old farm field hunt

I think that in rural Georgia in the 1920s and especially in the '30s, there was not a lot of change rattling around in farmers' pockets as they worked the fields. First place, they didn't have much money anyway, so they were careful not to lose much - at least not while plowing. Second, what they had, at least in the early part of this century, they likely had in a coin purse, which they probably didn't carry out in the field while plowing. You are about as likely to find a snap leather small coin purse as a loose half dollar in that field. You may find some Indian heads, though. That's been my experience. For some reason, I've found more Indian heads than silver of any denomination in old cultivated fields. Heck, I've found more Civil War Confederate buttons in an old field (one) than silver! Look for where the farmers went when they were carrying money - church, store, house, horse trading, fairs, auctions, schools (they had meetings at schools), camp meeting sites - and learn to enjoy finding those iron implements! You will also find other interesting stuff. Everything you find in an old field has a story.

Well....WHAT are you looking for? You mentioned you haven’t found a single coin. I’ll take that as meaning that you would like to find coins. Correct? Have you been hunting long,like...for years? Or months? Or are the last two weeks your entire career? These questions all have meaning....
Some people LOVE to hunt old farms and fields,and there can be reasons such as the most important and common one...”I’m out of sight and nobody bugs me”. I hope this is not how you choose sites to hunt! If it is,you’re KILLING your self.
While ANYTHING can be ANYWHERE,it’s usually not that way. To find old coins,like old coppers and silver coins,you are much better served hunting old parks and schools. WHY? That’s where ALOT of people were running around and losing coins! While an old homesite or farmhouse CAN have a coin here and there,the ROI in TIME and EFFORT are notoriously,well....terrible.
I can’t give you any advice other than to NOT hunt that field. Location is the number one consideration for finding whatever type of target you’re after. Jewelry and gold=the beach,sports fields and tot lots. Clad coins? Pretty much anywhere. OLD COINS? The majority of silver coin hunters will hunt old parks and schools,because that’s where most of the silver coins are recovered. Not ALL...but MOST. That’s just going from results posted on this and other forums...
Let us know more about YOU and what you’d like to find,the guys here are the best at what they do!

Hunting fields is not for everyone. I hunt fields most of the time because I enjoy being out and they are very close to home. I do find many undesireable targets but once in a while lightning strikes and I unearth something very cool. You have to cover a lot of ground, last night I walked for 1.5 hrs and dug 4 targets. If your field permission is old enough to have been worked by hand there will likely be some coins somewhere. Somewhere being the key word here. I hunted a hay field this past spring, had very few signals through much of the field but found 2 seated quarters when I was almost finished. Those quarters probably cost over 40 hours of my time but I enjoyed every minute of it. If coins are your primary goal, fields may not be the best place to start.

Coins will show up where the farmer got on and off his tractor, or in older times where he rigged his horses. Focus around the gates, inside and out. The gates may have moved, so check old aerial photos and maps.

It is hard to find coins anywhere around here , I hunted a 1880's home that had supposedly "never" been hunted before and I only came up with around 10 coins after many days of searching, I guess people around here were just really poor...

jmodaane said:

have been pulling old iron/steel relics out of this field. Old horse tackle, plow points. I have been hunting it now for about two weeks. I know that these fields go back to the 1920's based on talking to some older residents who know the area. Been searching with the AT Pro and Nel Thunder and the Garrett 5 x 8" coil. So far have just found relics and not a single coin. I would think by now I would find an older coin. I am also using headphones to with both coils to find the deeper targets.

The area is not trashy at all. Maybe one pull top and one bit of foil. For the most part just finding iron relics. I am in the All Metal Pro mode and can even run at full sensitivity with not a peep from trash other than iron relic targets. Well every now and then I get an old spam can.

I guess I just have to keep plugging along. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Click to expand...

Are you hunting a confirmed homesite? Have you looked on any older maps to find where the house actually sat (if there was one)?

You may be in a similar situation I was in (haven't hunted since mid-December) in that possibly you're hunting an area occupied by share-croppers. They didn't have much to lose.

I did however find wheaties, a couple buffalo nickles an IH or two, and lucked into a 1890's Barber Quarter. I hunted that site roughly 2 dozen times though, and knew where the structures sat.

Generally houses sat on the higher spots in the fields, so look for broken glass, and pottery shards if you can't find an old plat map for your area. I'd say you're close, but haven't found where the house sat.

Plus one on trying to locate a old plat map.

Keep looking. I found my first indian head penny, an 1864 in an old hay field, an a 1919 wheat penny a few days later. Also horseshoes, rifle cartridges, a shotgun slug, other stuff

Ive had great success with the Thunder in fields...

Couple things..
Run the AT at MAX sensitivity
No Discrimination
You have to clean out the junk to find the goodies....
you may dig plenty of shotgun shells etc....but stuff is there.
HH!

remmy said:

Hunting fields is not for everyone. I hunt fields most of the time because I enjoy being out and they are very close to home. I do find many undesireable targets but once in a while lightning strikes and I unearth something very cool. You have to cover a lot of ground, last night I walked for 1.5 hrs and dug 4 targets. If your field permission is old enough to have been worked by hand there will likely be some coins somewhere. Somewhere being the key word here. I hunted a hay field this past spring, had very few signals through much of the field but found 2 seated quarters when I was almost finished. Those quarters probably cost over 40 hours of my time but I enjoyed every minute of it. If coins are your primary goal, fields may not be the best place to start.

Click to expand...

Also check around wood lines. In the summer, a farmer would probably park his tractor in the shade to cool down in the shade or to eat his lunch.. Best of luck HH

I just found a gold coin in a farm field. 90% of my best finds have come from farm fields. Ive emptied out the few good parks and schools around here and I dont like hunting peoples yards