Good NY site/below water

[bergie]

If anyone lives near enough to Orange County New York (about 1.5 hours drive north of NY City), and wants to check a good site below water in a creek with not very good visibility, I'd be glad to tell you about it. I'm working the above ground portion. See description below. I would gather there's lots of good stuff below water based on what I'm finding on land.

It's an old swimming hole in a creek and it was apparently packed with people decades ago based on accounts from people who went there as kids, but is now on private property (I have permission) and I'm sure it's never been hunted based on the many things I've found in an above ground area along the creek that's about the length of a football field and maybe 1/2 the width and much less at many points. Not only was it a swimming hole, but there was an old stone bridge over the creek now mostly gone, so traffic over the bridge probably resulted in many things in the water. I've found silver coins every time during four trips there and other coins dating from 1934 to the late 1970s. Heading back today. (By the way, how do you avoid being cut by glass, old cans, etc. under water. Seems hazardous.)

 

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[Darren in NC]

Hey Bergie, thanks for offering the opportunity. Sounds like fun. If I lived closer, I'd take you up on it. Divers usually prevent cuts and the like by wearing protective gear, gloves, etc. There are no guarantees that you won't get cuts through your gear, but it reduces your chances Good luck.

 

[lab rat]

What is the river base? Solid rock? Gravel? Sand? Mud? I use a sand scoop in my hunting. Available at Kellyco and similar shops. Still, one has to beware of where one steps.

 

[bergie]

Darren--thank you for the feedback. Labrat--thank you, I went back since my last email and paid more attention to the creek. It's actually clear, not cloudy as I thought. It's goes from a few inches deep to maybe 8-10 feet in the middle. There are some rocky areas along the shore, but mostly it's all sand/loose mud. Your idea of a sand scoop would work well. I'd be interested to see what someone would find in there with the right equipment.

 

[Darren in NC]

Let us know if you guys find anything

 

[bergie]

Great, I sent you an email and we can get together in early Sept. when I return from a current trip to Calif. My question to you and the group is will the coins and things dropped underwater in a creek (subject to heavy rain and strong water movement over the decades), still be under that area?

 

[True_Metal]

Hey Bergie, I would be interested. I'm just acrossed the river (Hudson) over by fishkill. My Minelab would handle the shallow stuff as long as the box didnt get dunked. Sounds cool. You ever do any searching down on the Hudson? Heard about some old tavern sites, and seen some gold coin finds from there on other sites on the net but dont know the locations?

 

[southern gent]

hey Bergie, Wish I could go. About 60% of my hunts are in water and it sounds like fun. The coinage will have moved around a bit. The only saving grace will be coins turned up by recent storms. I use a dredge for many of my older spots like that. I'm used to it and I'm not very intrusive with it. One spot I go to every other year has given me alot of good coins and jewery over the years. I found that dredging tecniques hold true for coins as well. I removed three feet of over burden to find a crevice. When I removed the material from the crevice I had netted over three hundred coins and a few peices of jewlery. The crevice was only two inches wide and four feet long. Think of how many targets moved down stream in the years befor it was hunted. Ironic side note, a fellow th'er gave me the lead because he had hunted it three times and found nothing. Imagine that. HH. Chris

 

[bergie]

Thank you, Southern gent and true metal. In terms of someone giving you a site that they say is empty, it happened to me too. I recently asked a property owner to search and they said it had already been checked and I checked anyway and found a 1906 dime and some other coins. That's quite a find you had under water southern gent. For true metal, Fishkill is right near me. I have checked along the hudson, but not often so not much luck. I have some good/old sites we could check out, because I've done lots of research and I seem to have a knack for getting property owners to let me check. I know a guy who has a 100 year old baseball field that was on his property. He had old pictures of guys playing ball. The first time I went it was totally overgrown and I couldn't check at all except a few spots. I found a 1908 dime right along this river where the field was. I plan to go back in Sept. if you'd like to join. As for the other under water spot I talked about in Salisbury Mills, let's check it out in mid-Sept. I am back around the 7th from Calif

 

[True_Metal]

Sounds cool Bergie, you have mail. I have a few spots i can share also. One of which I just got back from and found a musketball. The British were known to be in this area, so it might be an oldie.

 

[coin_diver]

Bergie, would be interested in working with you on this one. For private areas I have a custom built Keene dredge and work any depths. Its fun working together on a site and I drive many, many miles to hunt the good ones. Drop me a note