Full Metal Digger
12-11-2011, 07:25 PM
Hey Diggers!
What a day! I hunted my first cornfield and had one of my best days ever. There is an old farmhouse that dates back to at least 1850. I wasn't sure where to start so I just walked out into the middle of the field and started swinging. I got my first coin signal after about 15 minutes. My e-trac was showing a 12-40 at 2 inches deep. The ground was frozen so it took a bit of work with the shovel to get a plug up. I saw a tiny silver disc and thought it was one of those 3-cent silver coins. Once my eyes focused, I could see it was a seated liberty half dime, 1839!!! My oldest coin ever.
About 15 or 20 minutes later, I got a super loud 12-47 to 12-50. I looked at the ground and could see half of a large cent sticking straight up out of the ground! The fertilizers the farmers use is very hard on the coppers and this coin is too far toasted to get a date.
About an hour later, I got a signal at about 2 inches that sounded just like a clad quarter. I dug it up and was real happy to see another large cent! This one was in better shape and turned out to be 1855. My newest coin of the day. Not 2 minutes later, I got a hit that sounded just like a wheat penny. I flipped the plug and could see a silver rim! It was another seated half dime, this time an 1838-O and my new oldest coin ever. I was thinking this might be a key date and when I got home I looked it up and they only minted 70,000 of them! It lists for $110 in the lowest condition. Okay, the coin was holed but who cares! I got a real piece of history here.
What I liked about hunting the cornfield: No bottlecaps, pulltabs, or foil. In fact almost no signals. I got a bit muddy and my shoes were gettting taller with each step but so what. I was digging pre-civil war coins!
What I disliked about hunting cornfield: nothing.
Today's hunt took my large cent count to 4 for the year and my silver count to 118.
I will be posting a video later tonight. Here's some pics. Thanks for looking. Best wishes to all and happy hunting! Dave.
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af95/daddydigger1/best%20finds/IMG_0266_1-1.jpg
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af95/daddydigger1/IMG_0263-1.jpg
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af95/daddydigger1/IMG_0278.jpg
What a day! I hunted my first cornfield and had one of my best days ever. There is an old farmhouse that dates back to at least 1850. I wasn't sure where to start so I just walked out into the middle of the field and started swinging. I got my first coin signal after about 15 minutes. My e-trac was showing a 12-40 at 2 inches deep. The ground was frozen so it took a bit of work with the shovel to get a plug up. I saw a tiny silver disc and thought it was one of those 3-cent silver coins. Once my eyes focused, I could see it was a seated liberty half dime, 1839!!! My oldest coin ever.
About 15 or 20 minutes later, I got a super loud 12-47 to 12-50. I looked at the ground and could see half of a large cent sticking straight up out of the ground! The fertilizers the farmers use is very hard on the coppers and this coin is too far toasted to get a date.
About an hour later, I got a signal at about 2 inches that sounded just like a clad quarter. I dug it up and was real happy to see another large cent! This one was in better shape and turned out to be 1855. My newest coin of the day. Not 2 minutes later, I got a hit that sounded just like a wheat penny. I flipped the plug and could see a silver rim! It was another seated half dime, this time an 1838-O and my new oldest coin ever. I was thinking this might be a key date and when I got home I looked it up and they only minted 70,000 of them! It lists for $110 in the lowest condition. Okay, the coin was holed but who cares! I got a real piece of history here.
What I liked about hunting the cornfield: No bottlecaps, pulltabs, or foil. In fact almost no signals. I got a bit muddy and my shoes were gettting taller with each step but so what. I was digging pre-civil war coins!
What I disliked about hunting cornfield: nothing.
Today's hunt took my large cent count to 4 for the year and my silver count to 118.
I will be posting a video later tonight. Here's some pics. Thanks for looking. Best wishes to all and happy hunting! Dave.
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af95/daddydigger1/best%20finds/IMG_0266_1-1.jpg
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af95/daddydigger1/IMG_0263-1.jpg
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af95/daddydigger1/IMG_0278.jpg