5th Merc in 5 Hunts...

I know that’s kinda sad for some, but that’s a blistering silver pace for me!

I went out yesterday intending to do another hunt on the schoolyard tear up I’ve written about. Pulling into the location, I saw that time had run out on that spot - a landscape crew was busily re-grading the site, then as I sat for awhile watching, a seeder showed up. Oh well...next spring it’ll be a new site again!

So I went to Plan B and hunted a non-tear out portion of the same site. The first two targets were interesting. First was a 1969 Uncle Sam 10¢ play coin that rang up a solid 19 - this one with a Byford Equipment diemaker “B” mint mark, see history below. The very next hit was a 17-18, suspiciously pull tabby, except it was registering too deep at 8”. Ended up pulling out an old UMC
shotshell headstamp from about 7”. Dates between 1892-1896...so to me, things just got really interesting! But it wasn’t long before I realized it was still a bit too dry to dig there despite some recent minor rain - I got a small amount of clad and a cheap two-piece aluminum(?) button about the size of a quarter on the next couple of holes, then decided it was time to wrap up and wait for better digging conditions. The button stopped my heart though when I saw how shiny it was right out of the hole! Then I reminded myself it rang up at 19...not silver for a target that size!

I still had a little free time, and was reluctant to head home, so I decided to drive past a couple of my farm field permissions. One field I knew hadn’t been planted because of the harsh conditions earlier in the year, but as I approached the field, I was floored to see it had been deep plowed! Huge furrows, to the point it was hard to walk let alone swing - something I haven’t dealt with at all in my short detecting experience because most everything here is no-till. The field has always been a slow producer, but I couldn’t resist giving it another try with the full plow job!

I spent about 30 minutes experimenting with the new EQ update, running in Park 2, f2 at 4. Really wasn’t getting any diggable signals at all, except the pictured bullet. So I intentionally moved closer to the road which also has a drainage ditch running parallel. I knew there was lots of can slaw and trash closer to the road, but I was curious to see how the new f2 settings might sound and fare. Probably sheer coincidence, I was amazed to get over a rock solid, shallow 26 within about 5 minutes of moving tighter to the road. I was thinking dime, but based on what I’ve found here before, it could be anything from clad to seated - or a can top dredged out of the ditch! I pushed my shovel into the dirt and turned a plug before I realized the coin had been half-buried right at the surface...I could see it sticking out of a dirt clod that broke free of the plug! And I saw the distinctive back of a Merc! Clean up at home shows a 1918D, my third century old Merc in a row, and the 5th silver in 5 hunts, all Mercs!