From the Webmaster's Desk...

According to the Logbook I have not been out detecting since November 12th.  Work and the holidays seems to have taken it's toll on my metal detecting activities.  The ground is now frozen solid as a rock with a dusting of snow to help keep it that way.  But, with the unusual winters we have been experiencing in the northeast, the ground conditions can change weekly.

This year I have been out detecting 15 times.  I found a total of 788 coins which is about 53 coins per hunt.  The breakdown of the good stuff is as follows:  36 silver coins, 114 wheat pennies, 6 Indian head pennies, 3 buffalo nickels, 1 gold high school ring, 2 silver religious medallions, and 2 silver rings.

I have also identified some of the finds that were found years ago.  Some were identified by myself and some by viewers of the web site.  What I thought was a Bull Durham medallion actually turned out to be a watch fob.  There were several up for bid on ebay! at an opening price of $14.99.  This has been a pretty good source for identifying some finds and getting an actual value.  Today on ebay! I discovered that the Hopalong Cassidy pistol pin was made in 1950.  The last bid was $34.00.  The Lone Ranger Silver Cup pin is currently bid at $26.75.  Some of the tokens that I have dug over the years have popped up for bid on ebay!  The Palmolive soap token is opening at $3 to $8.00.  Give it a try.

Since the Bull Durham medallion has now been identified as a watch fob I've been wondering if the Asbury Park Fireman's Medal is also a watch fob.  This will give me new avenues for research.

I recently purchased a White's Bullseye from Kellyco in Florida.  I have borrowed my partners Bullseye several times to find those elusive targets and it has worked very well.  I am having a special apron made to accommodate the Bullseye along with my digging tools.

Still no luck on identifying the owner of the high school ring I found recently.  I contacted the school and they informed me that no one graduated that year (1956) with those initials.  I think I'll make a trip to the school since it is not that far away.  I have a feeling that he didn't graduate with his class.  He probably received the ring during his junior year (1955) and for some unknown circumstances never actually graduated or moved and graduated elsewhere.  Not unusual for the 1950's.  When I was in Huntsville I dug up a girls high school ring with her initials and the year graduated.  I could never find the owner because the name of the school was worn off.  I did call every high school in Huntsville with no luck.  Sometimes rings just can't be returned.

My ISP has just granted us all 50 megabytes of free web space.  This was enough space to move the archive site back to HDWT and make it all one site.  Navigation through the web site should now be much easier.  Another plus is that there are no ads to contend with and no pop-ups!  Some of the visitors to HDWT have sent e-mail to me and I have responded only to have the e-mail returned undeliverable.  The latest one was from  Dennis of Jacksonville, Alabama inquiring about detecting around the Huntsville area.  Dennis, I answered all of your questions.  Send me another e-mail with a good return address.

Received quite a few e-mails recently about purchasing metal detectors...which detector should I buy, what is a good economical detector to purchase.  I can point anyone in the right direction, but at least tell me what your budget constraints are.  No use recommending a detector if it is out of your price range.

I sure wish visitors to the web site would send me some pictures to post.  A picture tells it all.  I know you are finding some real interesting stuff out there that the rest of us are dying to see.  If you can send a story along with it that would just be great!  Well, so far HDWT has received a couple pictures from Jim in North Carolina and a great story from Jeff in Georgia.  Be sure and check out Finds From Around the World and Back to School in the guest article.
 

See you in the field!

J.R. Hoff

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