Update - I’d Like To Put In My Two Cents Worth…

[Geologyhound]

OK, I don’t know if there’s a way to mark a post title as updated, so I’m just creating a new post.

After getting a privately made remote holder for my D2 to replace the stock mount which broke, I was eager to head to the field and test it out.  Which field to head to? Of course I went to the one where I found an 1866 two-cent piece in great condition last week.

With all the square nails I encountered last week, I swapped out my coils and decided to go with the 9 inch coil today instead of the 11 x 13.  I was still running Tekkna (modified fast) on my D2 with reactivity generally around 2 (plus or minus depending on the nail density).

I started off working around the perimeter of the area I covered last week with a bit of overlap of area I knew I had covered.  It did not take too long before I hit the 1919 S wheat penny.  I thought that was a good start and showed me there was more to find. Very shortly thereafter, I hit the 1918 merc.  Silver is always welcome, and I do like Mercury dimes.  About 15 feet past the mercury, I hit a great signal up in the quarter range right next to a tree trunk.  No silver this time, but I didn’t care as it was an 1831 large cent with a clear date!  About 10 feet past the large cent, I hit the 1929P wheat penny (after pulling about four pieces of square nail out of the hole) and an old buckle.

At that point in time, I was thinking this was a great day no matter what else happened!  I didn’t want to get too far a field, so when I didn’t find any more good targets for a little bit I went back to where I found the two cent piece with the 11x13 coil last week (please see my prior post “I’d like to put in my two cents worth…“) and started working through there again with the 9” coil.

This trip through last week’s area I was digging a lot of questionable targets just in case they might be masking something.  I did find some shell casings, shotgun shells, a couple odd brass items, a spike, half a horseshoe or an ox shoe, a modern dime, and what might be a poached egg form.

Partway through that process my headphones went dead. That was disappointing. As I was trying to see if I could get them to start up again I accidentally switched the pairing to the coil in my backpack. At that point in time, my headphones started making noise again and I realized it wasn’t my headphones which were dead, but the 9 inch coil.

So, I switched back to the 11 x 13 and continued. When I didn’t find anything else in that area, I moved on through the brush to another area around the perimeter. That’s where I found the butter knife. I also found the blade for a coal(?) shovel (not pictured). I pulled it out just to get it out of the way in case it might’ve been hiding something - which it was not.

By now, it was getting late in the day, so I worked my way out of the brush.  Just for the fun of it, I kept scanning over an area I had covered with the 9 inch earlier today.  That is when I hit the Lew Alcindor token.

I decided to try one more swath in some gaps in the heavy growth up the side of where I had found the mercury dime and the large cent.  No luck there, so I came back out to the path and started heading back to the car.  Right in between where I found the mercury dime and the large cent, I caught a high tone amongst all the iron. Sure enough, it was repeatable and fairly clean if I kept my sweeps to about an inch or two.  Better yet, it was giving me an ID in the dime/copper penny range.  About 6 inches down. I flipped out another silver dime.  Expecting a mercury, I was flabbergasted to see it was my first ever seated liberty!

Just like last week’s two cent piece, all of these coins seem to be in excellent condition corrosion-wise.  Once again, all it took was a gentle cleaning with a soft bristled toothbrush and water.

Needless to say, today’s hunt was a blast!  I’m looking forward to this winter when all of the weeds die back and I can hunt more of this area.

[F350Platinum]

Excellent stuff Ghound! 🏆

You worked hard, dug a lot of crap, but looks like the search was well worth it. You are lucky to have your soil treat those old coins so well. 

Your 1883 large cent is incredible, they only made ~3 million of them so that's really cool. Lucky dog! 😅

[Joe D.]

   Besides finding them, I think the most important part is you didn't nail them with your digging tool of choice; that's always a challenge/bonus in itself! Great job, and great finds! Keep it up!🍀👍👍

[JCR]

That's a very nice hunt.  Quantity and quality.

[Geologyhound]

On 10/5/2025 at 10:08 AM, F350Platinum said:

Excellent stuff Ghound! 🏆

You worked hard, dug a lot of crap, but looks like the search was well worth it. You are lucky to have your soil treat those old coins so well. 

Your 1883 large cent is incredible, they only made ~3 million of them so that's really cool. Lucky dog! 😅

I can’t believe the condition of these coins myself.  I have only found a few other coins of similar age, and those took very careful cleaning to not break through the patina into the powder corrosion layer underneath.  Even then, I was only able to retrieve the date on two of the three.

I would happily dig a similarly sized pile of junk in order to find another 1800’s coin.  😁

[Geologyhound]

On 10/5/2025 at 7:50 PM, Joe D. said:

   Besides finding them, I think the most important part is you didn't nail them with your digging tool of choice; that's always a challenge/bonus in itself! Great job, and great finds! Keep it up!🍀👍👍

Yeah, been there done that. Thankfully not on anything too valuable.

[rvpopeye]

Wow , nice spot ! I'm dirt jealous...Keep up the hunt there's more..... 

[Wild Bill]

On 10/5/2025 at 4:50 PM, Joe D. said:

   Besides finding them, I think the most important part is you didn't nail them with your digging tool of choice; that's always a challenge/bonus in itself! Great job, and great finds! Keep it up!🍀👍👍

How many remember the technique-instructions of the 1960-70s to use a long screwdriver and plunge it into the soil over and over until you HIT the coin!   That’s how you locate your treasured rare coins!  🤣 🥴 🙄  

Great finds indeed!  

[okara gold]

5 hours ago, Wild Bill said:

How many remember the technique-instructions of the 1960-70s to use a long screwdriver and plunge it into the soil over and over until you HIT the coin!   That’s how you locate your treasured rare coins!  🤣 🥴 🙄  

Great finds indeed!  

I remember those days well. I tried it once or twice and could never pry the coin out of the soil. Always used a hand trowel after that!