Last weekend my fiance and I gained permission to detect in some fields on a still active farm. The farmer suggested that we visit a cellar hole on part of his property which was all that was left of a house that burned down many years ago. He recalled from his childhood that when the house burned someone had been detecting there and found some indian head pennies. I figured with my DFX and my fiancee's XLT, we would be able to reach greater depths and may find what the previous hunters had not.

We started in what was once the driveway and found some wheat pennies and a couple of indian heads. Finally, I heard that nice high pitch that usually indicates silver. I dug a plug and pulled a silver walking half dollar dated 1918. My next find was two seated quarters in the same hole. I tried to yell to my fiance, who had made her way to a stone structure that may have been a barn. With her earphones on, she could not hear me. So, after digging a couple copper roof clippings, I decided to check the cellar hole.

Up to this point, I had been trying to figure the best way in since the hole had been used as a large debris dump for many years and was overgrown with small saplings. I decided that the half collapsed wall that appeared to have made manageable stepping stones was the easiest descent point. The rain that had fallen earlier in the day made the climb less than manageable. As I slip-stumbled into the hole trying to maintain my balance, my detector picked up a hit as it swung past a wall mid-slide.

I made my way back to the section of wall I had passed seconds earlier. The tone was loud and clear as I waved the coil over the spot. I centered on a fist-size rock that was loose. As I pulled away the rock, I could see the gleam of a coin rim. I wiped away the years of dust that had accumulated on the coin in one swipe to reveal the yellow luster of a ten dollar gold piece dated 1834. This time my fiance heard the very loud yell I let out and came to see what I had found. Another hit in the wall revealed an 1890 Morgan dollar.

My fiance and I finished up the day covering the field around the house. At the end of the day we had added a silver spoon, ring and dimes; two broaches; several wheat and indian pennies; Connecticut and King George coppers; Coronet cents; a Massachusetts half cent; V and shield nickels; colonial buttons; and musket balls to our finds.

We have found gold jewelry and coins; large cents; loads of silver; many different types of tokens; and any other number of common and odd metal objects, but never in such quantities at one site. Usually, we have a few good finds at a site and a lot of newer items. This one site, which had been detected previously, yielded so many great items it was tough to leave at the end of the day. We will definitely go back next year once the frost heaves move the ground around and hope to find more treasures.