Secret Cave Gives up Fisrt V Nickel and More Old Shells.....

[Garrett424]

I climbed back up to my secret cave with maybe 40 minutes of daylight left (if that). I didn't leave disappointed.

I got a slightly faint low tone hit and decided to go ahead and dig it. About 7 inches down I found my very first V Nickel. It definitely pays to dig those "pull tab" signals.

It's an 1899 in absolutely awful shape but it's still a first for me. It has a thick coat of rust but the date is still readable (barely). The dirt at this location couldn't be any blacker and it's pretty hard on coins.



I also dug up a few more old shells and shell caps. One is a S&W .38, I can't make out what the cap says and the third is an old .22 rim fire. You can see the mark on it. I'll try and get the details later. I'm just too tired tonight to mess with 'em. I also dug up a few more copper pennies and one dime but nothing old.



I can't imagine who was firing all of these rounds inside of this cave but I'm glad I wasn't around at the time. Maybe the old Indian woman who lived there didn't like anyone nosing around and fired a few warning shots. Who knows??

Regardless, I consider this a good hunt in the limited time I had. I cannot wait to hit this place next year after I upgrade. I have a gut feeling that there's more cool stuff to be found at this spot.

I also found one 2006 Euro cent (not pictured) in the Coin Star machine. I always check for silver and whatever else I can grab every time I pass by a Coin Star. I haven't found anything good in quite a while.

Thanks for looking and HH.

 

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[bootybandit]

Congrats on your 1st V-Nick!

 

[treblehunter]

Congrats, wonder what else is hiding there?

 

[Garrett424]

Anyone know a good way to clean such a badly rusted nickel?? I'm open to any and all suggestions. It's not a key date so I'm not too worried about ruining it. It's already ruined.
I already have some pretty nice ones in my collection.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Garrett424]

Congrats, wonder what else is hiding there?

I don't know but I intend to find out. I'm going back in the morning when I can see. It's pretty dark in there before dusk.

These short days are really beginning to cramp my detecting schedule. Less than an hour is no time for a thorough hunt of any spot. I just hate having to rush because it's so easy to miss things.

I'm going to try and hit that 1700's house tomorrow as well.

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Hi Garrett try soak the nickel in ketchup maybe? Grats on that V =)

 

[tyrocksalot]

Always dig those iffy signals if its not a trashy area great find. HH

 

[Garrett424]

Always dig those iffy signals if its not a trashy area great find. HH

Oh, it's a trashy area. I'm trying to remove the trash to see what may be lurking below or alongside it.
I've pulled many pull tabs and bottle caps out of there already. Many people have partied at this location for many years and there's trash everywhere.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[RobRieman]

Anyone know a good way to clean such a badly rusted nickel?? I'm open to any and all suggestions. It's not a key date so I'm not too worried about ruining it. It's already ruined. I already have some pretty nice ones in my collection. Thanks in advance.

The rust has to be from something else touching it as they are 75% copper and 25% nickel. Try using a little rust remover on it and see if it will lift it off the non-ferrous metal it's made from.

 

[Garrett424]

The rust has to be from something else touching it as they are 75% copper and 25% nickel. Try using a little rust remover on it and see if it will lift it off the non-ferrous metal it's made from.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.
I really don't want to scratch it up with anything but there has to be a way to make it look a little better.

The dirt at this spot is black, NASTY and apparently, highly corrosive. You should see what I look like after an hour or two in this place. My knees are literally black. There's also a ton of trash including nails, a few railroad spikes and other junk so it's quite possible the trash is affecting the coins. I removed all kinds of stuff before the V Nick was revealed below.

Every nickel I've pulled from there save one is in awful, rusty shape, even the '44 war nickel. It's filthy despite the silver content. The one clean one I found is a 1957 but it had to be a fairly recent drop based on the great condition it's in.

And as far as the Zincolns go from there; forget about it. They're all disintegrated far worse than usual (not that I gave a d*mn) .

 

[dirtlooter]

congrats on the V nickle, still looking for mine

 

[Garrett424]

congrats on the V nickle, still looking for mine

Keep diggin' those low trashy signals and it will appear.
I figure I only had to dig about 18,321 pull tabs before I found mine.

If I've learned nothing else these last months, I have learned that as far is this hobby is concerned, location is everything.