After doing some research at the local library in Salina, Kansas, I realized that located within this small Kansas town was a very old park, that was opened in the year 1864. The park was still being used as a park, with many seasonal visitors. The name of the park is Thomas park. One day, I decided to take my maps (1864) that I had copied at the library, and superimpose them over some more current and recent maps to get an idea of where in the park to begin metal detecting. This was important as the old 1864 map detailed such areas as a bandstand, a horse and buggy race track, a boat park for visitors to rent boats and paddle around the creek, and other recreational features which were popular social sites back in that era as well. Armed with my trusty Explorer XS detector, I set off one beautiful morning, determined to gain yet even more practice and skill with this remarkable and unique detector. Using a systematic search pattern to "leave no stone unturned" as it were. Upon arriving at the park I loaded one of my "favorite" general purpose programs that the Explorer XS stored, which basically covered the conductive and inductive range of values of particular metals that would signal a target with these properties from gold, to silver, to copper objects. Soon I came upon a horseshoe throwing pit near the back of the park and also near a creek. After a few careful and steady sweeps of the coil in this area, I started getting signals for a target. Continuing to zero in on the exact location of the unidentified target, I soon isolated the "X marks the spot" location and proceeded to dig. Cutting away the grass plug, gently lifting it up and flipped over so as to be sure to restore the grass plug to the soil for regrowth after removing the target, I soon found myself digging deeper and deeper, all the while checking the removed dirt pile and then the hole, which by this time was some 8 to 10 inches deep. Still getting a signal from the hole, more digging, more dirt piled outside of the hole. After a few more gentle precise digger scoopfuls, I realized that the target was now resting in the removed dirt pile. Carefully dusting away the dirt I soon set my eyes on what I first thought was something like a US Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, as the target was covered in soft dirt. Gently and carefully I slowly removed the dirt, which was quite caked on the object. Wanting to always be extremely careful of such type of finds, I finally set the object in a cup of clear, clean water and swished it around a bit to remove the accumulated dirt.