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Reprinted with written permission from People's Publishing, Inc. From Jan. 2003 issue of Western & Eastern Treasures magazine, pages 62,63,64
VACATION YARD WORK
It was vacation time, and Terry Schroeder and I were eager to line up some sites to detect here in Southeastern Minnesota. We each had permission granted for some promising places near our homes, and now all we had to do was to charge up the NiCads in our XLT's and find some treasure!
The first site was an old homestead with limestone foundations on the house and barn. Terry had made arrangements for us to "come over anytime". He said all he needed to do was knock on the door and explain to Rita, the elderly lady who owned the home, that we were present; we didn't want her to get startled by a strange vehicle in the driveway.
The smiling face of Rita Mades met us at the door, and Terry explained that we were there to detect the lawn. She knew who he was, and when I told her my name, she said that she knew my mother. With introductions out of the way, Rita asked if we might need a shovel. This required an explanation of how metal detecting is done. We informed her of our technique of removing the metal objects from the soil using just a small trowel, and assured her that she would not see a trace of where we had been searching. With that done, she didn't want to keep us from our fun.
Terry chose to start near the front sidewalk, while I started on the side of the house where there were some lawn chairs, and where Rita had said there was an old Hickory tree. I hadn't gone far when the first good signal rang through my headphones, the detector's LCD registered a "penny/dime" target at about 4 1/2" and my first coin was a Lincoln Memorial cent. Terry and I have often wondered how these coins can be so deep in the ground. There wasn't much to report in the areas where we had started our searches. Terry had the same type of luck near the walkway, finding a couple of Memorial cents and a clad Roosevelt dime. I don't know about you, but I get rather impatient when nothing good surfaces after an hour or two. The sun was hot, the finds were few, and a sense of frustration had begun to set in. I start to sway from my usual pattern, hoping to find a piece of ground that contained something worth unearthing.
Rita had just passed by, so I showed the ring to her. I had asked earlier if anyone had lost any jewelry in the yard, adding that we would gladly return it. She looked at it carefully, and after I told her that it wasn't worth any money, she said she would show it to anyone who visited.
When Terry and I took a little breather to compare finds, there wasn't' much to talk about. Terry had the best item, a Winona, Minnesota parking token. The sites seemed to have been resurfaced or something. Memorial cents were buried several inches down, which didn't seem possible. We looked over the area again, trying to get a "feel" of where the older artifacts might be. I suggested that Terry try the other side of the house while I checked around by the windmill. There had been an old school located nearby, and we were told that the water from the well was used for it. Terry's side of the house was in a direct line to the well, and if water had been carried by hand to the school, it would seem logical that the water haulers would travel that route.
It wasn't long before I noticed Terry hurrying toward the Blazer with a smile on his face. He was headed for the olive oil container with an Indian Head cent dated 1890. He had mentioned finding a few Wheat cents nearby, but nothing compared to the Indian Head. We took another short break to discuss the recovery.
We make mental notes on the readings from the XLT's display for future references. Today most were in the 50's and at a depth of about 6". This is not unusual for Indian Head cents; in fact, we have found them in just about every range of the display, depending on soil conditions, depth, and other metal objects near by. We check out almost all signals that are repeatable, to get an idea of the targets in the ground. However, if there is too much trash or nails present, we start to pass over some of them.
What happens if we get tired of digging those pesky signals and we pass up some of the Indian Head cents? Well, I look at it this way: you can always come back later and dig some of those passed-up targets. This will give you a site to detect when you don't have any new places lined up and have hit a dry spell.
Terry came up with a Mercury dime dated 1923 to keep the luck going. My luck was still running low, though, until I went to the rear of the house, where I found a couple of Wheat cents and another Indian Head cent dated 1890. The rest of the hunt was uneventful, adding only a few more Memorial cents and some clad
After the first hour or two, Terry and I were beginning to believe Bud was right. Terry had found a couple of Wheat cents dating in the 40's and 50's, while I had dug only a couple of Memorials. With frustration again setting in, I started to get discouraged but managed to keep my pattern going, and after a short break resumed the same course. Then I heard one of those "iffy" signals and, since the targets were rather scarce, decided to dig. Up popped a 1916 Buffalo nickel! This coin broke the monotony, and I had to show it to Terry.
I resumed my search pattern, and soon a 1925-S Mercury dime was shining in the sun. Not only the dime, but also a Wheat cent and a coin that I couldn't recognize had surfaced. These three coins were only about a foot away from one another and all at about the same depth. After further inspection, the unrecognizable coin was identified as a 1913 farthing from Great Britain! A few of the Wheat cents were also from the early 1900s, and Terry found one nearby dated 1912.
Thank you, Rita and Bud, for letting us search your yards!
Nearing one of the out buildings, I got a shallow hit. After pinpointing, I saw what looked like a small piece of dirt and brushed it with my foot. As it rolled on the grass, I could see that it was a small ring! It was a child's ring with an adjustable band, and the stone was missing. I couldn't help thinking that the chickens had scratched the ring to the surface, because there were divots in the ground near some of the bushes by the building.
coins to the tally. We vowed to return the next day to finish detecting the areas we had not covered yet. Terry went back to his hotspot and found another Indian Head cent, this one is dated 1898. Not to be outdone, I came up with an 1895 and a 1944-S Mercury dime to boot. We decided that there was enough ground
to last the rest of the morning and took a short break, setting up some lawn chairs under a huge oak tree and relaxing in the cool breeze. This was the way to take a vacation: the sun was out, the shade felt great, and we were enjoying a short snack. Best of all,we were actually getting a paid to do this.
The next site was another home owned by Bud Koenig. He told us a little of the history surrounding the house, saying that the land had been in the family for several generations, but of course they didn't have any money to lose. We set out to prove him wrong.
After these finds, the yard just seemed to dry up. I continued working a pattern, finding nothing but a Memorial cent. We detected for a few more hours, moving to the front yard to find more coins. However, they were only clads and just didn't offer the excitement we needed to keep us interested in the area. We showed the coins to Bud and his son, Pat, to top off the day. They were rather busy but were interested just the same. One of our recoveries was a ring stamped inside the band with a "U" shape with an arrow through it. I later learned that this is a mark of the Uncas Manufacturing Company, Inc., a jewelry firm in Providence, Rhode Island.
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