sgoss66
Well-known member
I finally decided that to make sure I hit 50 by the end of the year and accomplish my goal, I might need to change things up a bit -- so, I decided to suck it up, be a man, and finally do some door knocking!! 
I located 2 homes in town built in 1900, side by side (thanks to a wise friend who recently introduced me to Sanborn maps! ) I then headed into town, gave myself a pep talk and got prepared for rejection, and then knocked on the door of the first house. Aaaaannnnnd.... no answer. CRAP!! Now, I had to do it AGAIN! (I'm pretty outgoing otherwise, not sure why door knocking is so difficult, but...) So anyway, I went over to the second house and rang the bell, and this time a man answered; after giving my short spiel, he said, "sure, go ahead...I'd try the back yard." While I REALLY wanted to hunt the front, I took his statement to mean that maybe he preferred I didn't hunt the front. So, I spent an hour or so in his back yard and found a few modern coins, but also noted a TON of iron in the ground. Tough hunting.
While hunting though, I saw the neighbor -- at the home I originally knocked at -- come outside. So, I walked over with my machine and asked if I could hunt a bit in his yard after I finished at the neighbor's place. He said "have at it!" So, with no "back yard only" restriction, I moved next door to try THIS house. I was being very selective on what targets I dug, since I didn't want to dig too many holes. I hit a 1-mil OK tax token along the walkway, and then just before leaving (I only had 45 minutes left to hunt the second house), I got a deeper signal that I thought was probably a wheat cent -- too low, I thought, to be silver. Turns out I was wrong! Only my third Barber coin, and my oldest silver so far (beating the 1904 Barber dime I found about two blocks north of this home, earlier this year). With my only coins pre-1900 being a few Indian heads, I'm ready for an 1800's silver now! C'mon, seated!
Four silvers to go!
Steve
I located 2 homes in town built in 1900, side by side (thanks to a wise friend who recently introduced me to Sanborn maps!
) I then headed into town, gave myself a pep talk and got prepared for rejection, and then knocked on the door of the first house. Aaaaannnnnd.... no answer. CRAP!! Now, I had to do it AGAIN! (I'm pretty outgoing otherwise, not sure why door knocking is so difficult, but...) So anyway, I went over to the second house and rang the bell, and this time a man answered; after giving my short spiel, he said, "sure, go ahead...I'd try the back yard." While I REALLY wanted to hunt the front, I took his statement to mean that maybe he preferred I didn't hunt the front. So, I spent an hour or so in his back yard and found a few modern coins, but also noted a TON of iron in the ground. Tough hunting. While hunting though, I saw the neighbor -- at the home I originally knocked at -- come outside. So, I walked over with my machine and asked if I could hunt a bit in his yard after I finished at the neighbor's place. He said "have at it!" So, with no "back yard only" restriction, I moved next door to try THIS house. I was being very selective on what targets I dug, since I didn't want to dig too many holes. I hit a 1-mil OK tax token along the walkway, and then just before leaving (I only had 45 minutes left to hunt the second house), I got a deeper signal that I thought was probably a wheat cent -- too low, I thought, to be silver. Turns out I was wrong! Only my third Barber coin, and my oldest silver so far (beating the 1904 Barber dime I found about two blocks north of this home, earlier this year). With my only coins pre-1900 being a few Indian heads, I'm ready for an 1800's silver now! C'mon, seated!
Four silvers to go!
Steve
The seated coins were probably in circulation for twenty or thirty years or more. If you're finding early Barbers, later seated should be there too and you will find one.