A
Anonymous
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I was able to get out few times this past week.
Last Wednesday, I had the day off (but didn't tell my other half). I went out hunting while she thought I was at work <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> I hit a few places, dodged some rain, and only found one good coin, a '10 Wheat from a park I've been hitting the past two years. I've managed to pull two IH's from this park, and almost got a third, if that Wheat had been a year or two older! It just goes to show you that a spot ain't hunted out until it's clean!
Yesterday, again, I told my S/O a little white lie, and got three hours of hunting in while she thought I was at work. I almost did more driving than hunting, as I couldn't find a spot that was producing much. I ended up at a schoolyard that I worked over hard two years ago. Again, it's not completely clean, so I don't consider it hunted out. While I was hunting, I saw a perfect little 5" circle cut into the grass. I bent down and fingered it. Looks like someone used a "Hole Hog" or bulb-planter to dig a target. On impulse, I swept my coil over the plug, and sure enough, got a coin hit! I cut my own, bigger, plug around the first one. I ended up pulling out a '52D Wheat from under a root at 5", about an inch to the southeast of previous plug. Looks like someone either needs practice pinpointing, or, managed to recover one target, but didn't re-scan the hole for anything else! Hey, I'll take it!
Today, I headed off to the sled hill / zoo area at a local park that I've been working. I decided to start working the main sled run. In one area, I got an indicated Zinc Cent at 4". I haven't recovered any Zinc's at that depth, so I dug it up. I was hoping for an IH, but instead recovered a '16D Wheat. It had a little bit of green on it, but cleaned up sweet, like most pennies around here do.
A little while later, I got a Nickel hit at an indicated 5". It repeated in four directions, with occasional bounces to Iron, from the mineralization in the dirt. No Foil hits whatsoever. Normally, an Iron/Foil/Nickel bouncer 4" or deeper around here ends up being a Beavertail. I went ahead and dug this target. When I flipped the plug, the target was still in the hole. I started scooping out the loose dirt, when finally, one of them gave me the sweet high tone on my CZ when I scanned my hand. I started to split the dirt into two smaller portions, when I saw the target. Yup, it's a nickel, all right! I couldn't make out any features, so I started brushing it off. Here's what I saw:
<center> <img src=http://img170.echo.cx/img170/7599/20050516buff5lf.jpg> </center> <p>
Of course, I couldn't really see the date, and thought I had seen a "3", for a 193? Buff. But, I'll take this one! This one's pitted pretty badly. It even had some green verdigis on it when I dug it. I guess the copper was starting to leach out. I've found that on a '41 Jefferson nickel that I found at the same site. There's lots of pines in the area, so I wonder if the sap and/or pine pitch has anything to do with it?
A little while later, I got a solid Nickel hit from an indicated 4". I cut a plug, checked, target's in the plug. As I was gently scraping dirt from the plug, I suddenly saw the beautiful gleam of silver against the dirt! I instantly knew what I had. My first War Nickel this year! Here's the pic:
<center> <img src=http://img170.echo.cx/img170/4513/20050516warnick3fy.jpg> </center> <p>
Again, this one's got some gunk on it. It looks like dirt that's been bonded to the surface by some corrosion. I didn't want to take a brass-bristled brush to it, as that would really scratch it up. As it is, I made the mistake of taking my nylon-bristled field brush to it, as you can see the scratches from that. Again, I'm thinking the pines in the area might have something to do with it? Also, this is a '43P War Nickel. It seems like the past couple of years, that's the only date/mint War Nickel I can find. I also seem to find a bunch of '43 Merc's. Go figure?
Note: the picture(s) might not show up due to bandwidth limitations. If the picture(s) are not there, check back at a later time.
HH from Allen in MI
Last Wednesday, I had the day off (but didn't tell my other half). I went out hunting while she thought I was at work <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> I hit a few places, dodged some rain, and only found one good coin, a '10 Wheat from a park I've been hitting the past two years. I've managed to pull two IH's from this park, and almost got a third, if that Wheat had been a year or two older! It just goes to show you that a spot ain't hunted out until it's clean!Yesterday, again, I told my S/O a little white lie, and got three hours of hunting in while she thought I was at work. I almost did more driving than hunting, as I couldn't find a spot that was producing much. I ended up at a schoolyard that I worked over hard two years ago. Again, it's not completely clean, so I don't consider it hunted out. While I was hunting, I saw a perfect little 5" circle cut into the grass. I bent down and fingered it. Looks like someone used a "Hole Hog" or bulb-planter to dig a target. On impulse, I swept my coil over the plug, and sure enough, got a coin hit! I cut my own, bigger, plug around the first one. I ended up pulling out a '52D Wheat from under a root at 5", about an inch to the southeast of previous plug. Looks like someone either needs practice pinpointing, or, managed to recover one target, but didn't re-scan the hole for anything else! Hey, I'll take it!
Today, I headed off to the sled hill / zoo area at a local park that I've been working. I decided to start working the main sled run. In one area, I got an indicated Zinc Cent at 4". I haven't recovered any Zinc's at that depth, so I dug it up. I was hoping for an IH, but instead recovered a '16D Wheat. It had a little bit of green on it, but cleaned up sweet, like most pennies around here do.
A little while later, I got a Nickel hit at an indicated 5". It repeated in four directions, with occasional bounces to Iron, from the mineralization in the dirt. No Foil hits whatsoever. Normally, an Iron/Foil/Nickel bouncer 4" or deeper around here ends up being a Beavertail. I went ahead and dug this target. When I flipped the plug, the target was still in the hole. I started scooping out the loose dirt, when finally, one of them gave me the sweet high tone on my CZ when I scanned my hand. I started to split the dirt into two smaller portions, when I saw the target. Yup, it's a nickel, all right! I couldn't make out any features, so I started brushing it off. Here's what I saw:
<center> <img src=http://img170.echo.cx/img170/7599/20050516buff5lf.jpg> </center> <p>
Of course, I couldn't really see the date, and thought I had seen a "3", for a 193? Buff. But, I'll take this one! This one's pitted pretty badly. It even had some green verdigis on it when I dug it. I guess the copper was starting to leach out. I've found that on a '41 Jefferson nickel that I found at the same site. There's lots of pines in the area, so I wonder if the sap and/or pine pitch has anything to do with it?
A little while later, I got a solid Nickel hit from an indicated 4". I cut a plug, checked, target's in the plug. As I was gently scraping dirt from the plug, I suddenly saw the beautiful gleam of silver against the dirt! I instantly knew what I had. My first War Nickel this year! Here's the pic:
<center> <img src=http://img170.echo.cx/img170/4513/20050516warnick3fy.jpg> </center> <p>
Again, this one's got some gunk on it. It looks like dirt that's been bonded to the surface by some corrosion. I didn't want to take a brass-bristled brush to it, as that would really scratch it up. As it is, I made the mistake of taking my nylon-bristled field brush to it, as you can see the scratches from that. Again, I'm thinking the pines in the area might have something to do with it? Also, this is a '43P War Nickel. It seems like the past couple of years, that's the only date/mint War Nickel I can find. I also seem to find a bunch of '43 Merc's. Go figure?
Note: the picture(s) might not show up due to bandwidth limitations. If the picture(s) are not there, check back at a later time.
HH from Allen in MI