bookfisher
Bronze Member
Hi folks, I haven't posted in quite some time, because I just haven't found anything worth writting about since I found the 1877 Seated Half Dollar back in November 2007. Yep, about 20 months of unfulfilled metal detecting. Sure, I've found some Indian Heads, 19th century flat buttons and buckles, ect., but nothing to get excited about...until today. I was detecting in the woods along side an underground natural gas line that runs north and south here on the North Shore of Long Island. As I was heading north in the woods, at one point the brush was too thick to continue, so I exited the woods and continued walking in the cleared area of the pipeline, all the time looking left towards the woods to find a clearing. Well after about 10 minutes, I see an area that looked pretty clear, so I get back in the woods and start detecting. As usual, I start hearing the familiar loud ring of shotgun shell cases that usually show up at 24 on the VDI of my MXT, and are usually at a depth of about 2 inches. About half the time I wind up digging the shells (cause you never know) and other times I inadvertently dig shells since they fool you as they don't always register at 24 on the VDI. Anyway, after about a half hour of hunting, I got a spot on penny/dime signal at about 5 or 6 inches. I cut and removed a deep plug with my garden shovel, and scan the hole, but wouldn't you know it, the signal is now weaker and I'm wondering whats going on (I must of pushed the target deeper or set it on edge), so I pull out a few more inches of dirt, and the target is still in the hole acting weird. Finally after removing some more dirt, I scan the pile, and get back that strong penny/dime signal. Sifting the pile, I was extremely pleased when I came up with this 1807 Spanish I Reale in really good condition. The scratches on the obverse were not done by me, since my shovel is too big to make such small marks, and the hole on the reverse does not go all the way through the coin. Maybe my luck is coming back! Note: The first two pictures show the coin uncleaned, pictures 3 & 4 are of it cleaned with soap and water, and the fifth picture is showing the reale next to a dime for size comparison. By the way, to finish the story, I hunted this decent sized area for another two hours and only came up with two 19th century flat buttons, a small musket ball, a deep, really early flat nail, and a few small pieces of early lead and brass.
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That real is what we all seek out!!!!
