silverfreak
Silver Member
- Aug 9, 2007
- 4,062
- 1,077
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Explorers and E-Trac
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
YOU'D BE WORN OUT AND UGLY TOO IF YOU HAD BEEN STANDING STRAIGHT UP FOR 156 YEARS.
After spending the day yesterday hunting with my buddy Darrel; I was able to squeaze in a 2 hour hunt today with Dave-IL at our field site that we were told had been hunted out a couple of years ago when we were granted permission to hunt it.
It has been a lot of fun over the last 2 hunting seasons ...and even at it's peak of giving up finds...it was no different than it is now.
Some days we'd dig a keeper after a few hours...and other days we wouldn't.
Dave just got a sweet Barber dime here last week and I got nothing...but I got the enjoyment of seeing the look on his face as he pulled it from the dark soil....and I was thrilled for him.
I got only one signal to investigate today...and it was a strange one...but I was pretty sure it had a nice shot at being silver.
It was a nice, high warble but it would only hit from two of four angles even though there was no nulling.
It also had an additional "blip" sound to it as the coil passed over it from each of the two angles.
At this point I was honestly thinking it had a good shot at being deep silver on edge.
I called Dave over and let him listen to it...and after he had a chance to run his coil over it a few times and examine the sound...I excitedely started to dig a big plug with the help of Hercules who started hammering the soil as well
I dug down a solid 8" then ran the probe...and got nothing??
...on what I was fairly confident was a silver hit.
I ran the coil over the hole again and it still sang "silver" from the same two angles...so I widened the hole quite a bit...and deepened it somewhat.
I then ran the probe again...and this time I got a faint warble from the bottom back part of the hole...so I widened the hole by another 4"...then began to carefully dig down with my fingers.
From at least 7" away from where it pinpointed...and where I centered the hole...I saw a dark disc clinging to the bottom edge of the hole and it was standing absolutely straight on edge from a measured 10".
That explained why it only hit from 2 angles as well as sounding off with the extra "blip" as the coil passed over it.
I then stuck the lesche a couple of inches behind it and plucked it out still attached to the clod as you see.
I honestly couldn't tell what it was because it was dark grayish/black like many of the silver coins are out here....but could tell it was ancient...and both Dave and I could tell it was silver.
At this point we were both excited at the possibilites of it being a seated...so we started checking it out from the sides...and it was as thin as thin gets on a silver coin.
I remember mumbling..."it's probably a stinkin', worn old Barber".
Sincerely...how crazy to say something like that which sounds so unappreciative of finding a silver coin...and I truthfully did not mean it in that sense.
My point is that it just goes to show the amazing thrills this old field has provides us...when a person could actually even consider being disappointed to find a Barber dime instead of something else.
I then popped it off the clod and we started looking at it closer.
I had to rub it a little bit to even see anything on it...and then could barely make out what looked to be a wreath...so we knew we were looking at the reverse.
We then flipped it over and could see absolutely no details to know whether or not it was a Barber or a seated coin...so I started rubbin' it a little more...until some scant little line started to show up.
I did not have my glasses on but I thought I saw the neck line of a Barber coin...so I rubbed a little more.
It was then that I finally realized I had a seated coin...and could tell it was an older one.
At this point Dave was just as excited as I was...and Phil, Darrel, and Brad are the same way. We don't care who finds it...we are thrilled for each other.
We then had some fun trying to see what date the seated was...so we worked on it a little bit at a time.
We finally were able to make out the date of 1856...one of the oldest coins yet from this site!
It was just very special to be able to share the experience with a buddy there from start to finish...from the point of listening to the undug target...to helping me see what the date was after we dug it up.
I know...quite a long and "windy" post for a coin that's so worn it probably isn't worth $5...but the thrills it gave us digging it, examining it, and messing with it for almost 15 minutes before we could finally make out a date...was priceless.
Another day in this hobby that will give me memories I'll never forget...AND gave Herky a few muddy paws to be cleaned before he jumped in the car to head home. He also carries the "proof" on his nose and mouth of helping us dig the hole.
After spending the day yesterday hunting with my buddy Darrel; I was able to squeaze in a 2 hour hunt today with Dave-IL at our field site that we were told had been hunted out a couple of years ago when we were granted permission to hunt it.
It has been a lot of fun over the last 2 hunting seasons ...and even at it's peak of giving up finds...it was no different than it is now.
Some days we'd dig a keeper after a few hours...and other days we wouldn't.
Dave just got a sweet Barber dime here last week and I got nothing...but I got the enjoyment of seeing the look on his face as he pulled it from the dark soil....and I was thrilled for him.
I got only one signal to investigate today...and it was a strange one...but I was pretty sure it had a nice shot at being silver.
It was a nice, high warble but it would only hit from two of four angles even though there was no nulling.
It also had an additional "blip" sound to it as the coil passed over it from each of the two angles.
At this point I was honestly thinking it had a good shot at being deep silver on edge.
I called Dave over and let him listen to it...and after he had a chance to run his coil over it a few times and examine the sound...I excitedely started to dig a big plug with the help of Hercules who started hammering the soil as well
I dug down a solid 8" then ran the probe...and got nothing??
...on what I was fairly confident was a silver hit.I ran the coil over the hole again and it still sang "silver" from the same two angles...so I widened the hole quite a bit...and deepened it somewhat.
I then ran the probe again...and this time I got a faint warble from the bottom back part of the hole...so I widened the hole by another 4"...then began to carefully dig down with my fingers.
From at least 7" away from where it pinpointed...and where I centered the hole...I saw a dark disc clinging to the bottom edge of the hole and it was standing absolutely straight on edge from a measured 10".
That explained why it only hit from 2 angles as well as sounding off with the extra "blip" as the coil passed over it.
I then stuck the lesche a couple of inches behind it and plucked it out still attached to the clod as you see.
I honestly couldn't tell what it was because it was dark grayish/black like many of the silver coins are out here....but could tell it was ancient...and both Dave and I could tell it was silver.
At this point we were both excited at the possibilites of it being a seated...so we started checking it out from the sides...and it was as thin as thin gets on a silver coin.
I remember mumbling..."it's probably a stinkin', worn old Barber".
Sincerely...how crazy to say something like that which sounds so unappreciative of finding a silver coin...and I truthfully did not mean it in that sense.
My point is that it just goes to show the amazing thrills this old field has provides us...when a person could actually even consider being disappointed to find a Barber dime instead of something else.
I then popped it off the clod and we started looking at it closer.
I had to rub it a little bit to even see anything on it...and then could barely make out what looked to be a wreath...so we knew we were looking at the reverse.
We then flipped it over and could see absolutely no details to know whether or not it was a Barber or a seated coin...so I started rubbin' it a little more...until some scant little line started to show up.
I did not have my glasses on but I thought I saw the neck line of a Barber coin...so I rubbed a little more.
It was then that I finally realized I had a seated coin...and could tell it was an older one.
At this point Dave was just as excited as I was...and Phil, Darrel, and Brad are the same way. We don't care who finds it...we are thrilled for each other.
We then had some fun trying to see what date the seated was...so we worked on it a little bit at a time.
We finally were able to make out the date of 1856...one of the oldest coins yet from this site!
It was just very special to be able to share the experience with a buddy there from start to finish...from the point of listening to the undug target...to helping me see what the date was after we dug it up.
I know...quite a long and "windy" post for a coin that's so worn it probably isn't worth $5...but the thrills it gave us digging it, examining it, and messing with it for almost 15 minutes before we could finally make out a date...was priceless.
Another day in this hobby that will give me memories I'll never forget...AND gave Herky a few muddy paws to be cleaned before he jumped in the car to head home. He also carries the "proof" on his nose and mouth of helping us dig the hole.
Upvote
11
Great story and pics, thanks for spinning such a good treasure story. WTG Hercules. 
