MTtrashdigger
Elite Member
So, I have been cruising an old neighborhood for the past couple of weeks, driving by this 1900ish Victorian home that has been undergoing renovation. The yard is a wreck, dried grass and bare dirt from the construction going on. I figured that if I could catch the owner outside, they wouldn't care if I detected before they put in the landscaping.
Well, today was the day. The owner was outside, and I stopped to ask her. For the purpose of this post, I will refer to her as Ms. Tease. She was intrigued, but like most people who aren't familiar with our hobby, Ms. Tease had her suspicions as to my motives. I showed her some pics on my phone of some of the stuff I had found in parks and curb strips but that I had never detected a yard as old as hers. She said I could "do my thing" but she was very leery of any "digging” that might take place. I explained my extraction method and told her she likely wouldn’t even be able to tell that I had disturbed anything, especially since her yard was already basically destroyed. She agreed but told me that she wanted to watch me "dig anything up" and to come and get her before I did.
So, I made 15-20-minute random scan of her front yard. There were some good high tones, lots of low tone grunts and trash signals everywhere due to the construction. I picked out 4 diggable signals and stuck a wire flag in the ground at each spot, then went to her door and told her I was ready to retrieve a couple of targets.
Spot 1 was a shallow solid repeatable smooth 10. I told Ms. Tease it was probably trash, but that there was a chance it was gold. She laughed at the prospect and told me find out and indeed, it was a piece of old aluminum. She was unimpressed.
Spot 2 was a fairly deep 23-24 signal. I told Ms. Tease it was likely a penny and older than 1982. She looked at me with extreme doubt on her face but told me to get it out. From about 4-5 inches down I pulled a wheat penny. My eyes couldn't make out the date, but she looked and proclaimed it a 1916. Now, her doubt turned back to intrigue. Ms. Tease was definitely interested and said let’s go to the next one.
Spot 3 was in bare dirt under a big Ponderosa pine, shallow and a solid 30-32. I told her it was likely a modern quarter. I couldn't have been more wrong. Less than 2 inches down, I uncovered my first silver half dollar ever, a 1928 Walker. I almost pissed myself, I was so excited. This was my first silver any coin other than a dime. Well now Ms. Tease was more than amazed and couldn't believe anything like that came from the dirt in her yard. After a few minutes of calming down, we went over to the last marked spot.
Spot 4 was in grass near the sidewalk, a jumpy 23-28, and fairly deep. I told her it might be a dime, or it might be another penny. I cut a nice clean plug and popped it out. Laying on edge in the plug was 1907 Barber dime. I couldn't believe it, this was my new oldest coin, and my second ever Barber anything. Unfortunately, I scratched it, but it was still awesome to find. Ms. Tease had never heard of or ever seen any coin like it. Well now, I didn't have any other spots marked so she assumed we were done. Then came the deep disappointment. She told me I was welcome to take pictures of the coins but that she wanted them to stay with her house as part of its "history". How could I argue with that?
In the end, I made the finds, had some exciting recoveries, and got to share them with someone who appreciated them. I guess that is what this hobby should be about. But I would be lying if I said I wanted Ms. Tease to keep those coins rather than take them home and put them in my treasure chest. Thanks for looking and Happy hunting. May all of your finds be yours........
Well, today was the day. The owner was outside, and I stopped to ask her. For the purpose of this post, I will refer to her as Ms. Tease. She was intrigued, but like most people who aren't familiar with our hobby, Ms. Tease had her suspicions as to my motives. I showed her some pics on my phone of some of the stuff I had found in parks and curb strips but that I had never detected a yard as old as hers. She said I could "do my thing" but she was very leery of any "digging” that might take place. I explained my extraction method and told her she likely wouldn’t even be able to tell that I had disturbed anything, especially since her yard was already basically destroyed. She agreed but told me that she wanted to watch me "dig anything up" and to come and get her before I did.
So, I made 15-20-minute random scan of her front yard. There were some good high tones, lots of low tone grunts and trash signals everywhere due to the construction. I picked out 4 diggable signals and stuck a wire flag in the ground at each spot, then went to her door and told her I was ready to retrieve a couple of targets.
Spot 1 was a shallow solid repeatable smooth 10. I told Ms. Tease it was probably trash, but that there was a chance it was gold. She laughed at the prospect and told me find out and indeed, it was a piece of old aluminum. She was unimpressed.
Spot 2 was a fairly deep 23-24 signal. I told Ms. Tease it was likely a penny and older than 1982. She looked at me with extreme doubt on her face but told me to get it out. From about 4-5 inches down I pulled a wheat penny. My eyes couldn't make out the date, but she looked and proclaimed it a 1916. Now, her doubt turned back to intrigue. Ms. Tease was definitely interested and said let’s go to the next one.
Spot 3 was in bare dirt under a big Ponderosa pine, shallow and a solid 30-32. I told her it was likely a modern quarter. I couldn't have been more wrong. Less than 2 inches down, I uncovered my first silver half dollar ever, a 1928 Walker. I almost pissed myself, I was so excited. This was my first silver any coin other than a dime. Well now Ms. Tease was more than amazed and couldn't believe anything like that came from the dirt in her yard. After a few minutes of calming down, we went over to the last marked spot.
Spot 4 was in grass near the sidewalk, a jumpy 23-28, and fairly deep. I told her it might be a dime, or it might be another penny. I cut a nice clean plug and popped it out. Laying on edge in the plug was 1907 Barber dime. I couldn't believe it, this was my new oldest coin, and my second ever Barber anything. Unfortunately, I scratched it, but it was still awesome to find. Ms. Tease had never heard of or ever seen any coin like it. Well now, I didn't have any other spots marked so she assumed we were done. Then came the deep disappointment. She told me I was welcome to take pictures of the coins but that she wanted them to stay with her house as part of its "history". How could I argue with that?
In the end, I made the finds, had some exciting recoveries, and got to share them with someone who appreciated them. I guess that is what this hobby should be about. But I would be lying if I said I wanted Ms. Tease to keep those coins rather than take them home and put them in my treasure chest. Thanks for looking and Happy hunting. May all of your finds be yours........