Erik in NJ
Silver Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2010
- Messages
- 4,037
- Reaction score
- 3,043
- Golden Thread
- 1
- Location
- The Garden State
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Explorer SE Pro & CTX-3030
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
This was basically a "mopping up" operation at a yard I've been hunting a number of weekends this summer. This yard has yielded about 10 IH cents and a beautiful 2-cent piece, but the older silver had eluded me there. Part of the yard has pretty bad RFI, but yesterday my machine handled it quite well and was relatively quiet where it normally chatters badly 
. I was in that area and got a silvery signal that just didn't sound right on the Explorer SE--I thought it might have been some kind of junk that was reading in the high-pitched silver area of the screen. I was very surprised to dig this beautiful 1893 Barber quarter!
A bit later I got another surprise when I got what I thought was a relatively deep hit and after digging the plug, realized the target was much shallower than I thought and it was in the plug. Junk I thought, so after much careless searching I found this 1926 Mercury dime. After washing it carefully with soap and water at home, I noticed the "die crack error" going from approx. the center of the bottom of the neck to the rim.
Last good target was a piece of jewelery--a charm or locket. Appears to be gold plated with no markings on it. It's almost 1/2" thick and hinged at the bottom. At the 1:30 position there's a place to put your finger nail to open it, but the hinge is fused and I don't want to break it. It appears that something was attached to the center of the front and the back, but is missing on both sides. Any ideas what may be inside? The piece has a diameter of 1-1/2".
My favorite find from this yard is a crushed, but beautifully engraved fine silver spoon with the initials AMA. The attention to detail of the hand engraving is amazing. It must have been an expensive piece in it's day. There is a family that was very well represented in the area by the name of Ackerman and I believe it belonged to a member of this family. It was only a couple inches deep and has been in the ground for a LONG time. I'm estimating it goes back to the early 1800s. There is a backmark, but I can only see what appears to be a script "L" ... there is more but I cannot read it. Any ideas as to the maker?
. I was in that area and got a silvery signal that just didn't sound right on the Explorer SE--I thought it might have been some kind of junk that was reading in the high-pitched silver area of the screen. I was very surprised to dig this beautiful 1893 Barber quarter!A bit later I got another surprise when I got what I thought was a relatively deep hit and after digging the plug, realized the target was much shallower than I thought and it was in the plug. Junk I thought, so after much careless searching I found this 1926 Mercury dime. After washing it carefully with soap and water at home, I noticed the "die crack error" going from approx. the center of the bottom of the neck to the rim.
Last good target was a piece of jewelery--a charm or locket. Appears to be gold plated with no markings on it. It's almost 1/2" thick and hinged at the bottom. At the 1:30 position there's a place to put your finger nail to open it, but the hinge is fused and I don't want to break it. It appears that something was attached to the center of the front and the back, but is missing on both sides. Any ideas what may be inside? The piece has a diameter of 1-1/2".
My favorite find from this yard is a crushed, but beautifully engraved fine silver spoon with the initials AMA. The attention to detail of the hand engraving is amazing. It must have been an expensive piece in it's day. There is a family that was very well represented in the area by the name of Ackerman and I believe it belonged to a member of this family. It was only a couple inches deep and has been in the ground for a LONG time. I'm estimating it goes back to the early 1800s. There is a backmark, but I can only see what appears to be a script "L" ... there is more but I cannot read it. Any ideas as to the maker?
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