No Indians for me

nathan104

Sr. Member
Feb 23, 2006
403
316
Emory TX
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, AT Pro, propointer AT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The one coin Ive been most anticipating finding is an Indian penny. And, it seems to be the one coin I just cant locate. Ive been detecting off and on for 6 years and have been detecting heavily for the last two years. I have found lots of Wheat pennies, several Mercury dimes, several silver rosies, V nickel, Silver War nickel, Standing Liberty Quarter, Barber dime, Barber Half Dollar, multiple tokens, good luck coin, and of course tons of great relics, silver jewelry and even a gold ring, but just cant seem to dig an Indian! I know I will eventually hit one and just have to keep hitting it, but its just frustrating, lol.
 

The hunt is the fun part after you find it you will just find another white whale to pursue. Best of luck in your search.
 

Those elusive IHP's sound just like a new zinc penny - 1983-present. Make sure you are digging all these and 2015 should find you in possession of at least one. I hate to date myself, but I can remember finding these in change when I was a kid, so they weren't all that uncommon, even in the 50's-60's.
 

yatahe
the indian will find you..white man always make too big fire !!
 

I feel your pain.
I've found a few, (less than 5) with an ATPro. In my location, they show in the low 60s.
Keep at it and good luck.
Peace ✌
 

Nathan , I really feel your pain ! I've been detecting for 10 years now , and have not found an Indian Head cent . I will readily admit
that I have not dug every "zincoln" type signal I ever put my coil over , so it's possible that I've walked over a couple . I too am
confident that I'll get one soon - perhaps 2015 will be my year (yours too! ).
 

Hello Nathan104,

With all of the great coin finds, you are definitely in the correct hunting places. I have dug many Indian head pennies; they usually range 50 – 60, on the AT Pro VDI. Now and then, I do have one pop up with a lower or higher VDI number. Of course, this range contains lots of trash targets in some of the places I hunt and probably you too. So I do what we all do…dig them all!

Good Luck, 2015 will be your year.

Regards
 

Early "Indians" 1859-1864 were composed of .880% copper, .120 nickel. Until 1909 the composition
was changed to .950 copper, .050 tin & zinc. If you ignore zinc pennies you may be missing the
"Indians". The image on the obverse is not an Indian but Lady Liberty w/headdress. The 1859 was
designed with a laurel wreath on the reverse and is unique to that year.
 

I found my first two IHPs this year while detecting at a sidewalk tear-out. As others have said, they came up lower than a typical copper Lincoln penny, more like a broken up Zincoln. I have found DEEP wheat pennies that registered as a nickel on my AT Pro, with only a faint, non-repeatable high tone.

Don't feel too bad, I have yet to find a half dollar of any kind or a Mercury Dime. I find plenty of Rosies though.
 

I have found coins dating back into the 1600's, one 1655-1658 Louis XIV French Liard, and one 1696 William III British Halfpenny. I have also found multiple 1700's coins. The hardest thing for me to find was an Indian Head Cent, I found one back in July, an 1864, that is the only one I have found. Even though it was melted in some places, and pitted heavily. I was still proud to find it. They are IMO very hard to find, good luck finding one.
 

True story - back in the day I was using my BFO next door behind an old house. In Dallas the
ground cracks open in summer. Well I get a hit and look down the crack to see an Indian
smiling back at me.
 

Same here with the IHs. Although, I found the most in 2014 that I ever found since 2010, but still, even with my SE Pro, all those hits sounded icky...with an occasional blip of hope ringing through. I think their composition might be part of the problem regarding their elusiveness(not consistent throughout the series) So they are throwing most of us off most of the time, when they're there that is lol.

A quick search via Wikipedia shows the coins weight and composition differs: from 1859-1864 (88% copper 12% nickel) = 4.67g, and from 1864-1909(95% copper 5% tin OR zinc = 3.11g. So in a sense, you're not looking for 'a single' IH, rather you're looking for more than one type(size and composition wise).

I would say, obtain the varieties that exist and bench test them.
 

I know that feeling...he'll, I've dug more silver half dollars than I have Indians . Before 2014 I had only found 1, but ended up finding 5 this year, all from a lot they scraped down about 6"

they do read shiiity too..some have rang in the low 70s a couple in the 60s..even when they are on top of the ground they read weird...I've your finding v nicks..you should find some Indians

it it used to be the same with buffalo nicks a few years ago..couldn't find one to save my life..but with the ATP , I know that sweet nickel reading and plucked out 20 in 2014


any luck at the school you were gonna hunt?
 

I never found very many, until I hit a small grass strip in front of an old church. It was loaded with IHs, 7 in one hole...i think 30 some total.

Not long after, I saw an old photo from the late 1800's of the front of the church, it was packed with people from a weekly auction they held there.

What I can't find is a large cent.

You'll hit 'em....gl
 

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