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.

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 :(

9/24- Huge Silver With A Little Gold

The weekend got started with a bang or more like a BOOM in my case. I decided to retrace some steps and use my medium size coil to see if I could find some deeper targets in areas I have been before. I wasn't finding much but then I got a questionable signal that was repeating. Typically I did every signal that repeats multiply times. It was coming up at where a wheat penny usually comes up so when I pulled up the plug to find multiple silver coins, I was super excited!!! I also found a old sleigh bell that was pretty deep as well. It has to be one of the coolest finds I have ever found.

In this one hole was a 1935 Walking Half Dollar, 1936 Mercury Dime, 1940 Silver Quarter, and a 1942 War nickel. I have never found 4 silver coins in a hole and the walking half was a big surprise. I am calling this the grand slam.

 The 1942 war nickel is part silver and it's the second one I have found.

 The sleigh bell was a cool find, very unique and could be over a 100 years old

 You can see the number 6 on the bottom. I wonder if that's just a number in a set.

On Saturday I went golfing and then met up with Ben for some tree strip hunting. He had just found a 14K gold ring when I showed up so he was sure excited as that was the first real gold of the year. I was pretty jealous. I went over the the other side of the road where I found a mercury dime, tax token, and a wheat penny. Ben had to retire early so I decided to go over to Zeke's house again and see what I can find. I was blown away by my little coil as it came up with my first gold of the year, a silver dime, and a 1907 Indian head penny. I also found a really cool old school razor.

I need to dig up more targets like this and retrace my steps.

 The Indian Head Penny was found on the side of the house where there was so much nails that I couldn't get a thresh hold. I was literally going slower then a snail's pace when it went off. It was only a couple inches down.

 1907!!!!

 I love this old school razor. I told Zeke if he wants it is his. The razor is from Gem Mircorazors and was made anywhere from 1920-1940's.

 It says MADE IN THE USA

 Total finds from Zeke's house

 Total find for this last week. One of the best I have ever had.

Boys Night Out

So last Thursday, my buddy Derald Miller asked me to bring my metal detectors over to search part of his backyard. His house was built in the 1920's so I figured it would be a good chance to find some old coins. My buddy Chase Larson also came along for the ride and we all got out there. Apparently there used to be some gypsies living in his backyard so we were excited to see what we can find.

Derald and Chase getting ready to find the good stuff. Their eyes are filled with wonderment and hope of striking it rich.

A few words from Chase Larson:

It comes as no surprise that Mike would ask me to go metal detecting with him. Or that he would ask me to write a post as a guest blogger.  It is, after all, in my blood.  A man who is (possibly) my great-great-great uncle, Alexander Graham Bell, developed the first metal detector of the modern era.  He used a snorkel, 2 pennies, a bayonet and some Elmer’s glue.  With it he found the Liberty Bell, or so the story goes.  According to the internet, Napoleon Bonaparte apparently had the first metal detector in recorded history, but it was a knockoff DetectorPro he got at Costco, so we don’t really accept that.  Again, this is what the internet tells me.  After learning about other famous metal detectors throughout history (Lisa Loeb, Reginald VelJohnson (tv’s Carl Winslow), Montezuma, Buzz Aldrin, Manute Bol (#RIP)) I decided I would take Mike up on his offer, and see if I had the mettle to detect.

I didn’t.

I was terrible.  I had no patience.  No organization.  I discovered two surterranean horseshoes (still the best finds of the day, IMO), but they were visible to the naked eye.  I gained a greater appreciation through this experience for not only Mike, but for the art of Metal Detecting, and America.  And the movie Holes.  Shia LeBouf wasn’t just a troubled kid, he was a Patriot.

As Lil Wayne states in his aptly titled hit ‘Ya Dig’, he has ‘phantoms with a Showfer (his spelling, not mine.) Bricks with a trill again waiting on a Gofer.’ As Lil waits on his Gofer, I eagerly await my next adventure in Patrotric American Metal Detecting.  

Lars Bars

This was the last thing I thought I would find in Derald's yard, It came up as a 12:19 which is is typically a number for gold. I will need to take it in to find out more.

 This is all the good stuff we found in the backyard. We found a toy tank, top of a old salt shaker, copper top, a token of some sort, 2 wheat pennies, a very nice ring, and a couple dollars in change.

 The what pennies were 1936 and 1944. The 1936 was in the sand box in the picture above, the 1944 was literally on the surface.

 I'm thinking the ring is a birth stone ring.

 Gotta show the trash

4/26/2012 - Trip to Rotary Park and Hillcrest Park

At lunch yesterday, I drove passed this beautiful park with large trees and a lot of open space. When metal detecting it's always nice to find parks with large old trees because you have a better chance of finding something old. That was not the case at Rotary Park, It was very trashy and I was picking up pull tabs with every step. I only found a few coins and all were on the surface. I decided to go back to Hillcrest Park where I found my silver quarter and 3 silver rings. It turn out to be a decent haul. The little necklace piece says 18KGP on it, meaning 18 karat gold plated. A couple other rings and one silver ring made the hunt enjoyable.