First hunt of 09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

time4me

Bronze Member
Aug 30, 2005
1,296
44
Detector(s) used
E-Trac, Explorer II, Excalibur
First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

My son kenny161 and I got out Sunday for about 3 hours - our first hunt of 2009. After about an 90 minutes or so into the hunt, I was getting skunked pretty bad, and Kenny had a few cool finds aready (he'll put up his own post).

I was using the Explorer II with the new 11" Pro coil this time - decided to leave the E-Trac in the car. We headed towards an area that has been fairly productive in the past, and I got a real sweet high tone. I dug out a deep plug, and noticed a silver edge sticking out of the side of my hole...

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So I shouted over to Kenny to come check it out as I was pretty sure I had a silver coin. I thought it was a quarter, but when I tugged it out of the dirt, I was looking at this beauty...

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WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! You can probably imagine how happy I was to see this Walking Liberty. What you don't know is that I've only ever found one other in my 30+ years of detecting, and it was when I was a kid detecting with my brother at the local Junior High School. What you also don't know is that I wrote out a list of goals for 2009 on New Year's Eve, and one of my goals for the year was a silver half dollar.

Composing myself as best I could, I took a few steps away from this hole and picked up a somewhat "iffy" high tone. I was in some pretty deep grass, so I kept going back over and over trying to press the coil down as far into the grass as I could to pick up the signal better. Having read enough here about "iffy" signals, it didn't take me long to decide to dig this one. And boy was I glad I did, because once I dug the deep plug out, I saw something stuck to the side of it...

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So I picked it out of the dirt, and looked at the front of the coin, and here's where my heart stopped...

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I have never found a 1916 Mercury Head dime before, and I hoped I'd see what I wanted to see on the back. Turning it over and squinting with my bad eyesight, showed me this...

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A flippin' "S". So I said a word that started with "S", and moved on - oh well, still a sweet OLD coin.

Then not more than ten feet from these two silvers, I got another iffy signal, and dug to see this in the hole...

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Not as sweet as the first two, but hey... silver is silver!!!

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So my skunk hunt turned out to be a very happy and memorable hunt for me, and also for Kenny as he found a few keepers himself. Here are the three silvers after very gentle cleaning...

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So, a great way to start the 2009 detecting season off, but now I've set the bar pretty high for myself for my next hunt!

Jim
 

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topdog

Hero Member
Dec 2, 2007
743
2
Navarre, Florida
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX, Whites Bullseye II Pinpointer
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

WOW !!!!! You had a really awesome day of hunting, that Walking Liberty half is so cool. Haven't had a three silver day in a long time, continued success throughout 2009.
 

bula

Hero Member
Mar 13, 2008
606
3
southern utah
Detector(s) used
White MXT
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

Hey, I'll gladly trade you my last 10 dimes for your one.
 

curbdiggercarl57

Silver Member
Nov 19, 2007
4,362
1,041
Largo, Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Whites Silver Eagle, DFX, Shadow X-2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

Nice old Stand, and evil, evil Merc. Know the exact words I would have spoken if, when I turned it over and saw the "s", not a "d". Bad words. Ugly, look around after I said them words. The Detecting Gods teased you on that coin. Hard, for me at least to dig those early to mid year standings. Seem to only dig them in the 1940's, or worn teens. Kudos.
 

kdismuke1

Silver Member
Jun 14, 2007
2,597
12
georgia
Detector(s) used
garrett 1500-ace 250-garrett ads groudhog deepseeker
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

SUPER SILVER FOR FIRST 2009 HUNT. CONGRATS.
 

The Buzzard King

Hero Member
Mar 29, 2005
643
5
N.E.P.A.
Detector(s) used
Fisher CZ-5, Fisher 1280-X
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

SWEET finds!
Off to a great start already.
Dang that Walker is nice!
Congrats!
 

kimsdad

Silver Member
Apr 17, 2008
4,692
24
Moronica, northwest of Chicago.
Detector(s) used
E-trac & Bounty Hunter Land Star
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

seger98 said:
Holy cow man, what a way to start the year off!

I couldn't have said it any better! :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7:

What a great day, Jim!! Congrats on the great finds! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: The photos and story are really good, and that half has a lot of detail left on it. Sweet, sweet, sweet! Thanks for sharing your hunt with us!

Looks like you started the new year in style! :wink:

I had to laugh when I saw Kenny's last post and found that he's digging up the Scout slides, too. Looks like your competition has arrived. ;D
Neil
 

nebstater

Hero Member
Jul 24, 2007
912
8
Star City
Detector(s) used
White's - DFX,Prizm V, Spectra V3
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

Looks like a great hunt to me. What a way to start the new year off. WTG :thumbsup:

Now you will be thinking that all of your hunts will be ending like this. (lol)
 

rjw4law

Bronze Member
Apr 25, 2007
1,588
180
Missouri
Detector(s) used
AT Garrett Max/ Garrett ATX/ Deus XP
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

Silver is always a booster, makes ya wanna keep huntin
 

Trond

Hero Member
Mar 23, 2006
994
12
Norway
Detector(s) used
XP Goldmaxx Power.
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

Beautiful finds........ :o
 

OP
OP
time4me

time4me

Bronze Member
Aug 30, 2005
1,296
44
Detector(s) used
E-Trac, Explorer II, Excalibur
Re: First hunt of '09 - WooHoo!! - BIG SILVER and a heart stopper

kimsdad said:
I couldn't have said it any better! :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7:

What a great day, Jim!! Congrats on the great finds! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: The photos and story are really good, and that half has a lot of detail left on it. Sweet, sweet, sweet! Thanks for sharing your hunt with us!

Looks like you started the new year in style! :wink:

I had to laugh when I saw Kenny's last post and found that he's digging up the Scout slides, too. Looks like your competition has arrived. ;D
Neil

Thanks Neil! Yeah, Kenny is getting better and better each time he goes out with me. I try to go during the week as much as I can so he can't go cuz he's in school ;D - just kidding. I really enjoy having him there with me when I go detecting - it's something I never got to do with my own dad as he was in a wheelchair and died when I was 10. I cherish every moment I get to spend with Kenny and his little brother, who is still a bit too young to swing the detector well and retrieve targets. Kenny on the other hand has smoked me a couple of the last hunts.

nebstater said:
Looks like a great hunt to me. What a way to start the new year off. WTG :thumbsup:

Now you will be thinking that all of your hunts will be ending like this. (lol)

LOL - yeah, I'm heading back to the same spot again tomorrow for 3 or 4 hours, and I am really hoping I do this well again, but I know the odds of finding another walker are ridiculous. If I can just snag one or two silvers - even a rosie or a pre-64 Washington quarter, I'll be happy.
 

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