Wheats Don't Count!A TQ Original by TQ Member Free2Dtect Having purchased my first metal detector, I wanted to find enough to pay for the machine. A small goal, but a worthy one none the less. But those early days of digging pocket change and being content with an occasional find such as a silver ring or a stray token were about to change. Something happened one day and it changed the type of hunting I liked to do. Sometimes I believe it spoiled me to a degree. It was the finding of the first silver coins with that low cost machine. The term "keeper" which has been around awhile, became my new goal. Keeper coins to me were special coins, they had to meet certain requirements. First they could either be silver or at least a Buffalo nickle. When it came to copper coins, it had to be a Indian Head. I had reach the stage where Wheats don't count! All they were good for was dating an area. If you find wheats, there might be silver coins.
I dug around and discovered my old notes on finds. The first season of detecting the keeper coins were as follows: In one day I got my first, second, third and fourth coins, all from one unhunted grassy strip between a sidewalk and the street. The 1925D Mercury dime was the first, then a 1945 Washington quarter, 1942 Mercury Dime and a 1939S mercury dime. Other coins found the first season were the 3 Walker halves (WW II-era), 2 Merc's and 6 Rosies, followed by the two Indian Heads. Examples of the Pictorial History book, research of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, gave me ideas as to the age of certain locations and still existing buildings in my home town. John Pfluger & Sons cooper shop, SE corner of 3rd and Ferry Street: 1900. 10th Ward School present site of Franklin School: 1910. Hammes Grocery Store 901 Adams Street: 1900 Martindale House at 237 South 10th Street: 1859-1860 There were many other buildings and businesses named and dates given, too many to list here, but from these I could keep my eyes open for a chance to detect close to potential high traffic areas where older coins most likely were lost. So with a little better information, I began my second year of metal detecting with the coming of spring. Second SeasonThe second season to metal detect, found me hunting closer to older sites obtained from the limited research done over the winter. Still hunting over mostly grassy areas, I was starting to find more keeper coins. I ended this year of hunting with 34 keeper coins. But still the coins tended to be the more modern silver Rosies and Mercury dimes. Four of the keepers happened to be from before 1900. They were discovered in a certain type of location which was to become a type of site I searched for whenever possible. The new hot spot for hunting was house demo sites. House demo sites were where the house was knocked down to make room for a more modern building. The sites are best then the top soil is shaved down a couple of inches. This removes most trash and anything left is older stuff. The first site I was hunting was near 6th and Cass Street in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
The Big Year
As the season continued, I hunted every location where the surface was removed exposing deeper layers of dirt never before detected. Some produce little or nothing, but most yielded interesting brass bits of the past. Buttons, tokens as well as older pieces of lost jewelry. Coins continued to surface also. At a steady pace the number of keepers continued to add up. The newest happened to be Mercury dimes, silver Rosie's were becoming a thing of the past in these new types of hunt sites. One location that presented itself was a sidewalk tear-up at the corner of 7th and King Streets. The area produced a large cent, but it was a Canadian one with a hole. Someone must have worn it in the past and lost it. It was dated 1859. The next site of note, fate took me to happened to be to the area of 4th and Division Street. Forth and Division Street had been hunted by me once before. On both sides of the street were interesting locations, both houses. One with a condemned sign the other an older small brick residence. Both produced little of real interest. But then the houses were still standing. The condemned one was the first to go. After the ground was shaved down it produced some tokens from local businesses of the past. One day I called a friend who informed me that the older brick house was removed. I drove past and checked on the location. What I saw made me decided to forego sleep that night. The ground was shaved down at least 8 inches! The house was no where in sight. The darker dirt was exposed for the first time since the founding of the city! The Night Hunt
Foregoing sleep to hunt such a location of promise was not a difficult choice. I proceeded to detect the shaved down area in the dark. I used no light, but ½ a block away was a street light. The detector gave off multi-tones on the targets it sensed and I just went by sound. After about 2 hours I had recovered 4 Indian Heads. I could tell they were Indian Heads by the dim light of the distance street light, but the dates were unknown till I got home. At home I washed the dirt off them and discovered one was dated 1872. The other three were dated 1888, 1881 and 1870. I looked them up online and seen the 1872 was priced at $275 at the time. I decided I had to go back and hunt some more. That 1877 Indian Head just had to be there!
The location gave up some other firsts to me. I found my first 2 cent piece, which has a strange coloring to it. My first nicer watch fob was found there as well as this most interesting brass button. The totals from the site in coins that where found there that I know of came to 17. Several folks hunted this spot to death before it became a display lot for a car dealership. I was lucky to have gotten in first and managed 14 of the 17 known coins. Personal totals from this site came to 2 Seated Dimes, 2 Barber Dimes, 1- 2 Cent Piece, 1 Buffalo nickel and 8 Indian heads. At this point of the season I had 49 keeper coins, 34 were pre-1900. I was now digging over 69% pre-1900 keepers. Location was the key to the older finds. But the season was not over yet...
See also: Wheats Don't Count Part 2 |
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