Old Silver In Wood Chips? Highlights Of My 6-Hour Hunt

[Natman]

Hi all,

It was a beautiful day here in Missouri today so I decided to visit a few schools..I had gone to them earlier in the year, but the old saying "no place is ever totally hunted out" was in my head.

The first school gave up mostly quarters and dimes, a broken pair of sunglasses, a couple of keys and the biggest surprise - a $10 bill! Nice start!

The shock of the day had to be at the second school. You know those tubular "domes" at some playgrounds that kids climb on? Some detectorists walk around them, but I strongly urge anyone who can fit inside one to try your luck..I climbed into one of the triangular openings, thinking I'd find a few pieces of change or maybe a pendant or a zipper pull like I always do. After a clad dime and a penny or two, another dime signal revealed a small but shiney round object. Within 2 seconds my train of thought went as follows:

"Oh, a pendant."
"Oh, it's a dime."
"Oh! It's a silver dime!"
"OH! IT'S A MERC !!!"

A 1941 MERC! I was in total shock! How could this be? Show and tell? In some kid's change unnoticed? Either way it made my day!

The last school was the best as far as clad goes, but I also found 3 rings - 2 were kid's rings and one was a gorgeous silver ring showing 2 dolphins. This one and the gold-colored one was found near the tetherball poles.

In 6 hours (8:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.)I ended up with a $10 bill, 4 costume bracelets, a marble, a pair of sunglasses, 3 keys, a live .380 cartridge , a slipper charm, 2 buttons, 3 rings, 2 zipper pulls, 100 Lincoln Memorial cents, 1 1958-D wheatie, 6 nickels, 44 clad dimes, 1 1941-D Merc and 24 quarters for a total of $21.81 (including the $10 bill). My 176-coin total was the most coins I've ever found in one day (I think).

Just one more day to add to your totals (if you're not dealing with the cold, snow and ice!) so good luck and Happy New Year!

Nat

 

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[ModernMiner]

Nat,
Great job! What's the ring count now? 70 something? Glad to see you made it out again.
I've squeeeeeezed through a dome or two to detect before. Great spots for fallen coins. Never found anything that old though. Maybe it was an old Dude trying to be a kid again, and it fell out of his trousers?
Congrats,
MM

 

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[Natman]

A Ten Dollar Bill ?? MAN! I GOTTA KNOW WHAT KIND OF DETECTOR YOU ARE USING TO FIND PAPER MONEY!!!

Hi Frodov..I just put my discrimination on "paper" and it led me right to it. What do you mean your detector doesn't have this feature?

Glad you got 6 hours in Nat. That's a great way to end 07 and bring in 08.

That's definitely a nice haul for the day, nice looking Merc. Congrats on finding that ten dollar bill.

Thanks Bryce and topdog, hope '08 is good to you both.

Congrats on a good day Nat! I love reading your stories and looking at all your finds. Take care and keep up the good work!!
Happy New Year,
Moon

Thanks for the kind words Moon..I'd like to wish the first person to welcome me to TNet a very Happy New Year. I hope spring comes early for you.

Poppa19, dave+bobbie, Giant056, detectahead, thank you. Gas and batteries were pretty well covered yesterday!

DayuM! Where do you primarily detect in a school?

Cinder2007, I check the soccer fields, around the blacktop, in front of and behind backstops, and of course the wood chip play areas.

Got to love that huh Nat!!
Doesn't happen very often in the chips
but hey, you'll take it!! Congrats on the sweet Merc and ring! WTG!

Smiles!
BDoo

BDoo, you're in a class by yourself, but I must admit I felt like I had a BDoo kind of day yesterday! If we all had days like you've had this past year we'd all go into the jewelry biz! Thanks again for your kind encouraging words this year.

As a newby to the hobby I am gonna have to put you on my list of heros! I was going out for a full day today but it's very cold and we have snow. Good luck and thanks for the post! lee

Thanks Lee, I'll be idle for at least a few days..you should see the wind now - an arctic blast is coming through and it'll be mighty cold until late in the week (lows will be in the low teens with wind chills around zero)! Winter doesn't know if it's coming or going around here.

Hey Nat, way to go! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I am never surprised at anything you find, because you are the most persistent "metal detectoring machine" that I have ever known. With all the clad that you accumulate in a year's time, I am curious as to how you dispose of it. Do you clean it and cash it, or what? No biggie, just askin'.

Hey Anteater, Happy Holidays to you! Thanks for the nice words, I had alot of time to devote to the hobby this year but may change jobs soon..I'll still hold on to a few lawns so I'll probably see you when I'm at JB's old house in the spring (he's renting it out from what he's told me).

I tumble all my clad, roll it and bank it. I keep and display all the silver coins. I bought a banjo with the money a few years ago. I found enough this year to make a house payment. I'm planning to save up enough next year to buy a guitar, but I've gone to every school/playground/soccer field in my area (2 school districts) so many times that I'm not finding much of anything now! I'll have to get out the map and go farther if I want to find as much in one outing as I had done this past season.

Nat,
Great job! What's the ring count now? 70 something? Glad to see you made it out again.
I've squeeeeeezed through a dome or two to detect before. Great spots for fallen coins. Never found anything that old though. Maybe it was an old Dude trying to be a kid again, and it fell out of his trousers?
Congrats,
MM

Hey MM, I still have no idea how that dime got there but it wins as the "Most Unexpected Moment" of my entire detecting career.

I found 75 rings this year, and that number won't change since today is the last day of '07. The total includes 2 more today at a nearby school..they were both kids' rings, one was a costume one and the other a small mood ring. One-third of all my ring finds were 925 silver.

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and drive safely tonight.

Nat

 

[Kirkhunter]

Very nice haul! Like the Merc...and the sound of silver...very good day for you.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Nat,

Nice finds. You always do well. I found a silver dolphin ring 31 DEC 2007. They must be popular. I hope my first hunt is half as productive as yours.

Ed D.

 

[Natman]

Very nice haul! Like the Merc...and the sound of silver...very good day for you.

Nat,
Nice finds. You always do well. I found a silver dolphin ring 31 DEC 2007. They must be popular. I hope my first hunt is half as productive as yours.

Thanks guys, that was a great day for me. That ring came out so shiney I knew it was silver right away.

The ground is hard from the cold weather we've had the last few days, but it'll be unseasonably warm the next few days so I may be able to get out this weekend.

Nat

 

[Southern_Boy]

Wow! Great deal on that Merc Dime. If it wasnt so cold and snowy up here (NY State) I would go out right now! Just doing some research right now and working on getting permission on a few areas that are showing promise. Have a great year and be safe.

 

[MR----B]

Holy cow you did good!

 

[Mirage]

Nice haul, especially with the $10 bill.

You gonna post a "2007 finds"? Marc made a new 2007 annual finds section. I would love to see a collection of your 2007 rings.

Bob

 

[Prober]

Congrats on the sweet silver ring & the 41 Merc! Glad you could get out, here in Michigan we would have to dig thru 6 or 8 inches of snow just to find the ground! Thaw coming this weekend & in the 50's Monday and Tuesday; if the snow melts I'm putting batteries in my detectors & going out...even if it is raining!

 

[Natman]

Thanks guys, I hope the weather cooperates for all of you..even a few days here and there where it thaws out occasionally would be nice.

Bob, my 2007 finds post must have gotten lost in the shuffle. I prematurely posted my year end finds last month..I thought the weather that came would end my year, but there were more good days after our snow melted. I updated the totals and you can find it here:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,123230.msg900946.html#msg900946

Thanks again
Nat

 

[1491]

Very nice haul Nat with a high diversity of targets! The Merc is quite the surprise heh? - ziphius

 

[beetle662]

That's a great day of hunting!

Congrats!

 

[Natman]

Very nice haul Nat with a high diversity of targets! The Merc is quite the surprise heh?

Thanks ziphius, it was a total surprise..I love it when things like that happen when you least expect it.

That's a great day of hunting! Congrats!

Thanks beetle!

HH,
Nat

 

[Pepper2004]

Hi, Nat. I'm impressed by your finds! I hope 2008 will be your best year yet. Of course I am jealous but I am consoling myself because you don't have a old mule\ possible bull ring like I do.

GLH,
Pepper

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

WTG Nat on finding that merc. Did it ever cross your mind that some other MD'ist with your same train of thought went in there looking and dropped his dig? It's possible, just ask my buddy Tom Congrats on the haul Nat.

Best,
Ricardo

 

[nebstater]

What a haul! Up here in Lincoln, we're still waiting for the snow to get off the ground (or at least somewhat off the ground) so we can get out. Still have about 2" to melt off before we can even see the ground. Really getting cabin fever bad. Last hunt was on Dec. 4th.

All I can say, is your schools have much more items lost than we ever find here. Way to go, and hopefully, you haven't used up all of your 2008 luck in your first hunt.

 

[renegade_7]

Wow, tghat is a great surprise, the merc I mean. The $10.00 is also great. Three rings too, a great day. Congrats...

 

[The Seeker]

Looks like one heck of a day! WTG

 

[Natman]

WTG Nat on finding that merc. Did it ever cross your mind that some other MD'ist with your same train of thought went in there looking and dropped his dig? It's possible, just ask my buddy Tom Congrats on the haul Nat.

Hi Ricardo, I didn't think of that, there were still other coins in there and around that area but they could have been dropped later. I guess it will forever remain a mystery of treasure hunting lore

Thanks all,
Nat