Beep-Beep

Sportscar

2011-12-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Not far from where the driver was found, came this beauty:

The car is in quite good condition given that it has been buried for at least seventy years. However, unlike the driver, this car had been nickel plated, possibly to fight corrosion and then painted red over the nickel. It was cast in two pieces and then assembled with three rivets. Two of those rivets are the axles for the wheels and the third runs through the two halves behind the driver's door.

Wheels turn, minimal corrosion, a crack on one fender - now fixed with liquid metal and cleaned to hardly be noticeable. I love this puppy! I have no idea what to do with it but it is a cool find!

In all truth the driver did not belong with this car, but interestingly, he does fit in the seat. Almost makes it look like he belongs there - only he has a pegged bottom and the car seat is not pegged!

Now if you have an ideas on this car I would love to know whom made it and what it might have been a replica of. I am thinking it is 1930-1940's time frame.......

Driver Thrown From Vehicle!

2011-12-07T07:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, it must have been quite a crash when the driver of some vehicle was lost. As time went by, a tree grew on the spot and protected his remains, else he would have just rusted away! As it was, he lost his right foot - it appears to have corroded away.

As you can see, no right foot and his condition is a little rough. But, I expect he has been in the ground for about 90 years, based on the size of the tree.

I can find nothing similar on the internet, so no real age is possible for other than how old the tree was. Style of hat was popular from the 1890's through the 1940's It is obviously a steering wheel he is holding. On his butte is a peg that would fit into a hole in whatever he originally was seated upon or in. Oh yeah, he is made of cast iron.

Also, perhaps a hint, he was cast in two pieces and then welded together.

Any information would be appreciated!

Quarter

2011-12-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

Nothing really new from the frozen tundra of the Northwest! Ground is either really hard or mushy once thawed - which is not exactly daily!

But, I am up a quarter for the day! Always nice coming home without a scratch on my scorecard!

In other news, I am cleaning two items you will be amazed at and I hope to have ready for photographing later this week. It is very cool and I have no idea what to do with it but it is very cool.....

:^)

Catch Up

2011-12-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

Been so busy I can hardly catch a breath! But, have been doing many short hunts.

Found one more fork in the garbage as well as one of my wife's picture magnets one of the kids managed to drop in the trash and not bother to retrieve. I swear I have the laziest children on the face of the planet!

Between bouts of problems brought on by September's shell fish poisoning (curse you Canada!) I have had some interest times.

Found a numbered nail - it carries the number 56. I have stopped picking up nails, except for the trash bag, but since it was how old I am at this point, I thought it was kind of cool. Now this nail was on the side of telephone or telegraph pole, it had rotted and fallen over. Was it to hold a grounding wire? No idea.

On the internet there seems to be two idea on these numbered nails. First is that the number corresponds to the height off of the ground the nail is placed at - nope in this case. The other idea is that the number is the last two years of the date the nail was used. Well, 1856 would not be reasonable for this area, so 1956 might work. So perhaps that pole was set in 1956 and a grounding wire installed using a 1956 nail. Its an idea anyways.

I have found almost no change - only two modern pennies, since I last wrote. Either there are a whole lot more detectorists running around - which I have not seen, or people are being more careful to pick up their change. That one I can believe in this economy (or lack of!).

Well, have a ton to do today, but wanted to check in and let you know I am still alive, somehow.....

202

2011-10-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Had a great time this morning, that is until the rains hit. Oh well, it is fall after-all, but we really never had a summer this year so sort of feel cheated on my hunting time.

But, I did manage to come home with $2.02 in my pocket! All modern stuff, other than one of the pennies was copper, but still newer.

I have been so busy that I still have to go hunt the last of the garbage from last month - the time period of when son was throwing away all of my forks! With any luck I will have one more fork, a missing paring knife and my apple cutter back.....

Super Short Hunt

2011-10-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here in the Northwest, the weather has been extremely unpredictable. Think 14 days of summer! The was more like fall. And, now that fall is here it has gotten so cold that it just eats right through your joints!

But, even with that distraction, my failing knees managed a short hunt and rewarded me with 14 cents. Yeah, not much, but it is the fun of the find that keeps me going!

My club has a hunt coming up this Saturday night. I have never done a hunt with them, so maybe I will just go watch and dress extremely warm!

Happy Hunting!

Fork Resolution

2011-09-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

So, I did manage to recover two forks from the garbage, where a certain teenage had thrown them away with his meals. So, great - 12 place setting of heavy stainless, with two forks. And he care not an iota.....

I am not exactly sure how to address this with him. It is going to run me almost $350 to replace them - which he will scream is unfair because after all, no one saw him throw the forks away.

Sigh.

At least I now have a fork and he can use plastic.....

Case of the Missing Forks

2011-09-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

Things have not been very calm here on the home front for several months - excalating to the point that either my heart was going to rupture from the blood pressure or some youth were going to die.

I thought I had everything calmed down - and then all of the forks in the house disappeared. Well, I know they were here a week ago and now they are not.

Rather than dig through eleven garbage bags, I am going to be using my trusty MXT in the morning to sniff those bags. 950 coil should see through the entire bag and with a VDI or 6 to 18 (depending upon distance) - I think I have a fair chance of eating turkey with a stainless steel fork come Sunday.

Lesson - never piss off a teenager.....

Tails or Tails - I Win!

2011-09-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

Found this fun nickel and finally have it cleaned a bit and then photoshop'ed into something you can easily download!

Ok, I will be the first to admit that I would love to separate these two nickels and check out their dates! It is probably only hide glue and I am sure I can find something to dissolve it. But, then the uniqueness would be gone....

Cascade Treasure Club

2011-09-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, for the first time since 2008 I was able to attend a meeting of my metal detecting club! Picked up some great tips I will have to share with you later this fall if they work out!

I think another surprise for me is that they have known about this site since I joined - however it seems none of them actually visit. To bad, they could have been in on some great digs!

No sign of my detecting partner, I will have to send him another IM and an eMail this time and see if I can run him down. I think he would enjoy what I am planning for this fall.

Much too hot to sit here typing so I am going to throw myself in front of a 30" fan.....

Another Liberty

2011-09-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

This must be the summer of the nickel! I seem to have found plenty of them this year! So, the latest one, uncleaned, as found and photo'ed in the field:

Not too bad if you ask me given it is a 99 years old! Outside of just some trace amounts of staining, you would think this puppy was silver the way it has not turned black and crusty as the last one I photo'ed for you had!

I wonder what is my coil next time? More nickels? It has been quite a spell since I found any silvers..... and gold is always nice..... but hey, I still am pleased to find pennies.

The Worse Ever

2011-08-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

In my short metal detecting career I have found some mighty ugly coins. My best of the uglies became an 18th century Russian 5 Kopeks. It was so ugly that I thought it might have been a fossil! But, in showing it I received quite a few comments about it not being a find at all!

So, here is my next worse ever, as found:

I already know it is an 1898 Liberty Nickel. So, now to find a way to clean the crusties off.....

Sell Out

2011-08-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yup, sucommed to the high value of metals and cashed myself out yesterday. Celebrated by paying my bills, well most of them anyways. Wish values had been even higher since insurance is due in a week. Oh well, we will see what comes of the prices now!

Add a few more pennies to the pot, but those darn tendons in my feet went out again! so back to only being on my feet 15 minutes at a time again. Makes detecting just plain hard to do and painful! So, why keep trying? Duh!

1914-D Lincoln

2011-08-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

`Are you ready for this?

and the reverse:

Just one problem, "something" is wrong with this coin!

First off, the reverse is rotated 90 degrees from the front axis, yeah that kind of rotation happens, just can not find any documented variety like this one.

Secondly, there is no VDB on the shoulder of Lincoln, not even a hint! But, I learned swomething I had apparently forgotten - prior to 1918 it was not there!

And finally, under great magnification - far in excess of my camera's ability this area:

Well, even at this magnification starts to show that the copper background field is rough and bubbly. In fact all of the lettering and features on the rear are bubbly! If you have ever seen bubbles in finished concrete, then you know what I am saying!

Yes, you guessed it! This is a very currently manufactured Chinese CAST FAKE which are now being smuggled in to rip you off!

Also on the Chinese FAKE lists I have seen this weekend, a 1955-S double die Lincoln and a 1909 VDB!

Is nothing sacred?

Lots of Good Stuff!

2011-08-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

So it has been a fun several weeks of hunting! But also very frustrating!!!! Emphasis on VERY.

Managed to find an 1867 2 Cent piece! And promptly lost it! Yeah, I laid it to the side to see if there were anymore goodies and when I turned back - IT WAS GONE! I bet I have since spent close to 30 hours trying to find that darn coin again! All I can think of, it is standing upright on its edge laughing at me.....

But yesterday went better, about 50 Wheaties with most dates in the 1909 to 1922 range. All of the pennies were heavily worn - so I am thinking that this was a roll that either was lost or buried in the late 1940's or 1950's. Why a roll? Well, the 1909 still has its MINT LUSTER! So it has to be protected somehow! Of course all of them are pitted and corroded.

In a separate two hunts I found a penny each.

Last night's hunt yielded four Eisenhower dollars and five Susan B's!

Late Breaking News!
Seven copper Lincolns and a gold cat brooch tonight! The brooch is 2.5 inches across! So the picture is about lifesize on my monitor....

My FIRST piece of jewelry!

Property Markers

2011-07-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

So the property next to me just sold, and I do have a metal detector, so I should find the markers for the new owners! Just trying to be nice.

Within a couple of hours of hunt, I found the northern marker, two quarters and a penny - all 1967 or newer. Did I find that stinking southern marker? Nope.

A huge nut, iron wire, some piece of what might have been a cast iron corral from a kid's set. I still have five more iron targets but I think I will have to switch to my 5.3" DD coil to try and separate all of those beeps out into better targets to pin-point!

An 1854 California Fraction - BG224

2011-07-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, my honey pot offered up this beauty!

It is an 1854 California Quarter Dollar, again something I have only read about and never imagined finding!

In my six hours of researching these on the internet, it appears there are massive counterfeits of these coming in from China. Apparently, many are lead with a gold wash, but some may contain up to 12% gold. However, the counterfeits all have six common errors in their design. Two on the obverse and four on the reverse. Well, those were the ones I could find anyway! So, I have given you nice blow ups to compare yours with - just in case..... Also, a new set of dies where cut in 1883 to supply these to the tourist industry in California - the Chinese copies are based on this die version! The original and die copies were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

So, known population of real ones is at 400. 360 of them came from the wreck of the SS Central America and are in mint state condition. Mine is one of the 40 which were actually used! I think in this case I like that idea, California gold, minted in California, used by perhaps the very miners whom sluiced out the gold in the first place!

Liberty Gold Tokens - Update

2011-07-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

I have learned a little more but not much, because there is so little known about these. However, I thought I would publish what I do know, from Mike Locke whom collects these things.

This is the first variety, pretty good die definition and detail, 9.3mm across. Mike believes that there are seven of these known:

What I found is believed to be the type 2 variety. Not very good definition of the indian head, 9.8mm across. and Mike believes there are now about 30 of these known - 15 having been found at once in a coffee can in Liberty a few years back. Though he mentioned that he really does not believe the story about the origin of the 15.

WooHoo! Got My Buffalo!

2011-07-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

Nickels are something I do not find a great many of. I find them occasionally, so I know I am working my machine correctly - just not where nickels usually are I guess! And I really wanted to feel like I have graduated and find a Buffalo Nickel! So, I declared 2011 to be the year of my Buffalo!

But, although the year has played out well, I am in month 7 and no buffalo or even an Indian Head penny to show for my efforts!

Well, that is until yesterday afternoon!

Obviously, someone got this in change very recently and tossed it! But, you know, I will take it! I would happily have taken the same grade and blackened due to water exposure if it had been lost long ago.....

I am very happy with this years finds so far!

Hunting A Ferry Crossing

2011-07-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

Through diligent research, I was able to find the location of an 1850's Ferry Landing. I called up my son-in-law and a friend from my church for a hunt. Son-in-law was using my MXT and friend my Bounty Hunter.

It was a far worse hunt than I expected: about three pounds of utter junk, including three nails and a nickel from 1996. What a dead place! I plan on returning after the next big rain as the ground was like concrete! Maybe if I use my giant coil and some discrimination the finds might be more interesting......

Struck Gold Again!

2011-07-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

From my private asphalt treasure trove yet another coin I have only read about or seen pictures of:

Stinkin' Zinc-oln!

2011-07-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Net for the weekend, one stinkin' zinc-oln!

Information On Liberty Gold Pieces

2011-07-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Although I am quite the shy person, those whom commented on my posting at Friendly Metal Detecting thought I should contact the gentleman whom had some pictures on the internet of similar pieces. I did. His reply follows:

There are 2 varieties: one that is 9.8 mm flat to flat and on which the Indian is more of a silhouette and the other that is 9.3mm flat to flat with a detailed India head.

A group of about 15 of the former was brought to market in 2006. They reportedly were found by metal detector in Liberty, Washington (state) near the mine; all in a tin can. I don't know if I should believe the story, but the hoard exists and substantially increases the number of pieces available to collectors to 25-30.

The second variety is much rarer and in the style of the tokens sold by M.E. Hart Company. There are 7 known.......

There were private mints making California Gold and similar tokens in Seattle and in Spokane Washington in the 1900-1919 time frame.

Although marked 999 FINE.GOLD, neither appears to be made from 0.999 fine gold.

1871 is undoubtedly a fictitious date. That was the first year the government enforced the private coinage act of June 8, 1864, making it the last year that a private mint could make a denominated coin openly. There might be other significance to the date that I don't know. Of course, these pieces are non-denominated tokens in order to comply with the law.

--
Mike Locke California Gold
www.calgoldcoin.com

So can you believe it!?!? This is really awesome to learn something about my state I never knew before! And, I have a feeling not too many know either! And thanks to what must be one of the strangest finds to date for me!

(oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, fancy little dance.....) Yeah, it is not a REAL coin, more of a tourist item it would appear, but cool none the less for me.

Now how do I get a book deal with movie rights out of this.....

Sunny Day, New Mystery

2011-06-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

Metal Detecting is one fun hobby / sport. I have learned so much during the few years I have been hunting here in Washington and Colorado. I have found new things and ancient things but never have I stumbled as badly as I did over this item (very sorry over the quality of the photography but this is very small!):

We are looking at a small gold item. There are thirteen stars around an Indian's head on the obverse. It is dated 1871. And similar obverses are viewable on the internet.

I had to use photoshop to even make this look as well as it does, it is heavily worn or poorly struck.

About 9mm across.

Now the rear is more interesting. "Liberty, Wash" and "999 Fine Gold" are on the reverse. Liberty, Washington? Yeah, it is a ghost town in the Swauk Creek mining district. Gold was found about 1857 in this area, Liberty itself seems to date to about 1867 and well known by 1875. Is this some kind of coin - used for exchange in Liberty?

But, problems kick in. Why 1871? Certainly there were miners, certainly there was trade in the area, certainly there could be a usage for some standardized form of "change". But, I have never heard of anyone issuing coinage in Washington State/Territory outside of hard times tokens. So where did it come from? I can find NOTHING referencing a mint to have created it, nor a reference as coinage in this district.

But there are theories:

A California company marketed "California Fraction Currency" at the 1905 Pan Pacific Exposition. In an ad I found, a coin very similar - however not exactly like this one, is offered as part of the collection. Could there have been a Liberty gold piece, that this company copied - albeit modifying the design just a little?
Another theory states that the Liberty golds were part of decorations on clothing at the 1905 Exposition.
Or was there an opportunity at some point where these were produced for tourists?

What is known is almost nothing that I can find via the internet.....

As for having found it - we had a small circus/fair in town last week and I wanted to so sniff around for any change dropped in the area. This also happens to be the same location where I found my gold dollar earlier this year, though I had no thought that I would be finding anything other than clad!

Yeah, when it popped into my hand I had that little war dance and rapidly retreated for a long internet session to figure out what I had!

Good Short Hunt

2011-06-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Modern dime and a zinc-oln. Not much to brag about but a hunt without crippling me and still finding something is worth my bragging about! LOL!

But a week of rain is ahead of me, so we will see if I can sneak in a few more hunts between rain squalls.

Chipped Die

2011-06-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

A chip and a break are very closely related, where the chip is very small and a break covers a larger area.

In this case, the chip occurred on the center of the '9' in 1955. As you can see metal was forced into the hole in the die where the chip occurred and viola! A die variety is born.

A Real Struck Fragment!

2011-06-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Still recovering from my little hunt of the other day, so back to covering minting errors. This time around is the rarest of the rare - the striking of a fragmentary planchet. Not a damaged planchet, not a clip or a clip, but a planchet which was not fully formed by other means!

A word of caution though! So many of these are fakes that you really need to consider having NCGS do the verification BEFORE purchase!!!!!

Buyer Beware.

This one is authenticated......

Three Zinc-olns

2011-06-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

Managed to get about 15 minutes of a hunt in this weekend. Between the weather and my healing ankle & foot that was about all I could manage! Sigh.....

But, three zinc-olns were found during that time in my parking strip. Better than a poke with a sharp stick!

:^)

Broken Die Collar

2011-06-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

So, for some reason, a portion of the die collar breaks and a coin is struck in this situation. This will force the metal to flow towards the break and you end up with a situation like this:

An Obvious Crack

2011-06-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Not hard to see what happened to this die!

Grease Filled Die

2011-06-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Probably the most common of all of the minting defects - portions of the die fill with grease and a poor quality coin is the result!

This example shows missing lettering and the background field has a different texture than the rim area of the coin!

One Sad Planchet

2011-06-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

This is what remains of one sad silver Jefferson Nickel, after it went through the presses:

The planchet delaminated. Those war time silver nickels really did not do well as far metallurgy is concerned......

Misplaced Lettering

2011-06-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

Always a fun die error to find!

Broken Die Collar

2011-06-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

Die Clash

2011-06-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

This minting error variety has always fascinated me; a set of dies strike each other without a planchet between them - leaving in mirror reverse the design of the opposing die!

This is an easy example to see!

You are seeing the 'C' and part of the 'T' in the word 'CENT' from the reverse of this wheat ears era penny.

Fields of Wheaties!

2011-05-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Oh I am excited! Lots of wheaties in my pocket today! And, many of them were holes in my One-A-Year Lincoln Annual Book!

Joining the collection are now:

1918, 1920, 1930, 1936, 1939,1942, 1944 with numerous duplicates of these dates and varying mint marks. Until the duplicates started showing up I was wondering if I had stumbled upon someone buried penny collection! They were also uncharacteristically "clean" - only a slight green tint to some which wiped off easily! Grade-wise I would say fine to very fine.

Add a 1944 Silver war nickel and that rounded out the American stuff.

Also found was a Czech 10 something or others, Polish 10 groszy, a black fiber material 3 cent Washington State Tax Token, and Scottish two pence.

Don't ask me! I only dig them.....

Cracked Die

2011-05-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Oh, the headache of this minting die error! Lincoln with a skull crack:

Lamination Error

2011-05-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

What happens when the coin planchet being used suffers a metallurgy failure? See below:

Of course, this 1955 also suffers from slight doubling of the last 5 in the date - aka - The Poor Man's 1955 Double Die....

Broadstruck Coin

2011-05-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is when the coin planchet is struck without the die collar. So coin expands past the dies. In this case, we have a penny which is about the size of a nickel!

Up By 13

2011-05-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well, that would be up by 13 cents.

Better than nothing!

1875-S Twenty Cents Piece

2011-04-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Pocket Fishing

2011-04-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

So, Saturday I over did it on the foot and have been laid up since. What to do? What to do!

I dug out all of my change and started sorting through it. And, I think you ought to do the same!!!!!

Ok, these are my finds from the past three weeks pile of change:

1 cent 1965
             1968-D almost NO reverse stamped at all!
             1989-D double die obverse

5 cent    1950-D in AU!

so not too bad of a haul considering!

Hike In The Park

2011-04-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Had nice 1.5 hour hike in the park this morning. I stuck with the fairly flat areas and the ankle lasted - albeit is very sore now!

So for my efforts, I managed to find a 10mm pistol bullet and a 7mm rifle bullet under the children's swing area. Both showed signs of hitting something extremely hard which flattened their noses - and in the case of the 7mm - ejected the lead core backwards through the stem.

Also in the line up was 3 screw caps, 7 pop top rings, two tiny pieces of foil, a bicycle chain link, 2 aluminum cans, a wad of steel wool and two copper pennies.

So lots of walking, lots of bending, little digging - I call this my weekly take on exercise.

My hunting partner, of course, could navigate the slope and dips in the park and came away with a handful of change and a LEAD CAR. No idea how old or what model it was but it was quite large and were it all there - probably would have brought a pretty penny at an antique show!

As I left, I gazed around the area and could easily see for more areas in need of searching.....

Common Sense

2011-04-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

You know, if common sense were common, I am not so sure that I still would have any!

So, in February I had three solid targets. The first one blew my mind so bad it was a month before I could even hunt down the second and third ones. The second turned out nice - nowhere near as massive as the first but still nice. And the third? Well that is the $64,000 question. It has vanished!

Of course my hunts this year have been hampered by a bum ankle and hunting on crutches or a cane is just a real pain! Especially when what you are hunting is eluding you!

Yeah, I ruptured the darn ankle tendons and it will take six months to heal! If I am good. Now three months later - the stinking ankle went out AGAIN! And I am back to ground zero in the doctor's countdown. It is not like I did anything wrong, I went to the bathroom without my brace on and BLAM! it was over just like that.

But, tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and I am going to head out, with full ankle support!

1868-S Half Dime

2011-04-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

So nice knowing that I was not the one to hose this one up!!! This is what gravel does to what should have been a beautiful coin. From sweet collector to scrap silver thanks to parking lot gravel!

1896 Barber Dime

2011-04-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

1879 - 3 Pence

2011-04-14T17:26:00.001-07:00

1856 Dollar, Type III

2011-04-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

A Ring!

2011-04-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I am always excited with I find something other than aluminum and nails - but even $ .56 could not exceed the excitement of my first ring!

I could tell right away it was silver, so okay, not gold. the crown of the ring was completely covered in grime and as I carefully washed away the grime I could glimpse something pink and shiny! Opals! It had to be opals!

Nope, it was little pink hearts cast into the ring. And between them the word - PRINCESS.

Oh man! A junk little girls ring.

Sigh. I think I am going to give it to my grand-daughter tomorrow. Sigh.....

Peasant Wages

2011-03-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Sure glad that I metal detect for fun since today came in at $ .25 - dang close to third world peasant wages!

But then again I was hunting my property's boundary marker - which has chosen to be elusive!

Oh well, a quarter is better than a swift kick!

Benched

2011-03-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

We sure have been having some gully-washers here in the Seattle area! There is a garbage can on my patio which my son failed to put the lid back on three weeks ago (no surprise there!) and I noticed last night that it is completely full of water! A 35 gallon can completely to the top with water! Now that is impressive rain accumulation!

So, waiting to hunt again. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow so if true, then I am going to try that frustrating turn of the century farm again. I just can not get over there being NO items in the soil at all!

There has to be, some where....

Scratch n Sniff

2011-03-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

Been having amazing storms all week long and today came the lull. Well, lull might be somewhat of an overstatement as only the 40 to 50 mph winds finally stopped by 6am. And, with that the hundreds of branches littering the area, stopped falling! But, the rain continued until this afternoon.

So, no rain - and I am out the door on the trail of who knows what!

But, today was a complete bust. Not even a penny to claim victory over! Of course, there is now one less piece of foil to annoy me in my searching area.

Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be bring back one of those targets I can only hear but does not register on my display.....

Gimping On

2011-03-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

Republished for this afternoon's finds to be included!

**********

Rebroke my right foot again! Yeah, probably going to need surgery but will wait until spring for it, no sense having it done when I can be hunting! Having to sit through the rainy season seems more reasonable when one has a foot in a sling.....

So, up eleven cents for the weekend, given I can only hunt in about 10 minute intervals - then have to get the weight off of the foot for an hour or so, Tried taking codeine and hunting but that turned into a farce. "Hmmm, that was a pretty sound. Oh yeah there is another!" etc.

Seems the concept of digging got lost in there somewhere!

But, going back out to the parking strip now to check on all of those pretty sounds....

So, back now from a fun hunt! Manager almost 30 minutes before the foot gave out.

Found a Slim Jim, probably the one used to break into my van last fall. Managed to be tricked into several pieces of foil, section of tin rain gutter which stubbonly id'ed itself as a quarter right up and out of the ground! And, actually, there was a quarter which was a quarter. So, can't even rely on my detector to not lie to me constantly. Best find for the day, and a personal first! - a tin cookie cutter! Yeah, a little Christmas Tree the size of a fifty cent piece.

By the way, tin came up at a solid +20......

Twins

2011-03-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Yup, two Zinc-olns this morning!

Another Zinc-oln

2011-03-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Never too proud to dig another Zinc-oln! Up to thirty of those for the year.....

Loose Change

2011-03-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Manged to pick up some US change: a copper Lincoln, two Zinc-olns and a quarter. Yeah nothing great but almost have enough from my finds this year for a Starbucks! :^)

In other items I track, I am still seeing quite a bit of high grade old pennies showing up in change at the supermarket, most of them are all Memorial Cents but are obviously from penny collections or rolls being stuffed into the CoinStar machine.

Best find in change so far has been a BU 1943, which of course is now oxidizing rapidly! Oh well. Sure wish there was a way to save those puppies in this damp environment!

Happy Hunting!

Another Penny In The Pot

2011-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Yup, managed another one yesterday.

Does not look good for hunting today. It is supposed to snow about six inches. Of course, it has to snow first!

But the temperature is down to 34 with about a 10mph wind, so a bit of a chill to be out using my detector.

Hope this is all over by the weekend so I can play!

Another Penny

2011-02-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

I continue to increase my coinage finds - up a penny for the weekend! LOL. Yeah, well, not everyone can be a Mel Fisher! LOL......

Got a call from my detecting buddy that someone has dumped a load of tires on top of one of our more frustrating, albeit, better possibilities locations. Sure wish people like that could be traced and caught as we the tax payers end up funding that clean up, plus we can not hunt there with hundreds tires now piled on the site.

Sigh.....

What Would You Do?

2011-02-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

An interesting question, which was a point of discussions yesterday,

'So you make a BIG find, now what are you going to do?'

The natural tendency would be to sing of it from the roof tops, however there might be somethings you never thought about before .....

How can you prove where exactly it was found?
How can you prove it was not found somewhere else?
How can you prove it was not found on a previously hunted property, where you had permission and a percentage agreement?
How can you prove you were not trespassing somewhere else when it was found?
How can you prove that others, claiming it is theirs, have no valid claim?
How can you prove it was not found on public property?

Getting the drift of yesterday's interesting discussion? In a court of law, you would have to prove all of the above - even if you found it on your own property! Heavens, I never thought about any of this! And let us not forget court costs and attorney's fees!!!!!

I know that both Dick Stout and Glenn Carson have nipped around the edges of this issue in their books, but from the direction of taxes and the IRS. However, I never had thought about the exactness of the questions one would have to answer in the event of a big find, were you dragged into court! There will be no winners in a situation like this, save for the attorneys .....

I guess the old western adage is still true today was it was in the wild days of yore -

Shoot 'em
Shovel 'em
Shut up

Ok, now get hunting and be real sure to shut up if you find something!

:^)

Something To Dream About

2011-02-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

A picture is worth twelve thousand words!
Tried to link to this but ended up having to move it here for you to see!

World's Tinyist Silver Coin

2011-02-16T07:59:00.000-08:00

Went back to the local coin shop to tell them all I had learned about the tiny Fanam and he then showed me this little guy:

It is an 1860 silver Chuckram, also from India, and is also 6mm in size.

Cool!

Finally Success!

2011-02-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yes once again you get to see a template change! Why?

Well, when Blogger first came out with their new templates I changed over to one I liked, but then there were significant complaints concerning speed and I attempted to reinstate the original template. But, it was no longer available!

However, it dawned on me how to do and it worked!

Still a bit of clean up left to do but I am mighty happy to have the old Scribe template back.

World's Tinyist Gold Coin

2011-02-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

At the local coin shop, the owner put out what was reported to be the world's smallest gold coin. Well, that certainly sounded interesting.....

As it turned out, it truly is the world's smallest gold coin. There is one smaller, however it was the product of an American marketing company using Libya was the supposed country of origin. But, it was just a scam. The "certificate of authenticity" carefully ignores the concepts of whom or where the authenticator of the 'Libyan' piece is.

Indeed, India's gold Fanam is the smallest gold coin, coming in at only 4.5 to 6mm in size and weighing only .35gm!

This Fanam is from the State of Mysore, minted at the Seringapatam Mint in 1786.

Filling The Penny Album

2011-02-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

So, what year worth of pennies have I found in 2009 and 2010? Well, here is the album I told you about with one of my find pennies per year:

As you can see there are some interesting holes, especially with the 2000 decade! Whereas I would have thought these would have been the most common, in fact none were found for most years! Another interesting fact is that years ending with 6 or 9 were the most common (by 30 to 1 !) and 0, 1 or 5 being the rarest. Go figure.

Oldest was a 1930-S, the newest was a 2010.

So you might consider doing something similar, just the fun of showing your ugliest finds and seeing the ages.....

Penny Book

2011-02-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have spent two years looking for a one-a-year Lincoln penny book. But, all searches, even on the internet have failed. Since I seem to find a great many pennies, I thought it would be interesting to have a book of just the years represented for the pennies I find.

To my great surprise, when I went to update the tabs on my car, I found out that there was a new coin store in town! First thing I saw, upon entering, was just what I was looking for! So, I picked up this folder:

So now I figured out that I should have been looking for the word 'Cents' not 'pennies' and I might have found it easier. Cost for the album folder is $6.95, at my local coin shop. Might be cheaper over the internet or at your local dealer or show.

Tomorrow, we will see if I can sort through all of my pennies and Zinc-olns, then get them popped into the album. Be interesting to see what I have found age wise; as well as, what I have not found!

See you tomorrow!

Picking Up Trash

2011-01-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

Usually, well, almost always, when I hunt I carry a plastic grocery bag to drop garbage into. You know the stuff we see all of the time as detectorists - bits of paper, can pull tabs, cigarette wrappers, etc. Just plain old garbage people toss and should know better than to!

So, I was out, still haunted by my golden hunt failure of a few days ago; was my machine working or was it getting flaky? I had to know. Again, I found enough garbage to convince me it is working. But, still, where have all of the keepers gone? South for the winter?

Then I came across some more junk paper, tossed aside. So, I stooped and picked it up to toss in my bag and eureka, who would have thought?!?!?!?

Yeah, there, amongst the folded papers was a $5.00 bill! Soaking wet, with a slight case of mold on one corner, but still spendable in my book!

So, it does pay to be neat about your work areas!

This Was Odd!

2011-01-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a site to search and had been planning on getting my long time partner out into the field. But, son and his girlfriend called to say they wanted to go hunting again. Sounded good to me so we headed over to a local construction site to beep around.

Now this site was where a 1904 home had stood, so I had high hopes. Dozers had not bothered where the foundation had been, so I figured we were in luck.

Well, yeah, we found $1.90 in clad coinage but nothing older than clad coinage. How could that be?

After two hours of shooting around the foundation, around the porch and step areas, where the logical kid area was, as well as, the drive and not a stinking solitary hit other than on bits of iron and one bronze plant water nozzle. Too weird!

So, I am glad we did it before it becomes who knows what, but I am sure scratching my head over this one!

Two Cents Worth

2011-01-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

Just in from a pre-lunch hunt of the parking zone in front of the house. Originally, the county gave us embankments to park upon, that is if you like a 45 degree angle to your car! Just getting out could be an adventure or opportunity to have you shins bruised as the doors would always slam shut half way out! However, I decided to flatten them into a parking lane. Yeah, the county growled about it.

So, what did I find today? Two zinc-ons! Date wise it would seem that someone lost those just bout the time I flattened those berms. So, given my employment status - I will celebrate their discovery!

Post Lunch Update - Breaking News!
Found to more pennies! The oldest is 1972-S in about XF+ condition. Tone that puppy and it would be an AU without a doubt! So, up by 4 pennies today! Great start to the week!

First Penny For 2011!

2011-01-04T13:04:00.001-08:00

So, I have my first penny for the year!

Yes, it is a 1953-D.

Nothing special but a great way to start the year!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

Here is to a year filled with a whole lot less excitement than 2010 was! And a whole lot more metal detecting!

Last Hunt For Year

2010-12-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Due to the weather this was probably the last hunt for the year. And what a miserable cold hunt it was! My face sort of sums up my feelings after three hours of frustration!

But, I did teach my son and his girl friend all about metal detecting and between us we managed to find lots of aluminum, a gate padlock, lots of broken beer bottles, a gas valve and lots of mud.

So, the sum total of our finds?

So from the wet and cold of the Pacific Northwest, I wish you a very Happy New Year's and please drive safe!

Happy hunting!

Grrrrr!

2010-12-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

So the month of November has basically been lost to doing any collecting in. Between real storms, ice, snow and a broken toe - there has been precious little time for some pleasure of beep-beeping across the forested lands.

Of course, November is also the month when the tides would have been out as far as they had been last January when I found my 1792 Russian coin. So that opportunity lost as well.

With nothing better to do, I have been battling Blogger over how the templates work and I think I finally have my original one back! That was a many day effort!

So, finds are now corrected, screens scroll quickly and smoothly and now I can see my followers again! (Meaning I can visit your pages as well now!)

And, you may have noticed that I now what my camera back up and working again, with communications to Windows 7 as well! That was a three month fight, but it is nice to have it working again. Tons of photos to now process and share with you.

Until later,
cc

The Nicobar

2010-11-30T11:25:00.000-08:00

One of very few famous shipwrecks of the Danish East India Company, the Nicobar, was outbound to India in 1783 with a load of copper plate money from Sweden for ballast, which was to be traded for spices and the like there.

Sweden's plate money was created in response to a silver shortage and the 'coins' proved to be extremely unpopular. Lets face it 15 pounds of copper, a foot square, are a bit much to lug around!

The Nicobar never reached its destination. After stopping at False Bay (South Africa) to replenish supplies and offload sick crew, the ship left again on July 10, 1783, and ran aground in a storm that night.

The wreck was rediscovered in 1987 by local fishermen, who salvaged some of the copper plate money, the bulk of which were sold by Ponterio & Associates in California. I later was to learn only about 3,000 specimens were to be recovered and the one pictured below was actually one of the better ones!

This specimen from the wreck offering, I picked up as soon as they were offered. I had never seen a 'coin' this large before, so I had to have it! In 2001 our home was virtually destroyed in an earthquake and most of my coin collection lost in the rubble. Ever so often I go and dig a little more in those parts of the house we have not recovered yet and this popped up last weekend! I had totally forgotten about it!!!!

So for your enjoyment - a Swedish 4 Daler piece from 1756.

Sweetest of Rewards

2010-11-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning, I hopped in my van to drag the crew to church, only my dashboard light told me there was a door open. We all reslammed ours and still the light was on. So, it had to be the cargo door but no one had opened it days! I walked around and sure enough, someone had used a crowbar or similar on my rear door to pop it open! GRRRRR!

Monday night we had a massive blow, with lots of branches and leaves from the surrounding trees. What a mess! It took us three hours today to just clear the driveway and road in front of the house of the mess.

Well, a little free time to rest up and may as well haul out the official beep-beep machine.

There, under the pine needles, where someone would have had to crouch to break into my van on Sunday morning, lay a nice pile of change. $2.29 in nice new bright shiny change, fact.

The sweetest reward is knowing that he found nothing in my van and lost money in the process!

A Wheatie!!!!! And worse.

2010-11-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

First Wheatie of the year and only the second one I have found so far! Hurray!

So, it is a 1951-D in about very fine condition. I would have included a photo but am still camera-less to computer connectible, still working on that issue and darn well want to have that solved quickly!

Added to my wheatie are two zinc-olns, a nickel, a dime, three quarters and a broken toe. Sigh! I guess I ought to tell you that if you are shooting parking areas - bending over behind a car (where you can not be seen) can cause extensive pain when you straighten up and step forward without looking.

yeah.....

Been Tied Down

2010-11-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Been having to care for my mother this past month. Seems she decided to have five heart attacks across two days and then have to get a triple bypass. Yeah, she just had to out do me for heart problems this year!

Luckily, she is doing much better now and will be allowed to drive next week, at which time I will be able to beep-beep my heart out in search of those elusive pennies! Also, I have staked a claim to finding a buffalo head nickel this winter - so here is to hoping!

Also on the horizon, I paid for my tickets today to Tucson, so plan on some hunting out in the hills around there. Three decades ago I found an abandoned silver mine and if it is still abandoned - I know there are going to be some finds around there! Just the amount of rattlesnakes in the area guarantee that much!

Anyone know how effective those Kevlar snake gators are? I have looked at them and somehow I can just see some puppy snapping through those! Let me know if you have.

Also, if you are in the Tucson area and want a complete neophyte to tag along, let me know!

Finally

2010-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Finally we are getting into some good detecting weather! Yeah, the rains are off and on and with those rains comes ground which is easier to dig and better signals for the MXT!

I am finally regaining some of my chutzpah, which was so sorely damaged in August when the heart decided to act up and put me down.

And, mother is recovering nicely from her triple bypass, so freeing up a little more of my time to hunt as well! Of course, around her place are some very intriguing sites I have noticed in my commutes down there.

But, my computer also caught fire and is now dead, so I am still down my photo processing abilities. That is next on my task list to do, right after I rediscover the floor in my office.....

New Format

2010-09-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was unaware that the cascading style sheet I had chosen was causing really slow response with some of my readers. So, I have reverted back to the design I was using last week and it seems to be much quicker on my machine!

My thanks to the reader willing to let me know!

Am having photo processing troubles and have a stack of photos to share from hunts over the past two weeks. Hang on and I hope to have the problem resolved this week.

Happy hunting!

Free Topographical Maps

2010-09-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

I was on the USGS website and noticed that you can now download quadrangle maps (7.5 or 15 minute maps) in PDF format.

So, I gave it a try. It was not as easy to accomplish as I had hoped but hey for free, what can you expect?

The graphical blow up was okay on the monitor, though at highest resolution (400x) details were blurry. I was also surprised to find that the downloaded object was not the object I had selected - many of the details such as creek names were missing. So, something I still need to address in order to get what I need for my next great adventure.

Supplies - Based On Situations

2010-09-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I need other items based upon what conditions are:

Rain Gear
Rain Cover for detector
Bug Spray (Jungle Juice - 100% DEET)
Leg Snake Guards
Walkie-Talkie
CB Radio
Backpack for main detection gear
Duffel Bag for additional equipment
Shovels (I use Warners)
Third Hand extended grippers
Pill Bottle filled with cotton for delicate items
Handy Wipes
Pick Axe
Rope
Caribiners
Reference Books on my machine
Quadrangle Topo Maps of area working in

Yeah, my list of stuff as really expanded but do not think that you need all of the junk I haul around, based upon where I am. My minimum set is still my machine and a Lesche digger, of course I have to have the cell phone to keep the wife and kids happy!

Supplies - Rural Detecting

2010-09-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

My pile of equipment for working out in the woods or hills is a bit different, mainly because I have to be self reliant as much as possible. And, being the ultimate klutz means lots of medical supplies! So, in addition to what I have with me for hunts around town, I also have the following for my wanders in the hills:

Compass
Whistle
Emergency Food, usually beef jerky
Fire Starter (matches are fine, but I use a magnesium lighter)
Knife
First Aid Kit
Toilet Paper
Knee Pads
Universal Tool
Bungies
String
Electrical Tape
Flashlight
CB Radio
Cell Phone
Tube Tent
Shovel
Tarp
Emergency Blanket

Supplies - Urban Detecting

2010-09-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

It has been a year since I put my first list together of supplies I use. Looking at my pile now, it is obvious that my equipment list has grown with experience. So, this is what I have with me on hunts around town:

Detector
Large Coil
Sniper Coil
Pointer
Gloves
Pouch
Headphones
Extra Batteries
Extra Coil Bolt
Zip Lock Baggies
Camera
Small Plastic Square Sheet
Notebook and Pen
Water Bottle
Knee Pads
Lesche Tool
Coin Popper
Search Agreement Form
Business Card

My First Car

2010-09-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Highlight of this week's detecting was my partner coming up with a site I had not done before. I remember visiting it many times in the past but as it was posted, I was good and stayed away. But, it seems that ownership has changed and the signs are now down and new ones are up - Gun Free Zone. Whatever, I think I can metal detect without a gun. LOL.

End result was my finding a 1977 Hot Wheels 1957 Thunderbird, in pretty good - albeit dirty shape!

As for what else we found? Well we averaged .05 in zinc pennies per hour spent!

:^)

Shooting the Farm

2010-09-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

It was not raining, so me and my hunting partner grabbed the gear and headed over to an abandoned mortuary to see if there were any coins.

Some landscapers showed up to pull up the plants and we were run out since we were "metal" detecting and they did not want any metal strippers on the property. Like duh! The concept of coinshooting meant nothing to them. Sigh.

So, headed over to a park which had been part of a farm back in the 1890's. I have a picture of it, so I was interested in seeing how much the terrain had changed and was there a cache were expected?

Partner found two dimes and six pennies - all modern, and a .45 bullet. The bullet was interesting because it was an old nose pour mold, with a grease groove and flat on both sides. No idea as to age, certainly last century.

For me, I found a penny, the contents tag from an old filing cabinet, what appears to be a badly rusted steel token or counterfeit coin and a number 6 or 9, which appears to have been a room number. And due to the lack of hotels ever in this area, one must assume a "working" establishment. Of course there is no history of this sort in the area.....

Naturally we found more twist tops, pop tops and pull tabs than I have ever encountered! I started out nice - picking up the garbage but it quickly became overwhelming and I was forced to give up in order to spend ANY time with my detector.

Will try to get some pictures posted tomorrow!

Copper Pennies

2010-09-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

I decided in August that I would track copper pennies in circulation, just to see what the numbers look like.

So, I got in change:

3.13 in Zinc Pennies
.64 in Copper Pennies

Of the coppers, the oldest was 1960. So coppers are still flowing around out here and as you can see - somewhat in abundance.

It is interesting to note that a majority of them are in high conditions, Almost Uncirculated and so close to Uncirculated that it is a shame someone tossed them into the Coinstar! Well, that is my guess as to how they are getting into circulation, as I rarely see anyone counting pennies at the cashier stands.

So, for you penny collectors out there - keep your eyes open! I found both small and large dates for 1960's and 1970's, both mint marks in the past month!

Son of A .....

2010-09-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

One of those bittersweet moments. You know, you have a spot you always wanted to search but there was never any time to. So you tell your secret to your hunting partner and they go for it.

Yup, he found two Indian Head Cents!

Son of a ....., oh well, I would not have told him if I did not intend for him to take a shot at it. And, truthfully, I am very happy for him. I just wish I had found them - I could have spanned the gap from 1946 to 1853 in my penny finds. Oh well.

Maybe next time it will be my turn to find something interesting!

Suckered!

2010-08-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

My aunt sent me a copy of this video, only the entire openning had been stripped from it. So, I took it as being serious:

Of course, once you compute the numbers, it was obvious something was wrong. So, I hunted down the original and as you saw in the lead in - it is a hoax.

Hoping to save some of you from wasted funds and battery burns.

Don't ask, it is too painful.

Sniff.....

Old People

2010-08-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

You know, I am 55 and get called old all of the time. It is really bothersome when I do a survey and I am now linked with everyone from 55 to 64. I still think of over 60 as old - but I am only 22 still, right? How did this happen!

I am also rather shy when it comes to talking to complete strangers. I would rather drive out of my way to find a place to metal detect than to actually ask someone for permission to hunt their land! Yeah, where I grew up, strangers were really bad news.....

So the other day I am out with my son-in-law trying to trace an old military trail. With all of the changes in the past 150 years it is not an easy task!

Hours into our search we had identified a likely lake patrols would have camped at. Roughed out a probably path for the trail and then set about sniffing with the detectors for any evidences - all on public land of course.

Soon neighbors had gathered around and we got into quite a discussion. We were 1.8 miles off from where we should have been. These guys really knew their neighborhood history! Right down to where the cat house was in the 1880's across the lake, where the piers were - now long gone, etc. It was amazing.

Not a one of them sucked our blood, called the cops or shot at us. Instead they were honestly interested in what we were attempting and wanted to render assistance.

So cool!

If I can talk to a complete stranger about their local history - guess what? Yeah, you can to. But, if they have a pit bull and are packing heat - maybe the next block might be friendlier....

Down For The Count

2010-08-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

So my great trip has not materialized.

A few incidents have pushed my stress levels over the top and straight in heart problems. So it is nice to be out of the hospital (finally!), but now I have to find ways of staying out.

To that end, no road trips for at least a month. Not much driving around town. No schedules that are too tight, etc. Yeah, not a lot of fun.

Luckily, metal detecting is not a stressful activity for me and as long as I keep it to under a few hours at a time, I should do okay and still get a little exercise.......

Back On The Road

2010-08-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

So the search is back on! Yipee!

Thus far three quarters and two dimes, all clad, have fallen victim to my MXT. Add to this a 1943-S nickel in great condition and I have my FIRST silver find!

I can hardly wait to see what is going to be at the next site I pull over at.....

Off The Road

2010-07-30T09:14:00.001-07:00

So, the engine in my van blew. Yeah, round two for this year. Looks like my metal detecting trip is now postponed at best.

Back to search the yard this weekend it looks like.....

On the Road

2010-07-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been posting, been battling MicroSoft computer stupidity, while trying to plan and get my stuff together for a trip around the west.

Probably my last post here unless my laptop will talk to Starbucks or other WiFi site in my journeys. But, like my April trip, I hope to have plenty of interesting stuff to wow you with!

So, here is to working wireless for the next several weeks.....

Breaking Rolls

2010-07-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

I have noticed across the last several days that I am getting a great many older high grade pennies in change. Sort of what you would expect if someone was cracking open their penny rolls and dropping uncirculated 1960's and 1970's into a change machine! Yeah!

Last week, I even got a 1955 penny with partial doubling of all letters, memorial, etc. Everything except the date! So close and yet so far from what I would like to have!

So, although they are not worth much, I still am holding on to them just in case some kid is looking for those dates and in a better grade....

Of course, this is also a sign of a continuing weakening economy, where people are dumping what they have held on to for decades because they need money and the item has not gained in value. Sigh.

Hard Dirt

2010-07-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it is mighty hot here, supposed to hit 93 today! Which is about 21 degrees hotter than what I think hot is. So, lots of water with me as I go out.

But, the earth is getting a mite difficult to dig. Well, I can pour water on where I think a good target is an then dig it. But, if I am in a lawn environment, this is going to be dead grass no matter how I look at it. Hot weather is just not going to be conducive to a non destructive hunt!

So, I am sifting to either doing a shallower dig or only in areas where lawns are not an issue - such as beaches, in the forests, etc.

Yeah, waiting for the rains to return. That's for sure!

Hunting Weather!

2010-07-07T08:23:00.001-07:00

Sorry, we have suddenly found ourselves free of rain, with plenty of shine, so working on finding something!

Second Cache

2010-06-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

I was hunting pennies around the property, willfully ignoring all of the beckoning nails that called out to my machine. Under a large cedar I had a big hit. I scanned it a few times, definitely in the iron zone but then again, it was deep. What the heck! I dug it.

Six inches down I found an ancient canning jar lid. Pretty battered and melted. My heart missed a beat - this meant it was pre-1890 and the fire which consumed the area!

Carefully, I lifted the lid. Was the silver? Maybe gold? Heck I would settle a pipe and pipe tobacco for a display!

But, all I found was hazelnuts. Yeah, a jar full of hazel nuts which had popped their shells - probably from the heat. Sigh.

So, child had a cache. Someone else was caching nuts, maybe for a special event. Now where did Papa bury the good stuff!

A Day In The Yard

2010-06-28T19:37:00.001-07:00

Well, I got some exercise anyways! Still having problems with recovering broken bones, torn quads and an ankle sprain. Sigh.....

Cache 1

2010-06-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

As a reminder, I found my first cache last year. It turned out to be a child's cache of pretty, smooth, mostly white pebbles - kept within a cast iron box, about the size of an old fashioned glove box. So no treasure but proof that the homestead had a child, whom had a cache, and probably daddy did too. Now where did he keep his?

*****

I realized this week that I had saved no pieces of my first cache find, so I headed off to see if I could relocate it. It took only a few minutes to do so. I discovered that I had not completely cleaned out the hole, so I picked up a piece of the old iron box and one of the pebbles. I then cleaned them off and set them on the balcony to dry.

A little later I saw my son was on the rail of the balcony and thought, "No way!"

Now what are the odds that within minutes of setting something you want to keep on a rail, your teenage son will be walking on that same rail? Apparently pretty good it seems.

Yeap, he had kicked the pebble into the yard and the cast iron fragment was dust. Sigh.

Back to the hole for another of each. And they are on my desk now! Like to catch the kid walking on my desk now, grrrrrrr!

Best Laid Plans

2010-06-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

See what happens when you make plans to hunt your guts out? First, it starts raining every single day! Then you manage to tear the tendon section of your left quad. Don't ask me! Maybe there was a pattern in the carpet that day. Too weird how it could have happened, too real the pain each step brings.

Codeine is my new best friend. Of course with codeine comes THE dreams.....

So, I was in Devil's Head and my detector went off over a crack. I got a pry bar and opened up the crack until I could see that there was a cavity down below and some kind of bad was down there. Bracing the rock, I crawled in and discovered that I could not lift the bag!

Let's face it, I am fat, middle aged and out of shape. There was nothing I could do other than to crawl back out with only a few of the gold pieces in that bag.

I awoke with a firm conviction that I was going to get into something closer to "in shape" between now and my next trip. As for that crack in the rock at Devil's Head, well, now I can still see it in my mind......

Sunny Weather!

2010-06-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, it is not exactly sunny, it is really partially sunny (or cloudy if you are a pessimist) . Of course, that is exactly the right kind of weather of hunting around here. So guess, what I am doing.....

Will post more when I have some results for you.... Maybe next week.