Large Cents in Minnesota??

bk

Bronze Member
Jan 19, 2005
1,423
65
SE Minnesota
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE pro, Minelab Explorer XS, Garrett Freedom II (3), Garrett pro-pointer.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I've found several.
1) 1831 found at street construction project in Northfield.
2) 1831(?) found in street construction project in Kellogg.
3) Flowing hair variety 1796-1807 Date unreadable. found in High Forrest.
4) 1846 found in Spring Valley park during installation of playground equipment.
5) 1853 found in "Old" Concord park.
They are out there, but you need to be in an older area. It helps to have a dug up site as well.
 

OP
OP
GavinoGambino

GavinoGambino

Full Member
Oct 14, 2014
120
177
Twin Cities
Detector(s) used
AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Welp, Fellas...I came here and started this thread over 5 years ago looking for even a glimmer of hope that one day, just maybe, I could stumble across a Largie in Minnesota. Well guess what? Yesterday was that day!!!

First of all I need to start off by saying, even though I claimed in my original post that If I ever found a Largie in MN that I would probably **** my pants. Well, I didn't lol. But I nearly did!

So heres my story. Read if you'd like! I think everything about this story you will read below, perfectly encapsulates the reasons why this hobby is so fun and rewarding.

Storytime:

I was looking over a map of Lakeville from 1879, specifically looking for school houses to see if those places were still farm fields or parks, today. I found one that fit the criteria. Next, I searched the internet for the school house number, along with 'Lakeville Township' and sure enough, a result came up of an account from 1882 recording the history of Lakeville. (I think it was for record keeping of early Dakota County). It said, that in 1879 a schoolhouse burned down and when the district went to rebuild, they determined this was a perfect time to create a new district and move the location of the burnt schoolhouse, down the road.

So, I found a starting date, 1879 and where this new school was located. I then went to the oldest aerial of the area and in 1937, that schoolhouse did not exist. So i had a time period for the site of 1879 to at most, 1937. Nice and old. Got permission from the land owner, (he will be building houses here very soon so I feel lucky and grateful that I got to save this history before it was gone forever).

Anyway, I found the site of the schoolhouse. Foundation stone still there, bricks everywhere and glass on the surface. It was the definition of a nail bed. Fast forward about a month, i’ve moved much further out into the field and I stumble across the absolute greatest signal i’ve ever come across. Not kidding. Dead 91 on my AT Pro, tight, 2 inches down. Now, I was convinced this was a half dollar cause thats a half dollar signal. I was amped because the silver half is my 'White Whale'.

(Somehow, in 7 years of very consistent and regular detecting, I've never found a silver half. Crazy, I know, but thats kind of why this hobby is the best, you can never predict what you're going to find!)

I pinpoint the signal, again, totally convinced this is my first half and at this point I didn't care if it was a 'Franklin' or a 'Walker' or whatever, I just wanted to scratch it off my bucket list. But when I popped that hole open and saw a big round edge staring at me, I didn't know what to think. I first thought, "could this be one of those black silver coins, the ones you sometimes find in low, watery areas?" Then I thought, "could this be another British copper?" (I found an 1869 British Half Penny at this site the week before) But when I went to pull it out of the dirt clod and it fell to the bottom of the hole, I saw the thickness and I knew. I needed to confirm it to believe it, but I knew!

Once I wiped it off enough to expose the "One Cent" I went wild. :laughing9: I started screaming and jumping up and down! I couldn't believe it. I wanted to rub it so much more than I already had, but all of the copper coins id pulled out of this field before this were horribly chewed up from fertilizer so I knew I shouldn't. I wanted that date so bad because this was going to be my oldest ever dug coin and I needed that date for a benchmark!

Well, i go home to try and reveal a date and all I can get is the first 3 numbers, 1,8,5. So I don’t know what the actual date is yet and maybe never will, but boy, what an experience!!

Everything about this is what I love about metal detecting, the work put into finding these spots, getting permission, doing the work on the ground and then the surprise of finding something totally un expected. Its just the greatest hobby there is!

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Capone

Sr. Member
Apr 28, 2017
298
1,028
MINNESOTA
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS II, Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice work!

Also, I just realized I never responded to your question on the first page about where in MN I found my half cent. It wasn't near Fort Snelling. It was in the North Metro. Shoot me a PM if you want to know the city.

Congrats on the largie! I am yet to find one.
 

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