Confessions of a Penny Digger

I have moved back out west.There is a old park 2 blocks from my house.I hunted it the other night for 40 minutes.I got nothing but "penny/dime" ID numbers.I dug 8 pennies,no other coins.One penny is a 1922 Plain Wheatie and another is a 1944-D Wheatie.They were about 8 inches apart and 6 inches deep.Somebody has gone in there and discriminated pennies out,thanks to who ever did that.It's a fairly large park that was first used in 1883.The town has nearly died off.I haven't scratched the surface of this park with the F75 yet.Hopefully to be continued...........

Maybe you'll find Indian Heads and Half Dimes (that read like a penny)......or even a $10 Eagle.

Many pre 1983 pennies are impossible to discriminate out and as Tom related to many good coins could come in as penny(zinc or copper).

I never understood why some guys do that, theres so many other older coins that could read as penny.

Unfortunately in newer areas zinc pennies or screw caps could be a problem.
In older areas certainly many oddball coins tokens and the like could be had.
For what its worth years ago hunting a N.J. saltwater beach one of the hunter found a large diamond tennis bracelet that came in this area...those that investigate find the goodies passed over by others..

Kickback,

If that's a 1922 plain wheatie, it is a key date and worth something. Check it out.

HH,

Mike

I think there are a couple of reaons reason people ahve discriminated out pennies is simple
1. They believe the advertising hype seen on TV.
You know the stuff that says they can separate 'trash from treasure'. Who wants to find pennies, when there is so much treasure just lying around? Dial up that discrimination.

2. They are cherry picking
This is just an adaptation of the first. Silver coins are a very strong lure and most people are convinced that, once again, the ground beneath their feet is littered with them. In every DVD that comes with a detector, what is the first target they always find... why a silver coin, of course!

3. Silver used to actually be found in parks.
Parks were a common hunting ground decades ago, as they are now. And silver was there. So, why bother looking for pennies, when every detecting session was a potential silver collection junket?

Now that detectors have been in use now for 40 years or so, we must face a fact - most of the easy silver is gone in common areas. While no place is ever totally hunted out, that knowledge should help us adapt our methods.

dupe post



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2010 10:34PM by dahut.

I agree the silver coins in the older parks are far and few between however, in my favorite park I've been hunting in for almost 25yrs now, I still seem to find it, and even in the most obvious places. And were not talkin deep either, I found 3 mercs a silver Washington and indian head. All were around 5 inches. The silver wasn't even in a real trashy area. The indian however was and was closer to 7 inches around lots of tabs and found it with a 3 inch coil on my 66x Magnum. I know there's tons of old coins there yet to be found but due to over a 100 yrs of junk just under the surface it will never be found.

Worth saying again:

Over 95% of the coins (and good targets) we wish to find......are masked or too deep.

It would also probably be good to repeat that there has to be something there, masked or otherwise.

A common assumption is that every square inch of soil holds some old coin or treasure. We tend to foster that notion ourselves. But the truth is something else - you have to be detecting where these things are. When Tom takes us on a video trip to some old fort or other site, there is some assurance that something was there. Research has been done, the site known or perhaps examined beforehand.

But anyone that has an old park in their city that continues to yield old coins is very fortunate. Nearly all of the old parks that used to exist in my town are gone, uprooted and buried under urban expansion. I can show you were they used to be, where today stands new apartment buildings or malls.
So, I have to look elsewhere, seeking places out of the way that may have had activity.

One of the more interesting things that I run into.........and completely voids research (which is nearly always the best approach).....is.......occasionally I will find a large open field. Nothing in history shows any form of structure/habitation,,,,,yet,,,,,,with a detector.....for some reason......it'll 'light up' with a ton of targets......proving a structure and human travel existed. Looking at the field today.......and you would have NO idea that anything took place there ... some century(s) ago. Your detector will know!

Those are the very sorts of places I seek out.