If you don't want the long-winded story, just drop down to the pic
About a year ago my grandfather (now 91 years old) was telling me a family story about how after the Stock Market crash in 1929, my great-grandfather and all the other workers showed up at the mill the next day to find the doors chained shut, the mill never opened again. My grandfather and the neighborhood boys used to crawl in through the windows to play in the mill in the 1930s. The mill burned down sometime prior to me being able to remember the area (mid 70s) so I've never seen the mill. This go me to thinking...
I found a reproduction 1870 map of the town, now framed in my living room, that shows the mill where my great-grandfather and his brothers worked. As I looked at the mill and the neighborhood I had a hunch that the workers might have walked along the river coming and going from the mill or perhaps sat along the banks on a hot summer day during their lunch break, if they actually were allowed to leave the building.
So fast forward to last Friday and I decided to get over there and check it out. There were very few signals along the banks, only a few modern coins and little junk. The area is pretty out of the way so not many people have been there which is good I guess. Eventually, I got a solid, shallow zinc signal. Normally I ignore these I have to admit but being where I was, I decided to dig every signal. My decision was rewarded when I pulled a coin that I thought at first was my first shield nickle. I turned it over and looked for the 5 but it sure looked like a 2. I was able to see the 1871 date and was pretty sure the the shield nickles are not that old. I called my wife at work to have her go online and search for 1871 two cent which she found and I was quite sure by then I could see the 2 under the muck.
There were very few other targets and the area is overgrown right now. I'll wait until the cooler weather comes and kills off the undergrowth.
I took the coin home and dropped it in olive oil. Every morning I take it out and go over it with a tooth brush and drop it back in the oil. More detail comes through every day as more dirt disappears. This is what it looks like now.
In my unprofessional opinion, I think it's at least in VF15 condition, any opinions?
So the moral of the story is, keep your ears open, do your research, and follow your hunches![attachimg=1]
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I thoroughly enjoyed your long-winded story 
Big time congrats on finding it and good luck when the cold weather beats down the tall grasses. I think the research aspect is one of the best parts of metal detecting. Btw, I've only found one 2 center(1864 and very grungy) I also found near an old mill/distillery by looking at an old 1877 county map. 
stretcher:
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Originally Posted by SafariScott link=topic=10734.msg118377#msg118377 date=1343610663
