First silver coin with the Equinox!

[brianc053]

Hi everybody! I had a light morning @ (virtual) work this morning, so I visited a new park a couple miles away from my house for an hour or so. The land that is now this park used to be a private club that was used between the World Wars, but after WW2 it was abandoned. The town bought it and tore down the cabins and a couple of other structures, and now it's primarily open space with hiking trails. There's an old tennis court area that is barely recognizable, and this was the first place I searched but I didn't find anything but trash there.
On my way back to my car I thought I'd discriminate anything below 19 on the Equinox 800 VDI to increase my chances of finding a coin.
When I got the detector over the eventual treasures I found the signal was choppy and the only reason I dug it was that I could get it to "localize" (pinpoint) both directions and the size seemed to be coin-sized.
I did not expect to find a silver coin in the hole - maybe because I'd dug garbage with similar choppy/jumpy signals.
But wow was I surprised!
I mentioned that this is my first silver coin with the Equinox. I've found silver coins on the beach with my older Whites MXT, and I've found quite a few copper coins with the Equinox. But now I can say that I've found a really nice silver Mercury dime with the Equinox too!

And being a good hunter I checked the hole again after retrieving the dime, and I was equally surprised when I got another good hit. I was expecting a nail, but sure enough that copper coin came out of the same hole! I was ecstatic!

Now - I need some advice: what should I do with the copper coin? I like the patina on it as it is, but I cannot confirm that it's an Indian Head penny (that's my suspicion). Should I leave it alone? Should I manually clean it with a toothpick but no water/soap/brush?
Or should I clean it up (and possibly lose the patina)? I'd love your suggestions.

Thanks for looking!



It looked just like this in the hole!


What an easy & great place to detect!

 

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[eyemustdigtreasure]

Nice coin!
Cleaning coins are problematic - be sure to ask around more on this forum,
you should get your answers....
My suggestion is picking away at the crud is best, after soaking in water a short while.
Very careful on the design of the coin. Professionals can do it, so can you...!
Good luck1

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats on Your first Silver with the Nox !!! I usually take a lid off a pop bottle and fill it half way with olive oil, drop the coin to be cleaned in, and leave in a window sill checking on it once a week. I use a tooth brush and hot/warm water to clean it, and then put it back in to soak as needed until it comes to life again. Don’t scrub with a toothbrush. Just lightly wipe away what let’s go. Good luck & Happy Hunting!!!!

 

[brianc053]

Thanks all. I decided to try using a dry toothbrush lightly on the copper coin. That cleaned up the front enough to tell that it's a wheat penny, with a date of 194x (I think it's 1949, but the last digit is under too much corrosion.)
The back is completely destroyed by the soil here in New Jersey. This is a consistent result I've been seeing with all the copper coins I've found in this area; the soil just eats them away.

Knowing now that the penny is from the 1940's, I conclude:
- either the dime was old when it was dropped with the penny in the 40's or 50's or later,
or
- the penny was dropped in the same spot but at a different time from the penny (they weren't precisely together and could have just been in the same general plug area).

Either way, the dime is still one of my favorite finds to date! And finding any coin - even a wheat penny that's corroded like this one - is cool too!

 

[A2coins]

Good job and congrats on the first silver there will be many more. The Nox loves silver keep em coming Tommy

 

[brianc053]

Update from today: I took my son back to that park and we were incredibly lucky - we found another Mercury Dime! This one is from 1916 and is an "S" mint mark.
Now my son and I each have our own Mercs!

We also found three other coins from the 1960's too. Overall a great hunt!

And we only hunted an area that was about 20' X 20', so there's a LOT MORE to find!

 

[winslow]

Good job! Love the old silver.

 

[Molewacker]

Nice Merc! Wish it was a D mint for you -

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congrats on the old silver dime!

 

[washingtonian]

You're cleaning that old park out! Nice going!

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on your first silver with the Equinox. I hope many more follow.

 

[brianc053]

Another update for anyone still watching this thread, and a cute story.
I went back to the park today and found 3 coins in 45 minutes, but you'll see that my picture only has two (including an AWESOME silver 1947 quarter!).
The story goes like this: when I arrived at the park there was a family there with a baby and a little girl who was maybe 3 years old. I kept my distance and got down to business. Quickly I had a good solid signal, and about that time I noticed the dad and the little girl coming closer to watch what I was doing. So, I said "do you want to see me dig up something I found?" and they were hooked.
The good solid signal was the quarter, and as soon as I got it out of the hole I said, "do you want to take a look?" and tossed it to the girl (who's dad was keeping her at a distance because of social distancing, of course). She turned it over and over in her hands, and I turned to refill the hole and return the plug (I wanted the dad to see that I make almost no impact on the park).
When I looked back over to at the girl she said - in the cutest little voice - "I put it in my pocket."

Well, I was in a tough spot wasn't I? But - it's a silver quarter and only the 3rd silver coin I've found with the Equinox - so I said, "well, I need to take that home to MY little boy" (not mentioning that he's 16 and decided not to come with me because he was playing an online game with friends) and then I put myself in a tougher spot by saying, "but let's find you a coin!" (I was pretty confident I could find another coin in this area because I've been averaging one every 10 minutes of searching or so).

Fortunately - and this is where Karma or whatever smiled on me I got another solid signal (not quite as good as the first) not 5 feet away. I proceeded to dig it up and it was a wheat penny, 1944, in pretty good condition considering what New Jersey soil does to copper coins. I tossed it to her dad who handed it to her, and I made sure to point out "that coin is even older than the quarter!"
She was very, very happy, and the dad was very appreciative too. (And I got to keep my quarter with a clean conscience).

I searched for another 30 minutes and only found one more coin, the 1966 dime in the picture. (If only it had been 2 years older...). At this point I've searched about 80% of the path area where I've found all these coins, but there's SO MUCH more park area to search!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Crumb]

Good deed man that lil girl might remember that for along time

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A big congrats on your first Silver coin !

 

[JeffInMass]

Nice finds and very nice story- the silver finds will be many- Continued success!

 

[against the wind]

Congratulations on the Mercury and the Washington.
There's plenty more in that old campground.

 

[Shawnboylk]

Ok so can you hunt parks ? I heard you can’t detect parks or stuff like game lands?

 

[brianc053]

Ok so can you hunt parks ? I heard you can’t detect parks or stuff like game lands?

The rules vary widely.
This specific park is owned by the Township I live in, and is classified as a "Recreation Facility." The Township says that these facilities "...provide recreation and leisure opportunities for Township residents." Our town doesn't have any policy against metal detecting. And practically speaking, the park is very "undeveloped" (i.e. it's not in downtown; it's out in the middle of nowhere) and historically was a camp that was abandoned and then purchased by the Township.
Other examples of "parks" near me:
- I live very close to a National Historic Park. Strictly off limits.
- I live adjacent to an "open space preserve" around a drinking water reservoir. That preserve is open to a lot of activities: hiking (no trails though, and lots of ticks), hunting and metal detecting are all fine. But the reservoir itself has a "setback" where you can't get within a certain distance, and there are signs posted everywhere.
- There are many county parks (different than a Township Park) in my area, and these have specific policies; some allow metal detecting, others do not. Park specific.
- The downtown of my town has some "town parks", and even these are generally open to metal detecting though in one of these I was asked "are you going to repair that grass?" and I showed the person how a clean plug is dug and then replaced.

And of course there are special rules during this current pandemic that could modify typical rules in any park.
The best thing to do is read what you can and if you see an official, ask.
- Brian

 

[Shawnboylk]

The rules vary widely.
This specific park is owned by the Township I live in, and is classified as a "Recreation Facility." The Township says that these facilities "...provide recreation and leisure opportunities for Township residents." Our town doesn't have any policy against metal detecting. And practically speaking, the park is very "undeveloped" (i.e. it's not in downtown; it's out in the middle of nowhere) and historically was a camp that was abandoned and then purchased by the Township.
Other examples of "parks" near me:
- I live very close to a National Historic Park. Strictly off limits.
- I live adjacent to an "open space preserve" around a drinking water reservoir. That preserve is open to a lot of activities: hiking (no trails though, and lots of ticks), hunting and metal detecting are all fine. But the reservoir itself has a "setback" where you can't get within a certain distance, and there are signs posted everywhere.
- There are many county parks (different than a Township Park) in my area, and these have specific policies; some allow metal detecting, others do not. Park specific.
- The downtown of my town has some "town parks", and even these are generally open to metal detecting though in one of these I was asked "are you going to repair that grass?" and I showed the person how a clean plug is dug and then replaced.

And of course there are special rules during this current pandemic that could modify typical rules in any park.
The best thing to do is read what you can and if you see an official, ask.
- Brian

I feel like I just won’t ask lol they can tell me to leave lol