Captain Clad
Jr. Member
Greetings to you all, hope you've enjoyed a great summer of hunting! Wanted to share a few of my adventures for those who are interested.....
I was able to spend most of the summer hunting our "family property", a 20 acre parcel that's been in the family since the 1940's. The property itself has been farmed since 1872, and although the structures are long-since gone, we know the location of the original house, 2 barns and a garage; we also know that the main "north-south" wagon road through the county ran through the property until the early 1900's, but haven't had a lot of luck locating it exactly as of yet. An adjacent property was rumored to be the previous home of a railroad depot building, and we've recently confirmed the location of that long-gone relic too - so all in all, quite a bit of ground to cover!
This is also the first property that I had ever detected on, in the mid-1970's. My uncle was really into the hobby back then, and he gave me his old detector when he upgraded. I used it that entire summer, but soon set it aside and went on to other things. When I started getting serious about detecting the property this summer, some of you might remember the first "treasure" that came to light, when we found my original Garrett detector still hanging in the garage. I sure hoped that was a sign of things to come!!
A summer of searching the barn sites has filled box after box after box.......of every manner of farm-related item you would want, of course!! Tools, axeheads, nuts & bolts, broken implements, fence insulators, and nails......lots of nails, from good 'ole square heads on up. I didn't really expect any more than this, but was hoping for some old coins too --- but so far, only modern clad from the fields, but we're still working it! The best "field find" came on the first day, when my wife (Admiral Abuse) said she would really like to find a horseshoe. Simple enough. On our way to the first hunt site, I stopped where I believed the main barn to have been --- a rusted door hinge on the surface confirmed the location, and about 5 steps "inside" the barn, I saw a small piece of iron sticking out of the dirt.....yep, a horseshoe.....another sign?? But that was as good as it got, for the time. But the Admiral was sure happy!!
One "treasure" I had hoped to come across was a rumored cache....family lore says that a young kid was taught to count, and all about coins in general, using old coins saved up over the years by his grandmother. The coins were kept in the attic of the house, but were lost over time. The best part is that I knew the story to be true, because I was that kid, and my grandmother and I spent countless hours in the 60's & 70's with the collection......unfortunately, the coins remained in the attic after my grandmother passed away in 1976, and when I asked about them in the mid 1980's, I was told that they had all disappeared when the house was re-roofed some years earlier. Just my luck.
I hoped that I would find a nice keepsake or two around the property, but it was sure starting to look like we had been TOO careful with the coins, since none had surfaced!!
Fast forward to this summer, and sadly my grandfather passed away last month. My 2 remaining uncles and their wives have been going through things in the house, and I've done my best to stay "out of the way" while hunting the fields, stopping to help from time to time. Well of course, curiosity finally got the best of me, and I had to ask if I could just take a look in the attic. They all know the "story", so no problem, take a look if you want - well, just like they had said, a big empty space, with about 9 inches of fiberglass insulation covering the entire floor space, and nothing more. I looked where the coins had always been stored, right inside the access hole, and of course nothing but insulation. But it was worth a shot!!
I started to come down the ladder, but just before I did I thought I would "pat down" the insulation all around the access hole, just for kicks. One spot felt like the back of a hallway lightbox, so I moved the insulation away just to look --- you can probably guess that I was pretty surprised when I saw cardboard.....I moved the loose insulation away, and here's what I saw......
My heart kind of skipped a beat, but the box was across from where the coins had been stored, and we always kept them in the old pill containers. Besides, the shoebox was obviously newer, since it had barcodes!! I lifted the top, and I swear, I almost passed out........this is what was looking at me!!
Everything carefully wrapped in plastic bags -- I didn't even take anything out to look, I put the lid back on, picked up the box (and it was HEAVY), and came down that ladder in about 1 step......now I know I've got a box of coins, but we've found literally hundreds of rolls of modern clad hidden everywhere in the house in the past few weeks, and even though I'm still hoping, I pretty much know what to expect.....
Once I got the box on the table and took out the first bagged roll of coins, I just stopped in my tracks - I was looking at a dang near mint 1921 Morgan dollar!! I was stunned - I stood there for what must have been 2 full minutes with my mouth hanging open.
Once I regained my composure, I lifted the lid of the small tin - it held nothing more than a couple pieces of paper in my grandfather's handwriting, tallying the contents of the box, and a pretty worn 1953 $2 bill. Everything else was separated out and placed in plastic bags, and I couldn't believe it as I took them out of the box. By the time I had everything laid out, this is what I was looking at.....
The box held a good portion of what I remember to be the collection, and it looked like somewhere along the line somebody removed the clad, because everything is dated 1964 or prior with the exception of a few Eisenhower's & an Anthony dollar. The breakout on the picture above, from the top down: Rows 1 & 2, Morgan dollars; Rows 3 & 4, Peace dollars; Row 5, Eisenhower dollars w/1 Anthony; Row 6, Walker halves; Rows 7-10, Franklins halves; Row 11, Kennedy halves; Rows 12-16, Washington Quarters; Row 17, Mercury dime, Row 18, Roosevelt dimes....all told, 384 total coins with a face value of $184.95, and a priceless amount of sentiment!!
Here's a few more highlights & details:
38 Morgans, dated 1879 to 1921...........
40 Peace dollars, 1922-1934.......
along with 5 Eisenhower's & 1 Anthony, not pictured
28 Walkers, 1933-1947........
An unbelieveable 85 Franklin halves, 1948-1963.......
and 7 Kennedy's, all 1964, not pictured
153 Washington Quarters, 1934-1964........
1 Merc dime, 1935, and 26 Roosevelts, 1946-1964......
A side note about the 1979 Anthony dollar - that was not part of the original collection that my grandmother and I had, but I like to think that my grandfather added it to complete the 100-year run of coins, then set everything aside to be found later.
A truly unbelieveable way to end the summer, and here's a couple of things I've learned along the way -- first of all, if you always kid around with somebody about what you've found, they probably are not going to believe that phone call that starts out with "You won't believe what I found"........but I did finally convince the wife that I wasn't kidding this time!! Second, I guess it shows that we shouldn't ever give up on those "hidden treasure" stories - jeez, I was smack-dab in the middle of this one and never really once thought it would end like this!! Thanks for reading along, I hope you all have enjoyed taking a look!!
Here's hoping all of your hunts produce treasures, and I'm heading back to the attic
!!!
The Captain & Admiral
I was able to spend most of the summer hunting our "family property", a 20 acre parcel that's been in the family since the 1940's. The property itself has been farmed since 1872, and although the structures are long-since gone, we know the location of the original house, 2 barns and a garage; we also know that the main "north-south" wagon road through the county ran through the property until the early 1900's, but haven't had a lot of luck locating it exactly as of yet. An adjacent property was rumored to be the previous home of a railroad depot building, and we've recently confirmed the location of that long-gone relic too - so all in all, quite a bit of ground to cover!
This is also the first property that I had ever detected on, in the mid-1970's. My uncle was really into the hobby back then, and he gave me his old detector when he upgraded. I used it that entire summer, but soon set it aside and went on to other things. When I started getting serious about detecting the property this summer, some of you might remember the first "treasure" that came to light, when we found my original Garrett detector still hanging in the garage. I sure hoped that was a sign of things to come!!
A summer of searching the barn sites has filled box after box after box.......of every manner of farm-related item you would want, of course!! Tools, axeheads, nuts & bolts, broken implements, fence insulators, and nails......lots of nails, from good 'ole square heads on up. I didn't really expect any more than this, but was hoping for some old coins too --- but so far, only modern clad from the fields, but we're still working it! The best "field find" came on the first day, when my wife (Admiral Abuse) said she would really like to find a horseshoe. Simple enough. On our way to the first hunt site, I stopped where I believed the main barn to have been --- a rusted door hinge on the surface confirmed the location, and about 5 steps "inside" the barn, I saw a small piece of iron sticking out of the dirt.....yep, a horseshoe.....another sign?? But that was as good as it got, for the time. But the Admiral was sure happy!!
One "treasure" I had hoped to come across was a rumored cache....family lore says that a young kid was taught to count, and all about coins in general, using old coins saved up over the years by his grandmother. The coins were kept in the attic of the house, but were lost over time. The best part is that I knew the story to be true, because I was that kid, and my grandmother and I spent countless hours in the 60's & 70's with the collection......unfortunately, the coins remained in the attic after my grandmother passed away in 1976, and when I asked about them in the mid 1980's, I was told that they had all disappeared when the house was re-roofed some years earlier. Just my luck.
I hoped that I would find a nice keepsake or two around the property, but it was sure starting to look like we had been TOO careful with the coins, since none had surfaced!!Fast forward to this summer, and sadly my grandfather passed away last month. My 2 remaining uncles and their wives have been going through things in the house, and I've done my best to stay "out of the way" while hunting the fields, stopping to help from time to time. Well of course, curiosity finally got the best of me, and I had to ask if I could just take a look in the attic. They all know the "story", so no problem, take a look if you want - well, just like they had said, a big empty space, with about 9 inches of fiberglass insulation covering the entire floor space, and nothing more. I looked where the coins had always been stored, right inside the access hole, and of course nothing but insulation. But it was worth a shot!!
I started to come down the ladder, but just before I did I thought I would "pat down" the insulation all around the access hole, just for kicks. One spot felt like the back of a hallway lightbox, so I moved the insulation away just to look --- you can probably guess that I was pretty surprised when I saw cardboard.....I moved the loose insulation away, and here's what I saw......
My heart kind of skipped a beat, but the box was across from where the coins had been stored, and we always kept them in the old pill containers. Besides, the shoebox was obviously newer, since it had barcodes!! I lifted the top, and I swear, I almost passed out........this is what was looking at me!!
Everything carefully wrapped in plastic bags -- I didn't even take anything out to look, I put the lid back on, picked up the box (and it was HEAVY), and came down that ladder in about 1 step......now I know I've got a box of coins, but we've found literally hundreds of rolls of modern clad hidden everywhere in the house in the past few weeks, and even though I'm still hoping, I pretty much know what to expect.....
Once I got the box on the table and took out the first bagged roll of coins, I just stopped in my tracks - I was looking at a dang near mint 1921 Morgan dollar!! I was stunned - I stood there for what must have been 2 full minutes with my mouth hanging open.
Once I regained my composure, I lifted the lid of the small tin - it held nothing more than a couple pieces of paper in my grandfather's handwriting, tallying the contents of the box, and a pretty worn 1953 $2 bill. Everything else was separated out and placed in plastic bags, and I couldn't believe it as I took them out of the box. By the time I had everything laid out, this is what I was looking at.....
The box held a good portion of what I remember to be the collection, and it looked like somewhere along the line somebody removed the clad, because everything is dated 1964 or prior with the exception of a few Eisenhower's & an Anthony dollar. The breakout on the picture above, from the top down: Rows 1 & 2, Morgan dollars; Rows 3 & 4, Peace dollars; Row 5, Eisenhower dollars w/1 Anthony; Row 6, Walker halves; Rows 7-10, Franklins halves; Row 11, Kennedy halves; Rows 12-16, Washington Quarters; Row 17, Mercury dime, Row 18, Roosevelt dimes....all told, 384 total coins with a face value of $184.95, and a priceless amount of sentiment!!
Here's a few more highlights & details:
38 Morgans, dated 1879 to 1921...........
40 Peace dollars, 1922-1934.......
along with 5 Eisenhower's & 1 Anthony, not pictured
28 Walkers, 1933-1947........
An unbelieveable 85 Franklin halves, 1948-1963.......
and 7 Kennedy's, all 1964, not pictured
153 Washington Quarters, 1934-1964........
1 Merc dime, 1935, and 26 Roosevelts, 1946-1964......
A side note about the 1979 Anthony dollar - that was not part of the original collection that my grandmother and I had, but I like to think that my grandfather added it to complete the 100-year run of coins, then set everything aside to be found later.
A truly unbelieveable way to end the summer, and here's a couple of things I've learned along the way -- first of all, if you always kid around with somebody about what you've found, they probably are not going to believe that phone call that starts out with "You won't believe what I found"........but I did finally convince the wife that I wasn't kidding this time!! Second, I guess it shows that we shouldn't ever give up on those "hidden treasure" stories - jeez, I was smack-dab in the middle of this one and never really once thought it would end like this!! Thanks for reading along, I hope you all have enjoyed taking a look!!
Here's hoping all of your hunts produce treasures, and I'm heading back to the attic
!!!The Captain & Admiral
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