A Two Ring Day

I finally got a day off from work that wasn't raining or the ground was frozen. Actually, the temperatures were soaring above average and the expected high for the day was 70 degrees. I had chosen a park in a nearby city and by 7:30am I was on my way.

While travelling to the site I noticed two guys out in a farm field swinging detectors. I made a quick left turn and as I got closer I could see that they were metal detecting...but for what. I introduced myself to Jeff and Jim and after a little conversation I joined them in searching the field. They had done their homework and knew (by maps) that an old house was once situated on the property along with a pasture. Permission was granted from the farmer who owned the property. Previously they had found Indian head cents, seated coins, and an Andrew Jackson campaign button. Luck was not with us today in the field and we decided to hit a park in a nearby town. I had hunted the park back in the 1980's and was looking forward to hunting there again.

The park is an old one and as proof, Jeff and Jim hunted it the previous week and hunted an area where they tore down an old building. They found seated and Barber dimes, Indian head cents, wheat's, and buffalo nickels. It pays to be in the right spot at the right time. They were the first ones in there after the building came down and it paid off big time.

We got our detectors out and everyone headed off in different directions. I slowly made my way toward Main street. First hit turned out to be a quarter with a "G" painted on it. Jeff explained that a local treasure hunting club held their events here. Not exactly what I wanted to hear. After digging a few modern coins I received another hit that told me it was a quarter at one inch. Hey, I'll dig quarters all day long. I probed it and popped it out of the ground with the probe. I was totally surprised when it turned out to be a 1954-D quarter. Left over from a treasure hunt? Not sure why a 56 year old quarter was only one inch deep, but I sure wasn't about to complain.

I made it over to Main street and hunted under the pine trees. I found all new stuff like pennies, dimes, and quarters. One 1944 wheat was found at three inches. I slowly made my way over to the razed building site. It was full of burnt coal and you know what that does to a detector. Jeff and Jim really worked hard for the coins in this area. In the future I may go over this area with a small 5.3 inch coil.

Working near a pavilion I got a good solid signal of 83 (quarter area) at 8 inches deep. Digging down I was rewarded with an 1843 large cent. At first I thought I had found two large cents. It had been in the ground so long that the green patina area flaked off beside it looking like another coin. Not worth much but still a good find.

Another quarter reading at four inches turned up a silver ring in the shape of a tulip. The turquoise stone was used as the flower part and the petals in silver. After a few more modern coins I received another reading of a quarter at four inches. This was only about fifteen feet from the first ring. Digging down I could see the glint of silver. Thinking it was a quarter I was surprised that it was yet another silver and turquoise ring. This one has some "heft" to it and fits my ring finger.

At the end of the day we met back at the pavilion and swapped a few stories about previous hunts. We all found coins and had a great time plus I made two new treasure hunting friends.  Click Here to read about Another Two Ring Day.

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