My First Pre-World War II Coin!!!

I had to work this morning.  As in all the morning.  I woke up 4:20 A.M. to be at work by 5:00.  Ugh!  But I was in bed just after 8:00 last night, so I actually felt pretty good.  I didn't do anything but read while at work, so I told myself I'd take advantage of the 54-degree day and do some detecting when I was done.

So I headed home at 1:00 o'clock and heeding the more-experienced detector's advice from last week, looked up some addresses of abandoned schools slated for demolition in Cleveland.  I had checked out a few of them online last week, but I mapped them this afternoon and then chose two that were near each other to head to.  (Google Maps is sure nice having, because at least two of them were now just fields of dirt already torn down!!!).

Both were about 20 minutes away, but I chose two that were within a few blocks of each other.  And in typical Cleveland fashion, both ended up being in a part of town that seemed to be struggling just a bit.  The last road that I drove on to get to the school was full of houses with boarded-up windows.  This was no surprise to me, but I certainly had an extra dose of caution going into here.

I was disappointed to find that the first school had a 10-foot-high security fence erected around it.  I found an area where kids had cut a hole, but I figured it wouldn't be wise to be seen behind the fence.  Agh, so frustrating!!!  So I drove the couple blocks to the other school and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was wide-open...and HUGE...and beautiful!!!  It was MUCH bigger than I had anticipated.  I chose this particular school due to the fact it was built in 1922.  I wanted old coins!!!

Half of the massive school.  Built in 1922.

So I started detecting.  It was next to a pretty busy street even though it was in a neighborhood, and this was the first time I actually could have benefited from headphones!  The loud noises sometimes drowned out the beeps!  And oh those beeps.  They wouldn't stop!!!  I honestly thought my detector was acting up or low on batteries or something as it just kept beeping!!!  But sure enough, it's because the ground of the 91-year-old building was just FULL of metal objects!!!

My first find was a quarter.  Not a bad way to start the day!  But it was dated 1996.  Not exactly what I was looking for!!!  The beeps kept on coming, but the finds were pretty dismal.  Once again, plenty of junk.  Metal pipes, foil, several nails and screws, and the like.  I would find an occasional penny, but the day just wasn't going as planned.  With a school this old and it seemingly being undetected before, I just knew silver was in the ground somewhere!!!  But nothin'.

I had another beep pretty close to the school building itself.  I dug it up to find a penny.  It was pretty shallow, so I didn't think much.  I cleaned it up with my fingers, and I recognized that back!!!  A Wheatie!!!  I cleaned up the date and was thrilled to find a 1951 D penny!!!  Woo hoo!!!  Now that is what I am talking about!!!  62 years old...wow!

I LOVE seeing this sight!

A gorgeous 1951 D penny in great shape!

Now that's when you get excited.  I had been detecting for 40 minutes by this point with those dismal finds, so this was an attention-grabber!  There WERE old coins beneath the surface...just hiding!  I searched the area right around that first penny, and I had another read on a coin.  I dug it up to find another penny!!!  This time I was floored!  It cleaned up beautifully and showed the date 1944!!!  Here was a penny that was made during the height of World War II!!!  Here was a penny that just the previous year would have been made out of steel due to copper being used for the war effort!  Here was a penny that was 69 years old!!!  Now I was excited!!!

A 1944 D penny with beautiful clarity!!!

The dismal day just admittedly turned better.  I can't remember if I said it out loud or not, but that's exactly the thought that went through my mind.  Another ho-hum day was now getting fun!  I had a nice piece of history in my hands!  And what is more, if pennies are being lost from the 1940's, then surely silver is, too!!!  I dug with a renewed sense of vigor.

A little over 30 minutes later, I found another penny in roughly the same area!  This time I pulled up a 1958

My third Wheatie of the day!  A 1958 D penny.

The clarity on these pennies is amazing!

I once again ran into that feeling of, "It's going to be a good day now!" only to quickly find out that my best finds were (almost all) in that span of forty minutes.  But with that renewed passion, I kept on swinging the coil.  Plenty more junk, then something very, very interesting!!!

Can you tell what it is?!  A ring?!  A watch?!

One of my most unique finds to date took me completely by surprise.  I had been finding nothing but coins and junk, but when I rolled over this mound of dirt, I saw a piece of jewelry!  I pulled it out of the ground only to find out it was not just a ring...but a watch, as well!!!  Obviously, it was not working, and it had a chipped screen, but the band was in great shape!  What an odd find!

The very large ring watch!

Decided to quit at 6:00 of some unknown day and year.

With the finds seemingly getting worse and worse, I decided to walk all the way to the other side of the school building to see what I could find.  And just like that, my first hit was my best find of the day!!!  I pulled up my oldest coin yet!

My oldest coin yet!  A 1940-S penny!  This is Pre-World War II!!!

So my day wasn't quite over yet!!!  Woo hoo!!!  I was getting tired, and my body was starting to call it quits, but what a find!  This was a perfect day.  I would end up finding one more Wheatie to bring my total to five for the day.  But my day wasn't quite over yet...

As I would find what I thought might be my first gold!!!  I dug up this earring shortly after the 1940 penny!  It cleaned up so easily which made me think it could be gold, but on closer examination, it looks a little oxidized and flaky to be gold.  But what a thought for just a moment!  I could bypass silver and just go for gold!  :)

The earring as pulled out of the ground.

She cleaned up very easily!

 I told myself I'd find another coin and then call it a day (I always tell myself that!).  Well, after finding more junk and then a late-year penny, I said that was it!  So I headed for home.  I was shocked to see that it was 6:51 P.M. when I hopped in my truck!  I had been at the school for nearly four hours!

With the night approaching and the sun trying to beat through an overcast layer, I took these dark pictures of the finds for the day...plenty of junk, nails, unknown metal, a Close-Up toothpaste tube, a nearly full bottle of lip gloss, concrete anchors, pull tabs (only two...yay!), 33 pencil eraser tops (the metal portion obviously), 35 pennies, 1 nickel, 3 dimes, 1 quarter, 1 earring, and 1 ring watch!

Needless to say, I did a lot of digging!

 I did find it interesting about the pencils, though.  Trust me, these were just as frustrating as the pull-tabs!!!  It would be a solid short signal (like a coin), but then I would find these!  They were obviously in the ground long enough for the wood and even carbon to disappear (how long is that?!), but the metal remained.  33 of these little boogers!

Pencils, pencils, pencils!  The wood was long-gone on most of them.

Of course, I had to pull out all of the valuable stuff from the day!

The valuables.  35 pennies, 1 nickel, 3 dimes, 3 quarters, 1 earring, 1 ring watch, 1 necklace chain, and an unknown metal with a flower design (I think copper).

Not a great day in terms of value.  But sure interesting!

But by far, the most satisfying finds of the day were the Wheaties.  I more than doubled my Wheaties to date from three to eight!  The finds:  1940 S, 1944, 1951 D, 1952 D, 1958 D.

So beautiful!

The school soil kept 'em all in GREAT shape!

I won't lie, I was exhausted when I arrived at home.  My back hurt, my knees hurt, and I was hungry!  But what started as a slow day ended up being one of my most productive days!  And that schoolyard has only been scratched.  I'm confident that silver exists beneath the surface.

History is hidden in the soil.  A coin from a student before the war.  A coin from a student during the war.  And numerous coins from students after the war.  This building will soon be torn down and its memory lost to those who remember its days when it stood.  Well, for me, I'm glad to be one of those who remember, if only on the outside below the surface!

Five Wheaties!  A good day indeed.