Cache of coins found from the 1880s to 1976

andygold

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Location
Northern NY, USA
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800,
HF 9-Function md,
Garrett Pro-Pointer AT PP
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
This past October, I was hunting with my Harbor Freight 9-Function MD that the kids had bought for me as a present. It was the first time I had ever gone MD'ing. I decided to try a place with known history (War of 1812). I have access to a location that not too many other people have, due to various reasons, and decided I was going to try there first. The HF unit has no VDI display, only one tone, and little discrimination, but it goes pretty deep and seems to pick up on targets a good deal smaller than a lead .22 bullet.

I basically had to dig everything that rang ("All Holes Matter", as the Hoover Boys say). After a few hits that I could not even locate (I didn't have a pin-pointer at the time), I found a waxed paper wrapped bundle of coins about 3" down, below soil and gravel. The bundle was wrapped in successive layers of this paper, with each layer being wrapped in the opposite direction from the previous layer (if that makes sense). Inside the bundle along with the coins was a piece of dark red, felt-like, crusty, material that reminded me of the felt rings you put on your car's battery terminals. The bundle was also tied closed with a piece of red thread. A few inches away, I located another bundle and then another few. The last few bundles were found with me not even using the metal detector anymore. I just figured I'd dig down about 3" along the whole wall section :)

Along an attached wall, I found an ancient looking baby food jar containing 97 Mercury Dimes, also at about 3" deep. There was a piece of the crusty red fabric in this jar, just like with the waxed paper bundles.

In all, the coins were pretty much clean with only a few being tarnished. The oldest was from the 1880s(Morgan) and the newest from 1976(quarter).

2nioc5z.jpg

Top left corner is all foreign coins, big one being Mexican, and even a Chinese coin from 1950. It has both Chinese writing and Arabic numerals on it. The 2 elongated pennies have religious printings, one is The Lord's Prayer, and the other, The Ten Commandments. The dark half dollar on the right is a Barber.

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97 Mercury Dimes laid out by date (older ones on the left), at work, hoping for one on the rarities list. None found. Most were from WWII era
 

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Upvote 24
that is fascinating! how long were you out there? I would almost bet there is more
 

Just goes to show.You don't need to spend a million bucks on a M.D. .... Well done :)
 

that is fascinating! how long were you out there? I would almost bet there is more

I was out for maybe an hour max. The area is basically a small courtyard. I was time constrained the first time I was there (lunch break). The dimes were actually found the second time I was there. When next I go back, I'll hopefully find more, as I now have an Equinox 800 ☺
I had been hoping for some War of 1812 era items, or something of the time period the building was built, which I believe was around 1900 or a bit earlier. The structures in the area were all military buildings at the time of construction. Nowadays, they are privately owned and commercial. All in all, I found nothing in the way of historical artifacts at the site...so far.
I'm "assuming" someone (probably elderly) in the 1970s/1980s decided to squirrel away their coins, for whatever reason. Then maybe 20 years later, access was blocked off from the general public. When I made the find, the newest coin was over 40 years old.
 

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andygold, FIRST time out? wow, in 30yrs that has never happened with me, now what a "Rush" that must of been. RTR is right, in that you don't really always need to spend a lot for a detector, simple case in point, not long ago, four of us went detecting at random, just happened to stop at a ball field. With the four of us, there was one Minelab 3030, a Minelab Safari, a Minelab EQ 600, and a Garrett Ace 150, the 150 found a GREAT 14k gold ring. Go figure. Great find andy, Hmmm.......now, where do you go from there.
 

woowza bet u have a upgraded detector now and a addiction issue
 

andygold, FIRST time out? wow, in 30yrs that has never happened with me, now what a "Rush" that must of been. RTR is right, in that you don't really always need to spend a lot for a detector, simple case in point, not long ago, four of us went detecting at random, just happened to stop at a ball field. With the four of us, there was one Minelab 3030, a Minelab Safari, a Minelab EQ 600, and a Garrett Ace 150, the 150 found a GREAT 14k gold ring. Go figure. Great find andy, Hmmm.......now, where do you go from there.

Thing is, I feel a little ruined! I'm probably never going to find anything like that again. Probably all downhill from here. I liken it to a bowler who rolls a lucky 300 game, and then is forever chasing that 300, but never gets one again.
With that said, I now have a machine that can find stuff that other machines have missed. So, the mental spark now is to locate those skipped-over items. Would like to find some gold rings wrapped in iron nails.:tongue3:
 

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The images keep disappearing. Can anyone recommend a good, free image hosting site that works with forums. Photobucket and Tinypic have deleted my images.
 

If the pic are on your computer, click the icon below reply (3rd from the right, little pic frame) and use that to post photos.

Really want to see your goodies!

Congrats!
 

well bowling is a poor exsample --because once you bowl a 300 you can never do better ...with metal detecting that's not the case --after a super duper find --there is a slim chance you actually can do even better---tough but possible
 

One more time. Lets see if this works

Cache photo 2.webpCache photo 1.webp
 

Very cool. there's a good chance this ends up being the best find of your life but hey, who knows? Go find another one!!
 

I'd be hitting the same area for more, for sure. Congratulations on a dream come true.
 

Thats a nice pile of coins.
 

Man you hit it big, early. :occasion14: Yep it's all downhill from now. :tongue3:
 

Sheesh, insane beginners luck. First hour out ever and found that? That is crazy awesome sir, congrats!
 

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