Tim Pearson, a metal detectorist and amateur treasure hunter (aren’t we all?) found what he thought was a milk bottle cap back in 2005.
Pearson was detecting in a South Yorkshire field that he had combed over for more than six years. In the past the field that had yielded nothing more than a Roman coin for him, but this time, there was something special waiting.
My Minelab Advantage metal detector helped me find one of the most rare Texas Civil War buttons ever made.
I got into metal detecting because my wife bought me one for my birthday. 11 years later and I’m still addicted to this great hobby. My favorite places to hunt are private property and plowed fields. The day that I found this button I was searching a plowed field in the state of Louisiana. I had my Minelab Advantage, which I had been using for over two years by this point, and a shovel to help dig.
On October 22, 2006 I was relic hunting near Fredericksburg, Virginia. I had just dug three Confederate Gardner bullets and received another signal on my Explorer XS that sounded and IDed like another bullet.
After dumpung my second shovelful of dirt I was surprised to see a small silver coin on top of the dirt pile. I thought I had just dug a piece of Spanish silver but when I picked up the coin I knew I was wrong.
Most treasure hunters already know that schools, churches and parks are some pretty good places to go coin shooting. But keep in mind that you have to hunt the older places if you want to find the older coins. (unless your just looking for extra beer money) Old houses built in the 40’s or before are good places to shoot. Back then people would burrie jars full of coins insted of taking them to the bank. River banks or the old swimming hole are a good place to go also, fisherman and kids playing around tend to lose coins while digging around in teir pockets. Coin shooting a school that was built in the 60’s or before is likley to produce silver coins and wheat pennies. Look for the older schools. It is not hard to tell an old school from the new schools. In some cases old schools have been torn down and new schools are built on the same property. This is where a little research comes in. Go to your local public office and look at the old land maps in the county records,You can see where the old schools used to be.Old churches are an excellent place to coin shoot, that’s where you will most likley find the oldest coins. Churches were usually one of the first buildings erected in a small town after the homes were built. Every Sunday most everybody in the town would go to church and children would play all around the church,in front, and in back of the church, losing coins along the way. Trees are great places to search under at an old church. It was a good place for people to sit and shade up on a hot day, and children would play in them. (not knowing some of their coins just tumbled out of their pocket)
