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Lil SF Bay Area SILVER

Posted by Cal_cobra 
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Lil SF Bay Area SILVER
February 11, 2010 11:32PM
Guess I scrapped enough of that pesky gold out of the way to let the silver shine through, and shine through she did!

Got out to GGP with a hunting buddy this week and landed my third barber dime (1900S) of the year. We were trying some different areas and tried another spot and my first target was a nice 1942 merc, then a silver rosie. After a bit I got a high 80's low 90's signal on my F75 LTD and thought silver half, maybe? It was a jumpy signal, I dig down about 6" and out pops a toasty brown Jefferson nickel...WTH? I scan the hole again and I get another signal, but this time it's coming in more like a nickel'ish target, dig down deeper and out pops a 1906 Barber nickel!!

Later that evening I met up with some other friends for a little inner city twilight hunting. Even though I've found other targets, including clad coins at equal or greater depths, I found my deepest silver yet with my F75 LTD, and it was a good one. At an honest Abe 10"+ I got a nice high silver signal. It actually sounded pretty good, wasn't that jumpy, and when pinpointing sounded small like a coin with the depth readout bouncing between 10-11". I dug, and dug, and dug some more and bam a big tree root :soap: I put the pinpointer in the hole and she's barely sounding off and the hole is now deeper then my Garrett ProPointer is long. I finally get the dirt loosened up under the roots and can feel a coin under there, couple of handfuls of dirt later I get her, and out pops a STANDING LIBERTY QUARTER, I did the happy dance! She's worn, no visible date (stars on the back) but this is only the second one I've found in my two years of hunting. Also found a dateless buffalo and a wheatback that evening.

I brought my CZ70 to met up with a friend on another day for little surf n turf - try the beach first and if it wasn't exciting we'd move to another spot I had for us to hunt. The beach was pretty sterile, but being an inner SF bay beach, I don't think anything moves much from where it's dropped. I managed to eek out a nice little wedding band that was down about three scoops marked .925 and the front is engraved... "S&M" which I'll assume are the couples initials and not some other funny business.

Nothing else from the beach aside from a few coins, but targets were few and far between so we moved to another site for a few hours of turf action. I was getting a lot of wheats, and Jim was digging silver under the roots around an old tree. Finally I got a 1928S Merc, and then not far from there I pulled up a black coin cookie. I chipped away at the black cocoon with my finger and could see a smooth silver edge, and thought I might have a silver war nickel. Further chipping and I could see the mint mark at the top to confirm my suspicions, so I showed Jim and we both checked it on our machines and she was coming in much higher then a standard nickel. Went back and about ten feet away I got another one. What I find interested is that I've pulled buffalo nickels out of here that came out of the ground in awesome condition, nice green patina, not rusty brown like most sites, wheats come out in beautiful shape and silver looks great as well when it comes out. Being that silver and copper come out nice, it must be something to do with the Manganese alloy that's turns them into coin cookies :think: Just before we left, I got a nice little sterling silver wedding ring, a fancy Victorian one that was down about 8" deep. Jim got it on video, but darn if I can find it now.

Here's the loot:









BTW this week marks two years since I first started detecting. I think I found more silver hunting this week then I found my entire first year of hunting smiling smiley The second year was a lot better then the first year. What a difference getting the right machines and experience under your belt makes. I still have plenty to learn, and more machines I want to try (what is it with that?), but my third year is shaping up to be a good one.

Thanks for looking and HH,
Brian
Re: Lil SF Bay Area SILVER
February 12, 2010 12:06AM
Way to go Brian !
Very nice finds.
Thanks for sharing these, makes me want to travel up north when the weather breaks !

Grant
Re: Lil SF Bay Area SILVER
February 12, 2010 01:30AM
Great hunt. Love those silver coins. Keep it up.
Re: Lil SF Bay Area SILVER
February 12, 2010 02:11AM
Nice photo......and great write-up.
Re: Lil SF Bay Area SILVER
February 12, 2010 03:26AM
Nice haul Brian, and I enjoyed the story. Still laughing at the :soap: From your finds I guess that means two thumbs up on the F75. ??

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Just one more good target before I go.
Re: Lil SF Bay Area SILVER
February 12, 2010 01:00PM
WTG Brian!!!! Great finds!!