5 Barber Day! ++

[bergie]

Wow, what a day is all I can say. My best day ever. I have to give the whole story. I had Columbus Day off and wanted to hit a great site, not something where I'd be lucky to find something good, but a major hot spot. There's a spot that is off limits, where you could get in some big trouble, but unlikely you'd be caught. I usually don't go for spots like this, but I had to go for it and take the risk today. It was a major recreation area for thousands of people over the years back in the early part of the century. It is original land away from "civilization" so no development or change of land, just erosion over the years. I figured if I lose my $100 radio shack detector and have to pay a big fine, I'll take the chance. I figured I wouldn't end up in jail. Anyway, shouldn't everyone be arrested once in life? I am hoping not and I wasn't today. So, here goes, I get out to the site and it's a beautiful day. I figure if people have detected out here, they have probably gone over the easiest areas (flat lands) first, so I go to the cliff's edge, about 70 degree drop of about 25 to 30 feet and start carefully detecting the side hill figuring as time eroded the land coins would move down the hill. I see part of an old bottle and detect over it and get a great silver/copper signal (they are the same on my detector). I usually only dig these signals to cover the most area (though I know I miss gold and other goodies). I look down where the signal is and SEE, yes, SEE 1/3 of a BIG coin sticking out of the side of the hill with dirty STARS around the edge and I know it's a Barber and pull out this fantastic 1907 Barber 1/2 you see below. It's a beauty and my third ever. What a jolt! This is just 10 minutes into my hunt. Now I am fired up and start detecting the hill side more down the cliff, get another great signal, but more excitement than care, I lose my footing, fall on my back and I'm lying on the 70 degree slope starting to slide and figure I am going whether I like it or not, so I slide and land on the soft ground about 25 ft below, no harm. I climb back up to my detector and make a foothold this time and dig the signal--a 1900 Barber quarter!!! I scratched it a bit because of the difficult digging. Now I am nuts with happiness and excitement. I am going all around the place and I find a Buffalo nickel and a wheatie. Then, wow, this is great. I get a great signal and dig an 1897 Barber quarter and almost forget to recheck the hole, but did and got another great signal. Now I am fired up knowing this has to be a second old coin and it's ANOTHER Barber quarter, 1904, in the same hole! Then I keep going and find a 19?? date rubbed Barber dime. This has been about three hours and I have to go, but on the way out find a 1941 Merc! (These were the coin highlights. Not pictured I also got a seargent's metal uniform bars. A nice small thick green bottle fully intact. A silver spoon. Amazingly, I got all these great coins and only one penny. Go figure! There must be a ton of more stuff there...do I keep risking it? By the way, it's gov't land, not private. Thanks to Earthworks for taking the great photo.) The thing at the very bottom of photo looks like facing part of a ring or other item. I have to read it more carefully. Appears Latin and perhaps was for a college.

 

[alwayslookin]

Bergie....Hopefully it is not an old military proving ground area. Where they used to test military shells and bombs.....that might be why it is off limits to detectorists. Find one..dig one...dig no more!!
Good luck in you quest. Make the right choice.

Dave

 

[kenb]

Damn Bergie you did GREAT!!! fantastic finds

kenb

 

[funkman]

Nice finds there Bergie!!!! It was a gorgeous day to be out there and your finds made it even more so. Too bad I had to work or I would have probably been out detecting.

Congrats on your excellent finds.

Funkman

 

[Christopher]

good hunt!

 

[renegade_7]

Wow, I know I would try to get in there from time to time. I stretch it a little here from time to time, unless it is clearly marked No Trespassing, or No Metal Detecting. If neither are there, I figure I can plead ignorant. WTG Nice coins....

 

[madfranks]

Nice finds, I'm impressed, but be careful! Out where I live we have a "make my day" law, which means someone can shoot you if you're on their land! Is there no way to get permission? Also, I like the idea of carrying a bag of trash, preferrably from there, to show anyone that you're doing some good.

 

[bergie]

Thanks for the feedback. Let's face it, even for those who are on the soapbox...it's hard to say no to a place where you could find more great coins in a day than you might otherwise find in several years. I admit it's rationalizing, but when I was out there, the gophers or other animals had made holes far worse than a detectorist would (and they don't fill their holes :-). I've never been in trouble with the law or otherwise, even as a juvenile, and I'm in my early 40s. I decided to take a calculated risk and may do so again. Hard to give up the Barber fever once you catch it...

 

[oknorom]

WOW. we all know that huting on private property is a no-no but i think most of us have done it once. finds like these, however, make me think it's easier to get forgiveness than permission. good luck whatever you decide to do.

ps: i've heard of other ways to obtain permission to hunt private property...it might not work this time because this is government land, but here goes: gather 50 or so people. each person pays $30. offer the $1500 to the owner of the land for an all day hunt. or in the case of your government land, maybe offer to give it to their favorite charity or WHATEVER. this often works to obtain permission to hunt choice farmland or other private property but it might not work on gov't land. just a thought.

 

[lou423]

You really hit the jackpot...
It is sad that so many places are closed to hunting
Some monkey brains would rather have stuff lost forever than allow a little
coin hunting on the land...

 

[birdman]

Man! That is an amazing day!!! I would not be able to sleep. WTG!

 

[misplacedrednek]

Should I listen to the angel or the devil? I probably would have risked that myself. The way I see it, you ain't doing any damage and why let good stuff rot away in the ground? That is one of the best coin hauls I've seen in a while.

 

[JerV3]

Real nice barbers.

It would be very hard to stay away. My suggestion is hit it till someone tells you you can't be there. If it's not a historical area I would probably take my chances also.

But this isn't something I have done alot. A few times in my life I've hunted areas without permission. When someone came I just said I didn't know sorry I won't be back.

Never had any problems. But these were just sights off of fds where houses and things used to be.

My detector and car cost to much to risk it for any ammount of coins. So I watch what I'm doing.

HH Jer

 

[Silverseeker]

Amazing finds Bergie! Sites like that are rare, and the temptation would be great. Right or wrong, every one of us breaks a law or two every now and then. For example many of our members are park hunters, which is public land. Any coins or artifacts over 50 years old cannot be taken from public grounds. How many of us follow that law?

I can relate to your story, as I once did a covert hunt in a spot I shouldn't have been. I knew it was wrong. I knew I would get in serious trouble if I got caught. And I had one of the most exciting hunts of my life. Be careful though, it's like speeding. You may not get caught at first, but if you do it too much........that ticket is waiting for you.

 

[civilman1]

Hmmmmm, sounds like a place I know. It's not only a State Park but a "National" park. Someone told me they will take your detector so people have been caught. I don't know if they got a fine on top of it.

Everyone should go to jail at least once in their life, huh? Not me. I have never got a detention, 27 years driving never got a ticket,... just my cautious personality.

If you are going to break the law I suppose this is not a bad one to break. I would probably set up surveillance for a couple weeks to learn the rangers patterns before embarking on such a bold move.

Finally - SMOKIN finds!! You did well.

Mirage

DITTO!!!!!

 

[whitesid]

amazing finds keep it up

 

[Skrimpy]

I also find no good reason for such "laws" There are several places here in NY were there are underwater "ghost towns", as I am sure there are such places all over the country. Some of these towns were in existence since the first dutch settlers started migrating out of New Amsterdam up into what is now Sullivan, Ulster, and Delaware Counties. NYC at the turn of the century needed drinking water so they set up the NYC water commission or some such agency (I don't know if it still exists) and disrupted the heck out of everyone's lives (including some of my family members lives) in upstate NY making them dig up their dead relatives and move them, abandon their homes, abandon their farms and livelihoods in creating several reservoirs (Cannonsville, Ashokan, Pepactin, etc...). Now wouldn't one of these underwater communities be a great place to dive/detect? How about the hundreds, maybe even thousands of cellar holes/foundations/abandonned homes in these areas that didn't get flooded but were taken by NYC anyway? How aweful is that? My thoughts are what good are the coins and relics etc just sitting there rotting? I see absolutely NO GOOD reason that we can't detect there. First the excuse was history. I think not! How are we ruining history by digging them up and preserving them? Then it was preservation. How are historical relics being preserved under a foot of soil and water? Now they say if you get caught on NYC water land without a fishing rod or hiking gear or you will be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law (and I think at this point it's a terrorism charge because it's drinking water...yet another excuse to keep people from "stealing" history). I think it is another example of hippie tree hugger whiners complaining about seeing somebody "digging" in a preserve, or the gov't worrying that someone might make a buck and not pay the King his due. Although, I would never condone commiting a serious crime, break any laws, or trespass in such ways, I'm glad bergie got those barbers. They would just be sitting there rotting if bergie didn't get them. NYC compensated each family a sum of about 5 bucks to cover re-interrment of dead relatives. They did not however compensate them for the disruption that it caused for the next 50 to 60 years in each family. Wish I had the guts to go dive and detect Cannonsville reservoir. I might get what the city owes my family for lost wages, property, and time. b@$^@&ds. Go get em bergie!