Mason Jarr
New member
The good thing about being new to metal detecting is that there's a lot of first finds, but I'm running through the list fairly fast. At the beginning of the year I set myself a goal to find a buffalo nickel. It's one of my favorite coins and I thought I'd have decent odds of finding one. Well, I've found several other types of coins, but the BN just couldn't be found....until today. Here's the story:
Last weekend I lucked onto an old farmhouse that gave up 8 pieces of silver and some Wheaties. The guy who lived on the place is super nice and we've become friends. He offered to show me some other old home places he knows of so I called him last night and asked if I could come back out there. He was happy to accomodate me. I got there early this morning and we drove around so he could show me the other places. I made some notes as he told the history of this place and that place and loaded the sites into my GPS. He had an appointment to get to, so after a couple of hours I took him back to his house. While driving, I asked him if it would be OK to check his yard again and he said, sure. The first time there I'd worked a grid going East to West and my mentor suggested I go back and work it again going South to North. Good thing I listened to him. About 5 steps into my first gridline, I picked up another Wheatie. Then another Merc. Another Wheatie. Finally, I got to a signal that stumped me. It was showing as a 10-41, but sounded like a good silver hit. Most of the Mercs and Rosies I'd found on this place were coming in at either 12-43 or 11-44. I didn't know what this 10-41 might be, but I knew I was going to dig it. I cut the plug and rolled it out. My X-1 probe told me the target was in the plug. I narrowed it down with the ProPointer and then broke open the plug with my hands. There shines another Merc. I put it in my pill bottle and pondered why this particular one was showing a 10-41 and all the others had been different. I stood and ran the E-trac over the hole and plug and then got a strong 12-13. I looked under the coil and laying on the ground was a red coin. I knew it was going to be a nickel and was hoping it'd be a Buffalo and sure enough it was. The Merc in that hole was a 1917 and the Buffalo is a 1916. They must have been so close in the plug that when I opened it to get the dime the nickel fell out on the ground. That explains the different signal. Earlier, when I was still learning my E-trac and was going as much by the numbers as the tones, I might not have dug those numbers. Most of the -41 signals I've dug have been some type of trash. I definitely learned today to dig all good sounding signals.
So here's the final take for the day. This yard has given me 11 pieces of silver, several Wheaties, and, now, a Buffalo Nickel. A field of dreams for sure.
I'll get these cleaned up and get some better pics in a while.
Last weekend I lucked onto an old farmhouse that gave up 8 pieces of silver and some Wheaties. The guy who lived on the place is super nice and we've become friends. He offered to show me some other old home places he knows of so I called him last night and asked if I could come back out there. He was happy to accomodate me. I got there early this morning and we drove around so he could show me the other places. I made some notes as he told the history of this place and that place and loaded the sites into my GPS. He had an appointment to get to, so after a couple of hours I took him back to his house. While driving, I asked him if it would be OK to check his yard again and he said, sure. The first time there I'd worked a grid going East to West and my mentor suggested I go back and work it again going South to North. Good thing I listened to him. About 5 steps into my first gridline, I picked up another Wheatie. Then another Merc. Another Wheatie. Finally, I got to a signal that stumped me. It was showing as a 10-41, but sounded like a good silver hit. Most of the Mercs and Rosies I'd found on this place were coming in at either 12-43 or 11-44. I didn't know what this 10-41 might be, but I knew I was going to dig it. I cut the plug and rolled it out. My X-1 probe told me the target was in the plug. I narrowed it down with the ProPointer and then broke open the plug with my hands. There shines another Merc. I put it in my pill bottle and pondered why this particular one was showing a 10-41 and all the others had been different. I stood and ran the E-trac over the hole and plug and then got a strong 12-13. I looked under the coil and laying on the ground was a red coin. I knew it was going to be a nickel and was hoping it'd be a Buffalo and sure enough it was. The Merc in that hole was a 1917 and the Buffalo is a 1916. They must have been so close in the plug that when I opened it to get the dime the nickel fell out on the ground. That explains the different signal. Earlier, when I was still learning my E-trac and was going as much by the numbers as the tones, I might not have dug those numbers. Most of the -41 signals I've dug have been some type of trash. I definitely learned today to dig all good sounding signals.
So here's the final take for the day. This yard has given me 11 pieces of silver, several Wheaties, and, now, a Buffalo Nickel. A field of dreams for sure.
I'll get these cleaned up and get some better pics in a while.
