lrgoodger
Full Member
- May 2, 2023
- 150
- 1,232
- Detector(s) used
- Whites 6000-D, Garrett GTA-1000, Minelab Sovereign, XP Deus I, Equinox 800, XP Deus II
The VF 1872 IHP I dug in a cornfield on May 21st was a rare find. It had been 32 years since I found my only other one. Now, what do you suppose I mean, lightning strikes twice? You got it! Ten days later, on May 31st, I pulled an XF 1872 IHP out of an old house yard. It clearly has better detail than the first one. What a rush!
It was a house that is on the 1860s map of our area. When I hit the signal, it was iffy. It would not lock on, but if I swept it just right, it would hit mid 80s numbers on the Deus II. I knew it was deep, so I called my brother over to see if his 11" round loop (I was using 13x11) would pick it up. he could hear it, but he said it's bouncing all over. Would you dig it?, I asked. He started to say no, then he went across it just right and got a mid 80s number. Yes, he said, after it hit that I would dig it. I pulled a 6" plug out and the signal was in it right at the tip. Now it's reading a solid 85 both ways, I said. You know what that means! He nodded and watched as I scraped dirt away with my finger. When it fell out, I picked it up and said, it's a straight date! That has become the first thing I look for when I pull out an IHP. That means it may be a really good one. 1872 - 1880 had straight dates. The others were curved along the rim.
When I saw it was an 1872, I could hardly believe my eyes. To find two of them in as many weeks was completely unexpected. I looked up that date on ebay and found some with poorer detail listed over $1000. But then, they are brown and not green. That seems to make a huge difference on price.
My brother has been killing it on good dates as well. he got the 1869 below at one of my sites, and an 1868 in the same area the next day. He got two 1868s the same day at a different site a few days ago.
The toasted large cent below is my seventh from the site where I videoed #6. The piece from the video (1848) is shown to contrast the toasted piece, which I actually was able to get a date of 1851 off it. I had apparently been beat with a hammer. You can see how much bigger (it's thinner, too) it is than the 1848.
That brings me up to 65 IHPs FTY and 11 largies FTY. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would do better in this modern day of prolific metal detectorists than I did back in the old days when I first started.
It was a house that is on the 1860s map of our area. When I hit the signal, it was iffy. It would not lock on, but if I swept it just right, it would hit mid 80s numbers on the Deus II. I knew it was deep, so I called my brother over to see if his 11" round loop (I was using 13x11) would pick it up. he could hear it, but he said it's bouncing all over. Would you dig it?, I asked. He started to say no, then he went across it just right and got a mid 80s number. Yes, he said, after it hit that I would dig it. I pulled a 6" plug out and the signal was in it right at the tip. Now it's reading a solid 85 both ways, I said. You know what that means! He nodded and watched as I scraped dirt away with my finger. When it fell out, I picked it up and said, it's a straight date! That has become the first thing I look for when I pull out an IHP. That means it may be a really good one. 1872 - 1880 had straight dates. The others were curved along the rim.
When I saw it was an 1872, I could hardly believe my eyes. To find two of them in as many weeks was completely unexpected. I looked up that date on ebay and found some with poorer detail listed over $1000. But then, they are brown and not green. That seems to make a huge difference on price.
My brother has been killing it on good dates as well. he got the 1869 below at one of my sites, and an 1868 in the same area the next day. He got two 1868s the same day at a different site a few days ago.
The toasted large cent below is my seventh from the site where I videoed #6. The piece from the video (1848) is shown to contrast the toasted piece, which I actually was able to get a date of 1851 off it. I had apparently been beat with a hammer. You can see how much bigger (it's thinner, too) it is than the 1848.
That brings me up to 65 IHPs FTY and 11 largies FTY. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would do better in this modern day of prolific metal detectorists than I did back in the old days when I first started.
Upvote
23
Thanks for sharing with us all
