A hunt with Ill Digger, Jim, and Dan - 10/21

[Trooper Bri]

Got a message from Dan on Tuesday if I was up for a mid-week hunt with Ill Digger (Tim) who was in to wn for the week. Heck yeah!

Met up with everyone in the AM, and off we went to a spot Drew was very generous in letting us detect since it had been doing pretty well for him. THANK YOU Drew!!
I had picked up a practically new White's MXT this summer on the cheap, and had yet to take it out on a hunt. So the V3i got a break that will turn into a possible retirement. I'm in love with the MXT, and it had a good day.

Started next to the cellar hole in some dense saplings, and was rewarded with a 1837 Matron LC as my 2'nd target of the day, maybe 10ft from the lip of the cellar hole! Bushwhacking was my strategy for the for the day, and it paid off.
After the Matron it got a bit quiet for a while, then I started popping some buttons. Thought I was onto my second copper maybe 20ft from the Matron, but it turned out to be a beefy dandy button that rang up in the mid-70's on the MXT.
Managed other finds as well. A small iron buckle in great shape, bit of a buckle, and a HUGE musket ball. Dan thinks it may be from a .75 cal Brown Bess. It weighs almost 1.2 ounces, and you can see in the pic it's almost 3/4" diameter!

Big find of the day for me came in the early afternoon, still bushwhacking, and get a real deep 80's on the MXT. I start digging and was immediately greeted by a bunch of larger roots criss-crossing the hole. I spent a good 15 minutes in lumberjack mode with my Sampson before getting through. It was worth it though. Up comes a thick copper that Dan later ID'd as a Liberty Cap LC! It's got a good crust on it, so no date, but later that night I spotted One Hundred For a Dollar on the rim. That makes it an 1794 or 1795. It's rough and red under the crust, so not sure how well it'll clean up. But I'm glad to have dug it!

It was great to see everyone dig something good, and Tim got to bring home some relics! Thanks again Drew!

[Tony Two-Cent]

WOW! A Liberty Cap!

That is an incredible find, Brian! And you were able to narrow the date down to 1794 or 1795. You can't get much earlier than that for a US coin! That's the kind of find dreams are made of!

[del]

Yes Brian it seemed like you and that MXT bonded pretty well . congrats on the nice looking matron cent and the Liberty cap cent is still on my bucket list , great find .

Dan

[The Rebel]

WTG on the finds as well as the Liberty Cap which is very hard to find. I found one years ago.

[OxShoeDrew]

I've only found one cap, and it didn't have the cool side lettering. I think your bushwacking strategy was very sound in that everyone before you was going after the easy targets. I'm glad you did well and hope to see you tomorrow!

[BTV Digger]

Fantastic finds Brian and congrats on the 2 coppers! Liberty Cap...wow! I hunt quite similar at cellar holes with no holes barred (pardon the pun) by going into the deep brush and steeper slopes quite often. You've really ramped it up this season. Keep up the good work.

John

[Bucknut]

Congrats on all the great finds especially the Liberty Cap!

[Trooper Bri]

Thanks everyone! I tried Dan's heat lamp trick, but the crust didn't pop off. It didn't get flaky at all after I dug it. I'm in no hurry with it, hopefully there's some detail left.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Wow, what a fantastic day, especially the coins! I did a bit of research on the Liberty Cap LC, and the only year that had the lettering on the edge was 1795, ond there were only 2 varieties, both very rare. The one variety even in that condition is still worth hundreds. The Jefferson head variety has only 3 known to date and could be worth tens of thousands! Incredible either way! http://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/lar...s/liberty-cap/

[Lodge Scent]

Nice! I was just commenting on how those Liberty Caps are as rare as hens teeth.

[Ill Digger]

I'd say that the new MXT is treating you pretty dang good Brian!
Specially when it sniffs out 2 coppers on it's first outing!!
And one is a Liberty Cap!!
Congrats on the goodies!!!

It was great you were able to come out with us Wednesday!
Nice meeting and hunting with ya!
Hopefully we'll get a chance to do it again sometime.

[Cheap Thrills]

Great going !! A nice Baptism for the MXT .

[MangoAve]

You were the first to score a copper, and would have been the last if I did not score that last one. Maybe that site is hiding a few more items. I think the last one was kind of an obvious spot, like the one Tim dug. Good call on getting into the area with the saplings. I've only seen one site like that but the saplings were too far from the cellar and it looked like it was a wetland area come spring so I gave up on it. There is a site with a far hike in that didn't seem like it was hit hard because it had a few good tones that no one would miss if they hit it. That too is amassed with barberries.

It was good to get out with the group. That was actually the second time you and I hunted together.