Don in SJ
Silver Member
- May 20, 2005
- 4,932
- 837
- Detector(s) used
- MINELAB SE Pro
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
My son and I went out yesterday, thanks to the super warm temperatures melting 10+ inches of snow in record time. 
I took my son to my newest site where I have hunted twice resulting in two Coronet Large Cents and bunch of buttons. I knew the ground conditions at this site has been harsh on coppers and that was not to disappoint us, but the wet ground from the melting snow was like a turbo booster on both our detectors, could not believe how many targets we were getting in the same areas I hit rather slowly and well on my last trip, ground moisture does make a difference!!
As we walked into the fringes of the homestead, just where iron hits start to show up, my son yelled that he had a definite coin reading, but very shallow, he was thinking a quarter, perhaps lost by a hunter or logger. Nope, at a grand depth of only two inches was a decent 1800 HALF CENT! So, before we even got to the main homestead, we already chalked up on good find!
Not soon after he got a thimble and some buttons. As we finally got to the main area of the homestead, I showed him where I got my first copper in February and within 5 feet of there I got a deep weak signal. Definite coin and with iron, about 8 inches down I got my first of three Large Cents for the day.
Just after I got my Large Cent, my cell phone rang, and it was a friend from Pittsburgh area who was hunting also at the same time and was excited about what he just found and rattled off he got a NJ copper (I am doing a survey on them) and Virgina Halfpenny, and a KGII and a KGIII. I told him wow, you are having a super day, and told him we just found a Half Cent and Large Cent and just as I said that my son yelled over, Dad, got another HALF CENT!! So, 300 miles away my friend and I shared our finds as they happened, so cool being able to have cell phones nowadays.
A bit later on after both us got more buttons and I got a thimble, my son got an iffy reading, and I went over to check it and said Half Cent or small silver. Well, it was small silver, a very worn out HALF REAL, dtd 178?. He now had three coins and I had only the one. I asked if he wanted to leave and finish up our hunt at the TALLYO site and he said naw, let's stay here.
Well, glad he did, since I ended up finding two more Large Cents and a nice cuff sized Tombac button before we were done for the.
Not too many hunts where both of us got multiple old coins and in equal amounts, 3 and 3. A super hunt for us.........
As I said in the beginning the ground is not kind to the coppers there, but they also showed many years of wear, so I guess the condition was not too bad considering some were worn almost smooth.
My son did his best on cleaning and dating, but only the 1800 Half Cent was a sure date, the Half Cent is a 1803-1808 Half Cent since it has a Variety 2 reverse, but no readable date. His Half Real stays a 178? since the last digit is worn off.
My three Large Cents, well, two took a lot of work to ID in the first place. The Coronet is an 1816, and the other two are Draped Busts, one has the date visible 1797 and the other, well, I have to be glad I can see the outline of the bust and the reverse side lettering and wreath are visible so it will be a 1796-1807 Draped Bust Large Cent.
I'm including the finds I also made on my solo previous hunt, very unusual to find 3 shoe buckles in one area on one hunt, but I did that last week, one whole frame and two paritals, all different styles.
Don
I took my son to my newest site where I have hunted twice resulting in two Coronet Large Cents and bunch of buttons. I knew the ground conditions at this site has been harsh on coppers and that was not to disappoint us, but the wet ground from the melting snow was like a turbo booster on both our detectors, could not believe how many targets we were getting in the same areas I hit rather slowly and well on my last trip, ground moisture does make a difference!!
As we walked into the fringes of the homestead, just where iron hits start to show up, my son yelled that he had a definite coin reading, but very shallow, he was thinking a quarter, perhaps lost by a hunter or logger. Nope, at a grand depth of only two inches was a decent 1800 HALF CENT! So, before we even got to the main homestead, we already chalked up on good find!
Not soon after he got a thimble and some buttons. As we finally got to the main area of the homestead, I showed him where I got my first copper in February and within 5 feet of there I got a deep weak signal. Definite coin and with iron, about 8 inches down I got my first of three Large Cents for the day.
Just after I got my Large Cent, my cell phone rang, and it was a friend from Pittsburgh area who was hunting also at the same time and was excited about what he just found and rattled off he got a NJ copper (I am doing a survey on them) and Virgina Halfpenny, and a KGII and a KGIII. I told him wow, you are having a super day, and told him we just found a Half Cent and Large Cent and just as I said that my son yelled over, Dad, got another HALF CENT!! So, 300 miles away my friend and I shared our finds as they happened, so cool being able to have cell phones nowadays.
A bit later on after both us got more buttons and I got a thimble, my son got an iffy reading, and I went over to check it and said Half Cent or small silver. Well, it was small silver, a very worn out HALF REAL, dtd 178?. He now had three coins and I had only the one. I asked if he wanted to leave and finish up our hunt at the TALLYO site and he said naw, let's stay here.
Well, glad he did, since I ended up finding two more Large Cents and a nice cuff sized Tombac button before we were done for the.
Not too many hunts where both of us got multiple old coins and in equal amounts, 3 and 3. A super hunt for us.........
As I said in the beginning the ground is not kind to the coppers there, but they also showed many years of wear, so I guess the condition was not too bad considering some were worn almost smooth.
My son did his best on cleaning and dating, but only the 1800 Half Cent was a sure date, the Half Cent is a 1803-1808 Half Cent since it has a Variety 2 reverse, but no readable date. His Half Real stays a 178? since the last digit is worn off.
My three Large Cents, well, two took a lot of work to ID in the first place. The Coronet is an 1816, and the other two are Draped Busts, one has the date visible 1797 and the other, well, I have to be glad I can see the outline of the bust and the reverse side lettering and wreath are visible so it will be a 1796-1807 Draped Bust Large Cent.
I'm including the finds I also made on my solo previous hunt, very unusual to find 3 shoe buckles in one area on one hunt, but I did that last week, one whole frame and two paritals, all different styles.
Don
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Me, I'm a gridder. 
