Memorial day

I went out this morning to Linwood park where I’ve been finding old coins for a while now. I left the Bliss home and took the Deus instead. I just wanted to hunt and not worry about the new detector.

The very first signal was a nice 1904 Barber with no mint mark. Then I dug a bunch of deep trash. Last I got a crackling more than a signal. The only reason I dug it is because the all metal mode told me there was a definite object down there. The target was a 2 mil Kansas tax token.

I really like my Deus. I know it. I know what it’s telling me. I just wish I could find deeper coins. 9 inches seems to be the limit for dimes. It can go deeper on larger coins of course but dimes are so much more common.

At any rate, I found that dime in the same 5×5 area around this young tree where I’ve found a number of old coins before. As you can see, there is no lack of trash. All that trash with the exception of the bottle cap was deep.

More rain is in the forecast so I don’t know when I’ll get another chance to detect.

Thanks for stopping by.

1928 D Mercury dime

For lunch today, my XP Deus metal detector and I returned to the spot where I found the 1941 Merc yesterday.

I decided to concentrate on a relatively small area. After I found a couple of wheat cents, I knew that I had selected the right place. Soon I got a deep signal with no VDI but with a sweet tone. I dug a 7 inch hole and the target was still in the hole but barely under the bottom. One more scoopful brought up the coin ball:

Have I mentioned that I just LOVE seeing that silver edge poking out of the dirt?

After I released the coin from its dirt jail, I saw that it was a 1928 D Merc in bad shape. It it heavily scratched and worn but I’ll take it.

The last target that was not trash, was a Kansas 2 Mil tax token. It was a fun hunt and I hope to take more keepers from there.

Thank you for looking!

Masked Barber

I met Steveouke at lunch for a quick hunt around the spot where I found the Indian Head yesterday. I got there a couple of minutes before he did and got to swing the detector a few times before I got a solid nickel signal. I dug a relatively shallow hole only to find an old piece of tin instead of a nickel. I ran the coil over the hole out of habit before covering it again and I got the sweet, silky, tell-tale audio signal and a solid VDI of 91. Gasp! This signal did not exist prior to me removing the tin from the hole! I dug maybe an inch deeper and out came this pretty thing:

 

I was taking the picture of the dirty coin when Stevo arrived. He was just in time to see the coin with the fresh dirt on it.

When I find a coin with very little wear as this one, I infer that it was dropped soon after it was minted. So someone lost this precious in the early years of the 20th century. How cool is that?

Soon after, I dug a signal on the wheat range and I found an old bullet. Now, about 100 yards away from where we were hunting, there is a row of houses. I know for a fact that one of those houses was built in 1901. Would someone be firing their rifle so close to these houses? I’d like to think not and I’d like to think this bullet is pre 1900’s.

It looks as if the bullet hit the Buffalo.

My lunch hour went much quicker than I like and I left Stevo hunting in the park.

AT ANOTHER PARK, AT AN EARLIER DATE

I hunted my deep silver park the other day and found a bunch of wheats as always and these two things.

I remember the first time I found a Kansas tax token. I was so intrigued by it. Now, they don’t excite me as much although they are an old and cool find. This one is one mil. Rarer for me are the 2 mil ones. They are made of aluminum and they never come up in good shape.

During that same hunt, I dug a deep iron signal and I found this:

A tiny lead Saint Christopher. The fact that it is made of lead and the fact that it was over 8 inches deep tells me it is an old relic. The mystery to me is that it doesn’t appear to be part of a pendant but rather it seems to be a tiny statue. As you can see, it has a flat base that allows it to stand. There are remnants of the black paint that covered it at one time and the word GERMANY is stamped on the base. The Barber is used for size comparison. Interesting.

I am taking a trip this Saturday to the Eastern Kansas border for a Karate tournament. I hope to have an hour or so to hunt an old park I know about.  I am going back to the 1840’s and 1850’s time-wise and maybe, just maybe, I may be able to find a Seated coin.

Wish me luck.

Twins

Since I didn’t get to detect in March, I decided to try to catch up a little so I took Maurice, my XP Deus metal detector, to the Iron Pit for a two hour hunt after work.

I began at the Iron Pit proper but after getting no diggable signals I moved off a little and after a few minutes I had wraparound signal with no VDI and iffy audio with just enough sweetness. I dug my obligatory 7 inch hole and just below the surface of the bottom I got a nice solid hit with the Garrett pinpointer. One more dirt scoop with the old Lesche revealed that much beloved silver edge. Out came a 1929 Mercury dime.

I continued my hunt and after a few minutes I got another iffy signal although this one was better defined than the first one. I dug the hole and again, somewhere between 7 and 8 inches I found another little dirt ball with a gorgeous reeded edge! And wouldn’t you know it, it was another 1929 Mercury dime!

 

Right about that time, I heard a little girl ask someone what it was I was doing. The father of the girl said I was metal detecting. I looked up and asked her if she wanted to see my coins. They both came over and I showed them the dimes. The dad was very impressed and the little girl thought the coins were pretty. While they were admiring the coins a woman with her dog stopped to see the coins and then another man with his dog stopped and I had an audience! The man with the dog told me he had gotten 5 Mercury dimes from a dime roll once. He knew about coins because he explained to my audience that although they are commonly known as Mercury dimes, the proper name is Winged Liberty.

Anyway, it was kind of cool to have people not judge me and instead have them appreciate my finds.

After that I found three wheats, the earliest being a 1916, a Kansas tax token, some clad dimes, and a No Cash Value token.

Not a bad hunt.

Thank you for looking!