AirmetTango
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The weather was amazing for early January here in Ohio yesterday - temps peaked at around 50°, so I jumped at the opportunity to get a head start on 2020. Kids are still home from school, and my wife is off from work, so I had to negotiate for a mere couple hours of detecting time. Since time was short, I figured I better not waste time driving, and just hit the field literally in my back yard. The field held a former home site that shows on the 1886 map for the area, but the site is slated to be developed into a housing development, so my hunt time there is getting short in more ways than one!
I strapped on my gear, started swinging, and soon got over an iffy high tone with some depth. Mostly 25-26 VDI (EQ800), but bouncing some sporadic 21-24 numbers into the mix with that flutey twang that told me not to get my hopes up. I went after it, and a full 6-7” down I got my reward...my first official dig of 2020 was an old Pepsi can
A few minutes later, I got a solid 14 all the way around the target, which turned out to be a Winchester Blue Rival shotshell headstamp which dates to 1894-1904. “Ok”, I thought, “that’s a little better than Pepsi, at least!”
Third time was the charm, though...got over another jumpy high tone with depth, scattered between 25-32, but this time it sounded more like a coin - none of the flutiness of junk. My experience has been this type of signal on the EQ ends up being a Wheat, but I was hoping for silver. Instead I was thrilled to see Big Green roll out of the dirt I brought up from about 6” down!!
Less than 15 minutes later, I hit the next diggable target. Mostly showing 21-22 on the VDI, although it occasionally blipped higher, and depth was indicating 6-8”. I was honestly thinking Indian, when instead...”Are you kidding me?!?” Another large green coin peeking out from the plug!! I’m really not sure why it rang so low in the ground. I couldn’t find anything else in the hole that I could say was mucking up the signal...maybe it was on edge??
Out of the ground it rang the standard 32-33.
I’ve never found two Large Cents on the same hunt before, let alone on back-to-back digs...I was flat-out stunned! It’s kind of funny - only a couple days into the new year, and I’ve already got my Large Cent total from last year beat
Hopefully that’s a good sign for the year ahead!! 
I finished out the hunt with a pair of Indians, 1866 (below) and a super crusty 1892, another shotshell (Winchester Repeater), a button, and the requisite trash.
Clean up at home turned up another minor surprise...the first Large Cent was holed! As you can see in the field pics and even the pre-cleaning pics below, there was no real indication that the coin had a hole in it. Unfortunately, the date is completely missing on that one - almost to the point that I wonder if it wasn’t intentionally removed...hard to believe all the stars survived, but nothing of the date is visible. Judging by the reverse design, I’m pretty sure it’s an 1843-1857 variety. The second one dug was a nicely detailed 1851.
I strapped on my gear, started swinging, and soon got over an iffy high tone with some depth. Mostly 25-26 VDI (EQ800), but bouncing some sporadic 21-24 numbers into the mix with that flutey twang that told me not to get my hopes up. I went after it, and a full 6-7” down I got my reward...my first official dig of 2020 was an old Pepsi can
A few minutes later, I got a solid 14 all the way around the target, which turned out to be a Winchester Blue Rival shotshell headstamp which dates to 1894-1904. “Ok”, I thought, “that’s a little better than Pepsi, at least!”
Third time was the charm, though...got over another jumpy high tone with depth, scattered between 25-32, but this time it sounded more like a coin - none of the flutiness of junk. My experience has been this type of signal on the EQ ends up being a Wheat, but I was hoping for silver. Instead I was thrilled to see Big Green roll out of the dirt I brought up from about 6” down!!
Less than 15 minutes later, I hit the next diggable target. Mostly showing 21-22 on the VDI, although it occasionally blipped higher, and depth was indicating 6-8”. I was honestly thinking Indian, when instead...”Are you kidding me?!?” Another large green coin peeking out from the plug!! I’m really not sure why it rang so low in the ground. I couldn’t find anything else in the hole that I could say was mucking up the signal...maybe it was on edge??
Out of the ground it rang the standard 32-33.I’ve never found two Large Cents on the same hunt before, let alone on back-to-back digs...I was flat-out stunned! It’s kind of funny - only a couple days into the new year, and I’ve already got my Large Cent total from last year beat
Hopefully that’s a good sign for the year ahead!! I finished out the hunt with a pair of Indians, 1866 (below) and a super crusty 1892, another shotshell (Winchester Repeater), a button, and the requisite trash.
Clean up at home turned up another minor surprise...the first Large Cent was holed! As you can see in the field pics and even the pre-cleaning pics below, there was no real indication that the coin had a hole in it. Unfortunately, the date is completely missing on that one - almost to the point that I wonder if it wasn’t intentionally removed...hard to believe all the stars survived, but nothing of the date is visible. Judging by the reverse design, I’m pretty sure it’s an 1843-1857 variety. The second one dug was a nicely detailed 1851.
