Copper in the woods

McCDig

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Jan 31, 2015
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Tried a new area of the park in Bel Air, MD. This took me into the woods.
I headed to the highest part and began to get the usual shotgun casings and some modern coins and then got a signal in the 70s; down about 4 inches was the copper that is pictured. The coin diameter is 27 mm, so I'm ruling out a British penny. This leaves the possibilities to at least a draped bust cent or a British half penny, on the basis of diameter and the figure facing right. The red arrow shows the detail at the back of the head and I think this contends more for the half penny. This is my guess; there's just not enough here to make a solid connection.

I meandered back into a stream area and got a signal in the 50s which turned out to be a 1907 IHC in the same hole as a shotgun casing. Is this a good reason for digging casings? I have to say that of the hundred or so shotgun casings I've dug, this is the first instance where a coin was in the same hole.

Dug about 20 casings on this hunt but my two favorites are shown; both were made early 20th century.

A horse tack rivet turned up in an area I'd hit before; still has a little of the leather remaining.

All-in-all a successful morning in the field. Looking forward to the late fall when the rest of the vegetation is knocked down.
Finds.jpg
 

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DiverDann

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Feb 25, 2014
21
50
Southern Vermont
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Awesome finds! I found my most recent toasty big copper in the woods as well. I like swinging in the woods because aside from the occasional casing and head stamp, there are far fewer "dummy" targets and iron halos. Mostly just silence until you hit a good signal.
 

btjbtj

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Aug 27, 2016
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Certainly looks like a great hunt to me! Congrats! -Lisa
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Agreed! One of my favorite finds in the woods or field is a button. Thx for your post.
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Thanks Lisa! I think there's more there and will head back after the frosts have done there work.
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Thanks Art! Nice part about this park is that it was a working farm.
 

Loco-Digger

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Jun 16, 2014
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Glad to see you digging the casings and being rewarded with the indian head cent. I just love that old green coin. Looks like you are on a good site. Looking forward to your future digs from this area McCDig.
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Hey L-D! There's another Club member who's hunting this same area and he's had some good finds; one that comes to mind is a Rev war button, so there's some history here or somebody lost their button collection. There's still a lot of ground to cover. We've recently gotten good feedback from Frederick Co. officials (I just heard back from a town commissioner today) that's allowing us to hunt in larger regional parks. This type of land was all settled farmland. Should be hitting one of those next week.
 

Trezurehunter

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Nice finds McCdig. If I were you, I would dig it all (casings) so when you get home, you dont have to worry about "what if ?"
 

ScaredOfClowns

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Apr 21, 2012
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Bucks County, PA
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Cool finds! How thick is that copper? British coppers are generally a good deal thinner than US coppers, so that might be a clue. I'm leaning towards a British half cent.
 

Gridwalker306

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Nice job, and congrats of finding the IH cent in with the shotgun head.

I have a couple of spots that are absolutely filled with shotgun heads, it gets tiring as sometimes I can come home with over 100 on a long digging day. One day years ago I was getting fed up with them, but the next one I dug was an 1892 2 ORE Norwegian coin. It sounded just like the shotgun head stamp. Ever since then I don't like to leave them. Also, GOLD coins can be in the same range.

Not sure what it's like on your machine, but the shotgun heads ring up around 74 on my Deus. When detecting from other directions they usually bounce from the high 60's to the mid 80's. That usually tells me what it is. Even so, I can't not dig it.
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Thx J. Cache! I found myself getting tired of digging the shotgun heads. You'd think with that brass it would give a VDI in the 70s, but not so with my F75. I can get anywhere from the 30s to the 60s for these and most of the time the tone is choppy. Buttons and coins are solid tones. A couple hunts ago I had a tombac button give a VDI just under 30. Much more to learn about signals, but I'll continue to dig all but what I think is can slaw.
 

Chizzy

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Nice goin' again, McCDig!! Those shotgun heads are common in my area. "Pennsylvania Pull Tabs".........lol. I find 'em in parks, schools, farms, fields, city residential lots......... literally everywhere.And, I've also found coins along side them several times. Keep diggin' and showing us your great finds.............
 

Oct 5, 2014
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Love the old coppers! :occasion14:
 

civil_war22

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Funny you show those two casings there. I remember back 20 years ago when I hunted our old farm that those two right there were the ones I found quite regularly. I used to get so sick of digging them but I couldn't pass them up and afford to miss a button.
 

ScaredOfClowns

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Apr 21, 2012
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PA resident here - in the woods where I often detect, shotgun headstamps are everywhere - I find a few dozen every time I hunt there. They ring up in the mid-range (50-60 on my AT Pro), and sometimes I'm tempted not to dig them, but I usually do. Last year in those woods I found a silver 3-cent trime that rang up in the same range - it would have been a shame to walk past that signal.
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Thx ScaredofClowns! I appreciate that reminder. Sounds like our machines respond similarly.
 

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McCDig

McCDig

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Thx DALTON! I agree with you. The shaky signal I usually get with a headstamp makes me pretty certain I know what I'm swinging over, but I must dig in hope that it may something quite surprising!
 

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