Latest 1884 Hotel Finds

[SugarSand]

I have exclusive permission to hunt the REALLY LARGE grounds of a hotel built in 1884 that was VERY popular around 1900. This is the second time I have been there and I took my Dad this time. Here are the best finds....

An old shotgun shell brass, probably the oldest thing I have found there
A 1983 nickel deformed by a 22? cal slug at one time
A gold plated tie tack? - has writing on back but can't read
And a 1996 Panama 10 cent piece!!!

Between the 1950's and now it has become other things than a hotel, but where are the old coins?

I have 3 guesses:

There were no coins lost so none can be found - highly unlikely
It is hunted out - also highly unlikely because nobody has had permission to hunt it in AT LEAST 9 years
They are all too deep to find - maybe... or they are where I haven't hunted yet?

My Dad and I covered a lot of ground and dug a lot of trash too with my XLT and his DFX, but this is it!

 

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[JakePhelps]

Cool finds!! I think someone else recently found the same or a similar shotgun shell. What does it say on the bottom under 1901?
modern coins are shot alot, but on a yard kinda strange....neat find though even if its modern. try to read the writing it could help ID, even if its only a few partial letters!

 

[SugarSand]

Hi Jake, I mentioned the shell on Rob's latest sharkpit post where you corrected me on the Winchester part, mine is the same as his but is a Repeater. Thanks for the reply. Funny how brass holds up better in saltwater than Iowa soil, some of this is paper thin. Maybe that's why the coins are gone lol... :P

 

[JakePhelps]

Lol I dont think they would totally disapear...there would be a halo of copper oxide in the soil

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Sugar,

would think that you would have found more coins. Perhaps hunted in the past?

Even if no hunting in last 9 years it still could have been hit hard prior to those dates. Perhaps area has been

landscaped and everything is covered over? Any old photos showing what it looked like in the past? Try e-Bay and

look for old postcards,(you do not have to buy them to print them), these have helped me in the past. Penny postcards were the rage in the early 1900"s.

Sounds like an interesting place to work, I sure would keep trying. Check local library and web to find out anything you can about what went on at the hotel, may give you some ideas.

Any wooded areas? Try there, may not have been wooded in late 1800's.

Good luck, again, it sounds like a very interesting place; try to find out everything you can about the hotel.

you and yours have a good un.....
SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS

 

[Floater]

Sherman has the right Idea and also they might have old photos of it inside the hotel itself. Is the building still there? It would seem to me that a good rain might help and try to go right after it does . The other thought is if you have hunted and area lets say ten by ten for about a half hour then go to all metal mode and no disc which I beleive would be the deepest setting and go over it again. Just a few thoughts. Sounds like a great place though. HH

 

[kermit]

SS,
I have a panama coin just like that. I found my when I was kid..........

 

[lonewolfe]

Nice finds, looks like a great place to hunt,

HH

Lonewolfe

 

[Mirage]

My mom's house was built in 1853. We have detected extensivily there and have found lots of stuff including interesting old "relics". However the oldest coin we have found there is a wheat penny. Here is my explaination: The soil is very "humus". You can dig down a foot in almost any place on the property(3+ acres) and still not hit clay. Any really old stuff has sunken below what our DFX can detect. Most of the 1970's quarters that we lost as kids we are pulling them up from 8" deep. Now at my grandmother's place...the topsoil is only 2-3 inches and then solid clay. All the coins sink the 2-3 inches and then stop. It was really easy cause any coin rang loud and clear. Wheat penny, Buffalo nickel, clad dime, zinc penny - all there on top of the clay at 2.5" .

Now it could be that it was hit 10-15 years ago. I am not sure when metal detectors first came out but from reading some of these posts it sounds like people have had them for as long 20 years.

Anyway...keep looking and good luck.

Bob

 

[ZumbroKid]

Those old coins are at about 10 inches down would be my guess. How deep were the finds you have posted?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I don't know how long metal detectors were around, but I had one in 1980. We hit all the most obvious spots. I used to be in a club and in our April, 1982 newsletter states that: "In two days of metal detecting at old Crandon Park, Dino dug up 286 coins, including a 1921-s Morgan dollar, 5 silver quarters, 17 silver dimes and an emerald gold ring." He used to use a white's coinmaster 5000. I'm sure we missed a lot. The places where we didn't go were the dangerous ones...in bad neighborhoods. ?Also the equipment we had (and I still use) only went down 4 to 8 inches tops. You should be able to find deep targets. How deep does your unit go?

 

[allen]

maybe the people just didnt lose many coins back then....

 

[SugarSand]

Thanks for the nice replies everyone!? Most of you are thinking along the same lines I have been.? I have not only printed old postcards of this place off of Ebay, but bought some too for a few bucks.? Part of the old building is still there and it matches the postcards so I have a good idea of the layout but not everything.? Yes, this place could have been hit hard in the past, but I know I am the first in at least 9 years.? Hopefully I'm not leaking too much info, but this place is on top of a large clay hill.? The lower areas are easy to dig but it's really hard up near the building.? There are also many old oak trees approaching 3 feet in diameter.? I think the soil is fairly normal since we were finding the old pulltabs at around 3 inches where I usually do.? It was very wet when I went this Spring and very dry when we went this time.? It is 80 acres total with almost 40 mowed, but the hilly timber there now on one side is a manicured lawn on the postcards.? That's what I'm going to hit next after the undergrowth dies off this Fall, because it leads down to the train tracks and you can see walkways on the postcard.? Barely any of the walkways are visible now, and I think the soil has built up so much that anything old may well be near a foot deep.? I can maybe find a mason jar lid that deep but probably not a small coin.? I don't think I've ever dug a coin at over 7 to 8 inches tops.

 

[johny mc.]

Sugarland- they are there and I agree probably deep.
Give you an example: there's a place near me that dates back to 1790 and has been occupied ever since then. There is every form of
metal in the ground and its been hit hard by even many modern machines. Doing the normal thing I found all kinds of stuff then hit a lull. Well I got serious-
Using my Minelab Explorer at 28 which is giving it a lot of juice I hit a spot that was full of wheaties.
The Minelab found them, they were down about 10 inches but the point is they hit on the meter perfectly
but in the headphones twas soft-n-feint. Try hunting in all metal mode mode, slow way down, and dig every repeatable tone you get. Crank the volume on the headphones too.

aloha....

www.theadventurelodge.com

 

[tsgman]

I agree with the last reply, slow down and work each signal, sometimes from different angles. And I can assure you alot of coins were found in the 70's and 80's. But when I am told a place has been hunted out I usually can prove them wrong. As long as the ground freeze's and thaws this will push coins and other objects up into range. GOOD LUCK, Tim

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

First as Johnymc. says the good deep signals will be very faint.
Second thought is that you said this place is 80 acres!! You should try to find out where the people would have been. Did they gather in one spot? Did they lay on the grass? Was there an exchange of money anywhere like a concession stand? Also check where the people walked and parked. Where did the children play? Under a very old tree might work. I'm sure you can think of others.

 

[MDnoob]

80 acres? You could spend your entire MDing career on that!! Good luck!