This day will be tough to beat!
This weekend I went to my hometown in southern Illinois to visit my parents and brother. My brother always tries to find new sites for me to metal detect when I'm down there. On Saturday I tried detecting in the same woods where I found the 1877 Indian Head but it is too grown up, the scrub brush and weeds made it impossible to detect.
So we headed to an old home site in a different wooded area. You can still see parts of the old limestone foundation at this site, and the old well. I detected for almost 2 hours with no coin signals at all, and we were about to give up. Then I got a 12-36 signal at about 6" deep and it ended up being a semi-key 1869 Indian Head Cent! I had never found an 1869 IH before, so that filled a hole for me. On that note we quit for the day and went out for a nice dinner with my parents.
Today we detected at two different private residences where my brother had secured permission for us to hunt. The first yard is in a very old part of town dating back to the 1830s. The first signal I dug in this yard was a clad dime. The second signal was a 12-47 that was deep and my first thought was deep silver. After digging down about 10" deep the target probe was still sounding off loudly in the bottom of the hole. The next scoop of dirt brought out a large round disc and I knew immediately that it was a large cent! First one with my E-Trac. FINALLY! I'm glad my dad and brother were there to witness it. We hunted this yard for another 2 hours and could not find any more old coins at all except for one wheat cent.
So, we moved on to the second residence which was just a couple of blocks away. This is the same place where I found the 1808 Spanish 1 Real back in 1985. I have not hunted it since then so I was curious about what I might have missed. I started in the same general area where I had found the 1 Real 29 years ago, and within 5 minutes I got a 12-42 signal at about 7" deep. As I was digging around at the bottom of the hole I saw a small silver disc! I knew it was a small silver coin, but I wasn't sure if it was a half dime, a trime, or maybe a half real. I carefully put it in my pocket and kept detecting. About 5 minutes later I got another signal that was 12-40 on the E-Trac at about 6" deep. I couldn't believe it when I saw ANOTHER small silver disc at the bottom of the hole!
I took the two coins over to my dad's truck where we had some water. We carefully rinsed the dirt off the coins, and I could then tell that one of them was an 1832 Capped Bust Half Dime! My very first half dime and my first ever Capped Bust Coin! The other coin was more worn and crusty and we couldn't tell what it was, but it was the exact same diameter as the other half dime. When I got it home and cleaned it up better I could clearly see that it is a seated half dime, and I'm pretty sure the date is 1845.
Wow, what a day!
You couldn't have scripted it any better, finding some great old coins on Father's Day with my dad and brother.
We hunted that yard for another hour or so but didn't find any more old coins, so we went home and had some of my mom's awesome spaghetti.
Here are the four keepers from this weekend before cleaning:
Here is the 1852 Large Cent after cleaning. It is the first Large Cent I've found with my E-Trac, and the only Large Cent I've found that has a legible date. Not much wear on it, it must have been fairly new when dropped. It was about 10" deep.
Here is the 1832 Capped Bust Half Dime that I found at the second site today. My first half dime and my first Capped Bust coin!
And here is the 1845 Seated Half Dime. Not in great shape but still identifiable.
I told my dad that I have now found 3 large cents in my life, and he was with me all 3 times! He was also with me when I found the 1808 Spanish 1 Real in that same yard 29 years ago! I will remember this day for the rest of my life, and I'm so glad that my dad and brother were there to experience it with me.
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