Percentages % More keeper coins!

[free2Dtect]

I've keep some good records the last two years. I keep them on an EXCEL spreadsheet. Now I mostly hunt the sidewalk tearups and house sites where the top is shaved off. To me a keeper is any Silver, Indian Head cent, Buffalo nickels on back to Shield. I do not count Wheats. Pre-1900 coins are my favorite. Two years ago I found 65 coins (43 pre-1900) 66%. Last year I found 169 keepers (124 pre-1900) 73%. Of the 124 coins 29 were from the 1860's, Coins from the 1870's are the harder ones to find. The coins from the 1880's and 1890's are more common, I had 40+ for each of those decades. This year with frozen ground I'm only up to 2, both are from the 1860's. I gladly share this percentages info because I'll never get every where anyway. Last year was the best for Seated coins, 10 Seated Dimes, 1 Seated Quarter. It makes a big difference I believe when the top is shaved off. The old coins are only 3-4 inches down. They give real good signals. Sidewalk tear ups, the deepest coin I dug was a good 10 inches in wet conditions. Some real iffy signals I dug there were deep old coins also. Hope someone trys this and does well this season. Later Free

 

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[lonewolfe]

They recently tore down 4 old homes in a row on a main drag here in our town.. 3 were smaller but older homes (early 1900s I'm guessing) and the 4th was an old farm house (1880s or earlier). They are preping it all for new business to go in.. They have shaved off 8 to 10 inches on 3 of the 4 lots and on the farm property have only shaved approx. 30% of it to the same depth.. The project remains on hold as the winter remains cold, and the ground hard (plus I don't think they're in a hurry anyway for some reason). I'm waiting for the %#@!ing snow to melt and the ground to thaw so I can get over there and check the places out! They haven't done much with any of the lots since around the 1st of Jan. before everything froze hard.. I know I'll find some good coins, etc. when I can finally get on the dig (come ON spring!).

 

[Copper]

WOW! free2Dtect, you do alright!

Can you believe it, I've never found a seated coin? I have found lots of barber & Merc dimes and Indianheads. I think my problem is I hunt too many "hunted-out" spots. I find those tiny targets the others missed. I need to hit more virgin territory. Your method is what I need I'm sure.

A couple years ago the school across the street from us had the top soil removed and the ground leveled. That area has been used for school since about the 1920's. Also, I heard they used the soil they removed as fill for area ditches. I need to find out exactly where the dirt was dumped.

Construction sites is where it's at....Thanks

 

[Copper]

Now I mostly hunt the sidewalk tearups and house sites where the top is shaved off.

I hope this post keeps going. This is very good stuff.

You mentioned hunting sidewalks. I know of an old town that has abandoned sidewalks. The old houses and stores were torn down years ago. The area is junky now and the sidewalks are covered with about 2 inches of dirt.

If I were to search these sidewalks, would a good detector be able to penetrate the cement and detector any nonferrous metal hidden beneath them?

What brand and model detector would you recommend for this?

I would be willing to pop-up any slab of old sidewalk that produced a signal. In that area, I doubt anyone would even care.

 

[Monty]

free, When you detect an old building that has been torn down do you work the area of the foundation more than the yard or ?