Oldest and Next Oldest from 100 year old House

mountainplayer

Hero Member
Oct 10, 2006
611
22
Way Northern California
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Ace 250 & Minelab EX2
Hi everyone. Been a while since I've dug any holes, and even longer since I had anything decent to post. I received permission to hunt a 100+ year old home in a town a bit south of mine. The elevation is much lower, so the ground isn't frozen to the depths that it is in my hometown. The home is also south facing, so it gets a chance to thaw every afternoon.

I hit the site the first time in the mid afternoon, and found that other than the north side of the house, I was able to get my digging tool into the ground without problems. After a quick walk-around, I decided to hit the side yard adjacent to a crumbling concrete walkway. First signal I dug was a fired .45 slug at 5"; must have been shooting at a gopher. I continued on track, and ended up in a small 10' x 10' area of the yard that was separated from the rest by a low concrete wall. Two old overgrown fruit trees were in this square, along with every apple that the trees produced rotting on the ground...had to kick them away with my foot to get the coil to the ground...what a mess. Second signal of the day was bouncing between nickle and pull tab. I pulled the plug, and saw the edge of the coin sticking out of it at about 3" depth. Grabbed it, gave it a quick wipe and saw 1903 peeking out at me. My previous oldest coin was 1930, so I barely kept from giving a holler (lots of neighbors and I was feeling a bit self conscious anyway). My oldest coin and my first V Nickle! Continued on and found 7 or 8 clad coins at depths of 5-7" (my heart was pounding every time I got a good deep signal because I just knew it had to be an oldie) until my cell phone started ringing and had to head back to work.

After the longest three days of my life, I managed to hit the site again for 2 hours. Found a few more clad coins, the corroded fired .45 casing from the bullet I'd found before, and at 2" a 1920D Wheat penny. What's up with the old stuff being shallow? At any rate, here's the pics.

P.S. I included the old hunting/fishing license frame in this thread even though it was not found at the old house site. This one was found at a forest service station that was built in 1930 (and where I found my previous oldest coin, a 1930 Wheat).

Hope you all enjoy the pics.

MP
 

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DetectorBase

Full Member
Dec 31, 2006
230
2
Montana
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Minelab Explorer SE w/SunRay X-1, X-5 and X-8 / Whites XLT / Whites GM3
Great finds! Nice job on the 'V'!

DB
 

DiggerBug

Sr. Member
Oct 28, 2006
473
13
Bama
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White's DFX
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congratulations on your first and oldest! There's gotta be more there. Happy Hunting!
 

Nashoba

Bronze Member
Sep 20, 2006
1,400
17
Washington and Oregon
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Garret Ace250/Prospecter Bounty hunter(Backup)
Still waiting on my first V nickel. Definitely a cool dig!
Congratulations and keep swinging'
~Nash~
 

halfdime

Silver Member
Oct 31, 2006
4,499
1,429
Zelienople
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Hey, that 20D is sharp! Must have been pretty new when dropped. Keep on searchin!
 

Ant

Silver Member
Aug 6, 2006
3,389
554
Cali
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Glold Bug 2 MineLab SE
Those are some of the nicest coins I've seen dug in our heavy mineralized California soil. Great going.
 

Ridley

Bronze Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,972
11
North Carolina
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White's Classic SLII and the E series DFX and the Minelab ExplorerII
Congratulations on the coins.

I'd be excited about finding a V nickel too!



Ridley
 

emesis

Full Member
Mar 12, 2006
131
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
good job! I've noticed there is no rhyme or reason for coin depths. Have found memorial pennies at 9" and found silver dimes at 1", go figure.


PFP
 

OP
OP
mountainplayer

mountainplayer

Hero Member
Oct 10, 2006
611
22
Way Northern California
Detector(s) used
Ace 250 & Minelab EX2
Thanks to everyone for all of the positive comments. I was pretty thrilled with both of the coins, but especially the V nickle. Not valuable (the day I found it, there was one on E bay for $3.22), but I wouldn't take $50 if I was offered. The thrill when I revealed the 1903 was indescribable.

Ant, I've followed your posts and have been really impressed with your CA finds. In my area, the condition of dug coins seems to be hit/miss. The V nickle is in amazing condition considering the material its made from and the length of time its likely to have been in the ground (not to mention several years of rotting fruit on top of it contributing to the acidity of the soil). The 20 Wheat is also extremely detailed. On the other hand, I've found 60's and 70's coins that were corroded beyond recognition. It seems that the only thing I can rely on is that the silver is usually in beautiful condition. Hey, I just got an idea...I'll concentrate on finding just the silver coins! Yeah, that's the ticket!

MP

MP
 

Charlene

Bronze Member
Feb 1, 2006
1,062
5
SE, Virginia
Detector(s) used
MineLab Excal II & Bounty Hunter Land Star
I was all wound up in your story UNTIL.... the cell phone rang and you had to go back to work. Don't you just hate when that happens, lol. Its like they know when we're having a good time. But I'm glad to read that you were able to get back, it sounds like an exciting site.
Thanks for sharing and dig it!
 

Moonshadow

Silver Member
Sep 25, 2004
3,257
128
Aiken, SC
Detector(s) used
Ace 250
Neil in West Jersey said:
That V Nickel is in awesome shape!

WTG!!!

I totally agree!! My 1908 is beautiful....but you can hardly make out the "V" on the back. I'm very jealous >:(...... ;)

HH,
Moon
 

OP
OP
mountainplayer

mountainplayer

Hero Member
Oct 10, 2006
611
22
Way Northern California
Detector(s) used
Ace 250 & Minelab EX2
Thanks for more nice comments. I've got to admit, the good lighting and the sunlight have something to do with how nice the coins look. Not to mention, a new digital camera.

MP
 

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