I'm doing the happy dance!

[FooserPaul]

Hello ALL!

My pastor has wanted to Metal Detect since he was young he told me recently. Additionally he has asked for a metal detector for Christmas for a long time now... Being as I got a new 70... I suggested we go out as I have two complete set-ups (the other being the Bounty Hunter LandStar)...

So we meet at 9am... went down to a public area by the beach and only found a Wheety and a 1999 nickel... I suggested we go up to an older school and he said OK. His hard stop time was 1pm... With-in 5 minutes he had a quarter.. and was happy... He ended his 1st hunt with that quarter, a dime and a penny!

I was walking along side the asphalt that connected the school and the tot lot he was working... its was 10 till 1... I was hoping for one last good dig... I had dig a quarter, 2 nickels... 7 pennies and 1 wheety thus far... on the side of the asphalt I got a 44 showing 8-10 inches down... I've dug a few beer cans this way... what the heck I said... I dug and scanned... 8+ inches and nothing... Run the 70 over it and it looks like I missed the mark by 3/4"... I wan my 570 probe up that side and 5 1/2" down I felt vibration... flicked a small piece of dirt and I could read the words.... half dollar... I pulled it out.... happy dance... this is only my 2nd silver and first decent find with my 10 day old 70!

1934 - S

[attachment 92030 1934SWalkingLibertyFront.jpg]
[attachment 92031 1934SWalkingLibertyBack.jpg]

Paul

 

[I a thr]

Real nice half, very good condition. Congratulations!!!

 

[Beale]

Well a big congrats to you!! Heck that is a fantastic find for anybody! Good job, Beale.

 

[Digger]

n/t

 

[silvernail]

It was the middle of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years. Most workers made between $1,000 and $2,000 a year, but a lot of them made a lot less and a lot of them didn't have jobs at all. In some areas, half a buck was pretty important money. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were in the banking business for a while but got shot in May. Prohibition was in effect. John Dillinger became prosperous from that but was shot in July. The Federal Firearms Act of 1934 made it illegal for commoners to own machine guns. The murder rate has been increasing ever since. Adolph Hitler was politicking and murdering opponents as it seemed necessary, and was democratically elected to full power on August 19th. I was born about a week later, but disavow any significant responsibility for most of the world's problems thereafter. The 1934 Congressional Elections gave President Franklin Roosevelt a strong majority in both houses and boosted the New Deal programs significantly.

Funny what detecting finds can make you think of.

 

[Olderndirt]

Great find. It's been many years since I've found a silver half. But I'm still looking. 1934 was the year I was born also. Silvernail....Good to hear there are others my age out there hunting too.

 

[FooserPaul]

Thank you all for the warm compliments... and Silvernail thank you for the info... Yeah I sat there and pondered the story behind that half... THat school was built in 1909 and expanded a few times... Was it a youngster, teacher, or a worker to the many upgrades to the site and building that dropped that half?? One can only imagine

I love this hobby!
Paul

 

[Grant]

One of my personal favirite coins alon wiht the Mercury it just looks good! I recently got my first 1943 wallking liberty. Congrts and good job stiking with your gut you could have easily walked away! Grant

 

[utmike]

n/t

 

[Hart-IN]

Congrats on a great find. I would have had to change my shorts.

 

[MDMac]

Silvernail, another significant bit of trivia from 1934. The United States issued the first ever, "Migratory Bird Stamp" to help raise money to save US Wetlands. It has been a very successful program in saving US Wetlands.

Great find on that half dollar, looks in great shape.

 

[silvernail]

but "'Ding" Darling, the political cartoonist and and great wetlands advocate popped into my head. That first stamp is worth a couple of bucks now. I also discovered that Glacier National Park opened the day I was born. Well, you can take any year and discover fun stuff like that. I googled up "automobiles 1934" just to see what they looked like. I'd take a Ford - any of them, but you'd have to be in better shape than my family was to buy one. They cost five or six hundred bucks then. Olderndirt, I hope you are a bigger menace to the reserve supply of Old Stuff than I am but I get the XT70 out for short trips once in a while. The last one:

 

[parrott]

Yep... reading this post carried me back to 1934... this was the year that
the WW-1 veterans finally got their long sought "bonus." It was to make
up for the money lost by serving in the military during WW-1. My dad
got $400 as his share...It was good that the government sent a bonus
check to all of the WW-1 veterans below the rank of captain. The bonus
money gave a needed "lift" as it put more money in circulation. My dad
and my grandmother pooled their money and bought two small houses.
No sewer service... outhouse... no hot water faucet... Heated water
on the wood stove... But our family now had a home that was ours...

 

[FooserPaul]

Parrot... fond memmories for sure... and a great story to tell us... Thank you for sharing a little of your life as it relates to this year half dollar

Respectfully,
Paul

 

[JBM]

Nice coin well found.

It was a good year for me as that was when I arrived on the planet Earth for my 3 score years and 10.

At the moment Iam on bonus year 3 coming up to four.Jerry.