Searching for my ghost town

[John 'n' W.Va]

I washed and waxed the car. Cleaned up the parrot cage. My honey do list was done and I am out of here. I have been researching an old ghost town in the 1870 to 1920's. The main feature I was looking for was the old thatched roof church with the dirt floors on the corner of 2 roads. The roads teed together so I only had 2 corners to choose from. Let see is it the corner with the swamp or the one with the new home on it. Well that is a no brainer. I can't do the church, but I will try to find the community. I was in the area 5 weeks ago but I couldn't penetrate the palmettos scrubs. I found an area 20 by 30 feet all loose sand where cars pull over to get their mail. It is in the area of the community so I thought I would MD it. Of course lots of trash and modern coins. Then after I kick the beer can out of the way it hit solid nickel. Dug down 2" and it was a 1900 barber nickel. Made my day. Maybe I can find more, but it didn't happen. Not even a wheat! It was 91 degrees today, I am in a tank top and shorts, wet from sweat. The mosquito are about to eat me up. The fire ants have done a job on my feet. It will have to be another day.

 

[awhitster]

Nice find.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Nice find. I'm sure glad I don't have any of those critters to contend with.

Bill

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

There are advantages to living in Florida and disadvantages

All year MDing--------------------Summer Mid-90's- humidity 100%

Coins come out clean in ---------Watch where you dig your targets
sugar sand-----------------------Fire ants will sneak up on you

go to the beach MDing------------10 others MDing have beat you there

Lots of swimming areas-----------Lots of mosquitoes

Spanish treasure-----------------It will cost you a Spanish treasure - to live here

Good beach MDing ----------------After your roof got ripped off from - the hurricane

Good weather--------------------Lighting capital of the US

---------------------------------Highest crime rate in the US

---------------------------------By the time you get home from the - commute, no time to MD
OH WELL

 

[DavHut]

That IS one of the nice things about FL detecting - the soil is nearly pure sand and coins come from the ground in pretty good condition.

H. Glenn Carson used to say that the best detecting is right around the corner from where you live. It is the ONE place you can really get to know. I can show you where old houses, buildings, sanitariums, schools etc. stood, all within 5 miles of my house.

Look at it that way and your outlook changes considerably.

As for the "Liberty Nickel" you found. I found a few of them when I used to visit Orange Park, FL with my lunatic ex-wife. Officially known as a "Liberty Head Nickel," there is an interesting story surrounding the coins.

When they were first issued, the words 'cents' was left off of them, with only the Roman numeral five, or "V," denoting the denomination (the "V" is, of course, why most people call them just that, "V" nickels).

Well, it seems some enterprising types figured out how to electroplate them with gold and were pawning them off as five DOLLAR pieces. This was soon rectified by adding the word cents to the coin, but wouldnt you love to find one of those bogus fivers??

 

[Uncle Willy]

They used another trick also. I have a Liberty nickel with the number five stamped on the back of it via a metal stamp. Counterfeiting these as five dollar gold pieces was big business at one time. If one could only find a 1913 Liberty nickel. Think they are worth around $2 million at present. Only 5-6 are known to exist.

Bill

 

[DavHut]

...There is only one more of the five known 1913 "V" nickels that is unaccounted for, AFAIK.

Rumor has it that it was lost in a car wreck along the roadside in NC in the mid 60's. The dealer who had it then, had his car demolished in the accident and his "wares" were scattered along the road side.

So, somewhere on route XXX in NC, lies a multi-million dollar "V" Nickel...or so the story goes.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Have you detected that site? Another goodie is a 1943 copper penny. They are way up in the bucks.

Bill