Walking In The Park - The Old Lady, And... The Lady Liberty

I have not posted my finds in quite some time. My hunt time has been limited greatly by my work schedule. On average I get out at the end of the day for a couple of hours at a time, about twice a week. The typical hunt consist of running down to a local park and finding a small area to grid very slowly. This method of grid and circle taught to me by Angel in his many examples of fantastic finds has been paying off for me as well. I am finding lots of Silver Dimes and Wheats next to trash targets. I seem to average a couple of Wheats and a Silver Dime every hunt. This has added up nicely over the summer. This last weekend my Wife was away on a trip and chores were done, so I found myself with an entire day and evening free to hunt.
I drove to a near by town and parked the car in the shade of an ancient tree at the edge of a nice little park in the older part of town. I was no stranger to this park. I have hunted here many times and this location was also the site of a Northern Colorado group hunt a couple of years ago. The park has been very good to me as far as finds go. I have picked up a few Barbers Dimes, several Mercury Dimes and even a few Indians. The Wheats and Rosie finds were there as well. Today would be no different. I was a couple of hours into my hunt when I was approached by an elder lady walking her old dog through the park. She was very fragile and carefully placed her steps as she slowly moved down the sidewalk. She paused and called out to me. I removed my headphones and apologized for not hearing her clearly. She smiled and repeated her words, What are you finding here in the park?. Her little old dog gave a raspy muted bark and sank to the ground, and watched me with cloudy eyes. I told her I was just finding some old Wheat pennies so far. Wheat Pennies, oh my!, She replied. I remember those. I put down my detector and stayed down on one knee as we talked. I showed her a Penny and told her it was from 1938. She remarked that she played in this park as a child around that time. I took a closer look at her and realized she had to be at least in her mid 80's. I know her dog was at least that old. He was now sleeping at her feet oblivious to the world. She told me a story of an old bandstand that used to be in the center of the park. As she gazed out over the park I could see her eyes focusing on something. I had a lot of wonderful play time here., she said in a quiet distant voice. It suddenly occurred to me that she was not focusing on anything in the park. She was lost in memories of another time. I watched her drift and then a smile came to her face as she tilted her head and closed her eyes. She quickly regained her composure and stated, it's all I can do to walk around it these days. She then very properly excused herself and wished me good luck. I hope you find something good, she said over her shoulder as she tugged on the dog's leash. The old dog struggled to it's feet and gave a half hearted shake. Then I watched them walk off down the sidewalk.
I started my hunt again and soon started pulling some nice Silver Dimes. As I hunted I tried to imagine the park the way it was and what the old lady looked like as a little girl. I received a good hit and cut a plug revealing a nice old Token of some kind. It had been holed. I like digging tokens and very happily added it to my keeper pouch. I had barely taken a full swing and I got a breaking hit. I pinpointed and it showed at 7 inches. I turned at a 90 degree angle and re-swept the target. The response continued to break up and I discovered another Iron target to one side about 8 inches. I pinpointed again and cut my plug. This is a typical scenario for finding a hidden Silver Dime or Wheat next to trash or iron. I had decided that it was probably a Wheat. I flopped the plug over and used my probe to find the target still buried in the hole. It was to one side of the hole and usually is not a good sign, and means I have been fooled by a deep nail. I cut another chunk of earth out of the hole, and my eyes fixed on another old lady walking in the park...

Walking Liberty Half

The dance was not pretty. lol Here are some closer shots.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/WLHHeads.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/WLHTails.jpg

I Had a tough time getting settled down enough to hunt again. I finished out the day with a few more Wheats, an old plated brass ring, and a tiny 925 charm. Here is a picture of the take for the evening and days hunt.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...00/Group-4.jpg
1920 S Walking Liberty Half

The Token I had found turned out to be a Woodman One Penny Token. This is what it used to look like...

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/wowheads.jpghttp://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/wowtails.jpg

EDIT: If you would like to read more about the fascinating history of the Woodmen please check out the following link...

http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masoni...sm/woodmen.htm

I got things loaded up in my car and started my journey back to Fort Collins across the high plains of Colorado. I found an AM radio station playing old 50's songs, and relaxed and started to reminisce about the days hunt. The sun dropped to the horizon and the sky exploded with color above the Rocky Mountains. I felt very content and once again thought about the old lady and her dog. I never really thought about actually meeting someone that could have dropped and lost those old coins I hunt for. However, today it was quite possible that this could actually be a reality. I will never forget the look in her eyes as she daydreamed and went back in time, to once again run through the park and play. Maybe, just maybe, she left me a few of those coins I was fortunate enough to find today.

Keep Swing'in
Jack

First.... a big congrats on the silver, especially the WLH. :peace: :clapping: It's hard to believe you didn't get a good solid signal on the chunk of silver.... I suppose that is why it was still there for you to find.

Second... your encounter with the woman was very well written, I really enjoyed reading it. I had no problem at all visualizing your experience. Your conversation with her probably made her day. I get a tremendous amount of joy talking with people like her.

Congrats on the fantastic silver score and I hope you are able to find a little more time to detect in the near future.

wow very nice story and nice finds wtg :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: <: <:

I absolutely love the way you tell the stories behind your finds, Jack. I have missed it!

That is one gorgeous WLH!!!! :happydance01: Congratulations on the beautiful large silver, there is nothing like that feeling!! (not that I remember it very well :cheesysmile: ) Fantastic hunt. That park looks like a very good one.

Wish I had been there to tape that dance!! :cheering:

Very nice story, well written.

Atta boy Jack!!! Congrats on that big silver buddy! Bout time we see what you find...secret squirrel!

That is a wonderful write up, Jack, and nice video too. What an exciting hunt that had to be - finding five silver pieces is awesome. The Walking Liberty half is beautiful! I just love the design of the coin. I do know the feeling one gets when seeing such a beauty pop out of the ground. :smitten:

Thank you, too, for the kind words. :embarrassed: I appreciate the compliment. :yes:

Thats quite a story & WTG on the great finds.

This method of grid and circle taught to me by Angel

umm, was this is a post somewhere that I missed?

What a beauty! Way to go, Jack!
Ed

Nice score on all that silver and a great story too. I bet that lady had a lot of spunk in her youth lol She sounds like a great energetic person. Great finds Jack :clapping:

WOW...sweet!! Great finds,,,those silver half really get ya going.

Thanks for all the kind words friends. I am still feeling pretty good from my weekends hunt. <:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Myownwings

This method of grid and circle taught to me by Angel

umm, was this is a post somewhere that I missed?

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This diagram is from a post made by Angel a couple of years ago. I can't remember where the post is, but I saved this image from it.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...ectinggrid.jpg

One of those great days that make you glad to be alive . A beautiful experience all the way around .
Excellent finds and a great sharing .

great post , jack, i remember angels post on grid and circle , whenever i find a coin i circle the area , has paid off from time to time and that is just how i walk an area of any big size , i sometimes take four plastic golf balls and pace off a 10ft by 10ft area and do it that way , it sure is great to stop and talk to older folks like you just did , i had that oppotunity just today with a 84 year old man and we actually had stories in common , it was great.

Very nice finds, story and post! I enjoy talking to elder people, you make their day and they always have great stories and insight!

mesmerizing story jack! i love conversing with older people.they are so pleasant to talk with(most of them anyways) and always have a wealth of information and they just love to tell stories of years gone by.
awesome coins and a fantastic video once again!
nice job! thumbsup01 and... rofl at the WOO HOO in video ;)