Diggin History with TreasureFiend

Disgraced Indian Burial Ground in Chicago

2013-01-30T00:39:00.000-06:00

1/28/13 Out in Robinson woods in Chicago's Cook County named after Alexander Robinson (Chee Chee Pin Quay) Chief of the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indians which is an old Indian reservation and is an Indian burial ground which he received from the US government for his help protecting people during the Fort Dearborn Massacre. Im picking up garbage, even right behind the monument the garbage was everywhere.

The new Law for Cook County IL Forest Preserves: "Use, possess or offer for use a mineral or metal detector, magnetometer, side scan sonar, other metal detecting device, or subbottom profiler on Forest Preserve District property nor shall any unauthorized person be allowed to excavate, remove, damage, alter or deface, or attempt to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface Forest Preserve District property in connection with or for the purpose of engaging in metal detecting activities. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Subsection shall be fined not less than seventy-five dollars ($75) or more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense."

Hauling garbage out of the forest

2013-01-30T00:34:00.000-06:00

January 21, 2013 - Today I was sick to my stomach when I seen the amount of garbage all over the forest just outside of Chicago. So I started picking up the glass bottles and trash and hiked it to the closest recycling drop off, I lost count of how many time I emptied bags of glass off but I would say it was about 20 times. I don't know why people would want to go out to the woods to just trash it up. I wish people were more responsible and realize that they are just wrecking the place for everyone else...

Returned a lost wedding ring - metal detecting Lake Michigan

2012-09-08T09:55:00.000-05:00

I went up to MI with a buddy to try and find his 14k white gold wedding band he lost last week and in about 40min I was able to locate it in chest deep water using Lookin4seated's Minelab Excal metal detector. He couldn't believe that I actually found it, he was ready to buy another ring to replace it. Im glad that he told me because I just saved him some time and money, god I love metal detecting!!!

Vintage Garrett metal detector and it still works!

2012-09-08T09:11:00.001-05:00

Vintage metal detector still works! One of my buddies told me that he had an old metal detector and wanted me to see if it still works. I figured it would be a few years old but I wasn't expecting to see a metal detector this old.

Retro hunt in the rain with my Garrett Ace 250

2011-11-05T06:19:00.000-05:00

Had a chance to get out and hunt but the only problem was it was raining (11/3/11) but the treasure hunting bug bit so out the door I went. I have been wanting to knock the dust off of my Ace 250 for sometime now since its been a few years since its seen any woods action and 20min into the hunt I found a merc. Was fun but man I forgot why I upgraded to a Minelab - the false targets were everywhere. LOL Wandering thru the woods I also found a huge concrete foundation, have to go back and do a serious hunt to see what goodies its hiding!!! Oh I also came across a geo-cache hidden in an old tree trunk so I signed it "found this while metal detecting".

Diggin History #88 - AwESoME UnEXpeCteD finds while metal detecting

2011-10-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

I went out metal detecting and before I knew it I was hunting for 5 different things all in 1 hunt. Metal detecting, bottle hunting, antler shed hunting, arrowhead point hunting, and mushroom hunting.

Down to earth metal detecting

2011-10-06T05:21:00.000-05:00

I finally had a 3hr window to go metal detecting after about a month since my last trip out to the woods with AmericanCoinHunter (Dave) I have been wanting to detect this spot for a long while now but didn't know much about it, its just a spot on the river where the bank was low and it looked like an ideal place for people to of lost coins at back in the day.

Research is key but sometimes a spot in the woods is just a spot in the woods that never had a foundation or anything to suggest people once were there but that doesn't mean you should dismiss it and think it wouldn't have any treasure, you never know till you give the site a once over with your metal detector. I made a habit of only posting vids of my successful detector hunts and people got the idea that I just go out in the woods and rake in the silver, well that's not the case by a long shot. It takes days for us to comb thru the woods and a lot of times we come up empty handed. Hope you all have better luck than we did on this hunt. LOL

Diggin History #87 - Vintage tokens in the woods ~ No metal detector required!

2011-07-14T18:59:00.002-05:00

Went out to the woods to poke around in the bottle dump in a specific spot for a few hours, and right as I walked up I seen an old bottle stopper sitting on the surface just waiting to be scooped up. Well I spent 3 to 3.5hrs in the heat battling the mosquitoes and that was all I could take, I had to spray myself every 10-15min with deep woods off just to get a break from those monsters. I knew a few tokens were found the last time we messed around at that spot but I wasn’t really expecting that I would find 3 today, especially in a 4’x4’ area. We are planning to make a screed so we can sift the dirt but just haven’t got around to doing it yet (maybe I’ll make one this weekend and go back and see what we missed). This is what the 3 tokens I found say on them:

*G. & E. Co. Urbana & Champaign – U. & C. RY / U. & C. RY. - Good for one full fare

*Not Redeemable / Not Redeemable

*Advertising Keeney’s Refresh-Mints / Good For 5¢ In Trade

Nuthin better than going out hunting for one thing and coming home happy as can be with something else!!! I found a few more items; they are in the vid if you’re interested.

Diggin History #86 - Great little hunt, im happy ~ Metal detecting finds

2011-07-14T18:56:00.000-05:00

Went out metal detecting with DDub & Lookn4seated the other day and I haven't been out in awhile so I was really hoping to find some treasure and I did!!! The silver thingy was in my pouch from a previous hunt so I thought I'd toss it in the video, think its a top of a ring or something.

Diggin History #85 - SCORE Rediscovering forgotten sites in the woods

2011-05-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

5/5/11 Went out metal detecting today out in the woods with DDub & Lookn4seated on an 6 hour hunt and we all found some goodies!!! I found a semi key date coin worth $80!!!

MEGA silver hunt and some morel mushrooms!!!

2011-04-29T17:18:00.003-05:00

4/28/11 Went out metal detecting with DDub & Lookn4seated this morning for a long 6+ hour hunt and we found lots of oldies!!! We started out mushroom hunting for Morels and we found a few tiny grey morels but we decided to swing the coils for a bit. My 1st old coin for the day was another half dollar, this time it was a Walker (my 1st ever) and the back has rainbow toning!!! The 1st pix is of everything we found (I go over each of the silver's dates in the video) my finds are in the pix below the group finds pix.

we found something along the lines of
3 IH's
40 wheaties
15 silvers
& 12 Morel Mushrooms

Diggin History #83 - MORGAN DOLLAR!!!

2011-04-21T01:33:00.005-05:00

4/20/11 Went out with DDub today for a 6hr metal detecting hunt today and we ran into BillT, the finds were few and far between but we managed to find some goodies. My best was when I got another nail signal (bouncing from iron to coin) and figured what they heck, let me dig it just to see what it is. I couldn't pinpoint the signal so I did "the minelab wiggle" to guesstimate where the target was. I was flippin dirt out when I seen a LARGE disc laying in front of me and starter yelling as loud as I could for DDub & BillT to come over, just then I thought to myself man this will be funny if I'm wrong and its just a makeup compact! tongue3 I never thought I would find a silver dollar and man am I pumped!!!!!

The really weird thing is this year I have found a 1892 dime, quarter, half, & now a dollar!?!?! Must be my lucky year or something!!!

Diggin History #82 -My 1st Seated Coin!!!

2011-04-15T20:44:00.001-05:00

4/15/11 I went out to the woods metal detecting again for a few hours and this is what I found. This was my weirdest coin spill yet!!!

Diggin History #81 - Low & Slow in a trash pit

2011-04-15T20:37:00.000-05:00

4/7/11 Went out for a 4hr metal detecting hunt in a trashy area in the woods and found some oldies, a few relics, and a ton of garbage.

3/30/11 My oldest dime found metal detecting

2011-03-31T00:36:00.001-05:00

Well I went out again for a few hours metal detecting and I was determined to get an 1800's barber dime. I wasn't finding anything but junk for the first couple of hours until I swung my detector up next to a small tree and it started screaming at me. Well I dug down about six inches and found a plated copper ring, I rescanned the hole and was still getting a strong silver signal and out popped my oldest dime to date. So I can cross an 1800's dime off my list for the year and what else is cool is this is my 1st ever barber dime that has a mint mark on it. I sure hope the guy that lost the dime didn't pay full price for his supposed 18k ring. I hope everyone gets a chance to swing their metal detector over some treasure this weekend, Happy Hunting...

3/27/11 Out metal detecting in the woods

2011-03-30T02:34:00.000-05:00

I had a few hours to kill so I decided to go back out to the woods and see what else I could find with my metal detector. I was out for maybe 4 hours and only good find was an 1888 Indian Head Cent but to get that I also had a pocket full of shell casings. Well I was moving along when I got a high pitched bouncy signal that was jumping from coin all the way over to iron. I wasn't positive if it was going to even be something good but my gut told me to dig this target. My metal detector said it was down at about 8 inches but no matter what I did I could not pinpoint the target so I just guessed where I thought the center was and started digging.

Well down about 8 inches deep I have to say that I was surprised to see the rim of a large copper (its the same size as a US half dollar), I instantly thought that I found my 1st Large Cent for the year (that would be my 2nd ever found while metal detecting). I quickly pulled it out and seen that my shovel caught it a few times so I was a bit discouraged with myself. I dropped it into my water bottle and was surprised again to see a coin that I have never seen before, it was a 1904 French 10c coin in perfect condition minus the new marks I made with my shovel. Its not the coin I was hoping to find but I have to say that I am very happy to of found it, this is definitely one of the prettiest coins that I have ever dug. Happy Hunting everybody!

(click on the image to enlarge it)

Diggin History #79 - Columbian Exposition 1892 Half Found ~ Metal Detecting

2011-03-25T16:06:00.001-05:00

3/24/11 I went out metal detecting in the woods with DDub & Lookn4seated out in the woods and we all found some great stuff, this is what I found. The site was full old rusty nails and bolts and tons of old shotgun caps but we crept thru at a snail's pace and were able to score some oldies. This is my 2nd 1800's half in 1 week, I almost died when I seen this half in the bottom of my plug!!!

3/25/11 DDub and I went back out metal detecting for a few hours and I picked up 3 more Indians, 2 Wheaties, & a V-Nickel, our new site is really producing for us!
Happy Hunting everyone...

Rainy Day Silvers & Chicago "Vote Twice for..." anti prohibition token

2011-03-21T11:10:00.000-05:00

3/20/11 Went out metal detecting with DDub & Lookn4seated to a set of woods that I did some research on and wanted to hit for the past 3 years but never got around to it, well I'm glad that I finally got a chance to detect it!!! Right off the bat I found an IH then a buffalo then a dime and as the day wore on more oldies kept popping up. At one point the rain got so bad that we had to take refuge in the truck for at least 30 min's but once it let up we were back out detecting again finding more oldies. The quarter I found is my newest oldest silver but the token is by far the best find of the day for me. We are definitely going back to pound that place for all it has!!!

You all herd the old Chicago saying "vote early and vote often", well this token is the proves that fact. I found this token yesterday and wanted to share it. Alderman A.J. Cermak later went onto become the Mayor of Chicago and yes the road was named after him. hahaha The token was from between 1919 - mid 20's it was against the prohibition law was that was passed in 1919. enjoy

Diggin History #77 - Unexpect LARGE surface find!!! ~ Metal Detecting

2011-03-18T01:02:00.000-05:00

3/17/11 Metal detecting with DDub and we went out to a new section of woods that we have never detected before and I started the hunt off with an old coin spill!!!

12 Silver Day. First For Two. part 1 ~ Metal Detecting

2011-03-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLYGq4E-nP4 to see what my buddy DDub found. Went out with Lookn4seated, DDub & CladTheImpaler for a 7+ hour metal detecting hunt and we all scored!!!

Diggin History #76 - 2 Seated Quarters in 1 hunt + more!!! Metal Detecting

2011-03-11T16:59:00.000-06:00

3/3/2011 I went out on a 6+ hour metal detecting hunt with D-Dub & Lookn4seated and we had an AWESOME hunt, these are our finds!!! Lookin4seated & D-Dub use a Minelab Etrac metal detector and I use a Minelab SE Pro metal detector.

Diggin History #75 - Metal detecting in the snow for 5hrs

2011-02-18T15:38:00.000-06:00

Well we went out metal detecting for a 5 hour hunt yesterday 2/17/11. It wasn't the best of conditions to be out with our metal detectors but man it sure was nice to be out treasure hunting again after being cooped up inside for so long.

2nd antler drop of 2011 (big non typical) before the blizzard - Antler Hunting

2011-02-18T15:37:00.001-06:00

Out hunting for deer antlers before the 2011 blizzard and my buddy Lookn4seated found the only antler of the day again!!! Man I have to do something, he out hunts me in evreything!!! hahahaha
Awesome job buddy!!!

1st antler drop of 2011 its a biggin - Antler Hunting

2011-01-22T09:00:00.001-06:00

Happy New Years everyone!

2010-12-31T21:24:00.000-06:00

Now that it is winter and I am shut down from metal detecting for the season I am looking at old maps so I can start off the new year with a bang! I have a lot of new sites lined up that I am going to metal detect and hopefully I will find a lot more old coins. Stay safe and have a great new year of metal detecting!!!