41 cents.....

[Digger]

As I've mentioned several times, most of the sites I hunt are "occupied" by corn and soy beans throughout the growing season. So when the crops start coming out of the fields, I'm geared up and ready to hunt. Today, my brother and I found the corn in one of our "old reliables" to have already been picked. We've been hunting this site (off and on) for over 20 years and found LOTS of nice old coins. Although it is frustrating to know that you never get it all, it is nice to have a place where we can usually find a few more oldies! Anyway, we spent several hours wandering around the corn stubble this afternoon. Tough walking, but I did manage to recover a few decent coins. X-70, 6-inch DD at 18.75 kHz, 4-tones, All Metal, GB=58, Sensitivity=28. The V nickel was a solid 10 - 12. The IH cent was a strong 32. The Merc locked on a solid 38. The Barber quarter surprised me with a TID of 44 - 46. I was hoping for a half!!! I'm not sure why it read higher than "usual". But at 8-inches deep, I suspect the higher reading was due to the higher freq. coil. HH Randy

 

[Elton]

Thats a nice hand full of coins!!!!!!!!!! Very nice...

 

[I a thr]

NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH, ZERO, :sad: SKUNKED, But I had a good time. My turn next time. I'll have an X70 next time maybe that will help.
Good to get out!!
Bill

 

[B.T]

Nice finds Digger. They look in pretty good nick too! Unfortunately most coins I find on the goldifelds have suffered a bit from the elements, minerals and rough gravels. Must be nice to find them still distinguishable instead of our often just copper, silver facless discs.

 

[MXTerer]

I think I need to start calling you "Mr. Lucky"! Those are good finds. Was that coil the one you just received?

 

[MXTerer]

You sound like me! Next time.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Very nice finds, congrats! Sounds a bit like my post, LOL. HH, Mike

 

[Beale]

Great finds! I would love to find a field like that. Congrats on the hunt, Beale.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Nice finds Randy! Did the coins from known hot spots in the field? How about iron? Did the little DD pick them out of the iron or were the finds due to getting in closer to the rows?
Details please!

Tom

 

[Neil]

n/t

 

[Digger]

call me Mr. Lucky! You know that is a jinx! The 6-inch DD coil I used yesterday is the one I had during the Field Test procedures. I chose to use it due to size and not necessarily the DD design. It was simply the best coil choice for the amount of corn stalks still remaining in the field. HH Randy

 

[Digger]

Both my brother and I spend lots of time at the local historical museums, studying old maps and reading through old newspapers. After reading an article that mentions a picnic ground, fairgrounds or an early homestead, finding the plot of ground where it was located is just the beginning! After we

 

[Elton]

Now that was some helpful information
Thank you !! Puts a lot of things in perspective too.

 

[Digger]

There really isn't any "hot spots" in the field today. I imagine if we were to have been able to have hunted it back 80 years ago, we could have found some. But 75 years of plowing, disking and planting have pretty much scattered the coins. In fact, a certain percentage of them have "battle scars" to prove it! If you look at the Barber quarter, you will see a couple scratches on it, caused by farm equipment. We have been fortunate to have found some very old photographs of what this area looked like when it had the race track, grandstands, swimming hole etc. And, we have been able to correlate those old photographs into modern photographs we have taken of this area. By doing so, we are better able to determine the approximate locations of where specific activities took place. During the past 20 years, we have taken a majority of the coins from one hillside where picnics and gatherings were held. The four coins I found yesterday were all found at the other end of the "field", near where we envision the ballfield to have been. And they were all found within an area approximately 150 yards long and 50 yards wide. Not really a "hot spot" per se. It was simply an area that I had not spent a lot of time hunting in the past. I hooked up the 6-inch coil due to the broken corn stalks laying across the rows. A wind storm recently has made picking the corn to be quite a challenge. Not to mention walking up and down the rows.

There is one spot near where the grandstands use to be that drives us nuts with iron and trash. Yesterday, I spent about 20 minutes in that area, with the small DD coil. I had to turn the sensitivity down to 18 to keep it from picking up multiple adjacent targets. (like Jerry suggested a week or so ago). Although I didn't pull any coins there yesterday, I have high hopes that there is an old gold coin just waiting for my next trip!!!

By the way Tom, I don't know if you saw my brothers response to my initial post or not. In case you saw it, I wanted to let you know he thought he expected to have the "Edge" on me yesterday. Guess he was wrong! HH Randy

 

[Digger]

This field has been hunted by my brother and I for many years. Like I said, it is frustrating to know that you are not getting them all! But on the other hand, it is nice to know you might find something each time you go back. I suppose that is one of the nice things about finding remote hunting sites in rural America. Chances are we are the only two people to hunt it! So not finding them all at one time shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing! It should be thought of as "leaving some for seed"! HH Randy

 

[RonNH]

n/t

 

[Jackpine Savage]

pick on Bill but, hey you know how it can go with a new machine. So I decided to cut him some slack..but only this once!

Thanks for the reply and congrats again on the finds!

​

Tom

 

[Elton]

I have one area that is now planted fields.used to be a one room school house.
I am going to move out my hunting area when he harvests.I never really thought of looking farther down the field till your post.
It's about 4 acres and all I hunted was where old bricks showed up.. Thanks for the tips on how to hunt a field.

 

[Digger]

Depending on the age of the school house, and how near it is to an adjoining community, you may find more there than you anticipate. We are "blessed" with an abundance of old country schools. Something like 130 of them in this county alone. Many of them dated back to the mid 1850's. But they were all abandoned (and sold) around the 1960's. Some were not only used for educating the kids. But were also used as Polling places, "grange" meetings, summer picnics, band concerts, ball games, etc. If yours dates back to the "pre-automobile" days, look for the entryway into the school and imagine where the horses may have been tied up. Usually somewhere near the well. They might have been tied up at a rail beside the school house entrance, or out along the roadside. Look around the well area as water had to be carried into the school everyday. Look for a flat spot as that is likely where the ball games and "recess" activities were held. If the area is hilly, look around the hill slopes as kids may have lost a few coins while rolling around. If there are old tree stumps, look around them as kids have always felt the need to climb trees. And speaking of trees, that is likely where the picnics were held. If you can find a grove of old stumps, look under where the trees once stood. Pay particular attention to the area that would have been shaded in the afternoon and early evenings.

Well, I've rambled on long enough. Just keep the coil to the soil and never think an area is totally hunted out. HH Randy

 

[I a thr]

That's OK Tom you could have given me some crap. I obviously didn't have the Edge for making find yesterday. I have been to this spot many many times and don't recall being skunked more than one other time. If I remember correctly somebody else may have been skunked here before not positive. As far as the new machine goes I could have taken a backup but chose to dedicate my self to learning the new machine. I guess from now on I will take a second machine just to avoid the Skunking. Randy is right when he said there is no longer a hot spot. But I think the future we'll probably be searching areas that we have not hit that much. I did find my only silver 3 center at this spot. Randy has pulled several seated quarters here also. We both have dug gobs of barber and seated dimes. Shield and V nickels, and IH's here. It's just a little disheartening to not find any coins in the several hours of searching as you tend to expect to continue to find more oldies. Guess I am spoiled! HA!
HH
Bill