Couple more crusty colonial coppers today

[Don in SJ]

This site has produced a nice amount of colonial coppers so far, total of seven so far since last month. But the soil is murderous on the coppers, including the buttons being found, it is a clay and gravel mixture, not the usual more sand based soil, but still I am surprised at how acidic this hilly site is compared to the nearby areas of nice white sugar sands.


I found a crusty King George copper there last Monday and returned today and within 10 feet of where I found the first I got what appeared to be my second King George.


After getting a few buttons and what is its, I wanted to explore the surrounding area a bit and on my way back to the road, I got a beautiful but very deep coin reading against the base of an Oak tree. Of course I dug and dug and there was a big root in the way. I have been hunting for a month now without the SR-1 probe installed and kind of like the lighter setup, but I sure missed that probe on this dig. I think I spent almost ten minutes locating the coin and I was being cautious in my digging as to not hit the target.
This coin was a bit larger than the first so I was not sure what it would be till cleaning later on.



After cleaning the finds, the first copper was indeed a 1775 King George III, with the Reverse side being somewhat decent, but the Obverse side was mostly gone from corrosion.

The second copper which was retrieved from under the Oak tree root, was much harder to ID. Finally I saw the bust and the letters VS at the bust and knew it was a King George II Halfpenny.



It has been an amazing year so far for old coppers, nine from the 1700s and one from the 1800's and that is a 1801 Draped Bust, so it is the year of the oldies, much like last year.

Now it is time to find a new site where the soil is much kinder to coppers, or perhaps time to start finding colonial silver.

Don

 

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[DD-777]

Absolutely outstanding as always Don!

 

[jamesbibb]

Double Colonial Coppers Good hunt WTG!

 

[MaineRelic]

Those coppers cleaned up better than I thought they would after looking at the dirt pics ! Gotta be a nice old silver hidden back there somewhere for Ya Don ! I enjoyed your post ! M.R.

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

I had a feeling that last Thursday's weather was going to prevent you from coming to the club meeting. You missed some great finds

Congrats on the coppers! You are on a roll for sure! Your crusty coppers are still better than most of the ones we dig around here. Jim's coppers are exceptionally unusual for this area.

I never like the added weight of the in-line probes. For me, the greatest accessory I ever purchased for metal detecting is the Garrett Propointer. It is light, comes with a belt holster, and is much more sensitive than other brands of handhelds. Another great feature is that it is sensitive along the blade on one side, so sweeping the whole blade over the pile speeds up recovery quite a bit. Just sweep it until you get your beep/vibration, pull it toward you until it stops beeping. Your target will be at the tip. http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_pro-pointer_main.aspx

 

[jamesbibb]

I had a feeling that last Thursday's weather was going to prevent you from coming to the club meeting. You missed some great finds

Congrats on the coppers! You are on a roll for sure! Your crusty coppers are still better than most of the ones we dig around here. Jim's coppers are exceptionally unusual for this area.

I never like the added weight of the in-line probes. For me, the greatest accessory I ever purchased for metal detecting is the Garrett Propointer. It is light, comes with a belt holster, and is much more sensitive than other brands of handhelds. Another great feature is that it is sensitive along the blade on one side, so sweeping the whole blade over the pile speeds up recovery quite a bit. Just sweep it until you get your beep/vibration, pull it toward you until it stops beeping. Your target will be at the tip. http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_pro-pointer_main.aspx

I had a sunray -sold it agter it fell off in the brush after the 50th time. Got a propointer LOVE IT!

 

[Don in SJ]

I had a feeling that last Thursday's weather was going to prevent you from coming to the club meeting. You missed some great finds

Congrats on the coppers! You are on a roll for sure! Your crusty coppers are still better than most of the ones we dig around here. Jim's coppers are exceptionally unusual for this area.

I never like the added weight of the in-line probes. For me, the greatest accessory I ever purchased for metal detecting is the Garrett Propointer. It is light, comes with a belt holster, and is much more sensitive than other brands of handhelds. Another great feature is that it is sensitive along the blade on one side, so sweeping the whole blade over the pile speeds up recovery quite a bit. Just sweep it until you get your beep/vibration, pull it toward you until it stops beeping. Your target will be at the tip. http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_pro-pointer_main.aspx

Yes it was the weather, just driving up in good weather is an experience with the traffic between here and there, so with rain, forget it.

The SR-1 is the best, I love it, and do not care to carry one more external thing, I already have a camera on the right hip and the digger on the left side, no more room and external pinpointers, just are not as nice as the SR-1. But there are times I do not feel like puttin up with the weight and so far this year has been one of those times, but I will be going back to it shortly. Recovery time is not a factor for me, not in a hurry, but not hitting the target is paramount and when a coin is on the side, finding it can be challenging at times. Neil I have had the SR-1 since early in the 2000's , same one and highly recommend it, again, the weight is the only downside.

I have a cheaper pinpointer that I will use in the future for finding nails in the studs in the wall...........



Don

 

[Palmetto]

You Jersey boys are having a great 2011.
Congrats on the coppers and all the other finds you have been posting!!

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

Nice finds Don! I have had the luxury also to dig some oldies. 2 days diggin 6 total coppers. 3 no later than 1750 and 3 smooth but most likely in the same time frame. For once Im digging coppers in better shape than yours x2 on the garrett propinter, just got it and love it. Finds them bucky balls in no time.

 

[Don in SJ]

Nice finds Don! I have had the luxury also to dig some oldies. 2 days diggin 6 total coppers. 3 no later than 1750 and 3 smooth but most likely in the same time frame. For once Im digging coppers in better shape than yours x2 on the garrett propinter, just got it and love it. Finds them bucky balls in no time.

LOL two of your days equal 6 hunts for me time wise, a long hunt for me is past 2.5 hours

I will never carry an external pinpointer, I tried it with the one I have and I cannot do it, ( t is a PIA)just not enough room and I am a switch arm continously swinger. I need both hands free, so no shovel to carry, digger in left rear pocket, camera on right hip and that is all the room there is. The SR-1 is great, just an extension of the Explorer......Been there and done both, I will take the SR-1, especially since I have one to begin with, why downgrade.......

 

[bookfisher]

All I can say is I wish we had that kind of "acidic" soil here on Long Island.

 

[93vector]

Nice finds Don!

If only copper would hold up as well as silver

 

[Hill Billy]

Just one Don, that's all I ask for. Can't seem to find a 1700's copper around here other than the one from last year. Congrats to you on the 7 for the year so far.

HB

 

[micprec]

congrats!!! on the great find

 

[Bartman]

Nice finds Don. How do you clean those coppers? I've tried to use a q-tip and warm peroxide, but it tends to take the patina off them. I had a King George yesterday that looked pretty good, but I didn't want to use plain water to get the dirt off. The peroxide didn't help it much. Just curious as yours always tend to clean up so nicely.

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

Tell me about it. 9 hours a hunt sure does put a hurting on my right arm using that explorer. Then flippin the plug out with the shovel and filling it in does a number on the hip region. Id like to do some 2 hour hunts and find 2 coppers

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Congratulations on more fine coppers Don.

 

[Steve in PA]

Wow Don you are on quite a pace this year! Keep it up and you will have some impressive coin totals by the end of the year! I notice a lot of oak leaves on the ground there. I think the tannic acid in them can add a lot to the acidity of the soil. I have some sites in heavy oak forests and the coins are really corroded. These are areas that also see a lot of acid rain too.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Excellent work, Don! Congratulations on some good keepers.

Best Wishes,


Buckles

 

[traverdog]

Neat finds and pictures!!