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I just got my new metal
detector. I've never had one before, but after going out with a friend a
few times, I wanted to give it a go myself. My metal detector is a Minelab
Explorer XS. The coins shown here represent the silver that I found in the
first week of using it. I went out every evening for an hour or two at
various places in Huntington, Indiana.
Kevin McCracken 03/30/02
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Holy smokes! One evening I was
out detecting in an old part of Huntington along the street, when I saw a
large empty plot of grass that no one typically would go into. I decided to
give it a try. Within 10 minutes I pulled out what I thought was a dirty
half dollar. When I cleared the dirt away and saw "One Cent" I
was awe-struck. I quickly went home and told Mr. Buzzard and that Friday we
covered the green and found the rest of these. This is the best set of
finds that I've come across, but then again, I just started metal
detecting. The 1899 Barber dime was in pristine shape and is probably my
happiest find here. Mr. Buzzard found the copper trade token.
Kevin McCracken 04/05/02
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On Thursday night I went out
by myself to the same place where I found a large cent the week before.
After about an hour I was almost ready to give up, having only dug 3 things
-two of which were junk. Then I got a solid silver sound. I was happy,
because it was 4 inches down and this site was consistently giving us
pretty old stuff. I pulled the plug and looking back at me in the dirt was
a 1895 Barber quarter. This is the first quarter I've found. Friday evening
I went back with a couple friends and found two Washington quarters.
Saturday we went to a few places we looked up
from the library and after visiting a Lagro church built in 1872 I found a
1905 Barber dime. I almost passed it up because it was only 3 inches deep,
and occasionally looked like a penny with the detector. Saturday night I
was out with Buzard and Martinez by a couple houses we got permission to
hunt and found a 1899 Indian cent another Barber quarter! That makes 4
Barbers within a week. I'm a happy boy. In 1891 the silver coins were seated
liberties, so my new desire is to find one of these...
Kevin McCracken 04/13/02
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I am amazed at how much old
stuff there still is around here. Friday I took half a day off work to
search in an area that holds a lot of promise. I didn't find anything there
yet, but on the way home, I stopped by a public spot along the river that
looked very promising. Later that evening after unfriutfully trying to get
hold of Buzzard, I went back there and found all this! The Barber quarters
were the first things that I found. The 1871 Canadian dime is the oldest
silver I have found yet. But best of all, the next day I went back with a
friend and found what I have been desiring to find for quite a while, a
seated liberty coin. It is very worn, but the date clearly says 1887. It is
very nice to hunt such clean ground and find such nice bright coins in the
dark, tightly packed dirt. I found all these coins along a straight line in
the middle of nowhere, leading me to think that the line used to be a path
or something. These coins were found by what used to be the Erie canal, but
have dates newer than the canal timeframe.
Kevin McCracken 05/03/02
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I found the 1916 (barely visible) Canadian dime
at the same place I found the previous stuff at. The 1846 large cent was
found in town by the edge of a street. It was only about 3 inches down and
sounded like a quarter, so unfortunately I was careless about digging
without scratching it. I have found several other dimes and things that I
haven't had the desire to put on this page. I'll reserve this page for
things that are somewhat interesting...
Kevin McCracken 05/24/02
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Several coins found in small
amounts in this time frame. No set of finds big enough to add, plus I'm
pretty busy in the summer...
Kevin McCracken
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This set of coins was found
during one Friday/Saturday hunting spree with Buzzard and I in a small
town. It was a crazy, hazy weekend because we were out all day (and night)
and found many other misc. items, including a copper ring at an old Indian
site. Unfortunately, Buzzard found the Standing Liberty - not in the best
shape, but still a very nice find. I found a 1916 dime after digging about
10 minutes under a tree root. When I saw the date I closed my eyes, turned
the dime over, held my breath, and looked for a "D" mint mark. It
wasn't there, but I was happy anyway.
Kevin McCracken 09/29/02
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We couldn't stand not going
out again - It seemed like we were on a silver streak the past few days. We
went to a small town and parked near some newer houses - we were going to
walk a block away to older looking houses. I began "trolling" on
the way and immediately got a very strong signal. It was my first Standing
Liberty quarter, the second one Buzzard and I pulled from the dirt in just
2 days. No date, but nice none-the-less.
Kevin McCracken 09/30/02
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I took half a vacation day
Friday and went out for only about 2 hours on a street near my house, and
at a neighbors house that he let me hunt. I gave the neighbor's two boys a
mercury dime a piece. They "helped" me search for lost treasure
in their yard. Nothing turned up there except the Washington quarter and
two Mercury dimes all in the same hole. The Standing Liberty is only my
second one and was the first coin found this day - a good way to start any
hunting...
Kevin McCracken 10/11/02
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Mr. Buzzard and I decided to
drive to a small town near us and in just two hours covering one and a half
blocks of sidewalk area, we found these and lots of newer coins. We hunted
this area differently. I located the coins with my Minelab (it detects deeper
than his) and he dug all the signals. We flipped a coin to decide who got
to choose the first coin of the bunch, and split them up. I was keeping him
busy digging in this block and a half stretch! I would have likely skipped
a few of these shallow signals if I had to dig them myself - a habbit I
should probably start avoiding.
Kevin McCracken 10/14/02 N
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I went to Marion one night
with Mr. Buzzard to hunt an old VA Hospital. I found 3 rings (copper,
silver, and gold plated) and the quarter and dime shown to the left. Jeff
found the 1942 half in the downtown area. There were no other deep coins
anywhere, but this half popped out 4 inches anyway. Some old-timers missed
it during the hunt evidently. He was a happy guy - this was only his second
silver half. The 1918 quarter was found by Jeremy Kelker at a bank - they
handed it to him in change and then tried to get it back. Fortunately for
me, he refused and gave it to me. The other coins came from Poplar street
in Huntington.
Kevin McCracken 10/23/02 & 10/25/02 N
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I went out hiking with my wife
and boy Sunday near a place that I thought would be good to hunt. It was a
place that few people have been at for many years. As soon as I started
swinging my metal detector, I got a 6 inch silver sound. I dug it up, and
saw a dark colored quarter sized coin. "Another clad quarter", I
thought. But then, at about the same time I was thinking to myself that
there shouldn't be any clad quarters around this area, I saw the outline of
a standing liberty lady. I immediately got a nervous happy smile on my face
as I carefully cleaned away some of the dirt on the coin. A 1917 D Standing
Liberty quarter! And aside from the unusual dark tone that it had, it was
in great condition. The photo here shows the non-cleaned and progressively
cleaner versions of this coin... Note: cleaning a coin is dangerous and
takes knowledge and time.
Kevin McCracken 11/03/02
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A friend of ours named Joyce
decided to buy a house in an old neighborhood in Huntington. She kindly
gave me permission to check her yard with my metal detector. The only thing
I found there was the 1853 large cent, but it was well worth the effort
because of the condition of the coin. Right by the sidewalk I noticed a
6" signal. Like always, I swung my detector over the location 5 or 6
more times, and only got a 3" penny sound. The next time I swung the
detector over the area I got a deep signal again. "Aha!" thought
I, a coin hidden by a surface level coin. I dug the surface level coin and
then got a consistent deep signal, which was similar to a quarter but lower
on my Minelab. I was careful when I dug it and after taking care to clean
it at home was so happy. It is very rare to find a large cent in the
condition this coin was in. The picture doesn't do it justice.
Kevin McCracken 11/09/02
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Although it's cold now, I went
out twice this December. One of the times was a Memorial Park in
Huntington. It has been hunted many times by many people, but still was
able to unearth to me this nice (but worn) 1864 two cent piece. I suppose
others missed it because of the noise (trash) near the top of so much of
the soil there. It is a nice way to end my first year of metal detecting.
Kevin McCracken 12/24/02
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