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z118
09-12-2011, 06:01 PM
So anyone reading my posts will likely have noted my references to this season's sweet spot. I was hesitant to post too many details, but now that the digs have come and gone, here's a summary of sorts.

Long story short, the sweet spot in question was a construction job in my town. They did a bit of construction in two places; one was along a road bordering an old park, and the second was between a road and the old schools in my town (built in 1922 and 1934). From these two spots I wound up pulling 45 silver coins, 5 Indian head Cents, a Canadian large cent, 5 Buffalo nickels, and around 200 wheat pennies. I also dug a nice gold ring, some cool relics, and around 700 clad coins. And I eyeballed some good stuff too - mostly marbles. I can only imagine how many are left buried in the dirt.

The majority of finds came from in front of the two schools. They scraped the entire area between the front of the schools and the street - maybe 50' wide by about two blocks total. The scrape gave up a large number of good finds, and many hunts following were spent in the resulting dirt pile, and then in the areas where they later spread the pile. The whole experience was a real eye opener. I'm now convinced that there's treasure everywhere, and that treasure is regularly being buried beyond the range of detectors. Much of the dirt they scraped which I am certain contained old coins and silver was used to fill deep holes and is now beyond reach.

I ran into three other detectorists at this spot. I'm not sure how they did. I don't think they had the luck I did, if only because they were not there almost daily like I was.

The Etrac ran like hell here. I had hunted these spots before the construction with the Sov, and like most places in my town, the detector would barely run there. In the scraped dirt the Etrac would manage a sensitivity of around 12 in auto - at best. In manual it was insufferable with never ending falsing at almost any sensitivity setting. I started digging just about anything that gave a signal, which was only possible because it was a construction site and there was no worrying about holes or grass or leaving a mess.

The pics below... 1 - All the old coins from this spot, minus the wheats. 2 - all the relics of sorts; keys, buttons, tags, compacts, token, etc. 3 - the cool eyeball stuff, mostly marbles. 4 - the best 3 finds - the 1st Sep Co item is silver and dates to the late 1800's to early 1900's, the quarter is my oldest dated quarter, and the ring is 10k with a cloudy green stone.

I'm very pleased to have had this opportunity. It really saved my season, which was otherwise shaping up rather poorly. Now the construction work is completed, and the area is cleaned and seeded and looking green and new and nice. Every time I drive by I think about the fun I had hunting there and the goodies I found.

Anyway... that's my story!

JTGOLD
09-12-2011, 06:32 PM
a lot of nice stuff came out of there and real nice bunch of silver too,yep thats was a sweet spot.wtg.

Tony Two-Cent
09-12-2011, 09:06 PM
That had to be a ton of fun finding all of those cool coins and relics! Wow, look at all of those Mercury Dimes! Forty-five silver coins, HOLY COW! I love the marbles too, especially that cool swirl one.

Great story! Thanks for letting us in on your secret! thumbsup01

Spike
09-12-2011, 09:27 PM
:omg: I hope I have that much luck at my new sweet spot ;) two houses that are being tore down for a parking lot so far 16 silvers two buttons and they have not even scratched the grass yet :grin:

aloldstuff
09-13-2011, 07:13 AM
What a great story. You had some fantastic hunting there. I know how you feel now that the area is seeded and growing. Time to find another spot which is what most of end up doing, but the memories will still exist.

Viking
09-13-2011, 09:45 PM
I'm glad you recognized a good spot, and even happier that it paid off! What an incredible site! :perfect10:

Was there ever anyone from the construction crew around to ask what you were up to? Is it generally ok to hunt these torn up areas, or did you ask a foreman first? I'm just curious as to the protocol, as I'd love to hit a similar site in the future.

jkress
09-13-2011, 10:42 PM
:shocked04: :shocked04: :shocked04: <:
What a fantastic haul from your sweet spot. I've been looking forward to reading about it. Persistence sure paid off for you.
Congrats on rescuing all of those beautiful keepers. Great post Z. thumbsup01

angellionel
09-14-2011, 10:51 PM
If you had said that those weren't fun hunts you would need to retire from detecting. lol Great job at that site. You rescued coins that would likely have been gone for good.