rhedden
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2003
- Messages
- 372
- Reaction score
- 562
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Eastern NY
- Detector(s) used
- Nokta Makro Simplex
Today, I returned to a cellar hole deep in the mountains that I had been detecting back in April. Previously, I found a Conestoga Bell and a mess of small, plain flat buttons, but no coins. I did not return to this site all summer due to encountering a Mama Bear and two cubs back in April, who were initially running straight at me before I made a loud noise. Not a good situation. Anyway, there were no bears in sight today, so I resumed the hunt.
Today's trip started scanning what would have been the farm fields uphill from the house. I got a repeatable 75-77 signal on my Simplex that was DEEP. Took 6 inches of dirt off the top, and my pinpointer didn't sense anything. I took another 4 inches of dirt off, and it was out of the hole. I expected another Conestoga bell or a crotal bell, honestly, because the recovery of the Conestoga bell back in April was nearly identical. Anyway, I got a toasted Draped Bust cent out of the hole (1796-1807). It's a bucket lister for me. I already had Flowing Hair, Classic Head, Matron Head, and Braided large cents from previous years, but this is my first Draped Bust (or what's left of it).
About an hour later, I got a bangin' 86-88 signal that wasn't deep. Almost every older find at this site was deeper than 6 inches, so I expected something newer than this Matron Head cent, which is dated 181X. It's wasn't down more than 1.5 inches. I can't ascertain the last digit, but it might be 1816. It's brutally corroded, and the original surface of the coin is already flaking off, so I gave it a light coat of Vaseline in the hopes of keeping it alive a little longer.
The last time I found two large cents in one day was the year 1999. It's been a long time coming. I have also ended a 15-year large cent drought, because the last one I remember digging was back in 2008. Despite the fact that I live near the NY-MA-VT junction where there is plenty of history, I hadn't found a single copper since I moved here in 2018. Broke that copper drought today, but it's a little disheartening that the coins are so toasted. I now feel like I'm out there looking for silver only if the soil here is this cruel to coppers. Still, it was the best day of detecting I've had in six years, so I'll call it a win.
Today's trip started scanning what would have been the farm fields uphill from the house. I got a repeatable 75-77 signal on my Simplex that was DEEP. Took 6 inches of dirt off the top, and my pinpointer didn't sense anything. I took another 4 inches of dirt off, and it was out of the hole. I expected another Conestoga bell or a crotal bell, honestly, because the recovery of the Conestoga bell back in April was nearly identical. Anyway, I got a toasted Draped Bust cent out of the hole (1796-1807). It's a bucket lister for me. I already had Flowing Hair, Classic Head, Matron Head, and Braided large cents from previous years, but this is my first Draped Bust (or what's left of it).
About an hour later, I got a bangin' 86-88 signal that wasn't deep. Almost every older find at this site was deeper than 6 inches, so I expected something newer than this Matron Head cent, which is dated 181X. It's wasn't down more than 1.5 inches. I can't ascertain the last digit, but it might be 1816. It's brutally corroded, and the original surface of the coin is already flaking off, so I gave it a light coat of Vaseline in the hopes of keeping it alive a little longer.
The last time I found two large cents in one day was the year 1999. It's been a long time coming. I have also ended a 15-year large cent drought, because the last one I remember digging was back in 2008. Despite the fact that I live near the NY-MA-VT junction where there is plenty of history, I hadn't found a single copper since I moved here in 2018. Broke that copper drought today, but it's a little disheartening that the coins are so toasted. I now feel like I'm out there looking for silver only if the soil here is this cruel to coppers. Still, it was the best day of detecting I've had in six years, so I'll call it a win.
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