Road Trip gets me 1st Barber Half and some other silver

[waseeker]

I had been talking with my brother about heading to Southern Illinois to hunt for a few days, but the weather was so bad I just decided not to go. Then he called and said that the weather was supposed to clear up so I decided to take a chance and headed out at the last minute for a few days of hunting with him and my nephew.

All of the rain had softened the mix on the horse track of a local fair grounds so we headed out there for a quick hunt. We walked on the track and my nephew says you want the low or the high route. I took the low route and I'm sure glad I did. Hadn't walked 15 feet and got a good dime signal. That was a Merc. Another 30 feet or so and I got another great tone. At 2 inches out pops a half dollar covered in dirt. I could see enough of it to recognize it as a Barber. I did a bit of a happy dance, cleaned my drawers and kept on hunting. We got a couple of wheats and that was it. 2 days later I went back and walked the entire length of the track along the low route. All I managed was 4 wheats, a small Daffy Duck ring and 1/2 of a gold plated locket. We tried some other areas of the track, but it was already drying out and to dig anything deeper than a couple inches deep would require a jack hammer.

The rest of the sites we hunted produced 14 silvers for me. In limited hunting my brother got a dime trifecta (Roosie, Merc and Barber) and my nephew got 3 Mercs.

A great road trip with great weather.

I would appreciate any suggestions on the best way to clean the half to remove the black tarnish.

thanks for looking

 

[tymcmurray]

BIG TIME CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still on my list.

 

[Bob S]

Nice Finds WTG

 

[garthbfan169]

Sounds like an awesome hunt waseeker!! Congrats on all that silver!!

 

[sscindercoop]

Congrats on the big silver

 

[deano]

Congrats on your first Barber half, I got my first one this year also. Thats one road trip I'd like to have went on!!!

 

[waseeker]

Thanks everyone.

I also forgot to mention that this was the first trip with my new eTrac. I have had it for about a month now and was just starting to get comfortable with it so I decided to take it on the trip.

The field we where we found most of our silver was littered with iron. I was really impressed with the ability of the eTrac to sort out the silver from the iron. Can't wait to go back in the spring and see what else we find.

 

[mikefromIllinois]

nice coins. way to go. mike

 

[wingmaster]

Great finds congrats.

 

[RONC(OR)]

Nice finds still waiting for my first Barber half congrats

 

[scrounger d detector collector]

i wonder if part of the site u hunted might have been used

for a club planted hunt at one time.

that red white and blue dime is a commonly used

motif for a prize token buried in many seeded hunts.

great finds

 

[joad]

I would appreciate any suggestions on the best way to clean the half to remove the black tarnish.

I've had good luck soaking it in lemon juice for a few days and then just wiping it clean.

 

[umrgolf]

got my 1899 half last year... i like electrolosis on silver thats not super valuable... seems to work most of the time Jeff

 

[waseeker]

i wonder if part of the site u hunted might have been used

for a club planted hunt at one time.

that red white and blue dime is a commonly used

motif for a prize token buried in many seeded hunts.

great finds

I wondered the same thing when I saw it. My brother found a Roosie at 7" and I got a Merc at 7"+, but everything else was less than 4". Also, the area was about 2.5 acres, but the finds were in 2 very distinct areas of the lot.

 

[John Deere Digger]

Nice set of hunts, congrats on the half. Sorry I could not get away from work, maybe next time.
JDD

 

[JerV3]

Nice silver haul

That rosie is something else

HH Jer

 

[Ricky1601 aka pull tab king]

cool finds, thanks for sharing and hh

 

[limegoldconvertible68]

Great finds! Glad So. Illinois was good to you. It was even more exiting to see that you trounced that nephew of yours 14 to 3. I have run into him a couple of times and have yet to best him! You give me hope.

 

[waseeker]

Great finds! Glad So. Illinois was good to you. It was even more exiting to see that you trounced that nephew of yours 14 to 3. I have run into him a couple of times and have yet to best him! You give me hope.

He normally trounces me so it was a nice turn around to beat him this time. I have to tell you though about one of his spills. He got us permission to hunt a house that was being torn down. He headed straight for the front sidewalk and quickly dug a 1919 Merc. I took the longer route along the side yard, finding nothing. We both worked the front for a while then he took off along the side yard where I had just been, but walking further west by about 3 feet. He digs a coin spill of a Merc, a Buffalo and 2 wheats stacked on top of each other. I got a couple of relics and a couple of memorial cents. So for that site he did get me, but that is ok since he was the one who got permission to hunt.

 

[Corinth1812]

IT WAS 14 TO 4 i HAD 4 FINDS......ALL MERCURY DIMES THANKYOU..... I'LL GET HIM NEXT TIME.......