If you talk to anyone who has been detecting for any time at all, the conversation soon turns to "bucket lists". I've been extremely fortunate to have been able to recover some amazing artifacts and relics in my detecting career. I've trudged through swamps, endured mountain climbs, been rained on, snowed on, frozen fingers, mean cows... you name it. It seems that the best detecting stories are those where some sort of pain is involved. Well, this day was one of those days. It all started with a trip to try and find repair parts for my plow. I had asked one of my detecting buddies if he knew anywhere I could possibly find parts to repair a 70 year old plow. He thought he knew of a place, so we made plans to meet up. Since I had the entire day off, I threw my detecting gear into the truck. I was hoping my buddy could get away for a bit to try some detecting. We drove to the old tractor part place but struck out... no parts available. I looked at my buddy and asked if he was up for some detecting... he immediately said that was what he had been hoping we'd do. That was music to my ears. He suggested a spot he'd been to before. It was an old farmstead that dated back to the early 1800's. He thought there had to be some good stuff there. Now it's August in Missouri - hot and dry... really dry. It was already 90 degrees and the temps were going to keep climbing all day. The ground was dry and crumbly. The spot we were detecting was long ago abandoned so we didn't have to worry about the grass and the fact that the plugs would crumble once removed. The old farmstead was really beautiful. There were barns over a hundred years old. There was an old house foundation and a few other outbuildings that had long since been idled. There was real history here... underneath our feet. We just had to get the coil over the spot. Both of us were using our Equinox 800's. I had recently changed tone patterns and was trying to learn the nuances of 50 tone. This was an actual conversation my buddy and I had before we started detecting. I explained to him that 50 tone allowed you to hear subtle changes in tone when there are a lot of targets surrounded by iron. He gave it a listen and said something like, "interesting..." We picked out our spots and started detecting. Once I put the coil on the ground it was obvious this was going to be a difficult spot to detect. There were nails everywhere. Every sweep contained 10 or more iron beeps with an occasional higher tone. I have long ago learned to detect wide open. It can get overwhelming, but it really allows you to hear what could be hidden in the trash. My buddy and I both found tons of targets - tin foil, can slaw, roofing nails, you name it... everything BUT coins or anything of value. The area was in the wide open - except for one tree. That was the only shade there. I was starting to feel like toast and made my way over to the shady spot. It was 10 degrees cooler in the shade and I noticed the dirt was a bit easier to dig. I just kept circling that tree, staying in the shade. Round and round, I dug so many decent sounding targets that turned out to be small bits of this and that... but nothing good. After downing another drink I finally told my buddy we had to go somewhere that had more shade. He agreed and made a call. While he was on the phone I hit a solid 18-19 on my VDI. I waited for him to finish the call and asked him what he thought it could be. He said anytime he hit those VDI numbers he usually digs a bullet. So that was what I was hoping for - a bullet. I dug the plug and scanned it... nothing in the plug. I ran my pinpointer around the hole and it sounded of on the side of the hole. I took out my digging knife and pried the side of the hole. I released a fairly good size dirt chunk and immediately something slid out from behind the dirt clod and stopped in the bottom of the hole. I looked at it and thought, "no way"... The only thing I could say was, "Oh my God..." As a matter of fact, I was repeating it, over and over, with my hands folded up behind my head. My buddy asked me if I was okay... I just kept saying the same thing - "Oh my God!" He asked me if I'd been bitten or stung by something? I finally told him to look in the hole. He peeked in and asked if that was what he thought it was? I still had not touched it - it was still sitting in the same spot it slid into. I did not have my glasses - I asked my buddy to look at it for me. He lifted it out of the hole and guess what he said????? Yup - "OH MY GOD!" That was it! I had found an 1848 $5 gold coin. He handed it to me and I just sat there, staring at it. I was dumbfounded. It is difficult to explain. After digging literally thousands of holes, it happened. I was most definitely in shock at my good fortune. We took some pictures and I profusely thanked my friend for allowing me to detect with him on his permission. Unknown to me at the time, my buddy took my picture holding and staring at the coin in my hand. I'm glad he did. It sorta sums up the moment. For those who have had the good fortune to find their white whale... you understand the emotion. For those of you still searching... don't ever stop looking. The feeling in that moment is worth another few thousand holes. Keep digging my friends...
