Saturday, January 12, 2019

1/12/19 Report - Penny Not Worth Million Dollars. Ages and Stages of Detecting. Worked-Out Sites May Not Be So Worked Out.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Rare 1943 Copper Penny.

I posted an article about this penny a couple days ago.  The article claimed that it would be worth over a million dollars.  Well, it sold for $204,000.   I started to say for "only $204,000," but it is hard to say "only" when referring to a dollar amount having six figures.  That is still a very nice amount for a coin find.

Here is the link.

I received the following email from Joe D. in response to yesterday's post about profitable metal detecting.

Hello,

I was out for the first hunt of the new year this morning! I found a few decent items and some coins! A homemade copper wire and stone necklace,  and a St. Christopher's necklace! Neither of much value, but gave me some more info on this particular beach!  Because the medal looked new, i did a brief search online and found a line of "retro" medals that matched! Like anyone that's detected for awhile, I've run across religious medals before, but found it interesting that they are still popular with the youth of today! Albeit more colorful versions and inexpensive, which kids can afford!
     
I just wanted to comment on todays  [ 1/11/19 ] post! 

As you said, everyone has different motivations for why they detect! I started the hobby at a relatively young age of 15!( late 70's) I did it for a few years, and did ok with my search locations within biking distance for the most part! I did better with silver coins back then, than i do now!! ...

A Bounty Hunter 880 and old school yards and houses! More to find back than i guess! After that i guess a car, and girls took over my free time!!
    
I still have the silver! I've never sold anything I've found then, and now! Only given away the good jewelry to family members!

The most important reason to me for detecting, i think, is the "thrill of the chase"! And while that is still there to a large extent!  Since i started detecting again, my interest in history and things that are old, are a close second! And third would be the hunt on the internet to identify items and learn!
      
I have also enjoyed hunting for arrowheads out of state for years, (have a few places to hunt on family property) and even keep the chips because they show signs of being worked by ancient hands, which helps me connect, if that makes sense! ( now i look for bottles too).
     
Thanks for all you contribute!

Joe D.


Colorful St. Christopher Medallion
Find and photo by Joe D.

People do go through different stages in life and there are different priorities at different times.  I looked at metal detecting very differently at different times in my life.  There was the beginning, when I was just trying it out and learning.  There was different stages to that too.  Then there was a time when I was trying to see if I could make a living by metal detecting.  I wasn't so interested in actually making my living that way, but I wanted to see if I could.  Then after I answered that question for myself, I started looking at it as more of a side interest - although one that I was still very passionate about and spent a lot of time on.  That wasn't the end of it either.  I'm still learning, but look at things differently again now.

I once did a poll to determine why people metal detect.  There were  a lot of different answers.  Many people were like Joe.  They like the thrill of the hunt.  I think that is a big part of it for most detectorists.  You never know what you are going to find.

I looked for that old post in my blog but didn't find it yet.  If anyone knows where it is, let me know.  Maybe I'll find it later.

Many detectorists like to find old things and like the feeling of touching the past that they get when they find something old.

The internet has really changed things.  Back in several decades ago, metal detecting was a much more secretive activity for a lot of the hard core detectorists. Some would only detect when they would not be observed.  Some would only detect at night.  There were a few metal detecting clubs, but they were attended more by the casual detectorists who wasn't really finding a lot, and a very few of the hard core guys, who were mostly very secretive about their locations and techniques.  There were a few magazines and books, but they didn't have near the impact of all the internet resources.  And reading is a pretty solitary activity too.

Now you can find huge amounts of information on the internet - not only about metal detecting, but also about archaeology, history, artifact conservation, etc. etc.  It is a totally different world that way.  It is so much easier to find information, and that, as Joe mentions, is enjoyable too.  There is what I've called the "hunt after the hunt" when you research your finds to learn what they are and where they came from and determine their value.  I guess one of the best things about metal detecting is that there is so much to learn and you can never master it all.  There are always surprises and new challenges to keep you going.

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If you ever start thinking that all the good sites have been cleaned out, go back and read my 3/26/18 post.  Russ P. detected a home site several times and then sifted the lot.  Here is my summary of what he found. study found.

The study was conducted on a small residential lot in a working class 20th century Florida neighborhood.  The lot size was approximately 4500 square feet and the lot was occupied for nearly one hundred years.

About 500 coins total (detecting and sifting) was found by the reader.  That would be about one for every nine square feet or one square yard.

43 silver coins were found by the same reader.  That would be one for little more than every 100 square feet.  Counting known silver coin finds by one other detectorist, it would be more like one for every 90 square feet.

About one in ten coins found on this lot inhabited during most of the 20th century were silver.

Despite detecting the lot at least 12 times, only about 20 percent of the coins found on the lot were found by detecting.  The remainder were found by sifting.  Just over 30% of the silver coins found, were found by detecting.


That means there was a lot left after detecting the same lot several times.  Russ used another technique (sifting) to get the remaining coins.

Here is that link.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/03/82618-report-first-investigation-ever.html

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There isn't much surf.   I'm still hoping for a good winter storm.  None expected real soon.

Google removed the poll app from blogger.  If anyone has any recommendations on some good poll apps that I can use in this blog, let me know.  I'd like to get back to doing polls occasionally.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comast.net