3/27 More Wheats But No Silver

This last weekend I woke to a couple of inches of fresh Utah powder. It was not the sight I wanted to see for my Saturday but finally in the afternoon, the sun came out and melted the snow. Since time was limited I headed back to the house where I found the 1889 Indian. The yard is all dirt at the moment as the owner is preparing to put in a new yard later this spring. I was really hoping for some silver coins since I had found so many wheat pennies from early 1911-1920's. I didn't come away with much and no silver once again.

The finds included a total of 27 coins. I didn't realize it but I found 7 more wheat pennies which brings my total to 15 wheats for the sight. Three interesting finds:

1. Small bracelet which the inscription "Nina" on it. It looked gold at first but I don't think gold turns green
2. Small token which is my 4th of this kind. Doing research on it shows it was used in old arcades for prizes or under ground gambling.
3. The most interest find was a small what I think is a Chinese coin about the size of a dime. If anyone knows what it says please let me know.

Special thanks to the owner for letting me search the property. The 1915 house paid out my oldest coin ever and for that I am grateful!

2012 Coin Count Breaks 6000+ Coins

I know this is already late in 2013 but I just finished counting my total clad coins from 2012. A clad coin is a 1965 or newer coin that is pretty much worth face value. It's your change you have in your pocket right now. I was interested to see how much it totaled out to be. In 2012 I found $364.40  in clad coins. That broke out to be $174.75 in quarters, $136.90 in dimes, $17.95 in nickels, and $34.80 in pennies. Here is a picture to give you perspective.

With all my coins combined, I found 6,000+ coins last year. I know this year will not yield as much as I am now focusing on finding older coins at old homes but I couldn't believe the number. I think I found a total of $135 in 2011. Goes to show there is a lot of coins in the ground!

I never want to count that many coins again. I am keeping a running tally of all my finds this year so I hopefully I won't have to.

3/16 House on 700 North In Provo Produces Oldest Coin Ever!

The weather has been really nice and has allowed me to get out there. Last week I was metal detecting a tree strip when the owner of a house came out to talk to me. I explained to him what I do and he gave me permission to search his yard. The yard was dirt which the owner plans on putting some grass in this spring. It was a perfect time to search it. The house was built in 1916 so I was hoping for a few silver coins but didn't find any. I came up with my oldest coin ever! 1889 Indian came up and I was pretty excited about it. The yard has a ton of nails and old rusted iron but I was able to pull out some good finds using my 2 tone ferrous program.

As you can see by the picture, I found a lot of clad coins and a ton of nails hoping for the rare silver coins. The pocket knife was found right next to two wheat pennies. My guess is that someone empty their pockets and never came back from it. Total finds from Saturday are 71 coins in total, 1889 Indian and 8 wheat pennies. $2.29 in regular coins.

The 1889 Indian is worth $4-12 in it's condition. The 8 wheat pennies are from 1917-S, 5-1919, 1936, 1952. Total value of the wheat are around $4. Pretty good hunt in my book!

3/11 Last Trip to White House Yields Buffalo Nickel

For the past week I have been searching a property in Provo that I got permission to hunt. The owner said that they would never metal detect it so it was good to go. On my first hunt, I found a beautiful 1893-S Barber dime which makes it my second oldest coin ever. Value in it's condition is only about $10.

 The last hunt paid off well with three wheat from 1919, 1939, and 1950 and a Buffalo Nickel from 1928! This year has started off really good. In all of last year I only found 2 coins in 1800's, 3 Indian Pennies, and 2 Buffalo Nickels. This year I already have 2 coins in 1800's, 1 Indian, and 1 Buffalo.

 Total finds at the White House was 63 items. $2.32 in clad, 9 wheats, 1 buffalo, 1 barber, and 1 tax token. I get asked a lot of how much things are worth so to give you an idea the total value amount of all old coins found at this location is $20.24 which is not completely accurate since I am basing it off of averaged circulated value and some are too beat up to make that. Total sight value would be $22.56.

First Nice Day in Provo Yields 1895 Indian and Silver Ring

The weather has finally started to warm up just enough to get out there. I have been doing a lot of research on old maps of Provo and finding new places to search. Saturday I decided to hit some tree strips. The day didn't start out as good as I struggled to find anything but it soon turned better for me. My first real coin was a 1939 wheat penny which put a little smile on my face.

First wheat penny of the year 1939

 Shortly after I found the wheat penny, I dug a 4" hole to find this coin. The front side was completely covered but when I flipped it over and saw the unmissable back of an Indian penny, I was super excited. I could wait to get home to see if it was from the 1800's. I found three Indians last year so to start out the season with one is a great start!

 After taking a mid day break, I went back out. Here are all my finds. I did happen to pick up a harmonica and two marbles. 

 I ended the day with one Indian penny from 1895!!! and three wheats.

 The ring had the initials I.A.H which stand for I Am His. It's a pretty ring so Ashley started wearing it.