12/3- First Barber Quarter!!!

On Saturday, I went up to Kaysville Utah with my buddy Zeke. Zeke has been very influential in helping me find some of my coolest finds this year. It was at Zeke's house that I found my 14k gold ring. He has talked with his brother and he allowed me to go up to his house in Salt Lake where I found my oldest coin, 1982 Barber Dime. Recently Zeke asked his sister in Kaysville if I could come up there and search around her house that was built in 1897. She agreed, so Saturday we gave it a shot. Here is the what we found.

The house had a very large yard but most of the good finds came from the tree strip out front.

 I have learned over the year that some of the best spots to look are right up against large trees. I was shocked when I dug this 1911-S Barber Quarter from the hole. I was telling Ben the other day that one of us was going to find a silver quarter. I was so thrilled to see that it was a Barber since that is pretty rare for this area.

 Up close picture of the Barber.

 Shortly after I found the Barber, the same signal came up about three feet from it. I thought it was another quarter but it turned out to be a Davis County Canning Co. token from the early 1900's. On the back it says Syracuse Utah.

 Zeke had a good time up there. He got a real taste for what it takes to metal detect. He went back over the tree strip where I found the Barber and pulled out this 1924 Wheat Penny. It was sitting right next to a nail. WAY TO GO ZEKE!!! Next time you will get some silver.

 Total finds from the day. I found a pocket spill with a 1946 silver dime and 1940 nickel. 5 wheats in total from 1919,23,29,44,and 46. The best find of the day was obviously the Barber. The weather is suppose to drop off now so this could be the end of VT mining for this year.

11/29- Good Weather Leads to 50th Silver Coin

After the first week of November, I thought this year's season was over for VT Mining. After finding my oldest coin, the weather turned to winter and the snow started to fall. I figured I would not complete with my goal of getting to 50 silver coins. The nice thing about living in Utah is that the weather turns every 15 minutes. The last 3 weeks have been very nice and has allowed me to focus in on a spot I have wanted to search for a long time.

I usually follow the same route to work everyday and everyday I have passed this old blue house from the late 1800's. At time I have seen people metal detecting the location. I did some research and found that the house and the house next door are owned by a non-profit organization. I contacted the Executive Director and he gave me permission to hunt. Sharing this knowledge with my buddy Ben, we started to work the area.

At first glance I noticed the area had been searched before judging by the job the previous person had done. They did a poor job of  filling their digs. Not matter where you go, it is important to make sure you are careful and leave the area just has you found it. One of the great joys of metal detecting is following where someone else has been and just cleaning up all the good stuff they left behind. The sad part is when it happen to you. Ben is good at that haha. Here are some of the good finds from the last couple weeks.

This was a first for me! 1980 Chaparral High School class ring. It has some gold in it so that was a real find for me. I have done some research and have discovered the high school is in Las Vegas. Inside the ring is the initials KRB. I have located the potential person and I am trying to get in touch with him as we speak. Hopefully a good story comes out of it.

This toy truck was wrapped around a root of a tree. It was a pretty cool find.

 You can see that there are old and new items found all the time. The key was probably from the 1800's and the toy truck was probably from the 80's. One of the simple joys of metal detecting.

Now we get to the good stuff! I have found a total of 7 silver coins, 25 wheat pennies, and 2 tax tokens. The 1906 Barber Dime is my 50th SILVER COIN!!! I finally made it. Ben has done equally as well. He has found 3 coins from the 1800's including a 1896 V nickel. I am super jealous of that. I can tell the place has been hunted before so it's good to find all these old items.

 Here is my Christmas tree of coins. Happy Holidays!!!

 

I went back last night and was able to find my 5th barber. It was in an area that both Ben and I have been over a couple of time proving there is always more to find.

 This has to be one of the coolest finds from the location. It is a 1910 Boys Scout token that a shoe company made to promote their product. They made them from 1910-1914. The craziest thing is what is on the back.

 At first glance I thought the Boy Scouts were Nazi. I did some research and although the swastika has a negative feel to it now, it is also a universal symbol for good luck as expressed here. The Nazi swastika is also tilted. Between the swastika you can see a Wish Bone, Horse Shoe, 4 Leaf Clover, and some other symbol. All are associated with good luck. This has to be one of my favorite finds from this location.

11/5- 1892 Barber Dime

This weekend I went by the house in Salt Lake City that was built in 1890. I didn't have much luck the first time so I was looking forward to finding some older items. The grass was long and covered with leafs but I was able to get started with no problem. I didn't find a ton of stuff but I did come away with my oldest coin so far. Check it out!

First thing I found was a tax token so I was hopeful for some old silver. I thought it was an outside chance that I would find something from the 1800's but it happened. The 2nd item found was a 1892-O Barber Dime. My oldest coin ever found

This is the most exciting thing about metal detecting, uncovering something that has been lost for 100 years.

Here is a close up of this beauty

 Total old finds from the weekend include 1 barber dime, 1 tax token, and 4 wheat pennies.

 Total finds from the 1890 home. My favorites are the bullet slug, button, and thimble.

 Close up of the old button and thimble.

11/2- Foreign Silver

On Halloween, Ben and I hit up a tree strip in Provo. I thought it was going to be a great night when my first coin was a 1942 Mercury dime but after that I didn't find much. I ended the night with just the one silver dime and one wheat penny. Last night I called Ben and told him I was going to go back to the 1904 lot and continue working the area with my small coil. He said he would join and when He got there, his first coin was also a 1942 Mercury dime. Showing his experience, Ben ended up finding 4 wheats in an area where I had already been twice. I was happy for him but also disappointed they weren't in my pocket. Well done Ben, you are still the best in Utah Valley. I did happen to find 4 wheats of my own along with a record, 4 Utah tax tokens. Most of the items I found were in holes with nails and other junk items. I am always impressed with the little coil. The find of the night was my first foreign silver coin. It was in a hole with a 1925 wheat penny so I thought in could be a buffalo nickel but it turned out to be a very tarnished silver coin from Chile. It's from 1920. It was great find!

Total finds from the 1904 lot. I dug a lot of nails looking for the good stuff.

 Total finds from my two outings this week. The coin from Chile has to be my favorite.

 The front side is very tarnished but I was shocked to see the date and that it was silver. First foreign silver!

10/29- New locations, Small Coil Pays Out, and Harold

This weekend I was all over the valley. My dear friend and supporter Marc Sitterud tied the knot this weekend and I would just like to congratulate him and Jackie on a lovely wedding. The wedding brought friends from all over. One in particular is my good friend Harold Abell from Chicago. He has always been a big supporter of the metal detecting so I had some time to get out with him Saturday morning. Thanks to my friend Zeke and his brother, I was able to test out a new property in Salt Lake. It is an 1890 home with some good potential. Harold and I only searched for 30 minutes but it paid out one 1945 wheat penny. I am confident that I will find some good stuff when I have some more time to hunt it.

Here is Harold (aka Big Hair) in front of the 1890 home. He is an engineer for GE and was giving me some wisdom while we tested out the location. Thanks for coming out buddy.

 A lady stopped me when I was hunting a house in Pleasant Grove and told me that this house was just purchased by the city. I did some research and found that it was built in 1930. I told Ben about it and we met up to hunt it. The targets were very deep. Ben found 5 wheats, 1 merc, and a piece of silver jewelry. I found 4 wheats and a tax token.

 

This token was found in the yard, it appears to have a name and on the back it says Florida Pool Products. I thought it was interesting.

 

On Sunday, I headed back to the 1904 lot in Provo where I found a hoard of costume jewelry. I decided to use my small coil since Ben and I had already covered the area once before. The small coils continues to amaze me since I found another 5 wheat pennies, 1 mercury dime, and a silver ring. The picture is a good example of how the small coil works between bad targets to find the good stuff. The silver dime and wheat penny where found next to this large iron target. The larger coil was not able to pick it up. The silver ring was also found next to some rusty old nails.

 

Total finds from the weekend.  10 wheats, 1 mercury, 1 tax token, and silver ring.

 

Most of the coins are from 40's and 50's with one from 1925. The stone is not a real diamond :(

10/25- Gun, Missouri, and Hoard of Rings

It has been far too long since I update this bad boy. I have been traveling for work and play. I have been to 11 states in the month of October and enjoyed a lot of good times with friends and family. During my travels, I have spent some time looking for the good stuff. The last couple weeks have paid out with some very interesting finds. Here are some of the best!

When I pulled this up, I couldn't believe it. It appears to be either a .22 Cal or .25 Cal. It's amazing what is lost in the yard.

 Last weekend, I spent some time in Missouri with my Grandma Meme for her 80th birthday. She lives in this 100 year old house on a farm in southwest Missouri. I decided to take my metal detector with me to see what I could find.

 View from the farm.

 Total finds from Meme's house. I only found one wheat penny from 1952 and a toy car that probably belonged to my cousin.

 I was driving home one day and saw this empty lot. I did some research and got permission from the owner. Judging by the houses and the area, I knew it was an old lot. It turned out that there was a house from 1904 was torn down a little while ago. The lawn and tree strips were still good though

 I dug this picture up from Provo records. It gives an idea of what the house looked like before it was torn down.

 The first day I was there and only tried the tree strips. I found 8 wheat pennies, 2 tax token, and my 2nd buffalo nickel!!! I thought the lawn would be even better but it wasn't. Ben, Keith, and I went back last night and I didn't find anything old. Ben found just a few coins but he managed to score a buffalo from 1926, tax token, and one wheat penny from 1942. Instead of finding older items, I had a one any only type of experience. I found this 8k gold ring with a pretty purple stone. After that, I found a hoard of costume jewelry.

 All of this was in one hole. At first I thought I hit the mother load but none of it is real gold.

 Total finds from the one hole is 8 rings, 9 earrings, 1 pendant, and 1 bracelet with hearts. I doubt I will ever beat a jewelry hoard like this again.

 Total coin finds from the house. No silver :(

9/10- The Great Buffalo Nickel Found at Last

For the longest time, I have been in search of a buffalo nickel. In all the old homes we have searched, I have never found one until this week. My buddy Ben has actually found a couple this year and I was hoping to follow his lead. Last weekend I was searching a old church in Provo when I noticed two houses that appeared to be empty. I searched for the owner and found that the church has purchased them in preparation for the new temple in downtown Provo. Since Ben has been such a good friend in allowing me to hunt some of the homes he discovered, I decided to wait until he was able to go. We met up on Monday night and had a blast. Between myself, Ben, and Keith (Ben's dad), we found 11 wheat pennies, 3 silver coins, 1 buffalo nickel, and 4 interesting tokens. Here is the link to ben's blog to check out his finds: http://blog.benhere.com

This guy was about 3 inches down and I just had the strongest feeling that it was time. I was pretty excited

 The date is worn off on it so I can't tell what year it is. Buffalo nickels are from 1913-1938.

 Along with the buffalo nickel, I found my second standing liberty quarter with no date. The mercury dime is from 1939.

 I found three tokens that have "LOANED FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY" on one side and "PROPERTY OF O.K. VENDER" on the other. Doing some research showed me that these were traded and used in slot machines and could be traded for prizes like candy or gum. They were also used in illegal underground gambling. They date back to the 30's.

 All the good finds from the hunt. I found 7 wheat pennies from 1930,35,38,44,44,46,47.

 Total finds from the house. I went back last night and didn't find hardly anything which tells me we did a good job cleaning it out.

 Some of the other finds from the trip. The three keys were from the same hole.