The Indians of Mercury Cove

Went back down to the beach again at lunch yesterday and dug an Indian head penny on my first signal, not 12 inches from where the Merc was found. That's three coins off this beach and I am officially convinced it was heavily used in the early 1900's. I am also finding a lot of early 20th century shell casings and bullets. I guess they were down there shooting each other for pocket change. Anyway, the Indian turned out to be a 1908 and cleaned up rather well, leaving a fine green patina.

Skeletons and Indians

  Back at the park in Rockport and found this wonderful three-inch skeleton key. It's a bit bent, but then again, so am I.

  Also, another Indian Head penny, this one a rather pitted 1903, but at least the date was clear. Besides, I never get tired of finding these Indians, regardless of their condition.

  I found a few wheat pennies, too. I rarely post pics of wheaties, but I did find a 1909, which is the first year the wheat penny was printed. I will probably post a picture when it is finished soaking.

1873 Indian Head Penny

  Found this in a park in Rockport. It is one of the nicest Indians I have turned up yet. The soil in this particular park seems to have low acidity, as the the coins coming out have much less damage than those I find elsewhere.

1920's Pocket-Spill

  I paid a visit to a local park I have been wanting to check out and came up with a few items of interest: namely a beautiful Buffalo nickel with a fantastic patina (unfortunately no clear date), a 1912 Barber dime, a devastated 1880 Indian Head penny, two wheat pennies (still in the cleaning process), a nice 19th century buckle, and a pretty little bejeweled brooch from the 1800's. The Barber dime actually came out of the ground wedged between the two wheaties, the result of some unfortunate pocket-spill about a hundred years ago.

1904 Barber Dime

A brief stop in Union Common yielded yet another weathered Indian Head penny and a nice 1904 Barber dime. I suspect this park was hit heavily years ago and stripped of all its large silvers and coppers, which is why I seem to only find Indians, deep nickels, and Barber dimes. Not that I am complaining.

Two More Indians

  11 Indian Head pennies so far this year. This one is an 1890, and not in perfect shape, but will clean up alright after a few more days in olive oil.

  Also, an exhausted 1884 Indian head and a nineteenth century bottle stopper...

  All of this , by the way, still coming out of the park in Union.

The Bottomless Park

  The park continues to give up the old goods. I am literally only covering about twenty square feet of ground on every hunt. Apparently, the large county fairs were held there in the mid-1800's. It's funny, in any other state metal-detectorists would have picked that place clean years ago. I picked out a few more heavily worn Indian head pennies; an 1878 and an unreadable date.

  I found this great little three-and-a-half inch brass pocketknife. After cleaning I could make out the words "W-ville co. Waterbury." It turns out that this was a pre-Civil War pocketknife made by the Waterville company out of Connecticut. I may try to soak it in oil for a few weeks and see if I can bring it back to life.

  Also, there was a rusty ring, a gold-plated costume ring, a small brass buckle (probably a shoe buckle), and a few tiny brass buttons.

19th Century Cellar Hole and Field

  I had a great hunt in the rain yesterday, around the remnants of an old cellar hole and a field in Pittston. The find of the day was a great 1863 Civil War Penny Token, the date of which was visible coming right out of the ground. These Civil War tokens were privately minted between 1862 and 1864, due to the lack of currency during the war, and were made illegal directly after. The rear says "Army and Navy", though it will take a little soaking in olive oil to clean it up.

  I also unearthed three Indian head pennies; an 1861, an 1886, and one still unreadable--a record number of Indians in one hunt for me. Two of them were actually stuck together in the soil, with their faces inward, which is why they look so good in the pics. They will clean up quite nicely.

  I found this great brass badge in the Pittston field. Apparently, it is circa 1930's and was issued for some "Boy Detective" comic strip. It is small, being less than 2 inches across. I was as excited to find this badge as I was to find the coins.

  Then there are the odds and ends: a few rusty knives, a tiny brass button, a large rusty iron button, watch cog, brass handle, unexploded artillery, an unidentifiable neat things. All in all, a fine day underground.

Elf Buckles And A Mystery Coin

  When I pulled this little item--which is less than an inch in length--out of the ground, Damon said, "Oh, it's a belt buckle." I looked at the object intensely. "For what?" I asked. "An elf?" "No," he laughed. "For a ribbon or something," and perhaps he is right. I also has a button stem on the rear.

  Then there is this little doodad, which I am 95% certain is a very old coin, though I will never know what kind. Many old and ancient coins had holes in the center and alot of those were silver or gold. This, however, is most definitely nickel.

Beneath the Water

  Damon and I stopped in town and went into the park, when he noticed that the river that empties into the harbor was dry, which meant the dam was closed. We hopped down into the the dry riverbed that comes out from beneath all the old businesses on main street. I swung the detector for a few minutes, but the quantity of metal jammed the machine pretty badly. It actually exploded in my hands! Then I noticed the pennies lying in the mud and I turned off the machine and just started picking them up. Very quickly I realized there were some wheat pennies mixed in and I looked a little closer. I managed to find one Indian head, which is roughly dated 190(something), 6 wheatbacks, two clay pipe stems, an old spoon, a marble(love finding marbles), a beautiful little perfume bottle stopper, a great large square nail, and some swiveling brass doohicky. Also, a total of 3.25 in dirty money. My fiance is going to strangle me if I don't find some place to store all of this great garbage. Hopefully, she realizes how very much I love her.

First Silver Of The Year

  Stopped at a friends farm on the way home yesterday. I got out the detector while he was exchanging St. Patrick's Day greetings and scanned the side yard. I was there for only a few minutes and I dug up a 1964 silver quarter, a 1926 Standing Liberty quarter, a 1906 Indian Head (my second of the year), and a 1911 wheatback penny (a very early year, when you consider they started making them only 2 years earlier in 1909). The farm has been in operation for well-over a hundred years and they graciously said I could come back and hunt whenever I wanted.
  (Also, note the scratches on both the Washington and The IH. Both I believe to be the result of my having over-sharpened my digging trowel. A lesson in digging tools, for sure.)

Dan Hughes' New Book

  Yesterday I received my copy of Dan Hughes' new book, The Metal Detecting Manual, and I haven't been able to put it down. Filled to the covers with tales of treasures lost and found, tips on where and how to hunt, personal anecdotes, and useful historical information; this book is a wonderful reference volume for any metal detecting enthusiast. The book can be ordered from the website listed in my links-list, and don't forget to check out his md podcast.

Back To The Park

  I returned to the park where I found the wheat penny yesterday morning. I was fairly depressed, the sky gray and drizzling, on my way to work on a Sunday, and I just needed some time to sit with my feelings before encountering any other humans. The park was quiet, but for the occasional musical forays of the downtown church bells and I plodded along with my metal detector in the shadow of the Civil War monument that watches over the park. Someone stopped and pointed out that the Union military statues are always facing south, just in case.

   The ground was fully thawed and the digging was easy. I left a while later with 1.07 in clad coinage, an unreadable wheat penny, an 1864 Indian Head penny, a costume ring, a heavily corroded belt buckle, a deeply buried fishing weight, and a beautiful brass skeleton key. It didn't solve my problems, but it took my mind off of them for an hour or two.