Tag Archives: private property

I Was Not Supposed To But I Did

2 Jun

I had written off detecting for the first day of June. I had a big commitment for the first part of the day and a bbq at a friend’s house in the latter part.

However, when we arrived at the bbq, I was pleasantly surprised to find a home from the 40’s and a large yard with nary a blade of grass to be seen!

I thus asked my friend if I could detect the back yard while the other guests arrived. He said I was welcomed to the whole thing!

It took nearly an hour but I eventually found a 1953 Roosevelt dime along with a couple of wheats. I barely covered the back yard. Later, I spent a few minutes in the front yard but I found no more coins.

silv

Thank you for looking!

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One more silver coin

8 Dec

Me and my XP Deus metal detector were graciously invited by Stevouke to hunt an old horse-show farm. After waiting at home for some furniture to be delivered, I headed out to meet Steve and a couple of new detectors in the Wichita area.

The site was interesting and the company was good. At the end, I managed to eyeball a 1955 wheat cent that was laying on top of the ground and dig up a 1947 Roosevelt dime that was barely two inches deep.

1947-Rosie

The neatest finds of the day were found by one of the other hunters with his Ace 250. Two things I really want to point out here. First, the Ace 250 may be thought of as a beginner’s detector but it is nothing of the sort. I believe it to be one of the best detectors ever made, let alone at the price it sells for. Second, this hunter opted to grid the site carefully and methodically while the rest of us meandered around.

The result was that he found a super cool silver ring with a replica of a $1 gold U.S. dollar. He also found a really neat silver button with what looks like a teutonic heraldic eagle and a motto written in Latin that included the words for God and Ours.

The owner of the property was very friendly and he seemed genuinely interested in our hobby.

We ended the hunt around noon and at that point, had the obligatory ‘shop talk’. It was a really enjoyable hunt.

Thanks Steve!

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War nickel and my oldest wheat

23 Sep

Today I took my XP Deus metal detector to hunt an old church with Steveouke from the Friendly Metal Detecting Forum. Steveouke graciously invited me to this site where he previously found silver.

We both found a number of wheats before I got the war nickel. I was using Deus Fast but I changed the frequency to 12KHz in an attempt to gain a little more depth. The VDI for the war nickel was a nice and solid 55 and the coin was at about 5 inches deep. About 10 minutes later, Steveouke hit a very nice 1918 Mercury dime.

1944 P Jefferson nickel

As much silver as a silver dime

I also found a 1909 wheat cent in excellent shape but with no mint mark and no VDB. Oh well, it is still my oldest wheat.

1909 Lincoln cent obverse

My oldest wheat

All in all, it was not a bad hunt. Later, we hit a house from the early 1900’s but we found nothing of interest.

various old coins

The old church produced nicely.

Thank you for looking!

 

 

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A Whole New World

11 Jan

This past Saturday, I went hunting with lawdog1 from the Friendly Metal Detecting Forum. We began by hunting some sidewalk strips and an old park. After a couple of hours, my friend told me that he was thinking about going up the street and asking for permission to hunt an empty lot next to a liquor store. So off we went.

Turned out the lot next to the liquor store had been detected multiple times according to the store attendant so my friend decided to ask for permission to hunt a 1927 house instead. After he was granted permission and we hunted the place –I found some wheats and some clad, I was inspired by my friend’s nonchalant attitude towards asking to detect the yard. Since I had stayed in the car while he procured access to the house, I did not get to listen to his pitch. I asked him how he did it and he gave me a couple of pointers.

So at lunch today, I decided to give this a try. I selected a soft target; a social agency that is housed in a very old house in a very old neighborhood. Thanks to my city’s tax database, I was able to discover that the house was built in 1901 so I was eager to see what was under that dirt! I went in and introduced myself as suggested by my friend from the forum. After about a ten minute conversation with one of the Directors of the agency, he granted me permission to detect the yard. Awesome!

The yard itself was tiny. Both front yard and back yard looked like they had been worked on, possibly some utility work. I managed to find four wheat cents: a 1920,  two 1944D, one 1956D and some clad. I also found a small brass plaque with the names of two German Socialists from the turn of the century: Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebeknecht.

No silver but the experience was worth a lot to me. Although the place was not someone’s house, it was still private property and it was still a cold call.  I now have lost some of the apprehension of asking for permission to hunt a private property.

I feel a whole new world of opportunity has opened up in my quest for old coins!

Four wheat cents

The fruits of my labor

Thank you for looking!

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