Saturday, October 29, 2011

Thimble and Wheat

After dropping my bicycle at the shop, I decided to go try Lion's Park again, in hopes to find some more old coins.  I found a 1945 wheat penny and a smashed thimble.  I have seen other detectorists find thimbles, but this is a first for me.  I also had hope that it was silver, but it was aluminum.
I lined up the coins by decade.  Bottom row is from the 200x, and the next row up from the 1990's then 1980's, 1970, and then one dime from 1967, and the 1945 wheat penny.  I would like to be seeing more from the 60's.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Nunns Park - No Metal Detecting Allowed

Dad and I drove up the canyon after work to search Nunns Park.  There used to be an old hydro power plant that was built in 1897.  The grassy areas were hard to detect because of all the junk and iron  in the ground.  I did pretty good just picking up the quarters in the grass.  As it was getting dark my batteries ran out, so I ran to the car to get new ones.  It was then that I noticed a sign.
 NO METAL DETECTING ALLOWED... whoops.  I don't know why this park is different than any of the other county parks.  Once we noticed the sign, we packed up and left.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Provo River Park Finds

Dad and I tried hunting an old park up Provo canyon.  It was very trashy with a lot of iron.  Usually I find more coins than my Dad, because I can get up and down faster than he can, also I have a Lesche digging tool.  This time my Dad got more coins than I did.  He got a cool UTA token.  The first thing I found was a hypodermic needle (not something I want to dig up).  The second thing I found was a small silver ring.  I also found a big fishing weight and a wheat penny.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Back to Cascade Soccer Field

Dad and I went back to the Cascade soccer field again Saturday to see what else we could find.  Dad came away with a cub scout pocket knife, button, lock, Chuck-E-Cheese token, and a little silver CTR ring.

I got my first pet collar, a cub scout 50th anniversary token, a gaming token, a couple foreign coins, a Sacajawea dollar, and a koala.

We both found CTR rings.  Dad's is on the left and mine is one the right.  Problem with mine is that it doesn't have any hallmark.  Dad's is stamped with Sterling.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Precious Metal Ring Count: 41, 42, and 43

Ring count year to date: 43.

Cascade Elementary School Soccer Field

This past Thursday, Dad and I hit the soccer field behind Cascade Elementary School.  Dad found a Haste watch, mechanical pencil, a mood ring, some clad and a small pebble that registers like a dime.  The pebble is too light to be lead... not sure what it could be.
I had a great night I found 18 quarters, a presidential dollar, and a couple silver rings, including a ring that has some nice stones (still have to take them to a jeweler).

Monday, October 24, 2011

Personal Record for Nickels

Nickels used to be so hard to find. The Whites XLT would display a nickel icon and when I would dig it up it would turn out to be a pull tab.  One thing the Minelabs ETrac has taught me is to not depend on those icons.  Now I stand a much better chance of predicting when I have found a nickel.  I got out on Saturday with my Dad for a few hours and managed to find 14 nickels including one from Portugal and one from Domincan Republic.  That is a new personal record for nickels.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Identify Ring #4

I have to admit that when I am metal detecting and see a ring like this pop out of the ground, I get a little excited.  It was pretty dirty, but it had what looked like some big diamonds.  Finding a ring with some real diamonds is probably my only real chance to recoupe the money invested in this hobby.
One of the first things I noticed about this ring is that it appeared to be flaking some sort of plating.  That pretty much convinced me that it was a fake, but as I got it home and cleaned it up and put it under the microscope I have to re-question my first assumption: Is it real?

There were 2 hallmarks stamped in the ring: 925, and FAS.  925 usually means sterling silver, but I had never seen the FAS hallmark before.  Google suggested that it meant "fused alloy silver", which would make sense with the 925 (92.5% pure silver).


What do you think?  Is it real?

Friday, October 21, 2011

Chinese Coin - circa 1875 to 1908.

I found this coin many years ago at the Johnson Home on 800 South in Orem.  They had a huge black walnut tree with a pioneer plaque attached to it.  When the coin was found it had a piece of fabric in the middle of it like it had been used as a button.  From what I can tell, the coin dates somewhere between 1875 and 1908.



Kuang

Hsu

T'ung

Pao


Kuang Hsu (1875-1908 a.d.)


The back of the coin indicates the province where it was minted.
Boo-Giyan
Kweiyang
Kweichow

Thursday, October 20, 2011

One-of-a-kind Silver Ring

Found this unique ring in the grass surrounding a small playground in Scera Park.  The ring has no hallmarks or special markings of any kind.  It was probably some school metal shop project.  Anyway, my metal detector sure thinks that it is silver.  It rang up as a 50 cent piece.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Selection of Quarters

A 1964 quarter, significant because it was the last year the quarters were 90% silver.  A little one sided mini-quarter, it must have come off a piece of jewelry.  The 1995 quarter with the gold George was used to decorate the face of a wrist watch that my Dad found.

Six Pence - All The Richer

I found this British six pence as I was looking through old metal detecting finds.  Turns out that this coin is 50% silver.  It is not a rare coin, over 28 million were minted in 1928, but not very common in Utah.  So this one is going to the silver pile.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tokens

Some of the tokens I have found over the years.


Saturday, October 15, 2011

Heart Pendant

When I found this little pendant, I thought it was gold with diamonds.  Now, when I look at it under the microscope, I am not sure. 
Looking closely at the back, it appears to say "925" and "CZ" pretty clearly.  The mark in the middle is not as clear.  Perhaps it says 18, for 18 carat gold?  Anyway, I believe now that the stones are cubic zirconia.

Help Identify Ring #3

I was pretty excited to find this ring, because I thought it was gold.  I guess I thought that because it had a gold tint, but the metal detector indicated that it was silver.  So I have 2 questions for you: 1- Do you think those are real diamonds?  2- What metal do you think was used?  Maybe a plated silver.

Friday, October 14, 2011

One Ring to Rule Them All

While metal detecting through the shadows in the Land of Mordor my Dad found this Precious ring.

Disney Princess

With the days so much shorter, we don't have much time to hunt after work.  Last night Dad and I hit a park on the East side of Westridge Elementary School.  We struggled to find good targets.  I manages to get 7 quarters, 10 dimes, 1 nickel, and 5 pennies.  My Dad found 2 quarter, 6 dimes, 3 pennies, 4 rivets, a key, pendant, and a little Disney princess figurine.
The Princess was a big hit with my daughter BriAnne.  She loves everything Disney, and has even spent her last 2 summers working as a skipper on the Jungle Cruise in Walt Disney World.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Help Identify Ring #2

 Here is the second ring I could use some help identifying.  Again, I think it is silver.  I wish I could get a better picture of the stone.  Here is what is stamped inside the ring.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Kolob Park Hunt

 Spent about 1 1/2 hours hunting a small park behind Brookside Elementary School in Springville.  The only thing of interest was what looked like a copper ring with a lot of corrosion.

Top picture is after I clean it with soap and water.  The bottom is after I put it in my electrolysis tank for a few minutes.  The ring has no markings.  It appears to be brass or bronze perhaps plated with gold.  Wish I had a way to identify how old it is.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Canadian Dollar - Another First Find

Last night, between rain clouds and just before dark, I got out for a little metal detecting at Bonneville Elementary School.  I found another first for me, a Canadian dollar.
I also found this little silver CTR ring.  And some clad: 4 quarters, 6 nickels, 10 dimes, and some pennies.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Ring, Is It Silver? I Need Your Help

With days getting shorter and colder, my metal detecting season is drawing to a close.  So now is the time we review some of the finds from the past.  I am requesting you help to identify objects and classify them. 

Lets start with this little ring.
I think it is made out of silver but this is what is stamped on the inside of the ring.  The circled "C" is normally a copyright symbol, and I can't make out the other symbol.  If you know something about it or have an opinion, speak up.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Evening Hunt to Bonneville Elementary

Late evening trip to Bonneville Elementary School.  Picked up a little silver ring and a watch that had been there a couple years too long

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Day Hunt to Bonneville Finds

Surprisingly I keep finding targets on the same field that I have searched many times.  The little silver ring was my favorite find.  It has a couple small diamonds and a pink heart shaped stone. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Utah Sales Tax Token

This little piece of aluminum is in pretty bad shape, but it is a metal detecting first for me.  It is a Utah Sales Tax Token.  If you have never heard of a sales tax token, you may find it interesting to read this article from the Salt Lake Tribune. I found it in Orem City Park, which has been covered by many metal detectorists over the years, so I am very pleased with the performance of my Minelabs E-Trac detector. 

Monday, October 3, 2011

38, 39 and 40, but not 41 and 42

This past weekend produced a few more silver rings, numbers 38, 39, and 40..  The small one looks like it has a couple small diamonds and a pink heart shaped stone.  A couple other found rings were interesting, but not made of precious metal.