djm of PA
Hero Member
Last week I left for my 8 day beach trip to the Outer Banks. It was killing me knowing the shores where I was staying were off limits to detecting and that the nearest open beach to detect was over 85 miles away. A friend from work told me to pack the detector and take it along, just in case I ended up somewhere unexpected. That advice couldn't have been more helpful, thanks Bruce!
Day one found me thinking about the detector in the back of the truck.....day 2 I bought a surf rod so I had something to do to take my mind off of buried treasure
Day 3, as I watched the kids dig in the sand I thought I HAD to find somewhere to break some ground![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
By day 4, as you'll see in the pic, a few more surf rods were purchased to keep me busy....still wasn't helping, I HAD to find somewhere to detect.
It wouldn't be until the very last day with sunlight fading that I'd find that spot.....on our way up and out of the island I noticed a construction site with large mounds of fresh soil/sand that had been piled up. I pulled off the road and asked the guy who was working there whether I could detect. After giving me a talk about how the feds control all the beaches and the locals are tired of that crap and want open/free beaches, he said, have at it young man! I gave the truck keys to my wife and sent her and the kids up the road to fill up the truck, get ice and have dinner, I told her to take her time and come back for me when they were done. That gave me about 1.5hrs to detect this spot. Not expecting much, I hit a few pieces of clad as you can see. Also pulled up the brass or copper ring, which appears it was cut off. Inside just has SZ-11 in it.
Then it happened, loud high pitch squeal and I had a silver....an 1895-S barber dime! It was gorgeous, nice black features, very polished from years in the sand. The owner came over because he saw me studying this coin intently and asked what I found. I showed him and I could tell he wanted it. I said "you can have this one if I can keep the rest". DEAL he said. I was pretty bummed because that would have been my first silver from a beach, but I kept on detecting. I couldn't get the condition of that coin out of my head, dark/black, but smooth. Apparent that the saltwater never reached this level and hit that coin.
With what seemed like minutes to spare until the Mrs. would arrive back I got another hit pitch solid tone that pegged the depth meter on the e-trac. I was digging with my shovel, didn't have the sand scoop along. I started tossing sand left and right and it seemed like the hole just kept filling back in. After what felt like an eternity, I had my hands on a coin I never thought I'd be fortunate to find. The numbers 1777 stared back at me and I started jumping and yelling. The owner came running over as I extracted the 2Reale coin from its sandy grave and we just both stood there in shock. This coin was in as good of shape as the barber, incredible! My wife had a polishing cloth along and after rinsing it off carefully, I just slightly buffed the surface. For those who are now cringing, the scratches you see were already on the coin
I probably had another 10 minutes of detecting before the wife showed up and hadn't gotten a signal at all in that time. As much as I wanted to stay, sunlight was all but gone and it was time to hit the road back to PA. I pulled in at home around 4a.m. this morning and was still on cloud 9.
July next year I will be heading back down, I now have an open invite from the landowner to hit his lot again, though there will be a house on it next time I am there. I'm content with one and done.....for now
Day one found me thinking about the detector in the back of the truck.....day 2 I bought a surf rod so I had something to do to take my mind off of buried treasure
Day 3, as I watched the kids dig in the sand I thought I HAD to find somewhere to break some ground
By day 4, as you'll see in the pic, a few more surf rods were purchased to keep me busy....still wasn't helping, I HAD to find somewhere to detect.
It wouldn't be until the very last day with sunlight fading that I'd find that spot.....on our way up and out of the island I noticed a construction site with large mounds of fresh soil/sand that had been piled up. I pulled off the road and asked the guy who was working there whether I could detect. After giving me a talk about how the feds control all the beaches and the locals are tired of that crap and want open/free beaches, he said, have at it young man! I gave the truck keys to my wife and sent her and the kids up the road to fill up the truck, get ice and have dinner, I told her to take her time and come back for me when they were done. That gave me about 1.5hrs to detect this spot. Not expecting much, I hit a few pieces of clad as you can see. Also pulled up the brass or copper ring, which appears it was cut off. Inside just has SZ-11 in it.
Then it happened, loud high pitch squeal and I had a silver....an 1895-S barber dime! It was gorgeous, nice black features, very polished from years in the sand. The owner came over because he saw me studying this coin intently and asked what I found. I showed him and I could tell he wanted it. I said "you can have this one if I can keep the rest". DEAL he said. I was pretty bummed because that would have been my first silver from a beach, but I kept on detecting. I couldn't get the condition of that coin out of my head, dark/black, but smooth. Apparent that the saltwater never reached this level and hit that coin.
With what seemed like minutes to spare until the Mrs. would arrive back I got another hit pitch solid tone that pegged the depth meter on the e-trac. I was digging with my shovel, didn't have the sand scoop along. I started tossing sand left and right and it seemed like the hole just kept filling back in. After what felt like an eternity, I had my hands on a coin I never thought I'd be fortunate to find. The numbers 1777 stared back at me and I started jumping and yelling. The owner came running over as I extracted the 2Reale coin from its sandy grave and we just both stood there in shock. This coin was in as good of shape as the barber, incredible! My wife had a polishing cloth along and after rinsing it off carefully, I just slightly buffed the surface. For those who are now cringing, the scratches you see were already on the coin
I probably had another 10 minutes of detecting before the wife showed up and hadn't gotten a signal at all in that time. As much as I wanted to stay, sunlight was all but gone and it was time to hit the road back to PA. I pulled in at home around 4a.m. this morning and was still on cloud 9.
July next year I will be heading back down, I now have an open invite from the landowner to hit his lot again, though there will be a house on it next time I am there. I'm content with one and done.....for now
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That coin is stunning, djm! 
1777 - What a great year in coinage !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great find !!!! And oh, the Barber too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
