On November 1st I was out searching an abandoned early 1900’s garden in what is now a watershed area. I was only there a few minutes when a struck a great signal. The tone was similar to ones I’ve gotten for our large Newfoundland one cent pieces. Sure enough about a foot deep out popped this large coin that was caked in soil. It went into my pouch without another thought. I continued to search but tall grass really made deep targets difficult to detect. Once I got home I immediately put the coin in Olive oil. After an hour my curiosity got the best of me and I started cleaning. I was and still am shocked to see Napoleon stamped into the coin! This area of Newfoundland is not known for French settlers. Until 1949 it was a colony of Great Britain with its own currency. As the cleaning continued I was equally surprised to see a well preserved date of 1863. I’ll definitely be following up next spring with another detecting session before the grass starts growing. This winter I’ll also do research to find out who lived in the area before they were moved because of the creation of the watershed.
Robert Dicks - Canada
