Tony Two-Cent
11-14-2012, 09:55 PM
DaddyDigger (Dave) and I decided to take a few days off and go on a casual, mostly unplanned metal detecting road trip through Illinois/Indiana/Ohio this past Saturday through Tuesday. We left from Effingham, Illinois at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful and just right for metal detecting! I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. My, how things would change by Monday! :frozen:
The very first place we hunted ended up being the most productive. It was at an old high school. At this site I found over 20 wheat cents and 4 mercury dimes. I'm sure there is a lot more there, but if we would have spent too much time in one spot then we never would have made it to Ohio!
We tried a couple more old schools in the next town but they were less productive. Dave found a 1906 Indian Head at the high school. A nice find for sure, but that was about it for this town, so we drove on and met a couple of old friends of mine for lunch in Robinson, IL. I ate so much excellent chinese food that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to metal detect any more that day! :shocked01: lol
Next we got permission to hunt around a public library that was in an older part of town. (Thank you to the very nice librarians!) I found several more wheat cents and a silver Roosevelt dime, and Dave found several wheaties too. After a while we decided to hit the road again and ended up in a very old town on the Illinois/Indiana border. Lots of history in this town and some promising looking sites, but all we could manage was a couple of wheaties. By now it was starting to get dark so we drove to Vincennes, IN and found lodging for the night.
The next morning (Sunday) we got up early and went to a very large, very old park but couldn't find any old coins at all. I got a few clad coins and some really deep shotgun shell head stamps but that was it. So we tried an old grade school in town and had a little better luck. Dave got a Barber Dime at this old school, and I got 6 wheat cents and a silver Rosie.
At the next town we got permission to hunt this old house:
62277
Kinda makes your mouth water, doesn't it? Well, it must have had the same effect on the other 500 people who hunted it previously. >:{ Nothing but a few modern clad coins.
We ended the day on Sunday at a large old park in central Indiana. Once again, the site looked very promising but gave up very few finds. I only found a few wheat cents.
On Monday it was much colder and raining all day with some snow flurries mixed in. We drove to the Dayton, Ohio area and went to the home of Bell-Two (Tony) and his wife Diane. They were very hospitable hosts and we had a very nice visit, discussing metal detecting and looking at all of their wonderful finds. So many large cents! There's nothing like sitting in front of the fireplace on a cold day, looking at old coins and relics.
DaddyDigger and Bell-Two:
62278
Bell-Two and myself:
62279
On Tuesday morning it was still cold, but the sun was hining bright and there was no wind. Temps were in the 30s but with several layers of warm clothes it was just right for detecting. Bell-Two took us to a very large site where a bunch of old houses had once stood. This site was very trashy but there were lots of coin signals too. I think you could go home with a bucket full of memorial cents if you dug all of the 12-44 signals. I did find a nice 1928 Buffalo Nickel early in the hunt, followed by a couple of wheat cents. Dave and Tony both got Mercs at this site. It was a very enjoyable hunt and was more about the time shared than the finds. We thanked Tony for his warm hospitality and then hit the road for the long drive back to Illinois.
Here are my finds for the entire trip:
62280
I ended up with 40 wheat cents:
62281
Not exactly on my bucket list, but it was a first for me. Yep, it's a 1943 steel penny. It was in a spill with another copper wheat cent.
62282
Two Buffalo Nickels, 1928 and 1936:
6228462283
And the silver, 4 Mercs and 2 Rosies:
62285
An old button off of a band uniform, I guess? I have no idea now old it is:
62286
62287
A watch winder? Not sure.
62288
Half of a good luck token found in Newton, IL. (I think the token maker made a typo.) I couldn't find the other half.
62289
Thanks a million, Dave, for driving me all over the midwest and for putting up with me for four days! It was great fun! Next time we'll get the seateds and draped busts for sure! thumbsup01
62290
The very first place we hunted ended up being the most productive. It was at an old high school. At this site I found over 20 wheat cents and 4 mercury dimes. I'm sure there is a lot more there, but if we would have spent too much time in one spot then we never would have made it to Ohio!
We tried a couple more old schools in the next town but they were less productive. Dave found a 1906 Indian Head at the high school. A nice find for sure, but that was about it for this town, so we drove on and met a couple of old friends of mine for lunch in Robinson, IL. I ate so much excellent chinese food that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to metal detect any more that day! :shocked01: lol
Next we got permission to hunt around a public library that was in an older part of town. (Thank you to the very nice librarians!) I found several more wheat cents and a silver Roosevelt dime, and Dave found several wheaties too. After a while we decided to hit the road again and ended up in a very old town on the Illinois/Indiana border. Lots of history in this town and some promising looking sites, but all we could manage was a couple of wheaties. By now it was starting to get dark so we drove to Vincennes, IN and found lodging for the night.
The next morning (Sunday) we got up early and went to a very large, very old park but couldn't find any old coins at all. I got a few clad coins and some really deep shotgun shell head stamps but that was it. So we tried an old grade school in town and had a little better luck. Dave got a Barber Dime at this old school, and I got 6 wheat cents and a silver Rosie.
At the next town we got permission to hunt this old house:
62277
Kinda makes your mouth water, doesn't it? Well, it must have had the same effect on the other 500 people who hunted it previously. >:{ Nothing but a few modern clad coins.
We ended the day on Sunday at a large old park in central Indiana. Once again, the site looked very promising but gave up very few finds. I only found a few wheat cents.
On Monday it was much colder and raining all day with some snow flurries mixed in. We drove to the Dayton, Ohio area and went to the home of Bell-Two (Tony) and his wife Diane. They were very hospitable hosts and we had a very nice visit, discussing metal detecting and looking at all of their wonderful finds. So many large cents! There's nothing like sitting in front of the fireplace on a cold day, looking at old coins and relics.
DaddyDigger and Bell-Two:
62278
Bell-Two and myself:
62279
On Tuesday morning it was still cold, but the sun was hining bright and there was no wind. Temps were in the 30s but with several layers of warm clothes it was just right for detecting. Bell-Two took us to a very large site where a bunch of old houses had once stood. This site was very trashy but there were lots of coin signals too. I think you could go home with a bucket full of memorial cents if you dug all of the 12-44 signals. I did find a nice 1928 Buffalo Nickel early in the hunt, followed by a couple of wheat cents. Dave and Tony both got Mercs at this site. It was a very enjoyable hunt and was more about the time shared than the finds. We thanked Tony for his warm hospitality and then hit the road for the long drive back to Illinois.
Here are my finds for the entire trip:
62280
I ended up with 40 wheat cents:
62281
Not exactly on my bucket list, but it was a first for me. Yep, it's a 1943 steel penny. It was in a spill with another copper wheat cent.
62282
Two Buffalo Nickels, 1928 and 1936:
6228462283
And the silver, 4 Mercs and 2 Rosies:
62285
An old button off of a band uniform, I guess? I have no idea now old it is:
62286
62287
A watch winder? Not sure.
62288
Half of a good luck token found in Newton, IL. (I think the token maker made a typo.) I couldn't find the other half.
62289
Thanks a million, Dave, for driving me all over the midwest and for putting up with me for four days! It was great fun! Next time we'll get the seateds and draped busts for sure! thumbsup01
62290