Number 37

Ring number 37 from Lindon Elementary School.

Silver and Gold Ring YTD Total

Precious metal (gold and silver) ring count is 36.

Orem City Park, Standing Liberty $.25

Friday night after dinner out with my folks, dad and I decided we had time for a short trip to the park.  Dad was moving a little slow getting ready and I was teasing him that I would not even have time to find one quarter.  It was funny that this was the only coin I found before it got dark.  It is the first standing liberty quarter I have ever found.  The date is well worn, but you can make out an "8" as the last digit of the date.  Because this coin was only minted from 1917 to 1930, it has to be either a 1918 or a 1928.  Since the date is worn off, I think it is a 1918.

Trying For Old Coins at Lions Park

Since I had some good success find some older coins at Lions Park, I made Dad go back with me on Saturday morning.  I recovered all the deep targets I could find in hopes of landing more silver coins (it didn't happen).  I sort the coins by decade again to see if my deep recovery showed in the results Dad's coins on the top half and mine on the bottom. Dad's oldest coin was a 1958 wheat penny, and I found a 1941 wheatie.  Notice my 1960s column compared to Dad's.  He likes to find his coins in the top 2 inches.

Face value for the coins:  Dad = $2.73, Ben = 4.08.  Some of the non coin highlights, including a small silver ring with little black stones, possible onyx (as per my expert friend).

Dad Hunt South Fork Park

My Mom went with Dad up to South Fork Park while I was still at work and found some good success.  Here is Dad's pile of coins.

A Good Evening For Old Coins

I had a good night for old (relative term) coins.  I found wheat pennies from: 1942, 1945, 1948, 1952, and 1958.  I found a 1923 Mercury dime and a 1946 Roosevelt dime.  It is so cool how the older silver dimes come out looking so much better than the newer dimes.  Notice in the picture how the newer dimes are brown.

At the very first glimpse while the dime is still in the hole, you know it is silver.  Here was the hole with the 1946 Rosy.  Just gives me the bug for more silver coins.

One More Trip To Eagle Park

The competition between me and my dad was back in full swing as we headed back to Eagle Park to give one more try.  We were not getting many signals because we have hunted it pretty heavily.  I got more coins, a total of 81 cents, and dad had a total of 39 cents.  My highlights were an earring with diamonds (fake junk), and a "Uncle Sam" "Play Nickel" (wish I could make out the date).  Dad found a cool little flag bead, and a silver ring.  Silver takes it.

Metal Detecting Pond Town

After fighting a round of gout in his knee, my Dad was back out metal detecting with me today.  We took a little drive South and stopped in Salem (formerly Pond Town).  We hunted the park next to the pond, now known as Salem pond.  I don't recall ever stopping here before, it was beautiful.  The weather was pleasant, but the metal detecting finds were sparse.  Most of the finds were very shallow, which tells me it is a new place or it has been hunted heavily in the past.

Since it was settled in 1851, I think the site has been hunted heavily.  I am sure the land scape has changed dramatically since 1851, but I had hopes of finding some older coins... it didn't happen.

Here is what I came away with after a few hours of hunting.  Highlights were the "Lucky Penny" key chain (at least it was lucky for me), and a small silver ring with an opal stone.

Timpanogos Festival Over

Timpanogos Story Telling Festival is over, and the big white tents have been taken down.  I thought this would be the perfect time to head up Provo Canyon and metal detect Timpanogos Park.  I had to brave a little rain and wind, but I am glad to have some cooler temps.

I did not find as many coins or jewelry as I had hoped.  I did find one pile of coins... I always prefer to find them in piles.

Here is what I came away with for the night.

Chuck E Cheese Token

 Bishop Petersen and I have been trying to figure out a time when we can go metal detecting for months now.  I stopped by his home a few nights ago and he was busy painting the back of his house, but I managed to convince him to stop and try out his new White's MXT detector.  We just did a little hunting on his yard and dug up a couple coins.  It was a short time, but fun.  One of the things I found was this Chuck E Cheese token.  I have quite a collections of tokens now.  Check out this web site to see how Chuck E Cheese tokens have changed.

Front Yard Produces Again

My front yard continues to surprise me.  I thought I had finished pulling all the coins out of it, but apparently not.  This past Monday night, after spending some time with my family, had 1/2 an hour before dark to hunt.  Rather than run to a park somewhere, I thought I would give the front yard another try.  I found 9 more coins, most of them were zinc pennies.  I found a piece of copper tubing, an earring, a bullet, part of a zipper, the hook for an ace bandage, and the a little silver ring!

First Church in Orem

I keep trying to find some older ground to hunt in hopes of finding some older coins.  So this past Saturday a spent a couple hours searching the grounds around the old church on 800 South Orem.  It was the first church built in Orem in 1898.  The front of the church has been seriously re-landscaped, but the back has lots of big old trees, so I focused my time there.  I covered about half the grass and here is what I came up with.  Only found modern clad coins.  The oldest coin was a penny from 1962.  

Found part of this watch and then found the watch insides about six feet away. 

Park Beside Westridge Elementary

My metal detecting finds from the park on the East side of Westeridge Elementary School on the Grandview Hill:  a whistle, a silver plated fork, an old cut nail (it is square), a silver ring, some modern clad coins, and a mystery token.

I would like to know what this little piece of metal is all about.  I wonder if it is a token.  The same text is on both sides, it says: "CHERRY HILL DAIRY CO, PROVO UTAH".  Feels like it is made out of aluminum. 

Labor Day Hunt Results

Did a quick search along a soccer field on 400 North in Orem.  I think the first thing I found was the big silver ring... sweet!

Notice the 925 hallmark inside the ring.  This mark indicates that the ring is made from 92.5% pure silver.  It is the same as a Sterling Silver mark.

Searched Yard of Home Built 1896

I have a friend from high school that bought a little house that sits on 4 acres.  The original house was built in 1896.  I called him up last week and asked if he would mind if I came by and searched his yard with my metal detector.  He said I was welcome to come and give it a try.  I am not sure of everything that has changed since 1896.  I do know that a big cement slab was poured for the front porch and a large addition was added to the back corner.  My hope was that the front yard remained relatively unchanged.

After searching the front yard, I have to say a was more than a little disappointed in the finds.  I did not find one silver coin.  The oldest coin I found was a 1938 wheat penny, then a couple pennies from the 40's and one from the fifties.  I have to think that either the yard has been hunted, or that soil was added to the yard.  Maybe I will need to go back and try it again now that all the modern clad has been cleaned out.

 One piece that I had high hope for was part of a broach or necklace.  It thought it might be silver because part of the bust was showing through the dirt.  The red stone and white head feel like plastic.  The metal part is pot metal that looks like it had a gold coating.  I doubt it is very old because it was only about 3 inches deep.

Smiley Face and Dragon Key Change

Random Items Found Metal Detecting

A Key Record Set

Five keys from one hunt has got to be a personal record.  All these came from one hunt in Eagle Park.

Cub Scouts Neckercheif Slide

 Found and interesting neckerchief slide unlike any I have found before.  It appears to be made from a 1980's cub scout token celebrating the 50th anniversary of cub scouts.  The back side has "Law of the Pack".

Repeat of Vivian Park was a Dud

I found my first fishing lure and a small number of coins.  Dad did a little better.  He found a souvenir penny, a skull pendant, lead fishing weights, lock, earring, and some coins.

Searching the Park at Quail Cove

Since I have found old coins in this area, I focused my time there.  Besides the mercury dime, I did not find much.