I’ve Still Got It!

I’m sorry that I’ve been away for so long …

I’ve just had a lot of other stuff going on in my life the past year or so, and haven’t taken the time to get out and dig.

Well, I broke the fast on Wednesday.  I got out and hit a small yard of a rental home owned by some friends.  The house is from the 1930’s, but the spot is really old.  I’m confident that there was a LOT of other traffic on the site.

Alas, I found nothing really “old,” but I did dig a couple of silvers.  Here are the pics.

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Navy Button ID Help

I dug this button on an old hunted out site today.  The house that was on this site was destroyed over 50 years ago.  I have dug coins on the site as old as shield nickels.  I dug a CSA uniform button about 100 feet away, as well as various other Civil War period relics.  The location is very close to a spot that saw limited skirmish action in my hometown (the courthouse was burned after Confederate cavalry ran a small contingent of colored Union troops out of the building.)

It appears to me to be a Navy button.  The size is 18mm.  The back mark is “Scoville Mfg Co. – Waterbury.“  Any help on identification and date would be appreciated.

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

My Gold Fast is Over!

I took my E-Trac to an old spot for about an hour and a half this afternoon.  I had declared it “hunted out” at least two years ago.  I wanted to see if the E-Trac would pick up anything I missed.

Boy … did it ever …

I dug a couple of bucks in old clad.  But the prize-winner was yet to come.  I got a perfect, stable 10-12 signal, so I dug … almost certain that I had found a nickel.  Instead I dug this little baby …

It’s a small, simple, bent and irregular wedding band.  It’s clearly marked 14k.

It weighed in at 2.6 grams of 14k gold, which amounts to .0487 ounces of pure gold … worth about $83.31 at today’s melt.

Not bad for a short, cold-weather hunt!

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

Mission Accomplished! – 1953 Vintage Class Ring Returned

Last Saturday I found a beautiful sterling silver class ring.  It was a 1953 ring from Lacy Junior High School in rural Christian County, Kentucky.  The school is now just an elementary school, but in the 1950’s is was a “full service” school for the families of Lacy.  Kids started school in the first grade and twelve years later graduated from the same building.  How amazing is that?  So I had in my possession a boy’s 8th grade “graduation” ring.  Since the year was 1953, he was most likely born in 1939 and graduated in 1957.  But the biggest piece of information was found on the inside of the ring … the initials “E-W-G.”

So I immediately set out on a mission to try and locate the owner.

I just happen to know a teacher who works at the Lacy Elementary School today.  She’s an old friend named Debbie.  I called her and she put me in touch with a woman who graduated from the school in the 50’s.  When I called her, she immediately responded, “Oh, that’s probably Ed Grace.”  Seriously … it was a shotgun reaction.  Not even a single second transpired after I finished my question.  She knew who the ring belonged to.  Unfortunately, she also knew that Mr. Grace had passed away several years ago.  But she joined me in my quest.  So she promised me she would do a little more checking and try to get me a contact number.  That was Sunday, the day after I found the ring.

Then on Monday I received another hone call.  This time, Debbie (my teacher friend) was calling me back.  After we talked the first time she really got caught up in the quest to find the owner of the ring.  Then, apparently, she and some co-workers at the school spent a good part of the day looking for old yearbooks and making contacts.  They, too, came up with the same name … Ed Grace.  But this time we knew that his first name was actually Edgar.  And though there was no 1953 yearbook available, there was a 1952 edition that did not perish in one of the fires that destroyed the original building many years ago.  Debbie snapped a photo with her iPhone and sent it to me.  Here it is …

Ed’s picture in the 1952 school yearbook.

But Debbie had more … the name and number of a sister who still lived nearby.  They had already contacted her earlier in the day to find some information, so she was expecting my call.  So, immediately after hanging up the phone I called Miss Helen, Ed’s older sister.  I introduced myself and told her the story of finding the ring, then I asked her what her brother’s middle name was.  She replied, “Wayne.”  And so the mission was accomplished … in only 48 hours!  I have since affectionately dubbed all of the ladies who helped me my “Official Research Team.”  🙂

Miss Helen and I had a delightful conversation.  She told me how her brother had died in 1990, at the very young age of 51, of a sudden heart attack.  He was a manager in a high-pressure environment in a well-known department store / retail chain, and that apparently took a great toll on him.  He traveled widely in his work.  She had no immediate recollection of the ring, or him losing it, but stated that she would be thrilled to have it and would see if any of his adult children would be interested in having it some day.

So we made arrangements to exchange the ring.  I discovered that she was still working at the age of 75, so  I made an appointment to visit Miss Helen this morning at her workplace.  She was all smiles when I walked in the door and introduced myself.  And that smile got even bigger when I handed her the ring.

She actually couldn’t quit looking at it …

But we did manage to get her to pose so her co-worker could snap a picture of us with my phone …

Kentucky Shooter and Miss Helen

What an awesome day, and what an awesome turn of events.  I never imagined that I would have a ring this old and in the ground that long (at least 55 years) back in the hands of the original owner or a close family member in such a short amount of time.  I figured that it would take weeks.

Plus … out of the search, I have scored at least one more good place to detect.

It just goes to show you what doing the right thing can do!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Hunting!