Here is a fun couple of days I had with my E-TRAC this summer. I mentioned on Facebook that I go metal detecting. An old buddy wanted to know what kind of detector I used, and how well it worked. I told him that 8 years ago I bought a lesser machine & that this year I had bought a Minelab E-TRAC, a better digging tool & a pinpointer. Together those three things were a "game changer".
Larry wanted to go hunting right away, so he made the 1 hour trip up here with the detector he had already bought (a $300) "beginners" machine. We started out early in a local park and I introduced him to the hobby. We found several clad coins and soon got tired of the park and went knocking on doors.
After a while we found an old house and the lady gave us permission to hunt the front yard. The house was built in 1903 so I was confident that we had a good chance of finding some silver coins.
After a few minutes Alice (the home owners name) came out on the lawn with a white box and said that she wanted to give it to me. I opened the box, and there were 3 wheat pennies and 3 gold rings in the box.
I was stunned, she said that her husband had recently died and she had no family to pass them on to. I was glad to just have permission to hunt in her front yard, but 3 gold rings?
After that excitement, I went back to metal detecting, I found a couple wheat pennies so I knew I was on the right track. Larry was finding an occasional penny.
Hunting the outside edge of the lawn, I soon got a nice dime signal at 6-7 inches and soon pulled out a silver dime, I could see that it was not a Roosevelt or a Mercury dime but I need glasses to really look at it, so I just put it in my pocket til I got home.
When I got home, I emptied the contents of my pockets unto an old rag and found the silver dime and washed it off and put my glasses on.
I think the next moment Larry thought I was nuts because my feet left the ground and I was doing the crazy dance! It was an 1850 Seated dime, in great shape! My oldest coin by far! 3 gold rings as a gift, a seated dime, how can I top this?
Still buzzing from that excitement, the next day I went detecting closer to home by myself. Knocked on a few doors found 3 or 4 wheat pennies and then drove down town. I pulled over next to a vacant lot and started detecting next to the sidewalk.
There was an area about 20 ft long and 5 ft wide where there was bare dirt. I found a clad quarter and a couple pennies. Then all of the sudden, protruding out of the soil was what appeared to be a gold coin I thought can't be real but may as well dig the rest of it up. (1/10th of it was showing)
I was trembling with the magnifier back in my pick-up AND COULD NOT BELEIVE MY EYES! An 1882 $5 GOLD PIECE !!! Right away I sat down & called Larry!!!
What a fun weekend! How did an 1850 dime in almost uncirculated condition get to a front yard of a house built in 1903? Why would Alice give me 3 gold rings? And finally why were people walking by this $5 gold piece for the past couple months? Or for the last 20 years? Only God knows the answer to these questions.
The E-TRAC is a great machine!
Bauer John - CA, USA
