A Nice Hunt Yesterday

[rod-pa]

The ground is supposed to be frozen solid in February here in PA...weird year.  it has instead been frozen for a couple weeks, then thawed, then repeat...like I said....weird.

But hey, if it isnt frozen, time to Dig!  I had off for President's day, so dragged Steve (Ozzy) out to an abandoned farm we have both hit before.

I don't even think Steve had started detecting yet.  I swung my coil for maybe 30 seconds....had a nice soft high tone, and dug an 1857 large cent.  The ground was very saturated, and my experience with the Nox is fringe objects get amplified significantly.  The ID goes out the window though, because things almost always ID considerably higher.  I would have guessed silver half on the large cent and it was pinpointer depth.  As a reinforcement to that thought, a bit later I got IDs of 38, 39, 37, etc.  I pinpointed all around, and could find plenty of iron near it, but nothing seemed to be interfering...again, at pinpointer depth and maybe a hair more out comes this rocking Barber quarter.  ended up with wheats of 1919, 1917, and 1914 as well as a 61 rosie.  Most in spots I know both Steve and I have been over before, but I think the moisture had a lot to do with hearing them.  The hole where I dug the Barber started filling in with water shortly after pulling it out.

[kac]

Large cent is in pretty nice shape for an old copper, congrats!

[Doc Bach]

Handsome piece of silver. Nice largie as well.

[jim tn]

That's a nice hunt for sure. The Barber and Largie both look good. Good hunting! HH jim tn

[matt]

Man I like that Barber!

[GB_Amateur]

That Large Cent, the last year ever minted, actually has the lowest mintage (~1/3 million) of any Largies going back to 1811.  It comes in two varieties, large and small date, both of which are about equally scarce.  The Flying Eagle small cent went into production that year (the 1856 FE is famous and rare, but it was never meant for circulation) which explains why fewer large cents were minted.  An excellent find, and as kac points out, the condition for a recovered specimen is quite good.

The Barber quarter is a common date+mm but the condition is what sets it apart.  I'm not sure how it will grade but it is up there and that brings a premium in value as most Barber coins (typical of coins of that era) got lots of usage (and thus wear).  Yours was likely dropped in the first few years after it left the mint.

Either of those would likely end up to be the find of the year for me, and I mean all of 2023, not just the first two months.

[F350Platinum]

Great hunt Rod! Glad you got out there. 👍 It has been a weird winter but it's a La Niña one, northern jet doesn't always stay south. 🙂 Past couple years have been kinda mild, I'll take it!

And apparently you did too. 🏆 Congrats on some killer finds! What coil were you running on the Equinox?

[Rattlehead]

You know its going to be a great day when you get a LC 30 seconds into the hunt. Nice Barber too!

[rod-pa]

2 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Great hunt Rod! Glad you got out there. 👍 It has been a weird winter but it's a La Niña one, northern jet doesn't always stay south. 🙂 Past couple years have been kinda mild, I'll take it!

And apparently you did too. 🏆 Congrats on some killer finds! What coil were you running on the Equinox?

F350, I have both stock 11 and the 6inch.  Only ever used the 6inch once though.  Can't make myself use it even though it is  a very trashy site.  I don't "know" but feel like I wouldn't get the deep ones that whisper.  Maybe next time I will try the 6, now that I have run over the same area 2x with 11.   Yiu might have to talk me into it, though

[rod-pa]

29 minutes ago, Rattlehead said:

You know its going to be a great day when you get a LC 30 seconds into the hunt. Nice Barber too!

Rattlehead, you not kiddin!