I decided to detect at an old homestead in the woods Saturday morning. I have found silver there in the past, so I wanted to give it another try. I was only there for about an hour since the brush is so grown up this time of year.

I was detecting around a very large tree when I got a nice signal. I don’t remember what it rang up as, but it was a soild tone so I decided to dig it.

Vintage Buckle

About 4 inches down I found this buckle. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I am guessing that it was probably part of a ladies shoes or under garment.

I didn’t find much else at that spot so I decided to go somewhere else and try my luck. I drove by a spot that I have found a lot of jewelry in the past but quickly realized that the grass way way too tall to be able to swing there. I decided to switch things up and see if I could find another spot to detect that wasn’t so over grown. I went by a field that had a school there back in the 1930’s -1960’s. The building is long gone, but the property is still school property. Once again, the grass was too tall to be able to detect there.

As I was leaving I drove past an old church. I noticed that there were a couple of guys there mowing the lawn, so I pulled in and asked one of them about detecting there. He told me to ask the other guy, so I did. His name was Ed, and he was a very nice guy. His main concern was that I not leave large holes all over the place. I assured him that I take great pride in my digging techniques and that I dig a U shaped plug with the back attached so that the dirt can be put back where it came from.

After talking for about 5 minutes, he was satisfied that I would take care not to leave any trace of my presence. He went back to mowing, and I grabbed my gear and headed towards the side yard.

I first started out with my AT Pro, but there were so many signals that I didn’t want to dig a target every 3 feet. I am learning my AT Pro, so interpreting the signals is still a learning experience for me. I had my Fisher F5 in the trunk, so I decided to go grab it since I understand the tones a lot better.

After about 5 minutes I got a nice high tone in the Quarter range, so I decided to dig it. About 4 inches down I found a coin that I thought was a quarter, but it wasn’t!

1979 Susan B Anthony Dollar

Instead of a quarter it was a 1971 Susan B Anthony Dollar coin! I grabbed my camera and shot a short video of my find. This is my 3rd dollar coin ever, and my first Susan B Anthony Dollar. Pretty cool!

After putting my camera away I noticed that Ed was walking my way. I showed him the coin, and offered to let him have it. He declined but agreed that it was a cool find. He told me that he used to metal detect but had never detected there. As he was leaving he told me that there used to be an old outhouse behind the church building and that I might try my luck in that area.

After about 30 minutes I worked my way over to a large tree. I had detected most of the area when I got a faint high tone signal on the Fisher F5. I have learned that this type of whiney whispery tone is silver from past experiences, so I decided to dig it and find out what it was.

1949 Mercury Dime

After digging down about 4 inches I still hadn’t found the target. A quick scan with my propointer told me that the target was actually in the side of the plug wall. I popped a small clump of dirt out and that’s when I saw it! It was silver colored and very clean so I knew that I had found a silver coin. It was my first Mercury dime, and the 3rd silver this year with my Fisher F5!

Man, I love the F5 and the tones it makes. The F5 has found good targets consistently and when you go over a silver coin with this machine the tone has a softer whispery high tone than the clad coins.

All in all I am glad that I stopped to ask permission to detect the old church. I found my first Mercury Dime and my first Susan B Anthony Dollar. It was a great hunt for me, and was a nice change from the previous few hunts where I came back empty handed.

I don’t usually ask permission at places like that but I may start asking more often!

Thanks for reading everyone, Happy Hunting!