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Dropped $80 on a metal detector for my yard and it actually paid off
I got curious after reading about a local history group finding old farm tools near my area. The cheap detector beeped like crazy under an old oak tree. Dug down about a foot and found a horseshoe, a couple of old square nails, and a 1923 wheat penny. It's not a gold hoard, but holding that penny made the whole past feel real. Anyone else have luck with a basic setup like that?
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palmer.val3mo agoOG Member
That's awesome, but just a heads up on the nails. If they're actually square and hand forged, they're way older than 1923. Like, pre-1850s old. The horseshoe might be too. That spot under your oak tree could be a lot older than you think. Might be worth checking a local history map to see if a barn or a blacksmith shop was there.
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wendy2053mo ago
Yeah, checking those old maps is a SOLID idea. My grandpa used to talk about a stagecoach stop that got torn down in the 1880s near our property line. You find a few of those square nails and it really makes you wonder what was there BEFORE the farmhouse.
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victor_butler1mo ago
Wait, are those square nails really that old? Because that would be insane if that spot under my oak tree is actually from the 1800s or earlier. I found a bunch of them just scattered around the base and figured it was just old farm junk from when my house was built in the 1920s. You got me seriously rethinking what's actually buried out there. @palmer.val you were right to call that out, because I bet nobody ever bothered to dig deeper before I showed up. Now I kind of want to take a metal detector back there next weekend and see what else turns up.
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