Metal Detecting at Picnic Grounds in Upstate New York
As the Iron Homestead Junk is Almost Absent at the Picnic Grove Site, One's Metal Detector Should Be Set On Minimum Discrimination
Not far away from the copper, I dug up 1917 Standing Liberty silver Quarter.
I realized that there were 155 years between those two coins dates! I started thinking about the site and wondering what was going on here for at least 155 years. I got the answer quickly as soon as we began digging up a lot of the personal items such as coat buttons, rings, keys, old bottle caps and pull-tabs, broken bottles, old and modern, and other items that usually people would lose while camping or having a picnic!
That was it! We had discovered a site of an old picnic grove! And the site was situated right in the middle of the highly populated area. I could not believe that nobody had ever metal detected here! Shelly and I chose a different spot and resumed our search. Soon Shelly's arm got tired swinging Explorer and she offered to exchange our metal detectors. I knew she would feel more comfortable with her Spectrum XLT. Right after she got her favorite machine back, Shelly found her first Large Cent!
After Shelly's excitement subsided a little, I suggested her to check the spot around the hole. She did so, received no signal, and moved on. From my previous experiences, I knew that spots like this should be given a special attention. I came over to recheck the spot myself and was rewarded with a 1847 Half Dime!
Shelly could not believe that she missed such a cool coin. I knew the reason-the Explorer seemed to detect deeper than the Spectrum XLT. We decided to search this particular area thoroughly and cleared a patch, 5 yards by 5 yards, off the vegetation and branches.
A Small Metal Detecting Patch
A little physical labor paid off. Shelly found a few Wheat Cents, a couple of silver Roosevelt Dimes, and one Mercury Dime. I managed to recover an older and deeper coin-1837 Large Cent. All coins were in great condition.
