Found gold coins. What next!?

[bonedoctor]

Hello! Im new here. Im also an amateur. Ive lived on a historical property for about 13 years. I bought a detector a few years ago but never got into using it until recently. I met someone who was really into it and told them about my place. They are very trustworthy and I decided to let them come hunt my place with me. Thought it would be a good experience.

Here is the background. My house sits in the oxbow of a well known creek. The house dates to 1936 and was built buy a fairly famous figure. a few decades later, a senator lived here. Their dad actually was a nominated presidential candidate in the 30s. There are many cool things related to this, but earlier history is more fascinating to me.

The first white man in my area is considered to be the father of our city. He had a trading post on our property, which was several miles outside of the city. It was on the creek, on my property. This would have been 1862. In 1870, there were about 50 people in the city. His post was only here a few years and it was mainly indian trading. It was removed around 1880. I need to find the exact date. There is a newspaper article about it.

When my house was built about 70 years later, it was placed in the center of the oxbow, and each end of the oxbow was cut off in the 40s. During this, I was told bodies were dug up in the process. Not much info on this.

We started to metal detect a few weeks ago. One of the first areas we hit gave us a copper arrowhead and a dime dating 1860! That was very exciting! Since then, we have mainly found a bunch of civil war ammo and some civil was era boot tips. We have found 5 rings in very random places.

A few days ago, I randomly decided to hit an area between my house and the old oxbow. I was shocked! We located an 1882 $5 gold piece! It was right at the top of the "bank" of the oxbow. Maybe 2' from its downward slope. We looked some more and found an 1880 $10 gold piece 15' away, and down the bank to the oxbow! The one on top of the bank was 6" deep, and the other down the bank was 2" deep.

Im not sure what to make of this. These coins were after the post, but before my house. Also, who would have had this gold on them, just walking through a creek area? This general area has also brought up a few things, such as some victorian era buttons and a cameo ring. We also dug up a confederate civil war bullet.

What are your suspicions? Do you think it was a fluke and someone dropped some coins? Do you think there is a cache?

Furthermore, what path does a gold coin take? Does it move up or down with time? In other words, at 2" and 6" depth, am I likely to find something much deeper? There is a 1940s wire fence in the area, and its a good 1' deep. So, I just dont know how extreme to go. After about a foot, the area gets sandy. The oxbow hasnt flowed since the 40s, but water occasionally fills in when it rains heavily, then it sinks into the ground. It is extremely heavy with ivy ground cover, and in the trees.

I have an excavator at my house today. Any opinions from the experience would be great!!

I should also mention, this area had figures like Jesse James, and many other famous outlaws. Also, the Chisholm trail goes through our city, and a branch of the trail goes through a portion of my property. Maybe 500' from the gold find.

 

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[ecmo]

What we did with the gold site was mow it down and scan multiple times. Nothing new there. We decided one of two things could have happened. The first is that it was dropped. In that case, one worked its way directly down the embankment 15', It was literally straight were gravity would have left it. I think we searched enough to rule out there would be nothing else close to the surface.

So, I used the excavator. I dug out the first couple of feet around the 2 coins, and then placed it nicely in a large flat area, so it could be searched a little deeper. I also went very deep where the uphill coin was found. This would rule out the second theory that there was a container. I went about 8' deep and it was sandy. Nothing was there.

So, I have 2 more things to consider. One was that it was washed here. I am doubting this, because the higher coin was about 3' into the flat ground, and not on the bank slope. The flood water probably didn't get here. The second thing to consider is that maye more were dropped along a path someone was walking. I will search that more.

I havent seen anything that would indicate a marker. No stones. Some of my largest trees are 100 years old, but that still doesnt get us too close to 1880. So, I dont know that any tree markers would still exist, if there were any.

I did get a better detector. Mine was junk. The new one is working good. It is a Teknetics T2. How should I run this? All Metal and highest sensitivity? I was mainly doing discrimination mode.

The T2 is a good machine. Yes run all metal but not necessarily the highest sensitivity setting as it could become unstable, just below where the tone is not chattery sounding.

Check out your excavated dirt.

 

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[Megalodon]

What we did with the gold site was mow it down and scan multiple times. Nothing new there. We decided one of two things could have happened. The first is that it was dropped. In that case, one worked its way directly down the embankment 15', It was literally straight were gravity would have left it. I think we searched enough to rule out there would be nothing else close to the surface.

So, I used the excavator. I dug out the first couple of feet around the 2 coins, and then placed it nicely in a large flat area, so it could be searched a little deeper. I also went very deep where the uphill coin was found. This would rule out the second theory that there was a container. I went about 8' deep and it was sandy. Nothing was there.

So, I have 2 more things to consider. One was that it was washed here. I am doubting this, because the higher coin was about 3' into the flat ground, and not on the bank slope. The flood water probably didn't get here. The second thing to consider is that maye more were dropped along a path someone was walking. I will search that more.

I havent seen anything that would indicate a marker. No stones. Some of my largest trees are 100 years old, but that still doesnt get us too close to 1880. So, I dont know that any tree markers would still exist, if there were any.

I did get a better detector. Mine was junk. The new one is working good. It is a Teknetics T2. How should I run this? All Metal and highest sensitivity? I was mainly doing discrimination mode.

You are doing a great job and having great results! Be sure to grid your search area. In other words, if you search the area with N/S sweeps, go back and do E/W sweeps. And continue to overlap your sweeps. Move slowly with each new sweep advancing only half the diameter of your searchcoil.

Did you keep your excavated soil in discrete piles - such as first 6 inches, next foot, etc? We are usually thinking about metal objects here and sometimes it can be easy to get overly focused on the metal detecting. But if you have some nice piles of topsoil, consider building a shaker table and sifting that soil. That will produce lithic artifacts, pottery and glass. There should be plans for shaker tables on some of the archaeology websites. I have volunteered before for archaeological digs and usually they put the new guy on the shaker table after the bucket brigade. It is fun and also a way to include someone who is not using a metal detector. And you will find things by sifting that your metal detector will not detect. And then you have fine sifted topsoil to use somewhere.

Oh yes - try all metal and use as much sensitivity, or the pre-set, as the soil allows. I don't have a T2, but on my detectors, I usually use the discriminate mode but with minimum discrimination. Or I toggle between the two. A common rookie mistake is to discriminate out pull tabs. I convinced myself long ago that there was information there - some pull tabs go back to the early 1960's; discriminating them out means losing small rings and some nickels. I dig and remove pull tabs even where they infest a site. I want to learn their age - but also I don't want to dig them again.

 

[T.C.]

Awesome finds! Two in one day...BANNER all the way!

 

[bonedoctor]

Here is radar on my property. You can see the oxbow. My house was built there in 1936. It is heavily wooded. In the 1800s, not as wooded. You can see the 2 points where the oxbow was cut off. It dies every year. Has 6 inches of water now. It mainly just fills with runoff and then sink into the ground. It doesnt run out of the property anymore. When it was a running oxbow, Im sure the water ran over the ENTIRE area. It came from the north where the bridge is. I also labeled where the gold was found. To the west, you will see an indentation in the ground. That is where the old salt fork wagon trail went. It runs diagonally across the ground.

 

[Megalodon]

It’s very unusual how clean they were straight from the ground! I have a theory as to how they got there. This area has 2 concrete slabs about 2x2. There were some statues on them. I believe this was a garden or hangout area, which explains all the odd finds.

I think one of the attorneys that lived here in the 40s may have stashed gold here because of bank distrust of the times. He moved out because of heart issues. I’m guessing he chose an obvious place between the statue and the creek fence line about 20’ away. I bet he went to retrieve his stash and dropped a couple pieces in the ivy and the two rolled away. He would have been too old to unhealthy to find it.

I could be wrong, but I’ll keep searching. Going to use a sensor that goes deeper. I don’t know if someone in the 1940s would have gold from 1880. Also, they are so clean they almost seem hardly used, which would have been too old to be his.

The US gov't outlawed private ownership of gold in 1933 and set a deadline of May 1, 1933 for people to turn in their gold coins. Its not entirely clear to me if this applied to coins of numismatic significance or to all gold coins - but the dates you found were common dates and not likely to be exempt for reason of numismatic value in 1933. There are pictures of long lines at banks of people waiting to turn in their gold coins. Sometimes such pics are used to suggest a depression era run on the banks when it was really a line to turn in gold coins. There was an exemption of $100 in coin face value - but it is not clear if that was commonly known in 1933 or if it applied only to dentists, to numismatic coins, or to all gold coins.

Certainly some people hid their gold coins in fear of raids, etc that would never materialize. I wonder if that could be what you found.

Government Confiscation of Gold: Will History Repeat Itself? Find Out

 

[ken135]

Coins could have found their way to the current location at any time, not necessarily in the 1880's. Be sure to check both sides of the creek/river.

Good luck!

 

[63bkpkr]

Interesting Cameo Ring that speaks of expensive tastes of some of the previous owners or visitors to the property. The stone likely shattered when struck by the 'mower'?......63bkpkr

 

[U.B.]

Wow. They look like they were dropped yesterday. Couldn’t be happier for you. Good luck!

 

[Truth]

Speechless, jealous with envy, I hate you in the most loving way:laughing

You have made a lot of us sick, to just walk out our front door a find a gold coin is just a fantasy and you’re living it!!!! Congratulations my friend you are now the most interesting guy I know. Keep us informed on your journey and keep sending the pics. I see a bulldozer in your future.

 

[CoinFetcher]

LWow, I wouldn’t even share this much information. What happens to the Geo tags that’s on every photo taken when they’re uploaded?

 

[bonedoctor]

Thanks for the comments guys! I havent done much in the past couple days. The chiggers destroyed me. Ive had them before, but not this bad. I look like I have leprosy. The mosquitoes are also horrid.

Ive done a lot of talking with my neighbor, who I bought our historical house from. They are my best contact on how things got to be how they are. They have been in the section for 6 generations, since 1883. So, they know a ton. 3 of the generations are alive on the property and he is pushing 80 years old.

I may try to make some contacts this week. It will be tough. The senator who lived here is still alive but in her 80s. Im not sure she will be easy to get through to. Her son has emailed me before, but its been a few years.

Its pretty nasty stuff to run a detector in. Very heavy ground cover. I forgot to mention that Ive found an old spoon I believe was used to measure gun powder. I could be wrong, but Im pretty certain. Lots of late 1800 shotgun shells and ammo. Found a 3 Merry Widows condom tin from the 1920s. By chance, I found a button that appears to be porcelain. Just lots of random things.

Im trying to learn with my detector set to all metals, and high sensitivity. With this, Im trying to see what range single and multiple coins ring up as. There is just that fine line when a different amount of dirt is covering the metal.

 

[Truth]

Thanks for the comments guys! I havent done much in the past couple days. The chiggers destroyed me. Ive had them before, but not this bad. I look like I have leprosy. The mosquitoes are also horrid.

Ive done a lot of talking with my neighbor, who I bought our historical house from. They are my best contact on how things got to be how they are. They have been in the section for 6 generations, since 1883. So, they know a ton. 3 of the generations are alive on the property and he is pushing 80 years old.

I may try to make some contacts this week. It will be tough. The senator who lived here is still alive but in her 80s. Im not sure she will be easy to get through to. Her son has emailed me before, but its been a few years.

Its pretty nasty stuff to run a detector in. Very heavy ground cover. I forgot to mention that Ive found an old spoon I believe was used to measure gun powder. I could be wrong, but Im pretty certain. Lots of late 1800 shotgun shells and ammo. Found a 3 Merry Widows condom tin from the 1920s. By chance, I found a button that appears to be porcelain. Just lots of random things.

Im trying to learn with my detector set to all metals, and high sensitivity. With this, Im trying to see what range single and multiple coins ring up as. There is just that fine line when a different amount of dirt is covering the metal.

I’m sure it’s hard but your rewards are obviously endless. Keep swinging

 

[Truth]

Here is a pic of the gold

View attachment 1746369

Can you take better pictures front and back?

 

[bonedoctor]

 

[bonedoctor]

 

[MCH]

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What are your suspicions? Do you think it was a fluke and someone dropped some coins? Do you think there is a cache?

*


Hello,
Great finds! The gold coins certainly sound like a spill. Seeing the coins were found on or near the river bank, it could be some folks where picnicking there back in the day when the river ran the oxbow and were lost.

 

[bonedoctor]

*

*


Hello,
Great finds! The gold coins certainly sound like a spill. Seeing the coins were found on or near the river bank, it could be some folks where picnicking there back in the day when the river ran the oxbow and were lost.

That’s my suspicion. I’ve looked into the water flow in a flood situation, and it doesnt seem plausible because of the angles, and the likelihood of them ending that close. I’m thinking a spill of sorts. I would like to find more though!

I’ll post some pics so you guys can see how tough it is to swing a detector here.

I was told people used to camp around the post site. This oxbow would have been a nice spot for that. We have about 35 acres here. Too much to search! But, I have 2 areas I want to hit. One would be where the wagons had a creek crossing. The other would be around a well by where the post supposedly was. I haven’t located it yet, but was told it has a 3x3 concrete cap. Because of the size and area, it has to be hand dug. Should I open it?

 

[Megalodon]

I think its too soon to open the cap to the well. I also assume that it is an old hand-dug well and not a drilled well. That increases the chances that water was brought up by a bucket on a rope & winch or a mechanical hand pump. Either way - it means lots of daily human traffic around that well and a path from the well to the house. So I would focus on clearing brush around it and also clear a swath to the house. I'm thinking "what would I do if it was my property?".

Do you have or have access to a brush cutter? I'm thinking a hand operated unit (2-stroke would be lighter) with a brush blade that could also be interchanged for a string trimmer head...If you do use one, watch for critters so you don't slice through one.

 

[Megalodon]

Since it is your property, IMO, you can take your time to prepare the surface, a bit at a time, for hunting. I view this like preparing the surface for a paint job. The patience with preparation may be important to the final outcome. I have done this for a property that I did not own, and rushing through the prep with a brush cutter did result in my cutting a box turtle. I love turtles and can still remember that horror from over 25 years ago - while the finds from the old site have been forgotten.

 

[bonedoctor]

Oh yeah! I’ll search around before I open it. If it’s hand dug, I wonder if anything is at the bottom? I do have a brush hog.