FLauthor
Hero Member
- Aug 22, 2004
- 770
- 203
- Detector(s) used
- Excalibur 800; Fisher F5; White Beachmaster VLF
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Drawdown at Lake Toho: Drawdown at Lake Toho
I was there when they drew down West Lake in 1985. It was a mess but profitable. Thousand of aluminum cans were recovered by the homeless for recycle. Knowing the history of the area, I detected the hard sand bottom and literally had to dig every target, heavy gloves keep from getting rusty fish hooks or broken glass slicing you fingers. I recovered a 1917 Walking Liberty as my first find straight out from the boat ramp. Back in the late 1800's into the 1900's, oranges and produce were loaded onto shallow draft barges from wagons driven out on the lake bottom to haul down to Lake Okeechobee and to market.
I searched the area around the Old Yacht club and recovered my oldest ever coin, a 1898 Barber quarter, others recovered silver dollars and halves. I recovered a nice gallon pottery jug that only a panel showed on the lake bottom. It was marked "Wm. Radam's Microbe Killer", today's value is about $85. Got it in my collections somewhere. Just to get an idea of just how big the search area is, Google Map search these coordinates: 28.286573, -81.399794. My search area extended from the Kissimmee Lake boat ramp over to the Neptune Road pier and down to the Grass Island where the old Ferry barge from the 1900's can be seen. I can't walk as good as I did back then so I pass this onto the TH'ers who can cover the distance. I don't think the TH'ers ten even scratched the surface. The metal detectors we used in 1985 are antiques today compared to the modern metal detectors. Gold coins have been found near the lakefront on land but as far as I know not on the lake bottom. Kissimmee was incorporated as a city in 1883 well within the gold coin era. Good luck!
I was there when they drew down West Lake in 1985. It was a mess but profitable. Thousand of aluminum cans were recovered by the homeless for recycle. Knowing the history of the area, I detected the hard sand bottom and literally had to dig every target, heavy gloves keep from getting rusty fish hooks or broken glass slicing you fingers. I recovered a 1917 Walking Liberty as my first find straight out from the boat ramp. Back in the late 1800's into the 1900's, oranges and produce were loaded onto shallow draft barges from wagons driven out on the lake bottom to haul down to Lake Okeechobee and to market.
I searched the area around the Old Yacht club and recovered my oldest ever coin, a 1898 Barber quarter, others recovered silver dollars and halves. I recovered a nice gallon pottery jug that only a panel showed on the lake bottom. It was marked "Wm. Radam's Microbe Killer", today's value is about $85. Got it in my collections somewhere. Just to get an idea of just how big the search area is, Google Map search these coordinates: 28.286573, -81.399794. My search area extended from the Kissimmee Lake boat ramp over to the Neptune Road pier and down to the Grass Island where the old Ferry barge from the 1900's can be seen. I can't walk as good as I did back then so I pass this onto the TH'ers who can cover the distance. I don't think the TH'ers ten even scratched the surface. The metal detectors we used in 1985 are antiques today compared to the modern metal detectors. Gold coins have been found near the lakefront on land but as far as I know not on the lake bottom. Kissimmee was incorporated as a city in 1883 well within the gold coin era. Good luck!
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