Why no coins ?

[TNGUNS]

I have posted about this a few times before, but gonna rant some more ha ha. I have been in an early 1800's ghost town here in Tennessee for close to two years. Tons of commerce due to the agriculture and the fact it had a ferry and shallow port on the Tennessee River. I have dug pocket watches, thimbles, numerous Civil War bullets, a few Civil War buttons, well over 100 flat buttons (including 2 Andrew Jackson Victory buttons), countless pieces of pewter utensils, round balls, a pocket watch key, countless pieces of horse tack, bookoos of harmonica reed holders, and the list goes on and on. Not one single coin from the period (they town prospered between 1812 and 1865). Of coarse I have dug a few modern coins, as well as a couple of wheats, and 2 barber dimes, but nadda from the early years. It was our county seat with a court house, jail, several merchant stores, 4 schools, and around 100 homes. All of it is gone with the exception of one original home. The obvious places have been hit pretty hard, but have found several virgin home sites.

Todays hunt yielded two flat buttons, harmonica reed holder, part of a pocket watch, modern wrist watch, several assorted shotgun hulls, pistol, and rifle brass (oh and fart spray can... not kidding). Just took a little time to walk one of the old road beds outside of town.

WHY NO DAD GONE COINS?

 

[Dave Rishar]

1. They are there, but you didn't put the coil over any of them.

2. They are not there, because the place was hammered hard in the past by cherry pickers running at high disc. (They might have missed the Barbers.)

3. They are not there, simply because they never were. Folks didn't drop as many coins back in the day as we do now for several different reasons.

Your evidence suggests #3.

 

[DigIron2]

I would Keep walking around,if it is there, it will pop up.The place you described sounds like it has allot of potential

 

[dirtscratcher]

We have a old ghosttown site that gets plowed every year that gives up old coins for every 30 to 40 hours of detecting. Its all the other stuff that keeps us going until the next coin. The one that surprises me is the amount of thimbles we've found.

 

[TNGUNS]

1. They are there, but you didn't put the coil over any of them.

2. They are not there, because the place was hammered hard in the past by cherry pickers running at high disc. (They might have missed the Barbers.)

3. They are not there, simply because they never were. Folks didn't drop as many coins back in the day as we do now for several different reasons.

Your evidence suggests #3.

Just mind blowing when you think of the odds. Some of the sites are beyond any doubt virgin. Too many high reading brass targets and lead etc for a hunter to have passed even cherry picking. Also confirmed by long time owner. But think about it. Ornate pocket watch key. Pocket watches and on and on. What are the odds of finding such things of real value and no coins. I agree there is a reason....... just don't know what it is. I have used 2 different detectors and actually got the T2 because I felt so snake bit on coins. I can go to a local park here and slaughter em, but not to the old town. Just absolutely stumps me. I have been at this for years and never seen anything like it. Everything indicated that the town was VERY prosperous in the early years, and with all the merchants and commerce there had to have been coins. Again not arguing with your reasoning, but just defies logic to me.

 

[Red James Cash]

One guess could be that towards the end of the civil war hard money was getting scarce in the south,confed paper money wasnt worth squat.If any of the 49ers lived there maybe they took to panning or screening the dirt looking for dropped coin.

 

[Ocean7]

The old coin whisperer who only looks for coins and nothing else has visited your site many times. He digs mostly coin hits and leaves much trash behind in his wake because he doesn't dig trash hits at all.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

that doesn't seem right. 100-ish period buttons, but no period coins yet ?? Wow. Anytime I'm getting harmonica reeds, lantern parts, period buttons, etc..., it just stands-to-reason that coins of the period should be forthcoming soon.

The only exception to this, is if you're digging in dumps (like bottle pits, outhouse pits, etc...). Because, yes, zones where refuge was dumped will be riddled with woulda-coulda-period targets that people pitched purposefully. But of course, people don't ordinarily throw away coins , doh!

Example: One time there was a city that tore out the streets down to the native soil near me. This city dated to the 1860s, so you can bet we were "all over it". And right away found all the cool stuff from the right period: Old watch parts, horseshoes, slag, harmonica reeds, period silverwear, buttons, etc.. But lo & behold, hardly any coins to speak of ?? Eventually we figured it out: In the old days of wagon traffic, the streets would develop ruts. And the city would come fill in the ruts by using any hard cobbly substance material they had. Ie.: litterally throwing their reject trash soil into the the street's potholes. Apparently there must've been a source from a town dump, because it was riddled with the right age stuff, yet no coins.

But for regular fumble-fingers zones with no such a "trash" explanation, your ratios make no sense at all.

 

[Argentium]

It is not widely known today but - the U.S. went through a number of periods when circulating coinage was very rare - this lead to the
creation of many private mercantile trade tokens - and even more widespread dependence on barter as an economic system . One such
period was in the mid and later 1830's during the Andrew Jackson period and later . Another was prior to the outbreak of the Civil War,
with war obviously on the horizon , many people hoarded whatever coinage they could get their hands on to ease their uncertainty .
I also think it's fair to say that people did not carelessly toss their change around 150 years ago the way they do now . I cannot
overstate the importance of barter especially in rural areas -as the primary exchange for goods and services during these periods
in addressing your questions about the "paucity" of detectable period coinage at your site .
(many thanks to the 2013 "Redbook" of U.S. coins for the majority of information paraphrased here )

 

[DigIron2]

1. They are there, but you didn't put the coil over any of them.

2. They are not there, because the place was hammered hard in the past by cherry pickers running at high disc. (They might have missed the Barbers.)

3. They are not there, simply because they never were. Folks didn't drop as many coins back in the day as we do now for several different reasons.

Your evidence suggests #3.

I found a small virgin camp not too long ago that I am guessing was occupied with C.S troops,but I don't know because I can't find anything to suggest it but the nails.I can tell it has never been hunted,and it seems like something would almost have to be there,but nothing so farI am thinking two possabilitys why? Eather the unit just didn't have very much to loose at all or Maybe a soldier was on punishment with clean up detail,but even if that was the case I would think i could at least find a button or something?It is one of them places that seems to have so much going for it,but I could just tear out my hair trying to find something there.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I found a small virgin camp not too long ago that I am guessing was occupied with C.S troops,but I don't know because I can't find anything to suggest it but the nails.I can tell it has never been hunted,and it seems like something would almost have to be there,but nothing so far.....

CW sites (like battlefields, for instance), are known to have VERY few coins. CW hunters are mostly into it for the relics. Eg.: buckles, buttons, insignias, etc.... Very few coins ever get found on CW sites. Unless it was sort sort of cross-over usage, like a city or market or commercial site of some sort. But for simple camps and battlefields, no ... not many coins. I know a guy who hunted CW sites hard for a few years before moving to CA. And he got his share of buttons, bullets, and other cool relics. And in all that time, I think he got perhaps 2 or 3 coins tops. Not counting, of course, fluke modern coins, or coins that post-dated the CW reasons for his hunting those sites.

 

[Argentium]

TNGuns , I can certainly understand how mystifying this is and frustrating too - I've hunted some areas in Santa Fe , where I was pulling
old buttons (eagle cuff 1860's - 70's) and other old buttons that were signalling my detector as a silver dime or quarter - but never finding
silver coins on this field - so I can't say that the location has been cherry picked for silvers -because the pickers would certainly have dug
the old buttons . Another phenomenon that I have no explanation for is hitting an area and finding silver coins( or any coins for that matter)
when in 18 previous hunts on the same spot you had no viable signals at all ! I have experienced this mystery so many times , that I
have come to believe the well worn saying "no site is ever hunted out "

 

[TNGUNS]

that doesn't seem right. 100-ish period buttons, but no period coins yet ?? Wow. Anytime I'm getting harmonica reeds, lantern parts, period buttons, etc..., it just stands-to-reason that coins of the period should be forthcoming soon.

The only exception to this, is if you're digging in dumps (like bottle pits, outhouse pits, etc...). Because, yes, zones where refuge was dumped will be riddled with woulda-coulda-period targets that people pitched purposefully. But of course, people don't ordinarily throw away coins , doh!

Example: One time there was a city that tore out the streets down to the native soil near me. This city dated to the 1860s, so you can bet we were "all over it". And right away found all the cool stuff from the right period: Old watch parts, horseshoes, slag, harmonica reeds, period silverwear, buttons, etc.. But lo & behold, hardly any coins to speak of ?? Eventually we figured it out: In the old days of wagon traffic, the streets would develop ruts. And the city would come fill in the ruts by using any hard cobbly substance material they had. Ie.: litterally throwing their reject trash soil into the the street's potholes. Apparently there must've been a source from a town dump, because it was riddled with the right age stuff, yet no coins.

But for regular fumble-fingers zones with no such a "trash" explanation, your ratios make no sense at all.

Tom,

Beyond belief. One of the sites is the town water common and the agricultural field next to it. One end has an old home site that I have documented on a CW map and the original town plat. The majority have come from a pasture that had 2 1/2 homesites..... ha ha. The current property owners home sets nearly on top of one of the old ones so takes up half of the 3 total. Again I have been able to verify using the original town plat and some very distinct geographic features (not disclosing for obvious reasons). Given many of the old maps are not to scale it is VERY close to a modern topo. Many square nails etc in all 3 but I have also hit the town dump (at least it was for a period). The dump has been dug and detected before me, but obvious what it was. Sure not trying to sound argumentative as it is obvious I do not know the reason. Just again reinforcing how bizarre it is. I know these were home sites. I know they were virgin. And I DON'T know why I am not finding coins. The fields around the water common were not trashy at all except at the end where the old home was. Several flat buttons (2 or more dozen) a few Minnie Balls, and one killer New York cuff, and a watch key came out of it. .......Not one coin. I have been working tons of hours since last December and have hunted little, but hoping to slow down and go back over the sites a few more times. I have grid hunted the most productive ones, but still going to hit the surrounding areas that lay outside what were the most productive again.

PS..... will say that almost all the flat buttons were fairly plain. Gold or silver washed, but not really any fancy or dandy type buttons.

 

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

TNGUNS is this area you are detecting in a flood zone ? The coins could have been washed out with erosion, or buried deep in top soil. If the coins are not where they are suppose to be, then go in the other direction and hit wooded areas nearby that may not have shown buildings or activities in the past. Good luck,
i hope you find a hot spot for old coins, keep us posted when you do.

 

[Limitool]

If it makes you feel better (It won't I know) I'm thinking the same thing in my area as you are yours. I'm not that far from ya and believe this old road I'm MDing was used in late 1790's to late 1800's. Now I have a lot to search yet but NOT ONE COIN (old). Horseshoes, OLD shotgun headstamps, pieces of heavy chain and lots of numerous wagon iron parts. But not one coin.

 

[Davers]

The old coin whisperer who only looks for coins and nothing else has visited your site many times. He digs mostly coin hits and leaves much trash behind in his wake because he doesn't dig trash hits at all.

Seems if the "Whisperer" Visited there may be a 1860s + Nickel to be found , I believe TnGuns is a Pro a Detecting so maybe he should be going real slow cause there may be some 3 cent pieces & Half Dimes to be found.

You just never know , Usually a Old Coin Will Pop up when you least Expect it, so always dig Carefully (I learned the hard way).
Davers

 

[Davers]

I have a little more to add but I have to go now so ill check in later.

Good Luck TNGUNS
Davers

 

[TNGUNS]

Guess I should be thankful to find such an early site here in TN instead of fussing. Just seemed so odd. I have been fortunate enough to be in one dream yard outside of Lebanon TN many years ago. Seateds, my first LC, and Indians galore. Truly hard to believe. Also an important lesson as to how effective a small coil can be. I went back at a friends urging with a small coil in the heavy trash and would have sworn the coins grew back (yes I have tried it at these sites). Couldn't believe it possible to have missed so many in a yard I had hunted to death. Gonna rehunt ( for the umpteenth time) and go low and slow again. Gotta pull just one.Thanks for the input and HH.

 

[Limitool]

Well guns.... I went back yesterday and MD'ed just off the road about 4-6 ft. thinking maybe the "coins" fell from a wagon and landed on the edge more. Nope, still more shoes and old cartridges. Like you I ain't done yet at all. I daughter lived in Lebanon TN. for awhile maybe I should have spent more time in that area.

 

[Old Dude]

I'm sorry, Tn, but I am just not feeling your pain, lol. Last year I found a couple colonial coins and some 1800's LC's but not a single relic except some old round balls. I'd trade some of those crusty old coppers for a big old flat button with some nice detail if you get tired of finding them, lol. I hope somehow the coins were NOT cherry picked and they are just waiting for the right time to show themselves.