New coil, first time out, first non-modern coin (in like 5 years of waiting)

[TrpnBils]

So I got the 11" DD coil for my F5 from Keith at Fort Bedford Detectors on Sunday and have only been able to use it for a few minutes in my back yard until this afternoon. I got out to a 1799 house (still standing....has been "period restored" as needed and is a rental house for weekend tourists so there is plenty of new junk there too). I was there last year probably a dozen times and found a few CW bullets and an old button, but not much else worth mentioning.

I've been waiting for about 5 years to find some kind of coin that wasn't modern pocket change and my dry streak finally broke today with my first IH penny so I was excited about that! I also found a few other things I'm not really sure what they are, but one of the coolest things, in my opinion anyway, was this old sleigh bell. I dug it in a farm field near the house, and after getting the dirt out when I got home it still sounds like I'd imagine it did when it was new. Is there any way to date these? there's no writing on it as far as I can tell.

Also found part of a cap gun. One of the things I can't identify is a ~5" diameter disc with a picture of the US Capitol Building stamped in it (you can see the mirror image on the back). It says "US Capitol Building" on the top and "Washington DC" on the bottom. It is really tarnished and beat up. I tried scanning it, but you can't read anything so I didn't include it here. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[Terry Soloman]

Check this site out Classic Bells: Sleigh Bell Designs

Congrats on your finds!

 

[TrpnBils]

I guess there's a website for everything

 

[Massieville Mike]

Congratulations on ending your dry streak! Nice finds! I am really looking forward to finding some old coins as well. They have eluded me thus far lol. This will only be my second year of metal detecting. I hope to hit the dirt a lot harder and more often this year. I found over thirty dollars worth of clad coins last year, several wheat pennies, one silver dime (a '46 Roosevelt), and a lot of cool "stuff" including some small silver jewelry pieces and a small 10k gold filled ring, but NO OLD COINS. Enough ranting about me! Again congratulations to you!!! HH

 

[Argentium]

Congratulations on your first "oldie " ! I've been hunting close to ten years and have never found an Indian Head cent !
(needless to say, but I really want to find one ! )

 

[vpnavy]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[park pirate]

Nice...

 

[TrpnBils]

Congratulations on ending your dry streak! Nice finds! I am really looking forward to finding some old coins as well. They have eluded me thus far lol. This will only be my second year of metal detecting. I hope to hit the dirt a lot harder and more often this year. I found over thirty dollars worth of clad coins last year, several wheat pennies, one silver dime (a '46 Roosevelt), and a lot of cool "stuff" including some small silver jewelry pieces and a small 10k gold filled ring, but NO OLD COINS. Enough ranting about me! Again congratulations to you!!! HH

You're one up on me in the silver department then! That drives me nuts too because my back yard used to be a drive-in theater from '52-'62 and I've found more wheat pennies there than anywhere else, but still no silver. I know it has to be there somewhere, but I'm at a loss for where!

 

[Trapster]

Nice finds.

 

[djnelson2292]

I really like the way that Indian Head looks! Did it come out of the ground in that condition or did you clean it any? Reason I ask is because I want mine to look like that but cleaning it has only made it look slightly better.

 

[TrpnBils]

All I did was rinse with plain tap water. I'm kinda irritated about it actually because there was no green on it when I dug it (not that I saw, anyway)....just kinda showed up after I dried it off. Maybe it was there and the mud was just hiding it before? I dunno....

 

[markp]

congrats

 

[SilverDreams]

Congrats on the IH!

 

[WHADIFIND]

All I did was rinse with plain tap water. I'm kinda irritated about it actually because there was no green on it when I dug it (not that I saw, anyway)....just kinda showed up after I dried it off. Maybe it was there and the mud was just hiding it before? I dunno....

Actually, I like the green patina that these coins sometimes take on. If it has to corrode, why not make it a pretty green with all the details readable.

Nice and congrats!

 

[K1DDO1979]

I found a bell in a old spot not to long ago that looks a lot like yours. I also wonder how old these types are?

 

[K1DDO1979]

Found this one too. It is a nice sound to hear when you clean the dirt out and the sound come back. It's almost like going back in time when they were ringing. (:

 

[Mach1Pilot]

You did well - congrats on finally breaking the streak with your IH my friend! No doubt it will be the first of many, as you have lots of good sites in your area - its only a matter of time until you get into a hot spot.

Love the crotal (bell!) Its hard to find one intact, the freeze/thaw cycles usually break them up.

How did your friend do with her new Ace 350?

 

[doninbrewster]

I admire your patience. Congrats on the Indian Head. If you want to find old coins, go online and find old maps of your area. Then go detect where people used to be 100-200 years ago. If you find an unhunted spot from these maps you could find an amazing amount of old coins. The coins in this photo came from detecting spots I found on old maps and they were only from one month last year and the photo doesn't include everything from that month. I should add that I got permission to hunt an old farm just before winter set in with a vengeance and found 6 large cents the one day I was there.

 

[TrpnBils]

You did well - congrats on finally breaking the streak with your IH my friend! No doubt it will be the first of many, as you have lots of good sites in your area - its only a matter of time until you get into a hot spot. Love the crotal (bell!) Its hard to find one intact, the freeze/thaw cycles usually break them up. How did your friend do with her new Ace 350?

She hasn't actually been out yet - we hunted around her yard for about 20 minutes when we got back in, but didn't find anything notable. She and my wife are going to an estate auction on Saturday (in Bedford actually) for the entire day so I'm trying to plan basically 8 hours' worth of detecting to really give the DD a workout! Not really sure where yet, but I might head east a ways to try some places I've had my eye on....or I might just go door knocking locally, I don't know yet.

 

[TrpnBils]

I admire your patience. Congrats on the Indian Head. If you want to find old coins, go online and find old maps of your area. Then go detect where people used to be 100-200 years ago. If you find an unhunted spot from these maps you could find an amazing amount of old coins. The coins in this photo came from detecting spots I found on old maps and they were only from one month last year and the photo doesn't include everything from that month. I should add that I got permission to hunt an old farm just before winter set in with a vengeance and found 6 large cents the one day I was there. View attachment 959549

That'd be awesome... I live in a VERY old area with lots of history, but it's a tiny town and there isn't a whole lot in the way of detailed maps that I have found anyway (Keith knows where I live, and I'm sure he's probably shaking his head right now with a stack of maps in his hand I just haven't found yet...lol). Large cents are some of my favorite coins...I did find one last year but it's so smooth I'm not sure if it's an American LC or if it's a King George... It's been soaking in olive oil for like 6 months now and I can basically see the outline of a head and that's it. The head appears to be really close to the top edge of the coin though and I can't find anything that I think it might be. It's also really thin, which I've been told KG's are.