The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Coppers

[Don in SJ]

I will start off with the Good first, I wish I could say I found it but no, my son did the honors of getting a very nice 1803 Half Cent.

We spent the afternoon hiking and exploring for new sites, and had one in mind that was a good 35 minute hike for us. Funny, on the way we ran into a guy in full cameos and we stopped and chatted and evidently he was looking for Coyotes! I know in the past 20 years their populations have greatly increased here in South Jersey, along with the increase in the Turkey population. Hmmmmmmmmm

The Half Cent was found not at the new site we spent walking to, but on our way back to the truck we stopped at my "Tallyo" site and my son got a chance to spend a few minutes there and got a old button and just as we were about to pack it in for the day he yelled to me that he had a definite coin reading.

I crashed thru the brush to watch the dig in progress and as usual, there was in fact a coin in fresh dug pile and one happy moment later, he said, Draped Bust Half Cent! That made his day, since earlier he only got two buttons at the new site we found.

Next, the Ugly: The Ugly coin was found by me on Friday, I went back to the Tallyo site and was determined to start hunting the permiter areas of the now wooded area, which was thick in scrub oak, but I knew there were iron hits there so always a good chance for more buttons and a coin or two. Immediately as I walked into the area got a beautiful copper coin reading. I dug and recovered a nice large heavily dirt encrusted copper. Not till I got home did I discover that basically there was no detail left on the copper, so judging by the size, weight, thickness, it matched up perfectly with several of my William III Halfpence, so that is what my guesstimate is on that coin, based on that and site found at.

Now the BAD I was going to name the post a M F copper found or something like that but Don be good. At the first new site my son and I found yesterday, I found this large Copper, and I mean large, it is over 30mm in diameter and was just about worn smooth. It was not till I got it home and did the heavy Peroxide cleaning that the scratched in initials of M F on the side and the M on the other came forth. Not till it dried off and I was looking at it under magnification did I finally see most of the words ONE CENT.

So the BAD coin was a hammered out a bit Large Cent and based on how Draped Busts fit into the weight range of this one and they usually wear out with detail before any of the other types, I am fairly certain it was a Draped Bust. I'm sure only M F and a couple others only knew what the purpose of doing it to that coin were.

So, there is the Good , the Bad and the Ugly finds.

One note, I the site I got the MF coin at was very heavy in iron hits and after the first half hour of not digging anything but shotgun shells, I did as my son did, I cut in half my sensitivity and it was only then that I could distinguish other targets at the site.

The 1803 Half Cent was the first one for that year either of us have found, so that was nice also.

Don

 

[pepperj]

Very nice indeed

 

[Nana40]

Good, bad or ugly, I'd still be thrilled to find an old copper! That 1803 is stunning, tho! And gotta love the buttons!

Great hunt, you two!

Nana

 

[CladMaster]

Looks like you had an enjoyable trip with your son. Nice finds. HH!

 

[NJ Marty]

Just great, that peroxide works well. Does it work well on other coins like indians and sheild nickels? I always enjoy reading your posts.
Marty

 

[kdismuke1]

I LIKE ALL OF THEM. CONGRATS.

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

I'm Jealous don awesome finds!

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

One note, I the site I got the MF coin at was very heavy in iron hits and after the first half hour of not digging anything but shotgun shells, I did as my son did, I cut in half my sensitivity and it was only then that I could distinguish other targets at the site.



Don

Don,

Congrats on the nice finds, especially the first half cent for the year. Also, thanks for the reminder to cut the sensitivity down in iron!

This also brings up a couple of questions. You do not mention coil sizes used in most of your posts. Do you generally detect with the stock coil? What about in the trashy area described above?

Thanks!
Neil

 

[The Buzzard King]

MAN, that 1803 looks GREAT!
Congrats!

 

[Old River]

Very nice find, had to be a lot of fun. HH

 

[haylen]

very nice

 

[Sir Digs-A-Lot]

The flip side of the MF looks like WJ - maybe initials of a boyfriend/girlfriend?

 

[Don in SJ]

One note, I the site I got the MF coin at was very heavy in iron hits and after the first half hour of not digging anything but shotgun shells, I did as my son did, I cut in half my sensitivity and it was only then that I could distinguish other targets at the site.



Don

Don,

Congrats on the nice finds, especially the first half cent for the year. Also, thanks for the reminder to cut the sensitivity down in iron!

This also brings up a couple of questions. You do not mention coil sizes used in most of your posts. Do you generally detect with the stock coil? What about in the trashy area described above?

Thanks!
Neil

For the first 7 years I owned my Explorer I used the smaller 8 inch coil about 80% of the time, but that was mostly due to weight and trying to deal with back problems during that time. I love the 8 inch coil over the original Stock however, since the new SE Pro coil (11 inch) came out and I have been using that I find that I am able to pick up in heavy iron areas readings just as good as I did with the smaller 8 inch, but must lower that sensitivity for sure, which I have been guilty of not doing many times.

Perhaps the 8 inch would be worth a try there, but I the walk is so far and we did pound it hard, since it was such a small detectable area, I probably will not be going back there anytime soon.

My son with his Fisher CZ70 did get two smaller buttons amongst the iron, and he had his Sensitivity way down also, and remember Fisher's are supposed to love iron. LOL. Also, he has a very tiny coil he purchased for his CZ and I just do not remember him ever being able to say he found something with it that he would have not found without the stock coil. Also, I do know that both he and I have found very deep coins and relics that otherwise would have been missed if we had a much smaller coil on.

So, perhaps the lesson learned is maybe not the coil size as much as sensitivity settings to get the maximum capability in old homestead type iron infested areas, which I am sure a lot of newer site hunters think of in different terms. Iron hits at old homesteads (Pre Mason Jar era ) are not diggable readings, they must be tiny bits and pieces for the most part of who knows what for sure, since whole nails WILL be a more solid reading and the iron hits we always encounter are non-existant as far as being able to dig and identify. They are just music to the ears for knowing activity took place where you are detecting whether any signs of habitation are there or not, sometimes work areas in the woods and fields are the best sites.

Don

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Thanks for some more great advice! I have trouble justifying the use of one of my smaller "sniper" coils as well. I also find that changing the settings (sens. recovery rate, etc.) does the job fine in most situations.

I remember you posting your typical setup quite a while back. You posted your complete backpack, including your trowels, shears, etc.

I am sure a lot of people here, especially the "newbies" and some of us regulars would be interested in a link to that old post again.

Thanks,
Neil

 

[pro778]

Great find on the half cent. Looks like it's in pretty good shape. Isn't it weird when you try to put yourself back in time. Standing in the middle of the woods trying to picture what it was like 200 years ago.
I found a Draped Bust last weekend, just like that. The metal was in good shape, no corrosion, just worn out. Just a couple letters on the back and could just make out the outline of the bust on the front.

 

[River Rat]

Great finds as always...keep em coming!

RR

 

[Goldiver]

Nice pics Don, that 1803 half cent sure looks nice!

Steve