FoxHound0985
Hero Member
- Feb 5, 2005
- 584
- 1,630
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett AT Max/AT Pro
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
Nearly 300 Year Old Spanish Silver! My Oldest Coin!
The weather was perfect today, so a buddy and I went to a local spot (Jeffersonville, Indiana) that we have hit a couple of times. There was a lot of Civil War activity in the area, so we were hoping to find some good relics. The first spot we went to was a complete skunk hunt
. Just some shredded cans and other modern junk were found after almost an hour. We decided to go to another spot that once had a 200+ year old house. After about two hours of hunting, I had only found a small piece of brass with a square nail through it and a ton of more modern junk. There was so much iron everywhere, and it was very difficult to distinguish good targets from bad. I decided to slow down and hunt the hillside behind where the house once stood. I got a nice signal in the high 80s that turned out to be a very interesting brass object. It has "W.S.L.C.A." around one side. Any ideas on this one? After digging a ton of junk iron, I went back to the top of the hill and got another nice signal that read 76 on the AT Pro. It turned out to be a nice, unfired, .58 caliber musket ball! I hunted the top of the hill for a short time when my hunting buddy Craig came up and sat down on a nearby log. At that time I got a really good signal that read in the 60s. I figured it was a pull tab or some other piece of junk. I dug it up and it ended up being a nice, early, lead filled rosette! I don't think I've ever found one before. Craig was about ready to go, but he told me to hunt as long as I wanted. I told him that I just wanted to finish one spot at the top of the hill. A few minutes later I got another good signal reading in the 70s that was a fired Civil War Minie Ball. It's really rough, but the rings are still barely visible. I was about ready to turn the machine off and head back to the car when I got a nice strong signal that read in the high 80s. I scraped the dead leaves and other debris to the side with my foot and rechecked the spot. The signal was gone! I searched the small pile of dirt and dead leaves, and sure enough, there it was. I picked up a small handful of dirt and swiped it over the coil and heard the sweet high tone. I figured it was probably a modern coin on top of the ground. I opened my hand and saw a small silver disc staring at me. I thought it was a silver dime, so I was starting to get pretty excited. I took a closer look and saw the "MO" mint mark. I knew I had just found a Spanish Half Reale!!
My heart was pounding and I called Craig over to take a look at what I found. He was just as surprised as I was. I gently pushed off a chunk of dirt and saw the date "1741" staring back at me!!! This is the oldest coin I have ever found!
I'm still in disbelief that I found a 276 year old coin in Southern Indiana. Anyway, we hit the area for another 20 minutes or so and then headed back home. I am definitely very excited about my last find of the day. I like to be optimistic in this hobby, but I don't think I'll find an older coin here in the US, lol! The last pic is Craig digging his last hole of the day. Enjoy the pics and HH!
PF
The weather was perfect today, so a buddy and I went to a local spot (Jeffersonville, Indiana) that we have hit a couple of times. There was a lot of Civil War activity in the area, so we were hoping to find some good relics. The first spot we went to was a complete skunk hunt
. Just some shredded cans and other modern junk were found after almost an hour. We decided to go to another spot that once had a 200+ year old house. After about two hours of hunting, I had only found a small piece of brass with a square nail through it and a ton of more modern junk. There was so much iron everywhere, and it was very difficult to distinguish good targets from bad. I decided to slow down and hunt the hillside behind where the house once stood. I got a nice signal in the high 80s that turned out to be a very interesting brass object. It has "W.S.L.C.A." around one side. Any ideas on this one? After digging a ton of junk iron, I went back to the top of the hill and got another nice signal that read 76 on the AT Pro. It turned out to be a nice, unfired, .58 caliber musket ball! I hunted the top of the hill for a short time when my hunting buddy Craig came up and sat down on a nearby log. At that time I got a really good signal that read in the 60s. I figured it was a pull tab or some other piece of junk. I dug it up and it ended up being a nice, early, lead filled rosette! I don't think I've ever found one before. Craig was about ready to go, but he told me to hunt as long as I wanted. I told him that I just wanted to finish one spot at the top of the hill. A few minutes later I got another good signal reading in the 70s that was a fired Civil War Minie Ball. It's really rough, but the rings are still barely visible. I was about ready to turn the machine off and head back to the car when I got a nice strong signal that read in the high 80s. I scraped the dead leaves and other debris to the side with my foot and rechecked the spot. The signal was gone! I searched the small pile of dirt and dead leaves, and sure enough, there it was. I picked up a small handful of dirt and swiped it over the coil and heard the sweet high tone. I figured it was probably a modern coin on top of the ground. I opened my hand and saw a small silver disc staring at me. I thought it was a silver dime, so I was starting to get pretty excited. I took a closer look and saw the "MO" mint mark. I knew I had just found a Spanish Half Reale!! My heart was pounding and I called Craig over to take a look at what I found. He was just as surprised as I was. I gently pushed off a chunk of dirt and saw the date "1741" staring back at me!!! This is the oldest coin I have ever found! I'm still in disbelief that I found a 276 year old coin in Southern Indiana. Anyway, we hit the area for another 20 minutes or so and then headed back home. I am definitely very excited about my last find of the day. I like to be optimistic in this hobby, but I don't think I'll find an older coin here in the US, lol! The last pic is Craig digging his last hole of the day. Enjoy the pics and HH!PF
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