I found my first large cent today. It's in pretty rough shape but it got the ol' ticker going when I found her.
I have access to old USGA maps online and noticed that there was a structure on an old dirt road not too far from my house. The property is now town property. I was able to get the approximate GPS coord. from Google Earth and took a bike ride over there today. The area had been bulldozed by the town but the surrounding trees and brush gave indications that there was once a house nearby. I started my search under a large fir tree and within one minute had a large 85-88 on the VDI. I dug down about 6 inches and uncovered a Mason jar lid. My heart really started thumping. I stuck my Propointer into the hole and it hummed away. Visions of a glass Mason jar full of old coins were dancing merrily through my mind.
I reached in the hole and pulled out a short piece of iron pipe. :angry: That was a disappointment but it did tell me that if the site was hunted, targets were missed.
In the next hour I found a lot of junk; no trash, just junk like chrome strips off of cars, light bulb ends, etc. I was about to call it a day when I found what looked to be the original driveway. I started down the edge of the driveway and found the large cent about 2 inches deep. It was among crushed stone and from the looks of it had been run over a few times.
The date has been obliterated but Wikipedia says that it's a Braided Hair large cent (1839-1857). Also according to Wikipedia, if it were an 1868, it would be very rare; only about 15 are known to exist. Don't those last 2 numbers on the date look like a 6 and 8?
HH, mac
I have access to old USGA maps online and noticed that there was a structure on an old dirt road not too far from my house. The property is now town property. I was able to get the approximate GPS coord. from Google Earth and took a bike ride over there today. The area had been bulldozed by the town but the surrounding trees and brush gave indications that there was once a house nearby. I started my search under a large fir tree and within one minute had a large 85-88 on the VDI. I dug down about 6 inches and uncovered a Mason jar lid. My heart really started thumping. I stuck my Propointer into the hole and it hummed away. Visions of a glass Mason jar full of old coins were dancing merrily through my mind.
I reached in the hole and pulled out a short piece of iron pipe. :angry: That was a disappointment but it did tell me that if the site was hunted, targets were missed.In the next hour I found a lot of junk; no trash, just junk like chrome strips off of cars, light bulb ends, etc. I was about to call it a day when I found what looked to be the original driveway. I started down the edge of the driveway and found the large cent about 2 inches deep. It was among crushed stone and from the looks of it had been run over a few times.
The date has been obliterated but Wikipedia says that it's a Braided Hair large cent (1839-1857). Also according to Wikipedia, if it were an 1868, it would be very rare; only about 15 are known to exist. Don't those last 2 numbers on the date look like a 6 and 8?
HH, mac
Wonderful find, pics and write up! That sure is a chunk of copper alright!
