When I posted my 2009 year-end review back in January 7th of 2010, I stated that "I do not expect to even halfway match my 2009 results any time in the future, but it will be fun trying!" Little did I know just how inaccurate those words would be! But given my results during 2009, how could I envision having an even better year during 2010? Back in 2009 I made many excellent finds, among them 447 silver coins, 16 coppers, 67 Indian Head cents, and numerous other coins and relics.
In reviewing 2010, I have attempted to capture a good portion of the best hunts. Not all finds are represented, particularly many of the relics, wheat cents, and other interesting items I found throughout the year. However, the following attached images summarize the total number of coins found, with the exception of relics, tokens, odds and ends, and clad coins.
I am a park and town common hunter, so the majority of my finds are from such locations. However, I also did have several successful hunts while shallow water detecting with my Minelab Excalibur. As a side note, I began using the E-trac for my land hunts on May 19 2009, and have used it exclusively since then. During the first 12 months using the E-Trac, May 19 2009 through May 18 2010, I found a total of 744 silver coins.
Below is a breakdown of the finds made with the E-Trac and the Excalibur during 2010, the only machines I used all year. I used the DFX and the Explorer SE for a very short period during 2009 only.
The numbers shown on the image to the left exclude the wartime silver nickels, but those totals are included in the numbers to the right.
During 2010 I had hunts of 10 or more silver coins in one day, sixteen of those days with the E-Trac and six with the Excalibur. Below are the links to the posts I made on those particular days.
Double-Digit Silver Days With The E-Trac
19 and 29 silver coins - October 9 and 10
26 silver coins - October 24
21 silver coins - March 4
20 silver coins - June 30
19 silver coins - March 11
18 silver coins - September 25
16 silver coins - April 14
14 silver coins - October 3
12 silver coins - July 18
11 silver coins - March 5
11 silver coins - March 9
11 silver coins - April 18
10 silver coins - April 21
10 silver coins - June 15
10 silver coins - July 11
Double-Digit Silver Days With The Excalibur
37 silver coins - August 13
30 silver coins - August 9
13 silver coins - August 8
13 silver coins - August 21
12 silver coins - August 14
12 silver coins - August 17
Best Large Copper Days
20 Coppers - September 17
6 Coppers - September 18
6 Coppers - September 19
Best Indian Head Cent Days
11 Indian Head cents - June 13
12 Indian Head cents - June 20
Now for a brief month by month review of some of the hunts. Photos of selected finds are included. This first post covers finds made January through March.
JANUARY 2010
22 SILVER COINS - 0 COPPER - 0 INDIAN HEAD CENTS - 2 SILVER RINGS - 0 GOLD RINGS
Late in January I took advantage of the mild weather we were having at the time and headed out to a Connecticut park hoping to score with a few silver coins. I did well then, scoring with a gorgeous 1892-S Barber quarter and a beautiful 1920 Standing Liberty quarter.
Later that weekend I made a trip to the same park. I had been detecting for a short while when Bruce, another forum member, showed up and joined me in the hunt. Though the ground had been mostly frozen we had fun detecting. I left the park with four silver coins. I returned the following day and left the park with another four silver coins.
During the last week of the month I worked two parks on two different days. Both parks produced silver, one yielding five silver coins and the other six.
FEBRUARY 2010
15 SILVER COINS - 3 COPPERS - 1 INDIAN HEAD CENT - 0 SILVER RINGS - 0 GOLD RINGS
February had been a lousy month for detecting since much of the ground at most parks was still frozen. It was better by the end of the month though, which allowed me to get in a few hunts.
The first hunt yielded me a mercury dime, but I scored with four silver coins the following day. I picked up two large cents as well.
The following finds were made on the 26th and 27th. It had been snowing that Friday, making for messy digging.
On the last day of February John (midas) and I hit an open field at a local park. At the time the ground was not frozen as we had feared, so we were able to detect for several hours. By the time we had to leave I had in my pouch eight silver dimes, two Barber, dated 1903-O and 1907, two mercury dimes, dated 1941 and 1942, and four Roosevelt, dated 1946, 1946, 1949, and 1949-D.
MARCH 2010
161 SILVER COINS - 5 COPPERS - 6 INDIAN HEAD CENTS - 3 SILVER RINGS - 0 GOLD RINGS
I had a good start in March, picking up five silver coins on the second day. However it was just the beginning of what would turn out to be an amazing month!
I had been having a conversation with John (midas) about the type of sites we typically gravitate to when he mentioned a few locations he knew about while growing up in the New England area. We discussed one small park, which I happen to have on my list of sites I eventually planned to hit. That particular park was one I had been neglecting. Though the park is small and had been worked before, we felt it may still offer opportunities for several good finds. John suggested it as the next site I should hit, and I did.
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During the week I took a drive to the park to detect for a while. It was quiet at the time, and traffic was minimal on the adjacent road. I began to detect and right away it was clear that a major portion of the outer edges of the park were heavily layered with trash. I adjusted my sweep speed and began to concentrate on the telltale signals given by silver coins that are mixed in with trash. After a short while I had my first silver coin, a 1902-O Barber quarter. This made me focus even more and soon I began to pick up a silver coin here and there. Most of the coins were masked by trash.
After some time I began to realize that I would be exceeding the one day count of 15 silver coins I had picked up the year before. While going at a record breaking pace I had been sporting a silly grin, and I think I did a few short dances as well.
By the end of the hunt I had in my pouch a total of 21 silver coins, four silver quarters, dated 1902-O, 1941, 1945, and 1947-D, a 1912 Barber dime, eleven mercury dimes, dated 1923, 1924, 1926, 1936, 1941, 1942-S, 1943, 1943, 1944, 1944, and 1945, and five Roosevelt dimes, dated 1946, 1946, 1952, 1957, and 1962.
During that hunt I also picked up 24 wheat cents, two large tokens, a mess of clad, and a gold layered ring. |
I love it when the coins are still embedded in a clump of soil. They do make for nice photos. The following are of the 1908-O Barber quarter and the 1912 Barber dime.
The following day I returned to the park and detected the same general area I had been working the day before. I employed a grid and working the E-Trac very slowly. This allowed me to pick up three deep faint signals (9 +) from among the shallower trash. The three targets ended up being a beautiful 1920 Walking Liberty Half, a worn but nice 1907-O Barber quarter, and a 1888 seated dime.
The rest of the silver coins were shallower, averaging about 7 inches in depth. The total this time was eleven silver coins. The old bottle had been in the same hole as the seated dime.
This particular March day had warmed up nicely, so later in the day I headed back to the small park to see if I could coax a few more silver coins from the ground. It took a while, but I ended up with five more silver coins added to my growing collection.
The first silver was a 1915-D Barber quarter. It left an imprint in the soil.
The five silver coins I picked up, along with 17 wheat cents.
On this day I took a drive to a park a short distance from the one I had been working recently. Unfortunately, the ground at that park had apparently been redone a few years back. It's too bad, as the place had looked promising. I then took off to the small park. Once there I got busy working another section, and after a while I dug up my first silver of the day, a 1941 mercury dime. It was slow going after that find, as I was digging mostly junk, clad coins, and wheat cents. But I did end up with seven silver dimes before heading home.
There was a Connecticut park I had worked on several occasions early in 2009. It had yielded me several silver coins then. I decided to give it another try. While on my way to the park I stopped to hit a grassy strip not far from it. I dug up a 1964 Roosevelt dime before continuing on. Once at the park I began to work a promising section and dug up four more silver coins, three mercury dimes, dated 1926, 1937, and 1942, and a fine looking 1905-O Barber quarter.
A return trip to the same park proved to be worthwhile. After selecting another section I slowly worked a grid, making three passes from different directions. It was tedious, but it also proved to be effective. By the end of the hunt I had another eleven silver pieces in my pouch.
On this particular day I took a drive to the Connecticut park that had recently yielded 11 silver coins to grid another section. I had a feeling the new location would also yield me a few more keepers, and it did - eight of them by the time I completed the grid - two Barber dimes, three mercury dimes, and three Roosevelt dimes. I then stood there contemplating hitting the ground from another angle, but I just didn't feel like gridding again.
At that point I took a walk to another section of the park thinking I would spend a bit more time just relaxing while swinging the coil. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. After about 20 minutes I hit on a signal that stopped me on my tracks. It was coming through nice and clear even through the chatter of the surface trash. It was sounding like a deep target, and the depth gauge indicated the same. I just knew it was silver, and a large one too. I quickly cut a plug and dug out plenty of soil. At about the 10 1/2 inch mark I plucked the target out of the hole. It was a very nice 1910 Barber quarter. At this point I just knew I would have to employ a grid. I got to work, and by the time I had to leave I had another 11 silver coins in my pouch! I had two Barber quarters, dated 1892 and 1910, two Barber dimes, a 1947 Walking Liberty half, five mercury dimes, and one Roosevelt dime. I now had a total of 19 silver coins in my pouch and a smile that would not quit.
Working a park in the late afternoon yielded me another eight silver coins, a 1952-D Washington quarter, a 1950 Roosevelt dime, and six mercury dimes, dated 1919, 1924, 1929,1935-D, 1939, and 1942.
These came from two locations, a 1951 Roosevelt dime, a Barber quarter dated 1895, three Barber dimes, dated 1899, 1902, and 1906, and one mercury dime, dated 1919. The park also yielded two large cents, but only one, dated 1830, is in fairly good shape.
A couple of hunts yielded me the following beauties. Among the finds too were several wheat cents, a large cent, dated 1853, and a few relics.
Another hunt at a local park yielded me several more keepers. The silver coins made for sweet finds, especially the 1853 seated dime. Among the other items were a silver ring, wheat cents, an old sterling silver school pin, and a few relics.
Up to this point in the year I had not been to any of the parks located in Central MA, so Saturday morning I took a long drive to detect at a few of them. I split my time between three parks. The first park did not yield much, but the second park did give up a 1907-O Barber quarter, a 1946 Washington quarter, and two mercury dimes, dated 1939 and 1941. The third park, one that had given some old coins during past hunts, yielded a 1900 Barber quarter and a 1923 mercury dime.
The beautiful New England weather we had been having during this time was still holding up, making it much too tempting to allow a late afternoon go by without swinging the coil. I hit two parks, the first one, found in Connecticut, I worked on Saturday. It yielded four silver coins, a 1943 Washington quarter, a 1905 Barber dime, and two 1943 mercury dimes. The second park, a local one in Massachusetts, I worked on Monday afternoon. That one one yielded five silver dimes, dated 1892, 1902, 1912-S, 1918-S, and 1944.
At this point it was the last weekend of the month. That Friday had been a very windy and cold day, but I did manage to get out late afternoon to detect for a few hours. By the end of the hunt I was feeling a bit frozen, but I also had in my pouch a few nice keepers - a 1914 Barber dime, and three mercury dimes, dated, 1924, 1940-S, and 1943. I also picked up an old silver signet ring and a part of a bracelet, sterling silver with a gold piece inlaid.
Saturday was seeing warmer temperatures. It was sunny too. I took off to the same Connecticut park hoping to score with a few more silver coins. Selecting a section, I began to work a grid. I hit the ground from different directions. By the end of the hunt I had in my pouch eight silver dimes, a seated, dated 1874, four Barbers, dated 1901-O, 1905, 1910, and 1911, and three mercury dimes, dated 1917, 1941, and 1944.
Sunday turned out to be a good detecting day as well. This time I met up with John (midas) to detect at a local site. It was my first time at this particular location. We felt it had the potential to yield a few old coins, and it did not disappoint. I managed to dig up four silver pieces by the end of the hunt, a 1942 Washington quarter, a 1944 mercury dime, a 1912-D Barber dime, and a 1897 Victoria Canada Silver 5 Cent piece.
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Originally Posted by dave in iowa
We are under much snow here, so there won't be much detecting any time soon. 
a big congrats on a heck of a year!!
,you don't get those finds sitting home,for the most part i like to ring hunt..Where i live most places are hammered years before i got into tecting,silver is still out there and you prove it 
,it gives us all hope,I'm thinking 2011 will be a great year for me too,can't wait to see what you do this season,charge up those batterys and get to tecting,Dave
guess Ill have to take the blinders off and have a look at one of those E Tracs, Well Done!!!! 
