I met up with Guvner...Mark-MO...Crowduck...and JDD (Rodney) to pound some parks Saturday.
We hunted one park for about 2 hours...and it was slim pickin's. I ended up digging only one coin...but it was a seated which was great. The problem is that it was down almost 8" on edge...and I HACKED it right on the bottom right trying to widen the plug.
After eating lunch...we decided to drive a few miles to another podunk park and give it a shot.
Before long I had me a Roosey from about 7"...and not long after that I hit a Barber dime from about 8" on edge.
It then occured to me that I had the 3 toughest coins out of the way for the silver dime grand slam. Roosies are usually shallow so they are gone...while Barbers and seateds are deeper and don't pop out often either....so I could surely pop out a merc in the next 2 hours right??
Croduck and JDD had to leave so Guvner and I decided to wade through the dense trash at a spot where he thought an old concession stand looked to have been.
Anyway...right off the bat I hit an injun amidst a bunch of junk at about 7".
About 15 minutes later I hit a wheatie....then Guvner hit one right next to me.
I continued to wander around in the 20 foot area of trash while Guvner wandered towards the front of the stand.
After 30 minutes of digging memorial cents at 9" deep in the trash....I got a faint high warble out of a dead null at a spot Guvner had left. It hit from only one direction. When it hit though...it was sweet. I tried to pinpoint...but the iron sucked the target center more than 2 feet away.
I thought "no way I'm passing this up though" because I desparately wanted the merc I needed to hit the silver dime grand slam. I again swept the coil over the tiny narrow window of the hit...then did the Minelab wiggle
...took a chance and dug a huge plug around the area since the pinpoint was rendered useless by the iron.
I dug down about 7" ...and off to the bottom side of the hole is where the probe sang.
I clawed away a little dirt and saw the sweet glint of silver peeking through from straight on edge.
I handed it to Guvner because I am too stubborn to wear my reading glasses when I hunt.
I wanted him to give me the news of my silver being a merc after he rubbed it off.
He said..."Well it ain't no Merc". I then babbled a few choice words about being let down because of not hitting the slam...but he cut me off...got a half ticked off look on his face
...and said... "it's an 1850something....another seated... you jerk" 
My mouth dropped wide open...and I was in complete shock.
A seated dime never even entered my mind and I was totally stunned. I now had TWO seated dimes...a barber...a Roosey...but STILL no merc for the slam.
I was now in desperation mode to try and find the much needed merc. I also then called Guvner over to hunt the little hot spot with me. He kindly said he didn't want to "cramp" my turf...but I insisted. What a STUPID act of kindness on my part...this would turn out to be.
Anyway....the sun was going down so I moved back over to pound the area again that the unexpected seated dime came from....and left Guvner about 10 feet away...directly where I had just found a wheatie.
About 5 minutes later...I hear him laughing so I look his way. He has this big gloating smile on his face while he's holding something up for me to see...and bellows out... "Hey.....Here's the Merc you needed....right where you were 5 minutes ago"
My response to him just flowed right off the end of my tongue...."Thats real nice... you F-ing Jerk.
He got absolutely no congratulations from me...but what he did almost get was...popped in the mug.
He was literally digging right where I had just been. He had the small Minelab coil on... and sniffed out one that I missed with the bigger pro coil. What a freakin' Jerk.
Trust me...I heard about it for the next 30 minutes...all the way up to the point when we left. He could have found 3 seated dimes and it WOULDN'T have meant as much to him as digging up the merc I so desparately needed...and more importantly that I MISSED ...and he FOUND.
I was in a hurry to leave this morning and I forgot to grab my 6 x 8 coil...so all I had was my pro coil. My elbow has been killing me..and I have been using it because it's so light. I need to pick up couple of lower rods and hardware for my SE so I can just keep a small coil for trash....and bigger coil for open areas...already mounted and in my car for use if needed.
It was now dark...and time to leave..but I hated to do so without hunting more for a merc. I fought it for a few minutes and then just finally let it go...so we both headed out.
Wow were the finds few and far between all day...and we worked very hard for them. I ended up with a few wheaties...2 seated dimes (1856 & 1875)...the barber dime...the Roosey...an injun...and NO merc.
I'm sure Guvner had that cocky dumb look on his mug...and was chuckling all the way home.
We hunted one park for about 2 hours...and it was slim pickin's. I ended up digging only one coin...but it was a seated which was great. The problem is that it was down almost 8" on edge...and I HACKED it right on the bottom right trying to widen the plug.
After eating lunch...we decided to drive a few miles to another podunk park and give it a shot.
Before long I had me a Roosey from about 7"...and not long after that I hit a Barber dime from about 8" on edge.
It then occured to me that I had the 3 toughest coins out of the way for the silver dime grand slam. Roosies are usually shallow so they are gone...while Barbers and seateds are deeper and don't pop out often either....so I could surely pop out a merc in the next 2 hours right??
Croduck and JDD had to leave so Guvner and I decided to wade through the dense trash at a spot where he thought an old concession stand looked to have been.
Anyway...right off the bat I hit an injun amidst a bunch of junk at about 7".
About 15 minutes later I hit a wheatie....then Guvner hit one right next to me.
I continued to wander around in the 20 foot area of trash while Guvner wandered towards the front of the stand.
After 30 minutes of digging memorial cents at 9" deep in the trash
....I got a faint high warble out of a dead null at a spot Guvner had left. It hit from only one direction. When it hit though...it was sweet. I tried to pinpoint...but the iron sucked the target center more than 2 feet away. I thought "no way I'm passing this up though" because I desparately wanted the merc I needed to hit the silver dime grand slam. I again swept the coil over the tiny narrow window of the hit...then did the Minelab wiggle...took a chance and dug a huge plug around the area since the pinpoint was rendered useless by the iron. I dug down about 7" ...and off to the bottom side of the hole is where the probe sang.
I clawed away a little dirt and saw the sweet glint of silver peeking through from straight on edge.
I handed it to Guvner because I am too stubborn to wear my reading glasses when I hunt.
I wanted him to give me the news of my silver being a merc after he rubbed it off. He said..."Well it ain't no Merc". I then babbled a few choice words about being let down because of not hitting the slam
...but he cut me off...got a half ticked off look on his face...and said... "it's an 1850something....another seated... you jerk" My mouth dropped wide open...and I was in complete shock.
A seated dime never even entered my mind and I was totally stunned. I now had TWO seated dimes...a barber...a Roosey...but STILL no merc for the slam.I was now in desperation mode to try and find the much needed merc. I also then called Guvner over to hunt the little hot spot with me. He kindly said he didn't want to "cramp" my turf...but I insisted. What a STUPID act of kindness on my part...this would turn out to be.
Anyway....the sun was going down so I moved back over to pound the area again that the unexpected seated dime came from....and left Guvner about 10 feet away...directly where I had just found a wheatie.
About 5 minutes later...I hear him laughing so I look his way. He has this big gloating smile on his face while he's holding something up for me to see
...and bellows out... "Hey.....Here's the Merc you needed....right where you were 5 minutes ago" My response to him just flowed right off the end of my tongue...."Thats real nice... you F-ing Jerk.
He got absolutely no congratulations from me
...but what he did almost get was...popped in the mug. He was literally digging right where I had just been. He had the small Minelab coil on... and sniffed out one that I missed with the bigger pro coil. What a freakin' Jerk.
Trust me...I heard about it for the next 30 minutes...all the way up to the point when we left. He could have found 3 seated dimes and it WOULDN'T have meant as much to him as digging up the merc I so desparately needed...and more importantly that I MISSED ...and he FOUND.
I was in a hurry to leave this morning and I forgot to grab my 6 x 8 coil...so all I had was my pro coil. My elbow has been killing me..and I have been using it because it's so light. I need to pick up couple of lower rods and hardware for my SE so I can just keep a small coil for trash....and bigger coil for open areas...already mounted and in my car for use if needed.
It was now dark...and time to leave..but I hated to do so without hunting more for a merc. I fought it for a few minutes and then just finally let it go...so we both headed out.
Wow were the finds few and far between all day...and we worked very hard for them. I ended up with a few wheaties...2 seated dimes (1856 & 1875)...the barber dime...the Roosey...an injun...and NO merc.
I'm sure Guvner had that cocky dumb look on his mug...and was chuckling all the way home.
Take care, Mike.