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AD Contest Best or Most Memorable Find
- Thread starter Epi-hunter
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giant056
New member
I got a first at the preserve today and its mighty preserved (April 4th 2008)
I'm going to try duplicating the post from the original back in April 2008, I still have the compass
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I've always wondered if I'd find an old compass in the woods and I found my first one today. It says Ledawl, Reg U.S. Pat. Office, Taylor, Rochester N.Y. U.S.A., Pat. Jan. 8-1918, I got the usual shells and pulltabs, a couple keys and 3 cents. I was on a really steep hill when I found the compass (a spot I hadn't detected before on the other side of the preserve) and it VDI'd 79 and was down about 5 inches. Yes it is pointing north too, I can't believe it still works, if the condensation inside clears up I'll post another picture of it so you can see the amazing details.
Here's a picture of the compass after the condensation is almost gone
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I've still got this compass and it works great
I recently posted my favorite zippo which came from this very same preserve on the forum a couple weeks ago.
I'm going to try duplicating the post from the original back in April 2008, I still have the compass
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always wondered if I'd find an old compass in the woods and I found my first one today. It says Ledawl, Reg U.S. Pat. Office, Taylor, Rochester N.Y. U.S.A., Pat. Jan. 8-1918, I got the usual shells and pulltabs, a couple keys and 3 cents. I was on a really steep hill when I found the compass (a spot I hadn't detected before on the other side of the preserve) and it VDI'd 79 and was down about 5 inches. Yes it is pointing north too, I can't believe it still works, if the condensation inside clears up I'll post another picture of it so you can see the amazing details.
Here's a picture of the compass after the condensation is almost gone
I've still got this compass and it works great
I recently posted my favorite zippo which came from this very same preserve on the forum a couple weeks ago.
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Digger Don
New member
My most memorable find was on November 30th of this year. After researching an area on Historic maps & Google Earth, I found a farm field that was once home to a one room school house. My 13 year old son and I went out there on that Saturday morning. It took about an hour but we found the property owner and got his permission. Once we got there, we found our first silver coin ever, A 1907-O Barber Dime. It may not sound like much. But I will NEVER
forget the look on my sons face when he picked up that Dime. It still makes me smile when I think about it!!!!
forget the look on my sons face when he picked up that Dime. It still makes me smile when I think about it!!!!
rsarge1
New member
The one post that is most memorable for me was the first year after I retired and I got back into the hobby full time.
I was detecting in an old park next to a tree on a hill that was overlooking a cemetery for an old nunnery convent, where I found this silver rosary cross. While researching the cross I found out that it was a cross that is issued to priests and nuns so I searched for where the convent relocated in efforts to returning it to its owner. there turned out to only be one nun left from the convent that used to be stationed there and she did not lose the cross. Just finding the cross and researching the history was enough to renew my interest in this great hobby.
I was detecting in an old park next to a tree on a hill that was overlooking a cemetery for an old nunnery convent, where I found this silver rosary cross. While researching the cross I found out that it was a cross that is issued to priests and nuns so I searched for where the convent relocated in efforts to returning it to its owner. there turned out to only be one nun left from the convent that used to be stationed there and she did not lose the cross. Just finding the cross and researching the history was enough to renew my interest in this great hobby.
Ronandari
New member
While traveling for my work I got the chance to spend a morning in Henderson Ky detecting an old park. I found a shallow target that turned out to be a beautiful silver ring with pink and white sapphires. The ring was only valued at 3 or 4 hundred dollars but my wife loved it!:happy:. Up to that point she had tolerated my MD addiction but this was the find that finally got her full support. She had never expected that I would find anything beautiful or valuable buried in the ground but now she understands and wishes me luck each time I go out to find our fortune.
Good luck all and Happy hunting.
Good luck all and Happy hunting.
Bell-Two
New member
My most memorable find is when I broke into the 1700's club. We had returned to an old house where we had hunted before with my hunting partner Doug had gotten two Large Cents and two Two Cent Pieces and I had gotten an Indian Head and a Large Dandy Button. We had only found a flat button apiece when I got a sort of trashy 12-42 signal along with some iron readings. I dug my plug and first the piece of iron popped out a rather good size piece. A bit to the left the pinpointer beeped on the good target here is how I described the ensuing drama.
The target was off to the side and on edge, imagine my suprise to pull out a Large Cent, it was very dirty so I just stuck it in my pouch, a few minutes later I got a solid nickel signal and out came a very nice 1920 Buffalo. We had to leave since Doug had to get back home. As we were driving I examined the Large Cent and I said to Doug for some reason I think this is an early one. I took some water and as I was dabbing at it I said, wouldn't it be neat if the bust was facing right! After a bit more water I could see it and you should have seen the look on Doug's face when I said "Doug the bust is facing right!" I could start to see the date and at first I said I think it is an 1806 then a bit more looking I said to Doug....oh my that is not an 06 that is a 96! Yes it is a 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent. We decided to stop at the coin shop to show it to Richard at the coin shop...well you know you have a good find when the coin shop guy does a double take and says "Wow"! The date is very readable full Liberty on top it is better than the picture. Back is slick with just a few details of wreath and faint lettering. A great day made better by sharing it with a friend!
The target was off to the side and on edge, imagine my suprise to pull out a Large Cent, it was very dirty so I just stuck it in my pouch, a few minutes later I got a solid nickel signal and out came a very nice 1920 Buffalo. We had to leave since Doug had to get back home. As we were driving I examined the Large Cent and I said to Doug for some reason I think this is an early one. I took some water and as I was dabbing at it I said, wouldn't it be neat if the bust was facing right! After a bit more water I could see it and you should have seen the look on Doug's face when I said "Doug the bust is facing right!" I could start to see the date and at first I said I think it is an 1806 then a bit more looking I said to Doug....oh my that is not an 06 that is a 96! Yes it is a 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent. We decided to stop at the coin shop to show it to Richard at the coin shop...well you know you have a good find when the coin shop guy does a double take and says "Wow"! The date is very readable full Liberty on top it is better than the picture. Back is slick with just a few details of wreath and faint lettering. A great day made better by sharing it with a friend!
I love these.... please keep them up!
my best find was a suprise to me as much as it was to everyone i hunt with at my daughters house in rochelle ill i had hunted the property a few times finding a lot of silver and older coins but thie day was going to be a banner day for me i got a signal that seemed to be a large coin very deep dug down and to my surprise i found what at the time i thought was a old belt buckle i posted it and later found it to be a civil war breast plate the id came from this forum del was the one that said what it was it made the banner find on a few forums that i belong to plus it was on our own calender it will always be a special find for me
Lodge Scent
New member
I think my most memorable hunt was I was out a site in the woods with a buddy. We were doing pretty good finding coppers, buttons, buckles etc. Towards the late afternoon I got a choppy signal and dug a button. It had some sort of design on it but I couldn't really see what is was. I hadn't admitted to myself yet that I need glasses :cheesysmile:. Any way, I gave a shout to my buddy that I dug a odd button, I put it in my pouch and moved on. A little while later we are packing up our gear for the hike out and he says "Let me see that strange button you dug." I fish it out of my container and toss it to him. He starts looking at it and I see his eyes get big and his face contorting. :shocked04: He shakes his head in disbelief and looks at it again. He finally says "You found a USA button and didn't even know it". I still laugh when I think of the faces he was making when he realized what it was that I had tossed to him.:lol:
lee
New member
it happend about two years ago when i was still using the trusty coinmaster , it was a chilly day and it had been raining quite a bit the day before so i decided to hunt very close to home.
living in one of the older parts of ct i started looking at some old maps and found only a stones throw from my house a garden that the town leases out to people to grow veg on and looking at the map date (1660) i could see that there had been activity on this site for nearly 400 years !!.
30 seconds later there i was walking onto this bit of freshly tilled land and feeling my boots sinking 6 inches into the mud .....yukk !!!.
turning the coinmaster on and taking one swing to the right...bleep....bleep.....im like "no way" , it was reading a dime at half an inch .
turning over the very wet mud i see a glint of silver , wiping it of on me pants i see its a capped bust dime in bloody fantastic condition with a date of 1832 !!!! , at this point i sat straight back in the mud with surprise !!!!. ( its funny, i still get excited re-living it even now ).
putting it in my pocket i took another 2 steps and beep...beep this time it was a standing liberty quarter , another 10 steps and out pops my first large cent , then another then half a large cent then another one , i think i ended that day with like 5 large cents and not one of them deeper then 4 inches.
since then me and two mates over two years have managed 53 large cents a lot of buttons and even a spanish reale from a garden that gets turned over twice every year and is only 80 feet wide by 200 feet long !!!!!!!..... like wow!!!!!.
living in one of the older parts of ct i started looking at some old maps and found only a stones throw from my house a garden that the town leases out to people to grow veg on and looking at the map date (1660) i could see that there had been activity on this site for nearly 400 years !!.
30 seconds later there i was walking onto this bit of freshly tilled land and feeling my boots sinking 6 inches into the mud .....yukk !!!.
turning the coinmaster on and taking one swing to the right...bleep....bleep.....im like "no way" , it was reading a dime at half an inch .
turning over the very wet mud i see a glint of silver , wiping it of on me pants i see its a capped bust dime in bloody fantastic condition with a date of 1832 !!!! , at this point i sat straight back in the mud with surprise !!!!. ( its funny, i still get excited re-living it even now ).
putting it in my pocket i took another 2 steps and beep...beep this time it was a standing liberty quarter , another 10 steps and out pops my first large cent , then another then half a large cent then another one , i think i ended that day with like 5 large cents and not one of them deeper then 4 inches.
since then me and two mates over two years have managed 53 large cents a lot of buttons and even a spanish reale from a garden that gets turned over twice every year and is only 80 feet wide by 200 feet long !!!!!!!..... like wow!!!!!.
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fyrffytr1
New member
This is my best find because of the history of it.
Here is the story of a find I made a few months ago. I posted this in another detecting forum so some of you may know about it.
Here is an artifact I found about two months ago. It is not valuable and, as you can see, it is in poor shape. But, the story behind the find is pretty interesting.
I will start by saying that I was having a pretty good day in the field. Three of us were detecting the old Starkville area. It was the county seat until 1871. Then it was moved to the present day site along the railroad tracks about 3 miles south.
It was a hot day and we were in a plowed field. None of us were digging any good targets. I was working a grid when I stopped to see what my buddies were doing. When I looked around nobody was there. I pulled my headphones off and listened for a few moments. I heard the beep of a detector in a small patch of woods behind me so, I headed for them and the shade they offered.
As I was walking down a cow path I got a good signal. I dug down about 4" and came up with a piece of fence wire! I stood up and swung my detector over the hole and got another signal. Again I dug up another piece of wire! Well, when I passed the coil over the hole I got yet another signal. I started to leave it as I figured it was more wire. But, I decided to go ahead and dig it. It turned out to be an 1880 Indian head penny. Thinking I had found what was there I stood up and hit the hole one more time. Another signal. This time an 1871 German coin about the size of a large cent. Another pass brought another signal. A Mexican coin with the date wore off. Then another Indian head and another until I had pulled 8 out. So, from one hole about 12"s wide I pulled 10 coins. Funny thing was, I only got one signal at a time. I did not get multiples.
After working the area for another hour without finding anything else we moved to another field. There were two old homesites that we hunted. Right off, my buddy got an indian head penny then I got a V nickel. Then I got an odd shaped piece of brass. It resembled a leaf and I thought it may have been from a decorative metal flower or something. I dropped it in my pouch and continued hunting. I pulled two small buttons from the same area and then things dried up.
As we sat on the back of the truck comparing finds my buddy looked at the leaf and said there was something on it. He thought it was a block I. We all thought that I had found a confederate ID tag!
As soon as I got home I washed it in some mild soapy water, dried it and started looing at it closer. That's when I made out more lettering. Finally, I was able to make out three words. Across the top was CLERK. Beneath that was SPIGGOT. and below that was what we first thought was a block I. It was actually the number 1. Across the bottom was METHUEN.
What is this? Well, google it I thought. So I googled Spiggot/Methuen and answered my question. It was a badge from the firetruck Spiggot in Methuen, Ma. The Spiggot was in service from 1846 until 1871.
But, how did it get 1250 miles south? I made contact with Joe( I don't know his last name) from the Methuen Historical society and this is what we have figured out.
The badge was carried into the war by a member of the fire department or a relative. He was captured and sent to the infamous prison camp at Andersonville, Ga. where he died.
So, was the badge taken when the soldiers were imprisoned or did the owner trade it to a guard for food.
I will never know the answer to that question and we are still researching to try and find the owners name. It would be great to know who he was.
So, that is the story of my "leaf". If I turn up any further info I will pass it on.
edit: While not completely positive we think we have IDed the soldier but I am not going to name him for the time being.
Here is the story of a find I made a few months ago. I posted this in another detecting forum so some of you may know about it.
Here is an artifact I found about two months ago. It is not valuable and, as you can see, it is in poor shape. But, the story behind the find is pretty interesting.
I will start by saying that I was having a pretty good day in the field. Three of us were detecting the old Starkville area. It was the county seat until 1871. Then it was moved to the present day site along the railroad tracks about 3 miles south.
It was a hot day and we were in a plowed field. None of us were digging any good targets. I was working a grid when I stopped to see what my buddies were doing. When I looked around nobody was there. I pulled my headphones off and listened for a few moments. I heard the beep of a detector in a small patch of woods behind me so, I headed for them and the shade they offered.
As I was walking down a cow path I got a good signal. I dug down about 4" and came up with a piece of fence wire! I stood up and swung my detector over the hole and got another signal. Again I dug up another piece of wire! Well, when I passed the coil over the hole I got yet another signal. I started to leave it as I figured it was more wire. But, I decided to go ahead and dig it. It turned out to be an 1880 Indian head penny. Thinking I had found what was there I stood up and hit the hole one more time. Another signal. This time an 1871 German coin about the size of a large cent. Another pass brought another signal. A Mexican coin with the date wore off. Then another Indian head and another until I had pulled 8 out. So, from one hole about 12"s wide I pulled 10 coins. Funny thing was, I only got one signal at a time. I did not get multiples.
After working the area for another hour without finding anything else we moved to another field. There were two old homesites that we hunted. Right off, my buddy got an indian head penny then I got a V nickel. Then I got an odd shaped piece of brass. It resembled a leaf and I thought it may have been from a decorative metal flower or something. I dropped it in my pouch and continued hunting. I pulled two small buttons from the same area and then things dried up.
As we sat on the back of the truck comparing finds my buddy looked at the leaf and said there was something on it. He thought it was a block I. We all thought that I had found a confederate ID tag!
As soon as I got home I washed it in some mild soapy water, dried it and started looing at it closer. That's when I made out more lettering. Finally, I was able to make out three words. Across the top was CLERK. Beneath that was SPIGGOT. and below that was what we first thought was a block I. It was actually the number 1. Across the bottom was METHUEN.
What is this? Well, google it I thought. So I googled Spiggot/Methuen and answered my question. It was a badge from the firetruck Spiggot in Methuen, Ma. The Spiggot was in service from 1846 until 1871.
But, how did it get 1250 miles south? I made contact with Joe( I don't know his last name) from the Methuen Historical society and this is what we have figured out.
The badge was carried into the war by a member of the fire department or a relative. He was captured and sent to the infamous prison camp at Andersonville, Ga. where he died.
So, was the badge taken when the soldiers were imprisoned or did the owner trade it to a guard for food.
I will never know the answer to that question and we are still researching to try and find the owners name. It would be great to know who he was.
So, that is the story of my "leaf". If I turn up any further info I will pass it on.
edit: While not completely positive we think we have IDed the soldier but I am not going to name him for the time being.
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Great stuff! Love the eye candy. Keep posting!
Staff is eligible too!
Staff is eligible too!
freemindstuck
New member
Hi everyone,
It's actually quite hard to pick my favorite find because it changes from time to time. But right now my favorite find is a piece a jewelry that is not very valuable but historically important to me because it most likely belonged to one of the founders of my town.
Thanks for the great contest!
It's actually quite hard to pick my favorite find because it changes from time to time. But right now my favorite find is a piece a jewelry that is not very valuable but historically important to me because it most likely belonged to one of the founders of my town.
Thanks for the great contest!
driftwood1963
New member
Old Man Winters frozen grip has ended the season here in Iowa and looking back on the year many memorable hunts come to mind.
After thinking about it for a few minutes three things come to mind as "best find" or "memorable"!
The first I have to thank the American Detectorist "Hunt Buddies" forum for........and that was meeting a new friend and fellow detectorist @freemindstuck he definitely falls into the "best find" category!
The second is a spot that I was invited to detect by @freemindstuck that was deemed the "Banta" site.....It seemed to mostly undisturbed, gave us many great hours, and multiple finds over the season including my 11 year old son finding his first silver....."memorable" would be a understatement!
The third was the look on my son's face when he pulled this Junior Sheriff badge! (it also came from the "Banta" site)
After thinking about it for a few minutes three things come to mind as "best find" or "memorable"!
The first I have to thank the American Detectorist "Hunt Buddies" forum for........and that was meeting a new friend and fellow detectorist @freemindstuck he definitely falls into the "best find" category!
The second is a spot that I was invited to detect by @freemindstuck that was deemed the "Banta" site.....It seemed to mostly undisturbed, gave us many great hours, and multiple finds over the season including my 11 year old son finding his first silver....."memorable" would be a understatement!
The third was the look on my son's face when he pulled this Junior Sheriff badge! (it also came from the "Banta" site)
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pulltabsteve
New member
Which to choose....
My 3 Reale day was a mind blowing experience for me... The silver thimble with the initials of the previous homeowner who died in the 1940s was exciting too...
But my most memorable find came in November of 2007. I was out at an old park that I love going to. Its on a canal that used to be a farm in the 1940s and 50s and WAY before that, in the late 1600s, was an indian village. It was only my 2nd or 3rd time there when I got a nice deep quarter signal on my Whites M6. I dug a good 8" of dirt and the target was still in the hole. I used my fingers to dig out some more dirt and I felt a coin slip into my hands. I held it up and cleaned it off and was amazed to see an 1802 Large cent in my hand! It was my oldest coin at that point in my short detecting career. What a rush it was! I was shaking for an hour after the find.
When I got home I took a picture of it, dirt and all. That's the picture I posted. I was so excited I wanted to clean it.... I searched google on how to clean dug large cents. I came across a post on a forum that explained how to clean it using hot hydrogen peroxide. Being a novice detectorist, and extremely impatient, I tried it. Im sure you all know what the outcome was... It took every detail off the coin except for the date. No bust left, no back left, only the date is visable. But I learned a valuable lesson. Now I very rarely clean any coins I find, as you can probably tell from my posts.
I've been back to this park many times since and have found coins as old as the 1600s. Love this place.
My 3 Reale day was a mind blowing experience for me... The silver thimble with the initials of the previous homeowner who died in the 1940s was exciting too...
But my most memorable find came in November of 2007. I was out at an old park that I love going to. Its on a canal that used to be a farm in the 1940s and 50s and WAY before that, in the late 1600s, was an indian village. It was only my 2nd or 3rd time there when I got a nice deep quarter signal on my Whites M6. I dug a good 8" of dirt and the target was still in the hole. I used my fingers to dig out some more dirt and I felt a coin slip into my hands. I held it up and cleaned it off and was amazed to see an 1802 Large cent in my hand! It was my oldest coin at that point in my short detecting career. What a rush it was! I was shaking for an hour after the find.
When I got home I took a picture of it, dirt and all. That's the picture I posted. I was so excited I wanted to clean it.... I searched google on how to clean dug large cents. I came across a post on a forum that explained how to clean it using hot hydrogen peroxide. Being a novice detectorist, and extremely impatient, I tried it. Im sure you all know what the outcome was... It took every detail off the coin except for the date. No bust left, no back left, only the date is visable. But I learned a valuable lesson. Now I very rarely clean any coins I find, as you can probably tell from my posts.
I've been back to this park many times since and have found coins as old as the 1600s. Love this place.
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leslie(nova scotia)
New member
My most memorable find is not the coin itself but the circumstances . Wrote an article on it for the Searchers Mag in the Uk and have posted the link to the article on this forum perviously.
What makes it so remarkable is that I almost threw the find in the hedge. Thought it was a foil piece off the bottle of wine. Showed it to my m8 "Special K' and he put his arms around me and started jumping up and down like a crazy man.
Remember exactly what he said
"You wanky colonial thats a gold Hammie!"
This was found on land Jim had found not an organized tour of the UK where Most Brit detectorists know what goes on with them.
Working to get Jim over here for a visit next year......it will be his first trip to the colony of Canada!
What makes it so remarkable is that I almost threw the find in the hedge. Thought it was a foil piece off the bottle of wine. Showed it to my m8 "Special K' and he put his arms around me and started jumping up and down like a crazy man.
Remember exactly what he said
"You wanky colonial thats a gold Hammie!"
This was found on land Jim had found not an organized tour of the UK where Most Brit detectorists know what goes on with them.
Working to get Jim over here for a visit next year......it will be his first trip to the colony of Canada!
skribnodsister
New member
My most memorable find was last year.. My dad passed away last year in may and my mom was having a real hard time she didn't want to do anything or go anywhere (they had been together for almost 59 years) so I went down there stayed every weekend. I had nothing to do when my mom would take her naps, so I thought I would take my detector with me. She said your not going to find anything cause they were poor when she was younger, so out I went and started finding stuff, my signal was a horse shoe but when I started digging out popped a clay marble and then another and another, I think I ended up with about 25 clay marbles and some glass ones too and a few wheat pennies and jewelry, which then lead to my mom getting off the couch and coming outside, next thing you know she has my brothers pinpointer and a big old deer knife out there digging with me! She did skip a few naps but one day she was going to take a nap so I said I would go out detecting and she said go find some gold....I was out there for a little bit hitting a lot of aluminum foil (who every invented that stuff should be shot...LOL) I got a foil signal with a little weird chirp to it and so I dug and out came this little itty bitty thing and I though that kinda looks like gold so I got out my loupe and I could see the date 1871 and I turned it over and I could make out half dollar cal. At first I got real excited did the happy dance, but then I thought this things so small it can't be real so I told my brother and when he came down and scanned it with his etrac he said yep it's real gold... I said to my mom that it was so odd that you told me to go out and find gold and I did.... So here is my little coin I found I think with a little help ( I think my dad was shining down on me that day).. Also My mom still goes out with here pinpointer taped to a yard stick and here deer knife...
Longhair
New member
My current favorite find is one that I made November 7th this year, not long after joining the forum. I posted about it at the time, but it really hadn't sunk in fully until I did the research on it later.
I had been looking at all sorts of old maps, located several old school sites, but nothing to get too excited about. Then I found the oldest map of my area (1859) that showed things that no other maps had. It showed how the road that I live on didn't always have it's current path, and in fact had had a dog-leg just south of me which had long since been straightened out. Right where the dog-leg came back into line there had been a house. It was built by one of the original settlers on land that was granted title by the Land Grant Office in 1837. The reason for the dog-leg to begin with was a sinkhole that is still there. They actually built the road through it in the late 1860's by starting with a log roadbed. Anyway, the lay of the land hasn't changed, and I determined that the high ground around the swamp came back to the current road where there was a flat spot before dropping off the other way (away from the swamp). And it turned out that there still is a huge ancient stand of lilacs just before the edge of the drop-off, so I determined that to have been the N.E. corner of the yard. It's been a planted farm for longer than anyone can remember, and it was in beans at the time of my discovery, which turned out to be good, as it gave me time to track down the owner and get permission by the time that they took the beans off.
My first trip there was sensational for me. I dug four LC's, the newest of which was a gorgeous 1850. My second trip produced the favorite, along with parts of an oil lamp and an OX shoe. The owner's brother had seen me out there and had joined me in strolling around, digging when I got a signal worth checking out. It was almost dark and I was about to call it quits, the brother had just walked away and started his car, and I got another hit. Ron hadn't even pulled out of the field and I had the day's first coin in my hand......but it was too dark to get a look at it at all. So I went all of about four hundred yards home to clean it up and see what it was. :shocked03:An 1832 Half Cent! Unfortunately it wasn't in as nice a shape as the LC's, but I was still excited because it predated the settlement of the area. Since then, I've done some investigating into Half Cents, and not only did they not mint them every year, but in 1832 they only minted 51,000 of them, making it my lowest mintage coin find ever!
I had been looking at all sorts of old maps, located several old school sites, but nothing to get too excited about. Then I found the oldest map of my area (1859) that showed things that no other maps had. It showed how the road that I live on didn't always have it's current path, and in fact had had a dog-leg just south of me which had long since been straightened out. Right where the dog-leg came back into line there had been a house. It was built by one of the original settlers on land that was granted title by the Land Grant Office in 1837. The reason for the dog-leg to begin with was a sinkhole that is still there. They actually built the road through it in the late 1860's by starting with a log roadbed. Anyway, the lay of the land hasn't changed, and I determined that the high ground around the swamp came back to the current road where there was a flat spot before dropping off the other way (away from the swamp). And it turned out that there still is a huge ancient stand of lilacs just before the edge of the drop-off, so I determined that to have been the N.E. corner of the yard. It's been a planted farm for longer than anyone can remember, and it was in beans at the time of my discovery, which turned out to be good, as it gave me time to track down the owner and get permission by the time that they took the beans off.
My first trip there was sensational for me. I dug four LC's, the newest of which was a gorgeous 1850. My second trip produced the favorite, along with parts of an oil lamp and an OX shoe. The owner's brother had seen me out there and had joined me in strolling around, digging when I got a signal worth checking out. It was almost dark and I was about to call it quits, the brother had just walked away and started his car, and I got another hit. Ron hadn't even pulled out of the field and I had the day's first coin in my hand......but it was too dark to get a look at it at all. So I went all of about four hundred yards home to clean it up and see what it was. :shocked03:An 1832 Half Cent! Unfortunately it wasn't in as nice a shape as the LC's, but I was still excited because it predated the settlement of the area. Since then, I've done some investigating into Half Cents, and not only did they not mint them every year, but in 1832 they only minted 51,000 of them, making it my lowest mintage coin find ever!
Digger Don
New member
lets move this thread back to the front of the line
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