First Half Dollar, A Couple of Cool Old Bottles and The Usual Clad......

Garrett424

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Jun 20, 2014
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So I've been getting a bit bored with hunting school fields and the like so I decided to try a woods hunt in an area I've never been to but I know used to have some activity back in the day. I spent a solid and enjoyable 4-5 hours hunting it.

I quickly realized that there is a TON (or two) of iron in the ground in this area and I had very little luck as far as any old coins go (so far). However I did find an area with a few modern clad coins scattered about including a Canadian dime. Go figure.

It looks like it was a dumping ground for a very long time and I assume that people may have been throwing stuff in right up to more recent times. Either that or kids who hang in the area and have dropped change over the years. Most of the coins are 70's era but a couple are much more recent.

So anyway, I managed to dig a pile of clad outta' there over a few hours including my first half dollar coin. It's just a 1985 Kennedy but it's still a first for me. It was something different anyway. Half's are kinda' rare in my part of the country. You just don't see them in circulation very often. I can sometimes go two or three years without seeing one.

First Half Dollar Relics and Clad May 31 2015 003.JPG

I came across a big bottle dump but had no shovel to really dig into it. I did pick up two small old bottles that would fit in my pockets, a small piece of that broken blue and white pottery that always seems to always turn up in such places, a piece of mystery metal, a strip of mystery lead and a few more modern clad coins. It makes no sense but that's what I found. You just never know with this hobby.


First Half Dollar Relics and Clad May 31 2015 001.JPG

The left bottle says "P.J. Ritter Company, PHILA (delphia I presume) on the bottom".



The other one has no markings at all but looks to be either a Talcum powder bottle of some kind or maybe even a pepper shaker. It has holes in the metal lid. Too bad that lid isn't silver. It won't come off but it's still completely intact which is cool. Overall the bottle's in pretty good shape. I'm not a huge collector of old bottles but I do pick them up from time to time if I like the way they look. I always grab old Coke bottles when I'm lucky enough to find them.

First Half Dollar Relics and Clad May 31 2015 002.JPG

I did manage to find one Wheatie; a 1957 in pretty rough shape. That was the only "old" coin I could find.

1957 Wheatie 002.JPG 1957 Wheatie 001.JPG


I believe this spot may still have potential though. If I can dig up a whole bunch of the iron that's completely littering the area there may be some goodies lying beneath. It will be a huge undertaking though. Maybe I'll try and recruit a little help for this spot. I usually try and keep quiet about what I see as potentially good spots because they're getting more and more difficult to come by.

Overall it's a really neat place and I really enjoyed exploring it. It's big. I found some old stone walls, a huge old concrete foundation and even a small, old dam that once blocked the stream that cuts through the area. They built stone walls stone around the small pond area above the dam; most of which are still there. I searched the entire area that was once the pond in the hopes that it was once used as a "wishing well" but alas, no cigar. Nothing in there but nails and other junk.

I have no clue what kind of activity went on in this place but I'm gonna' try to find out some history. I need to find some older people to talk to. I know one guy who may be able to fill me in on this place. He seems to know the history of everything around here.



That's pretty much it for today.
Thanks for lookin' & HH.
 

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cjon455

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hey if you found that wheat, theres possibly silver around
 

Carolina Tom

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Congrats on the half G424! Good luck out there, and remember to have fun!
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

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Jun 20, 2014
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Granite, Maryland
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hey if you found that wheat, theres possibly silver around

That's what I always keep telling myself but so far this year, the silver remains elusive. It'll show up sooner or later though.

It's crazy. I can dig up pre 1965 pennies and nickels all day long consistently but those quarters and dimes are so hard to come by.

I'm beginning to think that some of my spots were cherry picked a long time ago. Either that or people were way more careful with their silver than with their copper and nickel.
 

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OBN

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Good hunt G424! Congrads on the Half!
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting

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