Decided to get out today and start the New Year, even though it was in the mid 30's, and drove to my local park. I wanted to work an area that I didn't have any luck in during the summer months, but a fellow hunter (Gary) had found some V nickels right near a gravel path that once contained an old building in the 1800's. Fifteen minutes in I dug a crusty looking Buffalo nickel, and as I'm filling my plug back in, I look up to see two older guys headed my way both holding MDs. I immediately recognize one of the guys that I've hunted with before. Thanks to him I found 33 Barber dimes in an area he pointed me towards, so I always like when he shows up. I didn't know the other guy, but immediately see he's holding a CTX. I asked him how he liked it, and he was very new to the machine, so I told him about this forum. Hopefully he shows-up to get some info on using it better. Anyway, the guy I know holds out his hand and says "I was working that hill you were hunting before..." and in his hand is a giant old gold ring. Oh man, what a lucky SOB! The two of them head off in one direction, and being persistent, I decide to continue to hunt the area I'm in. What a terrible start. Memorial after Memorial, and a lot of trash. It must've been two hours before the two other MDers came back by to say goodbye, and the new CTX owner was holding a nice silver ring in his hand. Great. Both of them score rings, and I'm holding pennies and a burnt Buf. I started hunting sporadically at this point, changing directions every few swings. I was just frustrated. Then I hit a solid 12-14 at 3-4". OK, lets see what this one is. Out pops a 1942 War nickel in great shape. OK, silver! yay! It's a good start right?
Another hour passed and just junk, until I got a solid 12-11" at 5" next to a large root system. It took awhile to chop through the roots to get to it, but I was pretty sure it was a V nickel. Confirmed that it was indeed a nice 1904 V later once I cleaned it. Not too shabby. A Buf, a V, some clad nickels. Nickel trifecta! Now I'm numb and it's dark, so time to go. Making a B line straight for the car I was wildly swinging the CTX as always, and hit a loud signal at 8". Looked and sounded like a Quarter. 12-47, 12-46, and since it was at 8" that was a great sign that it could be silver. With frozen fingers crossed, and no daylight left to see, I dug by the glow of a nearby street-light in hopes I would see some large silver for the first of the year, but it wasn't to be. Nope, no silver, but holy cow, I saw a large copper pop out of the hole and knew right away that this could be a Large Cent. This is the same field that I found my half reale in the beginning of the year, and the older hunter I mentioned early had also found a few Reales here. Unfortunately it wasn't a really old copper. Turned out to be an 1839 Large Cent in bad condition. As you can see in the pictures the cleaning removed the date, and most of the decent detail that was there with the dirt and mud, but that's OK. I know what it is, and recorded it before cleaning. Can't be upset about it. Definitely a great start to 2013. Adding the two silver dimes I found on the 30th, I'm at 3 silvers on the new year since I closed my tally a few weeks ago early. A Merc, a Rosie, a War nickel, a V nickel, a Buffalo nickel, and a Large Cent to get off to a good start. Here's to a great New Years for all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mi-jTtn_mA
Another hour passed and just junk, until I got a solid 12-11" at 5" next to a large root system. It took awhile to chop through the roots to get to it, but I was pretty sure it was a V nickel. Confirmed that it was indeed a nice 1904 V later once I cleaned it. Not too shabby. A Buf, a V, some clad nickels. Nickel trifecta! Now I'm numb and it's dark, so time to go. Making a B line straight for the car I was wildly swinging the CTX as always, and hit a loud signal at 8". Looked and sounded like a Quarter. 12-47, 12-46, and since it was at 8" that was a great sign that it could be silver. With frozen fingers crossed, and no daylight left to see, I dug by the glow of a nearby street-light in hopes I would see some large silver for the first of the year, but it wasn't to be. Nope, no silver, but holy cow, I saw a large copper pop out of the hole and knew right away that this could be a Large Cent. This is the same field that I found my half reale in the beginning of the year, and the older hunter I mentioned early had also found a few Reales here. Unfortunately it wasn't a really old copper. Turned out to be an 1839 Large Cent in bad condition. As you can see in the pictures the cleaning removed the date, and most of the decent detail that was there with the dirt and mud, but that's OK. I know what it is, and recorded it before cleaning. Can't be upset about it. Definitely a great start to 2013. Adding the two silver dimes I found on the 30th, I'm at 3 silvers on the new year since I closed my tally a few weeks ago early. A Merc, a Rosie, a War nickel, a V nickel, a Buffalo nickel, and a Large Cent to get off to a good start. Here's to a great New Years for all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mi-jTtn_mA