kleinerschmitter
Sr. Member
- Aug 21, 2010
- 438
- 1,058
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Etrac, Excalibur II, Teknetics G2+
- Primary Interest:
- Other
Hello everyone,
It has been awhile since my last post, finally got out for the summer from my first year of medical school but I made sure to line up some great places to metal detect once school was out! One place I've tried a couple of times used to be an old picnic area near a creek, this place is huge, hundreds of acres but I'm not sure exactly where everything used to be because there are no structures and it hasn't been a gathering place since the 1950s.
Anyway, I went out there Saturday evening and this morning. I've been there 2 times before this weekend and I've scored right at 10 coins dated from 1890-1942 but they were all pennies/nickels, no silver. Well, that all changed this weekend. So many first for me!
Saturday evening I spent a good 2.5hrs out there with my trusty G2. This is rural central Texas so of course I'm pulling up shotgun shell after shotgun shell and no telling how many .22 caliber shells that are so annoying because they give a strong +58 on the G2, exact same as a nickel! I was hunting along the creek for the most park and found a very corroded wheat penny that I believe says 1925(I've pulled 5 wheats within 10 yards of it in the past that were all 1920s). I also found the 2 pocketknives along the creek, the stainless steel blade is a Queen Cutlery jigged bone handled toothpick pocketknife that I've been told is possibly in the 1930-1950 year make. Then I tried to find the general area where the landowner told me a baseball field had been at one time. After a bit of searching and not hitting many signals I got a nice, strong +59-60 at 5", not really knowing what to expect I flipped the plug and out popped a golden nickel which turned out to be my very first silver war nickel, a 1942-S in pretty good shape, can see half the steps. A couple feet away I find a 1942-D wheat penny with full bands on the reverse. A little while later out pops a solid copper lipstick case that still has lipstick in it, no telling how long it's been there, but the top says MaxFactor, Hollywood USA. I hunted some more but packed it up pretty soon as it was getting dark. As I was leaving I found the 'youngest' coin yet out there, a 1962-D memorial.
Cue to this morning. Woke up bright and early to go check out the place some more. First, started near where I think the baseball field is and can't find anything but maybe a half dozen shotgun and .22 shells. So, I move down to the creek right next to a concrete watering trough. I have hunted this part already but it is pretty trashy because it is by the creek and the ground is like black clay cement so I left it be until this morning, it's maybe a 10x10yard area but I'm glad I checked it today. We got a light rain this morning so the ground was slightly wet and a little more giving. Of course, I found the usual barrage of shells, the people who were out there must have loved to shoot, I've dug at least 250 shells of all calibers in all 4 hunts. First good signal is +58 but much stronger than the .22 shells I'm used to, out pops a 1946-D Jefferson nickel.
Next, I quickly experience many firsts all in a short period of time. I got a +88, strong on the G2 with a +85 a couple of inches away from it, both were half a foot down in the awful black clay but I found a fault line with my sharpshooter and jackhammered down to it and brought out clumps of black clay when suddenly the edge of a silver quarter appeared. I carefully broke the clump and exposed the edge of a silver quarter but didn't know what kind it was because of all the black clay on it. I move onto the other signal and it's changed from a single +85 to a double +88 that sounds like finding a ring but it was 2 more coins. I jackhammer down again and pull out 2 more silver quarters, still not knowing what kind any of them were. Unfortunately, I did nick one of them, it's the first coin I've nicked in a long time and it hurts. So, not only have I never found a silver quarter, but I just found a silver quarter pocket spill. I quickly rescan the hole but no more signals so I move on. As I'm finishing that grid line and start a new one there is a huge fire ant pile right in front of me, probably 2.5ft in diameter. I figure, what the heck and swing the detector over it and whadyaknow, +90-91 at 6 inches. I quickly figure out a strategy and luckily the ants had softened the black clay and I dug quick and extra wide, pulling out a huge plug with that sharpshooter. Ants start spilling out everywhere but luckily the signal is in the plug so I start kicking it around a bit to shake off ants and break it apart into smaller clumps. After a couple of kicks and scanning loosened chunks, one rings up +91, I pick it up and break it apart, lo and behold I just found my first ever silver half dollar! Now I'm ecstatic, I never expected to find so much in one day!! I finish the grid, finding a 1937 Buffalo nickel in great shape and a 1926-s? Buffalo in not so great and barely legible shape, my microscope shows 1926 and what appears to be an S on the back but not 100% sure. I head out as it's nearly lunchtime and I've got a hunger that only cleaning my silver coins and finding out what they are can satisfy.
I get home, give them a warm soapy bath and with a very soft bristled toothbrush reveal: 1934, 1944-D, and 1945-D Washingtons and a 1918-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar (had no idea it was a Walker!).
So, I got my first silver quarters and half, my first Walker, my first silver coin spill, my first pocketknives, my first war nickel and my first ever copper lipstick case all within the span of 24hrs, it was a great weekend!
*Oh yeah, can anyone tell me what type the pocket knife is that does not have the stainless steel blade?
Thanks all for looking and reading, I know it's a novel but I had to write it all out!
It has been awhile since my last post, finally got out for the summer from my first year of medical school but I made sure to line up some great places to metal detect once school was out! One place I've tried a couple of times used to be an old picnic area near a creek, this place is huge, hundreds of acres but I'm not sure exactly where everything used to be because there are no structures and it hasn't been a gathering place since the 1950s.
Anyway, I went out there Saturday evening and this morning. I've been there 2 times before this weekend and I've scored right at 10 coins dated from 1890-1942 but they were all pennies/nickels, no silver. Well, that all changed this weekend. So many first for me!
Saturday evening I spent a good 2.5hrs out there with my trusty G2. This is rural central Texas so of course I'm pulling up shotgun shell after shotgun shell and no telling how many .22 caliber shells that are so annoying because they give a strong +58 on the G2, exact same as a nickel! I was hunting along the creek for the most park and found a very corroded wheat penny that I believe says 1925(I've pulled 5 wheats within 10 yards of it in the past that were all 1920s). I also found the 2 pocketknives along the creek, the stainless steel blade is a Queen Cutlery jigged bone handled toothpick pocketknife that I've been told is possibly in the 1930-1950 year make. Then I tried to find the general area where the landowner told me a baseball field had been at one time. After a bit of searching and not hitting many signals I got a nice, strong +59-60 at 5", not really knowing what to expect I flipped the plug and out popped a golden nickel which turned out to be my very first silver war nickel, a 1942-S in pretty good shape, can see half the steps. A couple feet away I find a 1942-D wheat penny with full bands on the reverse. A little while later out pops a solid copper lipstick case that still has lipstick in it, no telling how long it's been there, but the top says MaxFactor, Hollywood USA. I hunted some more but packed it up pretty soon as it was getting dark. As I was leaving I found the 'youngest' coin yet out there, a 1962-D memorial.
Cue to this morning. Woke up bright and early to go check out the place some more. First, started near where I think the baseball field is and can't find anything but maybe a half dozen shotgun and .22 shells. So, I move down to the creek right next to a concrete watering trough. I have hunted this part already but it is pretty trashy because it is by the creek and the ground is like black clay cement so I left it be until this morning, it's maybe a 10x10yard area but I'm glad I checked it today. We got a light rain this morning so the ground was slightly wet and a little more giving. Of course, I found the usual barrage of shells, the people who were out there must have loved to shoot, I've dug at least 250 shells of all calibers in all 4 hunts. First good signal is +58 but much stronger than the .22 shells I'm used to, out pops a 1946-D Jefferson nickel.
Next, I quickly experience many firsts all in a short period of time. I got a +88, strong on the G2 with a +85 a couple of inches away from it, both were half a foot down in the awful black clay but I found a fault line with my sharpshooter and jackhammered down to it and brought out clumps of black clay when suddenly the edge of a silver quarter appeared. I carefully broke the clump and exposed the edge of a silver quarter but didn't know what kind it was because of all the black clay on it. I move onto the other signal and it's changed from a single +85 to a double +88 that sounds like finding a ring but it was 2 more coins. I jackhammer down again and pull out 2 more silver quarters, still not knowing what kind any of them were. Unfortunately, I did nick one of them, it's the first coin I've nicked in a long time and it hurts. So, not only have I never found a silver quarter, but I just found a silver quarter pocket spill. I quickly rescan the hole but no more signals so I move on. As I'm finishing that grid line and start a new one there is a huge fire ant pile right in front of me, probably 2.5ft in diameter. I figure, what the heck and swing the detector over it and whadyaknow, +90-91 at 6 inches. I quickly figure out a strategy and luckily the ants had softened the black clay and I dug quick and extra wide, pulling out a huge plug with that sharpshooter. Ants start spilling out everywhere but luckily the signal is in the plug so I start kicking it around a bit to shake off ants and break it apart into smaller clumps. After a couple of kicks and scanning loosened chunks, one rings up +91, I pick it up and break it apart, lo and behold I just found my first ever silver half dollar! Now I'm ecstatic, I never expected to find so much in one day!! I finish the grid, finding a 1937 Buffalo nickel in great shape and a 1926-s? Buffalo in not so great and barely legible shape, my microscope shows 1926 and what appears to be an S on the back but not 100% sure. I head out as it's nearly lunchtime and I've got a hunger that only cleaning my silver coins and finding out what they are can satisfy.
I get home, give them a warm soapy bath and with a very soft bristled toothbrush reveal: 1934, 1944-D, and 1945-D Washingtons and a 1918-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar (had no idea it was a Walker!).
So, I got my first silver quarters and half, my first Walker, my first silver coin spill, my first pocketknives, my first war nickel and my first ever copper lipstick case all within the span of 24hrs, it was a great weekend!
*Oh yeah, can anyone tell me what type the pocket knife is that does not have the stainless steel blade?
Thanks all for looking and reading, I know it's a novel but I had to write it all out!
Upvote
10
Awesome hunt, man. I love that half.
