Perseverance FINALLY pays off at the 1,000 coin school (now the 1479 coin school)!

[Harley-Dog]

I have mentioned in the past about hunting a local school yard and over the course of 2 years now have pulled nearly 1,500 coins out of there (1,479 to be exact). Anyway, this school opened in 1916, so one would think there'd be some silver to find. Well, lo and behold, it finally happened--the school has finally surrendered its first silver (to me)-- a 1943-P war nickel.

Since August of 2005 I have made 50+ trips to the school looking for coins and other goodies. It's obvious that someone years before me MD'd the place and found most of the silver, but there's now at least 1 silver coin that he missed!

Here's the thing. I've been over the entire school yard multiple times (which is quite doable in 50+ visits) and I still find coins that I passed over and missed from previous visits. Yes, I am convinced...no place can ever be completely hunted out.

Harley-Dog

[steve in so az]

Very good message for us all about not being worked out. And I think you are right on about the silver being dug in old days. What a teriffic total you have for one spot. Steve in so az

[rustynail1]

I would agree how many months have I been working the pads?

[LI Tom]

Old schools don't necessarily mean old finds.Lot's of times the grounds have been re-landscaped ,sodded or fill added,putting old coins out of reach.If your not finding wheaties thats almost certainly the case.an old site can be worked hard and you will have still pulled up more after all those visits.Try the fringe areas that might be original.

[SeabeeRon]

Very clean coin, hardly much wear! I agree with you that most places always have more to give up under different circumstances. It's that hope and dream that keeps us going!!

[roadrunner_426]

Congrats on the War Nickel, HD...long time since I've found one of those...now at 2,057 for a school I've been working since June, '06...built in the 50's and still in use...used to produce some silver when I hunted there in the 80's, but no more...Roadrunner

In theory of course, any given area can be completely hunted out - But absolutely, when you slow your sweeps and increase overlap, you'll almost always find things you missed in previous sweeps.

[Detector]

Grats on the silver.

[CyberSage]

Nice find Harley! Words of wisdom, "no place is ever hunted out".

Keep Swing'in
Jack

[Harley-Dog]

I thought I was going to let this thread die, but 4 of you posted on it today so I guess I'll give you an update. Went back to the old school again this a.m. and in 4 hours I dug 4 coins-- 36 cents (that's how thin the finds are becoming now)...but, it's not as bad as it sounds. One of those four coins was a 1942 quarter! -- the second silver for me from this location (I'll try and post a photo on Monday from work).

Incidently, my coin count at the school currently stands at 1,505. I keep detailed records of everything so I can say with certainty that someone else beat me here with a metal detector years ago. In case any of you are curious, here's how the coins break down:

Canadian cent -- 5
Lincoln wheat -- 14
Lincoln Memorial -- 625
Canadian Nickel -- 1
Buffalo nickel -- 2 (no dates)
Jefferson war nickel -- 1
All other Jeffersons -- 395
Roosevelt dime -- 317
Canadian quarter -- 1
Silver Washington quarter -- 1
All other Washingtons -- 142
Sacagawea Dollar -- 1

In two years of detecting here I have dug nearly everything nonferrous that is 3 inches or less, and I mean everything -- pulltabs, candy & gum foil, ketchup packets, pencil eraser ends...and a whole lot of stuff in the 4 to 5 inch range as well. Let me put it this way, I am now hunting in all metal mode with the sensitivity up as high as it will go...almost all coin finds are in the 6 to 8 inch range, plus there's a lot less trash at those depths. That has to be one of the reasons why just recently I have finally found my first 2 silver coins here -- I'm finally reaching as deep as my detector can go, and there just happens to still be some silver at those depths.

Anyway, in closing I'll just add that I will continue to hunt here till I can no longer get a nonferrous reading on my machine. Then you know what I want to do? I want to borrow or rent one of the more expensive (and better) machines like a DFX or a Minelab Explorer and go over this same ground again to see what a difference a high-end machine makes.

Harley-Dog

[Harley-Dog]

Here's a photo of the silver quarter found on Saturday. Granted, everybody knows what a silver Washington quarter looks like, but it's still a thrill to find one, especially since the ratio between silver vs. non-silver at the old school site now stands at 1,503 to 2. Now that I have most of the shallow trash already dug and gone, detecting at all-metal mode and with sensitivity set at the max will hopefully yield more deep silver.

Harley-Dog

[SeabeeRon]

Boy, he cleaned up really nice! Excellent condition HarleyDog!!