Bell-Two
Active member
As the field season winds down here in Ohio you feel a bit of anxiety to get out and make that one more good find before the fields are closed out. Friday Diane and I went out to hit a couple of sites that we just got access to and perhaps try again at a site that has been good to us before. As we drove out to the sites we could see the farmers hard at work and could see some of the fields the tip tops of the corn shoots emerging so it could be possible that this may be our last field of the season. The first site was a mid 1800’s site and we found it rather easily but our anticipation was tempered by the massive amount of modern trash that infested this spot. You could not swing the coil without multiple hits that turned out to be pull tabs, bits of aluminum tubing or cans. How these spots get so infected seems a mystery to me. We moved to another spot that looked more promising because it was located a distance out in a field this site was dated a bit later than the first. Again so much modern trash perhaps this is what I call a “Party House”, so many of these old houses in their last moments were rented out and seemed to be used as such, lots of cans and pull tabs and junk. I did find a 1953-D Wheat Cent which later on becomes an integral part of making for a good day.
We moved on to our last stop of the day a field site that was closed to ¾ of a mile away from the road and where we had not found any modern trash in the past. I was thinking as we approached the site that it had been two months since I had gotten a Large Cent and I was wishing for one more before the seasons end. I started out with some bits of brass and copper and a few bullet casings. Then I got a signal that I was sure was iron falsing but seemed to have a bit of size to it and thinking it might be an axe head I dug it and was surprised to dig out an old iron…not my Large Cent but I was pleased with it.
I then got a jumpy 12-43 signal with a bunch of iron around it but it repeated and sounded decent…but in field hunting you learn that this can be a lot of different things, harmonica reed or a bit of brass etc. When I dug the target there it was…my Large Cent….at least I thought it was…bent and incredibly crusty this poor coin had seen better days. It was thin so I assumed it was a Matron Head that lost an argument with the plow. At home I could barely see the top of the coronet on her head and on the back viewing under a bright light and holding it just so I could make out a bit of the word “One” confirming what I thought in the field.
As I continued detecting the thought entered my mind that it would be nice to get an Indian Head to complete a Trifecta….and lo and behold I got a nice 12-21 to 12-22 signal and when I saw that it was a coin I knew it was going to be a Fatty Indian and it turned out to be a first issues 1859!
This is some other typical field items that we found.
Early bottle tops
Diane’s flat button, harmonica reeds and a massive round ball of lead!
[video]https://youtu.be/PGEgFg2KwdE[/video]
We moved on to our last stop of the day a field site that was closed to ¾ of a mile away from the road and where we had not found any modern trash in the past. I was thinking as we approached the site that it had been two months since I had gotten a Large Cent and I was wishing for one more before the seasons end. I started out with some bits of brass and copper and a few bullet casings. Then I got a signal that I was sure was iron falsing but seemed to have a bit of size to it and thinking it might be an axe head I dug it and was surprised to dig out an old iron…not my Large Cent but I was pleased with it.
I then got a jumpy 12-43 signal with a bunch of iron around it but it repeated and sounded decent…but in field hunting you learn that this can be a lot of different things, harmonica reed or a bit of brass etc. When I dug the target there it was…my Large Cent….at least I thought it was…bent and incredibly crusty this poor coin had seen better days. It was thin so I assumed it was a Matron Head that lost an argument with the plow. At home I could barely see the top of the coronet on her head and on the back viewing under a bright light and holding it just so I could make out a bit of the word “One” confirming what I thought in the field.
As I continued detecting the thought entered my mind that it would be nice to get an Indian Head to complete a Trifecta….and lo and behold I got a nice 12-21 to 12-22 signal and when I saw that it was a coin I knew it was going to be a Fatty Indian and it turned out to be a first issues 1859!
This is some other typical field items that we found.
Early bottle tops
Diane’s flat button, harmonica reeds and a massive round ball of lead!
[video]https://youtu.be/PGEgFg2KwdE[/video]
