Lost Picnic Grove & 100 Year Old Merc

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

Winter has been good so far and the ground is still soft. The site is a wooded lot in upstate NY where once a picnic grove existed in the early 1900s. Although the day was wet and damp I was not disappointed.

Early on I found the wedding band. At first it looked great to me but later inspection revealed that it was plated. Still a ring is a ring! There is a weld mark so I suspect that it may have been re-sized. I also found a creepy monkey ring that was made in Hong Kong.

I found a half dozen Wheat Cents scattered about and then the 2 Mercs. The 1916 still had close to uncirculated details when it was dropped but the soil treated it very poorly. It’s unusual to see such pitting/corrosion with silver. Both dimes were at the base of tree trunks.

The Phoenix Pilsner Beer cap was pretty exciting too. That’s evidence you would expect to find at a local picnic ground. :cheers:

Lastly the huge key looks to be from big clock perhaps, or some other mechanical device?

Thanks for Looking!
Nick

ks coyote · Jan 21, 2017

Great picture. Hard to find those old groves that are still in their natural state. Congrats on the finds, keep them coming.

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

ks coyote said:
Great picture. Hard to find those old groves that are still in their natural state. Congrats on the finds, keep them coming.

Thanks, ks coyote. I was lucky enough to be taken to the spot by my father-in-law who remembered church picnics there as a kid. It was out in the country in those days - more of an open area in the woods with a parking field and a dance floor.

rockymtnrider · Jan 21, 2017

That is a creepy monkey ring.

Looks like you found a good spot to detect. Congratulations

Captain Silver · Jan 21, 2017

Congrats on the pair of Mercs, wheats and the rest of the digs...nice hunt!

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

rockymtnrider said:
That is a creepy monkey ring.

Looks like you found a good spot to detect. Congratulations

Thanks, rockymtnrider. I found that monkey ring under an old coat that was buried! :wow:

Captain Silver said:
Congrats on the pair of Mercs, wheats and the rest of the digs...nice hunt!

Thank, Captain Silver. One thing I failed to mention were the scattered piles of fresh dog turd. It seems to be a popular spot for the neighbors to let their dogs loose. I'm happy to report that I never stepped on a single one.

jwp1964 · Jan 21, 2017

Nice finds! That monkey ring belongs in the ugly ring thread I started last year!

GroundSweeper · Jan 21, 2017

Dang very cool hunt there, like the monkey ring :lol:

and the other ring looks interesting too... on the inside. The dog turds would have caused me grief as I can't seem to NOT step on those or brush them with my coil before I recoil in disgust! Ugh!!! Glad you avoided.

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

jwp1964 said:
Nice finds! That monkey ring belongs in the ugly ring thread I started last year!

Thanks, jwp1964! Send me the link and I'll post it.

GroundSweeper said:
Dang very cool hunt there, like the monkey ring and the other ring looks interesting too... on the inside. The dog turds would have caused me grief as I can't seem to NOT step on those or brush them with my coil before I recoil in disgust! Ugh!!! Glad you avoided.

Thanks, GroundSweeper! I actually picked up a signal under one and debated with myself whether or not to dig! Luckily there was a thick layer of wet leaves and I was able to get my shovel underneath and turn the massive plug over :digginahole:

, turd and all, to recover the Wheat Cent. :cheer:

matmit · Jan 21, 2017

Excellent saves!
I almost spilled my coffee when I saw that Ace 250 - you don't see too many on here anymore.
I kind of miss mine :no:

"Detectorist" · Jan 21, 2017

Very nice, congrats!

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

matmit said:
Excellent saves!
I almost spilled my coffee when I saw that Ace 250 - you don't see too many on here anymore.
I kind of miss mine

Thanks, matmit! Glad you didn't burn yourself.

I've had my Ace 250 for more years than I can remember.

"Detectorist" said:
Very nice, congrats!

Thanks, Detectorist!

Leave-No-Coins-Behind · Jan 21, 2017

Very nice finds...especially the monkey ring!

Jason-NEK · Jan 21, 2017

The ground is pretty mean up there to those Merc dimes. Congrats on the great ring finds and especially all of those wheat cents. There is plenty more there to be found!

beastdig · Jan 21, 2017

Some cool finds. That ring is wild. :cool:

Digger-Dave · Jan 21, 2017

Nice finds Wildcat!

I'll bet there is still a lot of good stuff in there.

Any idea when people generally stopped going there to picnic?

That wind up key could have even been from a kid's toy.

How deep where the older coins?

Keep up the good work.

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

Jak said:
Very nice finds...especially the monkey ring!

Thanks, Jak! Everyone likes that monkey ring! :lol:

Jason-NEK said:
The ground is pretty mean up there to those Merc dimes. Congrats on the great ring finds and especially all of those wheat cents. There is plenty more there to be found!

Thanks, Jason-NEK! The odd thing is the 1929 Merc was fine and was about 50 feet away.

beastdig said:
Some cool finds. That ring is wild.

Thanks, beastdig!...and it has teeth to prove it.

Digger-Dave said:
Nice finds Wildcat!

I'll bet there is still a lot of good stuff in there.

Any idea when people generally stopped going there to picnic?

That wind up key could have even been from a kid's toy.

How deep where the older coins?

Keep up the good work.

Thanks, Digger-Dave! I think the picnic grove shut down when the surroundings were developed for Post War housing after WWII. Maybe you're right about the key. I'll have to do some research on it. Most of the coins were in the 4-6" range in fairly rich soil.

cellrdwellr · Jan 21, 2017

That's impressive nice hunting!

knsmokey · Jan 21, 2017

Congrats on a GREAT hunt! Awesome pics too!

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct) · Jan 21, 2017

cellrdwellr said:
That's impressive nice hunting!

Thanks for the compliment, cellrdwellr!

knsmokey said:
Congrats on a GREAT hunt! Awesome pics too!

Thanks, knsmokey! Those pictures make me want to go back there soon.

Lost Picnic Grove & 100 Year Old Merc

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct)

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