My 150th Silver Coin!

I got out for a couple of short hunts today.

This morning I met my buddy LEROY247 for a brief field hunt on an old homestead and Civil War skirmish site.  We were both hoping to find a little bit of old silver … but it was not to be.  We each found a couple of flat buttons, though.  You can see in the pic below that my big one still has some gilt on it!  It is marked “Silvester Birmingham.”  I did a little online research and found that there was, indeed a gentleman named Silvester who owned a button company in Birmingham, England, which he sold around 1850 to emigrate to Australia.  The other is a tiny oval-shaped button, evidently from a ladies’ garment.  It was very difficult to locate.

My coolest find this morning was the fired pistol ball (not sure of the caliber).  I also found a knapsack rivet, a brass spoon bowl, and a couple of pieces of buckshot.

This afternoon I returned to the church site where I’ve been digging the last few afternoons.  I dug 13 coins total, including three wheat pennies and a 1943-P War Nickel … MY 150TH SILVER COIN!!!

It was an awesome detecting day!

Rescued Two More Silvers From the Future Parking Lot!

I returned today to the old church yard that is about to be paved over to make a parking lot for a new business.  We had a few brief showers early this morning, but I headed out as soon as the rain stopped.

I dug four silver coins from the yard last year, as well as a sterling ankle bracelet.  Yesterday I dug three small balls (hollow spheres) that had become separated from the bracelet that I found last year, as well as a silver Rosie.  So I was hoping that my new E-Trac would help me find some more.

I was NOT disappointed.  This machine is a silver-sniffing beast.  It smelled out two more Rosies, one a 1950-D and the other a 1959-D.

Both were around six inches deep.  The first was on edge.  The second was about six inches from a rather large and noisy piece of ground trash.  It wouldn’t pinpoint because of the trash.  But I kept getting a hit with a high tone, so I dug under the high tone and there it was!  My MXT couldn’t lock on to that signal, but the E-Trac separated it out just fine.  I’m way impressed.

So … two more silvers rescued from the asphalt that is soon to come.  I’m going to try to finish hitting the spot early next week.  I’m still hoping for a couple more strays.

Thanks for looking!  HH!!

Going for the Gold!

But I didn’t get any.  Not that I wasn’t trying …

You can tell that by my nickel total.

I tool my E-Trac to a site that I last hunted back in May 2011.   It is an old church yard.  The church has been sold and the yard is about to be paved.  So I thought that I would take the E-Trac to the spot and see if I missed anything.  I especially wanted to dig the deep, low tones.  I’m convinced that there has to be a piece of gold there somewhere!  Here is a big pic of my finds.

I only dug 15 coins total.  Seven of those were deep nickels.  Besides a little clad, I also dug one deep, green Wheat penny.  I also dug a junk WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) pin …  (I’m not always sure what Jesus would do, but I’m reasonably certain his pin would be gold.)  😉

My most interesting finds were the three tiny sterling silver balls.  I found them in about a five square foot area, all three in different holes.  None were closer than 18 inches from one another.  But my beastly E-Trac sniffed them right out … gave me an awesome high tone.  They all match a broken ankle bracelet that I dug back in May 2011.  On that day I found the short chain (marked .925) and 5 balls in the hole.  I’m pretty stoked to add another three silver targets to my 2012 total.  Here’s a close-up.

As darkness fell I was headed to my truck, swinging all the way … when I hit another awesome high tone.  I was thrilled when I turned over the plug and saw this little baby on the bottom of my plug.  It was shining … even in the dark.  🙂 It’s a 1946-D Rosie.

Maybe I’ll get on the gold tomorrow.  I’ll just keep digging those good, low nickel tones …

Thanks for looking!

Kentucky Shooter

Hunting With Leroy247

I made a new friend a couple of weeks ago.  While detecting in a nearby town a young man walked over to me and started talking.  About ten seconds into the conversation he asked me, “Aren’t you Kentucky Shooter?”

Blew my mind … someone actually watches my videos and reads my stuff.

Anyhow, we made a quick connection and talked about getting together to hunt.  So we finally made some time yesterday morning, right before a big shield of rain moved in.  Leroy247 took me to a spot that he got permission for on a large farm.  It’s an old homeplace settled in the late 1800’s and lived on through the 20th century.  He also has permission to hunt all the farm fields, which is way awesome.

He struck silver first, with a nice Mercury Dime.  And we each dug a sack full of wheaties (he had 9, I had 10) and a little clad.  Two of my Wheats were pretty old, a 1917 and a 1920 … nice and green.  I just happened to get my coil over a merc and two silver Washingtons.  My E-Trac howled over the silver, with a perfect 11-47 on both.  I called them before I dug them, which Leroy247 seemed to enjoy.

Here is a picture of my digs, including a junque ring and dragon pendant (that had me fooled for a second … thought I had found a HUGE chunk of silver), and the top to a “Safety First” condom can from back in the day.  Fun, fun.

Thanks for reading.  I hope to have the video ready tonight.

Kentucky Diggin’ 25 – “Swinging With Whiskey Delta”

My latest video …

E-Trac Sniffs Some Old Coins from a Hunted Out Site

I have continued to take my new E-Trac to places where I have hunted before.  This time I returned to an old home on Main Street in my town that has been converted into a B&B.  It was constructed around the turn of the twentieth century.  It is a majestic old house built by a local doctor.

I hunted the yard the first time in 2009 with my Garrett GTP 1350.  I didn’t find any old coins at all.  I remember being very disappointed.  I did, however, find an old Ohio Civil War button and a Colt 45 slug, as well as a couple of flat buttons.  But no old coins.  I returned in 2011 with my White’s MXT.  Again, I found nothing old.  I found a few more clad coins and various pieces of old junk, but nothing special.

So this week I called my buddy who owns the house to see if I could field test my new E-Trac on his hunted-out yard.  He said, “Go for it!”  So I hit it for two hours yesterday afternoon, covering most of the front yard.

And the E-Trac did not disappoint!  I was running the “Old Coins” program from the E-Trac “Bible.”  And it really sniffed out the deep ones.

I dug a 1957 Rosie at five inches near the sidewalk.  I also dug a 1906 Indian, a 1919 Buffalo Nickel, and three old, green wheaties … 1911, 1913, and 1917.  Here is the picture:

Besides an oxidized piece of lead buckshot, the only other interesting find was a Survey Point Marker.  OOPS!  I thought it was an old button back.  Anyhow, it wasn’t anywhere near a property line and it wasn’t attached to anything.  Oh, well.

Thanks for looking!  HH

Election Day Find – A $1,000 Bill!!

Doesn’t it figure that on Election Day 2012, I find a $ 1,000 in funny money?  How appropriate and prophetic …

Thank goodness that my $1,000 in “Fun Bucks” wasn’t all that I found.

I decided to take Election Day off and do some detecting with my new hunting buddy, Whiskey Delta.  We hit a couple of old school sites.  The first one was a location where a new school was built on the site of an old college.  Not a lot of targets there, but I did make some good finds.

I dug two low-range (VDI in mid-40’s) Indian Heads (1901 & 1906) and a completely toasted Buffalo Nickel.  Which says to me that the area was already cherry-picked for silver years ago and my finds were the result of digging deep, “iffy” targets.”

We covered the ground thoroughly then went around back and cleaned out the playground wood chips before leaving (why not make a little quick gas money, right?).

After a killer lunch at a local barbecue shack we headed out to the country to another old school.  The original part was built in the 20’s or 30’s, but new portions have been added on.  We located a piece of the yard that we hoped to be undisturbed and got at it.

It was a great spot.  When all was said and done we each had a sack full of pennies and nickels from the 40’s and 50’s.  (I dug 6 wheats myself.)  And we each got on silver!

Whiskey Delta struck silver first with a 1944-S War Nickel.  I followed with four silvers … a merc, a Rosie, and another two War Nickels!  We were a bit stumped by the concentration of War Nickels in such a small area.  But no complaints here!

So I ended the day my silvers and old pennies, a $1000 bill, and about $3 in clad.  And I had a blast!  It was great just to take a day off and dig with a friend.  Here’s a picture.

Finds from Election Day 2012

Thanks for reading.  HH.

Forgive Me … It’s Been Seven Months Since My Last Detecting …

What can I say?  It’s just been a rough, busy year.  I tend to take the summers off, anyway (too hot, too dry, too many mosquitoes) and hunt in fall and winter months.  But I have sincerely been on a seven-month detecting fast.

I finally broke the fast yesterday with a brief 1.5 hour hunt at an old park in a nearby town.  I’ve hunted the park several times.  There is a mass of metal trash and Zincolns at shallow depths.  It’s pretty tough ground to hunt.

I decided this time that I was going to shoot for deeper “iffy” signals.  I wanted no less than five inches of depth with a solid VDI signature.  I wasn’t looking for more traditional coin signals.

My different approach paid off.

About ten minutes into the hunt I got my first solid hit at five inches.  And out popped this little jewel …

It is a old, monogrammed child’s hair clip, roughly 1.25 inches in length.  And, of course, it is sterling silver!  Here’s a shot of the back.

About a half-hour later I got another five-inch deep signal.  But this one was kind of bouncy.  But since it seemed to be absent any iron, I went for the dig.  And this one really paid off.  I was thrilled to find a sterling silver Playboy Bunny ankle bracelet with a nice, heavy sterling chain.

Here’s a shot of the sterling mark on the clasp loop.

So … I’m back in the game … and back in the silver!  I hope to be posting a LOT more finds in the weeks to come!