Playing on dirt hills - read this

Hi everyone!

Sorry about "read this". Meant it as an idea for all of you to try if you do not look at dirt piles. Not that I am awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you (in USA).

In my hometown, they are changing a road from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. There are about 3 houses in the late 1800s and some 1920s-today home sites. The contractor on the project used a city lot to dump a mountain of dirt (like 200 feet tall) of all the sides of the street. I met with the supervisor one day and he said that I could detect once the hill wasn't so tall. I kind of forgot about it and just went to the site and there were smaller hills and the rest was matted down dirt from all the heavy equipment. In 2 hours, I found 7 quarters, 5 dimes and 10 pennies (no wheats) and the below. I literally dug about 25 aluminum cans/just lids etc in those two hours. I hit a signal that sounded like another can and it was in the "highway" of the heavy equipment. I must have looked like I was murdering someone with my lesche as I tried to get a hole dug. Finally got to where I could pop it out. Popped the dirt and there it stood shining brightly back at me and I had no idea what it was. I was happy to find it, but was more impressed with the dirt impression and that I didn't kill the coin.

So try these dirt piles if the Contractors will let you. Easy pickings in the dirt. Killer on the shoulders though (I was using CTX 17" coil). 2 hours was all I could handle.

Hey that is awesome! Big silver!

I just so happened to do the same thing this past weekend. I was at a small park and they had put in some new sidewalks. In doing that they dug up a bunch of dirt and piled it up in a couple spots to eventually load up and haul away. I did not find anything in the remaining piles but I did find a couple wheats, a silver rosie, a buff and an 1890 indian on top of the ground where the other piles had been already hauled out. They left an inch or 2 in the old dirt and I was fortunate that they left me something.

Again congrats on some big silver!

Nice find. Sounds similar to the Washington Park landscaping project. Congrats on the late season big silver. WD

Bucknut - Thanks and congrats to you.

WD - I missed out on the Wash Park project. Had a few run-ins there, so I stopped going.

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well and congrats on a very impressive find (pun intended). That's a great looking Half!

Most excellent find and congrats! Wish they'd dig up some of the old parks around here. No telling what's deep in the ground.

John

Sweet find!!
Congrats! :grin:
Those reconstruction jobs can be literal treasure chests!
If anyone is in doubt after seeing this, go checkout Milco s
page. He's been doing street tear outs for years and does pretty well!

John - If they ever dig a park out in your area, I would ride my bicycle VT to metal detect it with you. That would be awesome!

Ill Digger - Milco crushes the road tear outs. I tried on this one for a few stretches in front of the older homes, didn't get a thing. I think when they first laid the 2 lane road, they dug a lot of it out.

Cheap - Love the pun!

Great looking half! I've tried quite a few dirt piles over the years with little to no luck. But I did have a few great road tearout hunts! One on the South side hunting under sidewalk slabs just as they were pulled up. At least it was fun until another half dozen people showed up (including Milco) with their machines all competing for the next slab. Found my second ever seated there!

I don't know what kind of run-ins at Washington park. I had one with some misinformed lady from the office there trying to kick me out. I just went to another part of the park and had no further issues. Other than that, chatted with a couple cops here and there, and a few curious people asking questions. Admittedly the place was a lot more sketchy a few years ago when I started going there.

DoD - let's just say that I wasn't comfortable detecting alone there after a few "locals" started giving me crap about being in "their hood". This was last year. Once by the old buildings on the southside and the other by the auditorium.