades of dirt which turned out to be a 1919 Wheat Cent . . . . not silver but a great first coin for the year. I put it in a 2x2 holder when I cleaned it up and it went into the book with the firsts from years gone by.
We stayed out a little while longer and added a number of other coins - both clad and older (Wheats, 3 silver dimes and a 1927 dog license) - before errands called.
I hope everyone has a productive 2014 in whatever type of hunting you plan on focusing on and look forward to seeing the photos of the finds being made worldwide.
Andy
