sandgroper
Elite Member
I finally had a day off school today, so I did my research and came up with the plan to hunt a few curb strips on the way to an old house site, before finishing the day off at an old park I’ve been to a few times before. The forecast was rather disappointing; 100% chance of rain and only 17ºC (62F), but that wasn’t going to stop me.
The first target for the day was a 1952 halfpenny followed by a 1913 halfpenny on the same verge. More than two hours passed until I found my next old coin, half of that time I spent under trees waiting for it to stop raining, but I still managed a few dollars in modern coins.
The next old coin was also my first silver for the day, namely a 1902 English sixpence. On the same verge I also found a 1951 penny. Shortly afterwards I arrived at the site and noticed how overgrown it was, quite surprising as the house had only been recently demolished. There were plenty of high tone targets around, so it probably hadn’t been detected before. 20 minutes into the hunt I get a solid 12:45 on the CTX, at a depth of 5cm, so I was really hoping it’d be a silver coin. I scrape away the top layer of soil, and there it was, a silver rim. Turned out to be a 1916 shilling, I was quite happy to have found it, as I don’t often find these earlier shillings. I got a bit carried away with trying to make out details on the coin, and before I knew it, it started pouring down with rain. Thankfully there was a bus stop shelter nearby, and I got there just in time so I wasn't entirely drenched!
15 minutes, and a well deserved lunch later, I was back on the site. The weeds were now quite wet, so it didn’t take long until my shoes were soaked. I had almost finished gridding the site, when I got a 12:36/37 on the CTX. Turned out to be a bent piece of brass - or so I thought. I was about to throw it to my other junk, when I saw some patterns on it. Upon closer inspection, I found out it was a rising sun hat badge! It’s a little bit bent, but I don’t care, it’s my first and it’s been on my bucket list for a long time now, so I was super thrilled to have found it. These badges were worn by Australian soldiers in both World Wars. I found another halfpenny at this site, and I had more or less covered the site (was only a small house) so I moved on, to a park I’ve been to a few times in the past.
The first good signal was a 1951 threepence (I’m cherry-picking the best signal). Over the next two hours, I dug quite a few pennies and halfpennies, another silver threepence (1899) and an old “Western Australia Police Force” button. It was almost time to head home, but I had noticed another verge beside the park which I wanted to quickly go over. I walked over there, turned the detector on and noticed how chattery the detector became (probably from nearby interference). On my second swing, I got a 12:45 at 5cm right next to the path. Thinking back to how earlier in the day the same signal was a shilling, I thought to myself “no way this is another shilling”. And sure enough, it was another shilling, 1922! I haven’t found an early Australian shilling in nearly two years, and now I’ve found two on the same day! Needless to say, I was stoked!
Overall, I had an awesome day! Found 15 old coins, the rising sun badge, a police officer’s button and $18.73 in change!
Ty for looking, if you’re still reading here, thanks for bearing with me, I know it’s a rather long post, but these days don’t happen often. Good luck out there!
The first target for the day was a 1952 halfpenny followed by a 1913 halfpenny on the same verge. More than two hours passed until I found my next old coin, half of that time I spent under trees waiting for it to stop raining, but I still managed a few dollars in modern coins.
The next old coin was also my first silver for the day, namely a 1902 English sixpence. On the same verge I also found a 1951 penny. Shortly afterwards I arrived at the site and noticed how overgrown it was, quite surprising as the house had only been recently demolished. There were plenty of high tone targets around, so it probably hadn’t been detected before. 20 minutes into the hunt I get a solid 12:45 on the CTX, at a depth of 5cm, so I was really hoping it’d be a silver coin. I scrape away the top layer of soil, and there it was, a silver rim. Turned out to be a 1916 shilling, I was quite happy to have found it, as I don’t often find these earlier shillings. I got a bit carried away with trying to make out details on the coin, and before I knew it, it started pouring down with rain. Thankfully there was a bus stop shelter nearby, and I got there just in time so I wasn't entirely drenched!
15 minutes, and a well deserved lunch later, I was back on the site. The weeds were now quite wet, so it didn’t take long until my shoes were soaked. I had almost finished gridding the site, when I got a 12:36/37 on the CTX. Turned out to be a bent piece of brass - or so I thought. I was about to throw it to my other junk, when I saw some patterns on it. Upon closer inspection, I found out it was a rising sun hat badge! It’s a little bit bent, but I don’t care, it’s my first and it’s been on my bucket list for a long time now, so I was super thrilled to have found it. These badges were worn by Australian soldiers in both World Wars. I found another halfpenny at this site, and I had more or less covered the site (was only a small house) so I moved on, to a park I’ve been to a few times in the past.
The first good signal was a 1951 threepence (I’m cherry-picking the best signal). Over the next two hours, I dug quite a few pennies and halfpennies, another silver threepence (1899) and an old “Western Australia Police Force” button. It was almost time to head home, but I had noticed another verge beside the park which I wanted to quickly go over. I walked over there, turned the detector on and noticed how chattery the detector became (probably from nearby interference). On my second swing, I got a 12:45 at 5cm right next to the path. Thinking back to how earlier in the day the same signal was a shilling, I thought to myself “no way this is another shilling”. And sure enough, it was another shilling, 1922! I haven’t found an early Australian shilling in nearly two years, and now I’ve found two on the same day! Needless to say, I was stoked!
Overall, I had an awesome day! Found 15 old coins, the rising sun badge, a police officer’s button and $18.73 in change!
Ty for looking, if you’re still reading here, thanks for bearing with me, I know it’s a rather long post, but these days don’t happen often. Good luck out there!
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