Found $4 in less than 5 minutes.....

[azdave]

So this is actually a "yesterday" find, I just hadn't had time to post.
Went to an old mining area/camp in the mountains that I have hit hard for years. Place was active in the 1880's to 1890's... then had a little "busy" period in the 1920's.

I got out later than planned, and didn't hit the area until noonish, and it was already about 107. I parked in a canyon, and started heading up a ravine that I had found the remains to a stacked rock fireplace/chimney.

Barely turned on the machine, and was going to swing while I worked my way back to the target area.... something I have done 50 times already at this location.
Hit on a great signal in an area I had found a bunch of more modern (1980's-90's) 45acp casings just feet away in the past, so wasn't feeling very excited as I dug it anyways.
Out pop's a Morgan dollar.... then another a few inches away.... then another and another! Then a few feet away out pop's the gold heart charm! A monsoon storm started growling in the skies, so headed out after about 45 more minutes. 1880, 1881, 1882 and 1891 are the dates... unfortunately no Carson City mint ones.
Unreal...... I am returning tomorrow and hitting it hard. This proves an area is never cleaned out... I swear I have swung this same detector over that same spot many times before! Sorry for crappy pics, but I'm no photographer and using a $25 camera.

 

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[azdave]

Great score and you must get minimal rain in that area since there doesn't seem to be much tarnishing or corrosion.

Yes.... minimal rain is correct! This is in the high desert.... this location gets more than some just because of the monsoon activity that is generally attracted to the "sky island" mtn ranges in S. AZ, but still, our YEARLY rainfall is equal to what some eastern states will get in a day! And when it does rain, the dry heat/sun intensity soon sucks it all out of the ground until the next time.
The backside of one has some tarnish, but they really are clean.
I have to say, everything that comes out of the ground here is always in so much better condition than what I see from other areas. I have found Army GSB's here that have near all the gilt left... just depends on the minerals in the ground and whether water sits at all at that location.

 

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[azdave]

WOW, someone was NOT HAPPY when they lost those.

For sure... I mentioned to my wife how mad I would be to lose $4 NOW.... can you imagine what that would mean back then?
She brought up the Sears catalog from 1890 just to get perspective on what things cost... we laughed about cast iron STOVES starting at around $10... hows that for perspective on what a couple bucks would buy.

 

[azdave]

I'm leaving in a few minutes to see what else I've missed... hopefully this thread gets a positive update!

 

[pepperj]

dang man that's incredible. I've been into this hobby for 45 years and have never found a morgan or peace dollar. You find 4 of them in 5 minutes. totally unfair

Ya I know how you feel, been trying for over 50 now-something that hangs on the back-can't shake the darn thing off either.
I'd even take a bulldozered mashed, through a rock processor silver dollar.

 

[NZ49er]

4 Morgan's and gold! What a killer spill! Great hit!

 

[Bible]

Yeah i just found a 5 dollar in az on top the ground at place i hunted for 6 years before last weekend. You should hand pinpoint the whole area and sift they could easily had a 1$ dollar gold. Never hunted out, good job!

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Great haul ...!
Good reason to hunt the dickens outta that place...!

 

[Locke]

That’s so big silver and lots of it! Congrats!

 

[Noah_D]

Holy cow! That's more silver than I've found all year!

 

[RJGMC]

CONGRATS! Can’t wait to see what is there when you go back!
RJGMC

 

[washingtonian]

Holy smokes, that is the dream!! Amazing condition. Way to go!

 

[azdave]

Well.... just got home and nothing to report other than this... the worse day in the hills is better than the best day in town! That's a saying I always use on my wife when I get skunked... so as you can guess I was skunked.

Methodically hit the area slow and steady, and now I know why I quickly was passing over it in the past.... I dug probably 40-50 modern cartridge casings and bullets. Interestingly, none in the immediate area of the Morgans, but a bunch spread out 20 ft before you get to where they were found, and a bunch more spread out about 10 ft beyond. The dollars/charm were in between, but it explains why I moved quick beyond this little shooting spot. I did find one vintage WRA 44wcf (44-40) casing and a 32 rimfire casing... probably from a Remington derringer.

After going over a bigger area the first time, I then switched to all metal and was popping out some cut nails, small wagon hardware/bolts and even a sewing needle right around the immediate find site.... wonder if he used that needle to sew up the whole in his pocket after losing them??

Went back to the old fireplace, and nothing there as well. We need a good monsoon storm to move some earth out here... this is the dryest its been in decades!