thought I was gonna be skunked

[McCDig]

A post-work hunt takes an unforeseen turn...

I left work at 4PM and headed to the city for one last hunt at the park I've been hitting hard since leaving Patterson behind. Keep in mind that I've "pounded" this section and it has seen the coils of others too.

I had been detecting for almost two hours and just not a single good target had surfaced, only a marble and a small button, but many a square nail had been dug. I was starting to think that this may be my turn to be "skunked", as Loco-Digger put it recently in a post. I turned my attention to the area near an old oak tree where older silver, wheats and Indians had been taken. This was not a mistake. Got a strong signal and dug it despite thinking the strident tone meant shallow clad...not so...it was a 1906 V-nickel. Stayed in this area and dug a repeatable tone and at the bottom of the hole, about 7 inches down, there was a piece of cylindrical graphite. I've found this in every city park I've hunted and I think it may come from old batteries; these pieces always give a faint high-tone, easily mistaken for a good target. I re-checked the hole and found a strong signal directly beneath where the graphite lay. This turned out to be an 1875 IHP. I checked the hole again with the pinpointer and found no other signals. I then checked the plug, and there, sticking out ever so slightly, was a silver rim. I figured this had to be a seated dime, and, sure enough, that is exactly what it was, the date - 1876. I have found only one other seated coin in this park, the 1875 CC quarter from the end of April. When I cleaned the dime at home, I was shocked to see that the mint mark is also CC.

That's my last hunt in this park 'til September rolls around. Very happy with the way this part of the city detecting season ended for me today.
Thanks for checking out the pics.
Happy Hunting and best of luck to all!

 

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[ecmjamsit]

Cylindrical graphite might mean an old carbon arc lamp.

 

[McCDig]

Thanks for posting, ecmjamsit! Perhaps these pieces were part of a battery used to power bike or carriage lamps.

 

[A2coins]

Great post nice finds Great job

 

[Chizzy]

Very nice finds, as usual for you, McCDig........you've been posting some beauties lately..........
Gotta ask this.........what methods do you use to get your finds cleaned so quickly?

 

[McCDig]

Thanks for your post, Tommy! It's pretty amazing to come here time and again and I rarely see another detectorist. Makes me question if I should post the videos.

 

[OBN]

Thanks for your post, Tommy! It's pretty amazing to come here time and again and I rarely see another detectorist. Makes me question if I should post the videos.

Some real nice digs! July and August will go fast for you...And the good, no one else can hunt those parks either during those months...

I stopped posting video's, gave away one of my good spots. Someone hammered it this spring, so now I make all the video's unpublished, so I can share with a few friends only.

 

[McCDig]

Hi Chizzy, and thanks for your post!

In the field, I wrap any silver in a couple small leaves. Once home, I just run water over the silver. That does it for most silver, but for a badly stained piece that is obviously worn, and not a key date. I will used copper cleaner to break up the oxidation.

For IHPs, I'll simply toothpick the dirt off if the coin has a heavy, smooth green patina. If the patina is not there, or the coin has alot of adherent dirt, I'll put it through one round of heated hydrogen peroxide and then toothbrush off the dirt. When dry, I'll soak the coin in olive oil. If the peroxide treatment does not get enough of the dirt off, I'll rub the coin with baking soda, dry it and then the olive oil.

For nickels, I only scrape the surfaces with a tooth pick and then try to rub off most the remaining dirt with thumb.

 

[UnderMiner]

Great seated!

 

[McCDig]

Thanks for that comment, OBN! Looking forward to getting back there after a good soaking rain. Who knows what other treasures will be heard?

 

[Chizzy]

Hi Chizzy, and thanks for your post!

In the field, I wrap any silver in a couple small leaves. Once home, I just run water over the silver. That does it for most silver, but for a badly stained piece that is obviously worn, and not a key date. I will used copper cleaner to break up the oxidation.

For IHPs, I'll simply toothpick the dirt off if the coin has a heavy, smooth green patina. If the patina is not there, or the coin has alot of adherent dirt, I'll put it through one round of heated hydrogen peroxide and then toothbrush off the dirt. When dry, I'll soak the coin in olive oil. If the peroxide treatment does not get enough of the dirt off, I'll rub the coin with baking soda, dry it and then the olive oil.

For nickels, I only scrape the surfaces with a tooth pick and then try to rub off most the remaining dirt with thumb.

Thank you for that info, McCDig.
I use some of the same methods........just don't seem to get the same results. More practice..........now to find something for practice.........

 

[McCDig]

From one pirate to another, THANKS!

 

[ecmjamsit]

Carbon arc lamps used two carbon stick electrodes and a high voltage to power them. The carbon sticks were eaten away as they were consumed by the arc. The first mention of an arc lamp was 1802. The use of arc lamps in the US coincides with the date of the coins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_lamp

 

[against the wind]

You did great, congrats.

 

[McCDig]

Thanks ATW! I wonder about the odds of finding two CC-mint seated coins from a park in Baltimore, Maryland; especially when they are the only two seated coins I've found in that park. I did find some seated dimes at Patterson Park, and one of those was a CC.

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on the seated dime injun and V nic nice stuff

 

[Loco-Digger]

Awesome scores McCDig . Why do you stop detecting parks this time of year? Too dry? I'd at least hit it after a soaking rain. I am always amazed at the finds you pull from parks. Where you using the stock coil?

 

[WHADIFIND]

Yep, excellent finish.
But, I just GOTTA ask, what, in your mind, constitutes a "skunking". Just clad? Less?

Oh.....and why the "last" hunt? Is there a season now?

 

[Tommy G]

Fantastic! And two coins with CC mint marks! Congrats.

 

[Tuberale]

A post-work hunt takes an unforeseen turn...

I left work at 4PM and headed to the city for one last hunt at the park I've been hitting hard since leaving Patterson behind. Keep in mind that I've "pounded" this section and it has seen the coils of others too.

I had been detecting for almost two hours and just not a single good target had surfaced, only a marble and a small button, but many a square nail had been dug. I was starting to think that this may be my turn to be "skunked", as Loco-Digger put it recently in a post. I turned my attention to the area near an old oak tree where older silver, wheats and Indians had been taken. This was not a mistake. Got a strong signal and dug it despite thinking the strident tone meant shallow clad...not so...it was a 1906 V-nickel. Stayed in this area and dug a repeatable tone and at the bottom of the hole, about 7 inches down, there was a piece of cylindrical graphite. I've found this in every city park I've hunted and I think it may come from old batteries; these pieces always give a faint high-tone, easily mistaken for a good target. I re-checked the hole and found a strong signal directly beneath where the graphite lay. This turned out to be an 1875 IHP. I checked the hole again with the pinpointer and found no other signals. I then checked the plug, and there, sticking out ever so slightly, was a silver rim. I figured this had to be a seated dime, and, sure enough, that is exactly what it was, the date - 1876. I have found only one other seated coin in this park, the 1875 CC quarter from the end of April. When I cleaned the dime at home, I was shocked to see that the mint mark is also CC.

That's my last hunt in this park 'til September rolls around. Very happy with the way this part of the city detecting season ended for me today.
Thanks for checking out the pics.
Happy Hunting and best of luck to all!

View attachment 1331096

Great coins, McCDig! 2 CC coins during the same hunt!

I have one small gripe, though. I know that William H. Sheldon's work Penny Whimsy is about American cents. But they are IHC, not IHP. The work "penny" is not stamped on the reverse of a single IHC. I know I'm going to get flack on this but the facts remain.