Wow! It's been almost one week since our last post....

Hunts have been sparse recently..so have the finds unfortunately. Over the last week we were only able to get out a few times. The above ground finds brought in 4 pennies and we had a Bellingham hunt late on Friday that brought in $1.24 (4 quarters, 1 dime, 2 nickels and 4 pennies). One of the quarters was a 1976 bicentennial coin-our first!

Our first month of metal detecting proved to be a success. We got in a number of hunts and Max unearthed our first silver item and wheat back penny-a 1919S. This is our oldest coin to date. We are still waiting for our first silver coin. Check out the items that we scooped up. The list includes three silver rings, one titanium ring, several other rings and charms and a bunch of pennies and clad. We unearthed a few relics too as you can see by the photo.

Happy Hunting everyone!

Total finds over the last several days: $1.28
Above ground finds: $.04
Below ground finds: $1.24
Total finds to date: $22.01 30 days of hunting averages out to $.73 per day.

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $61.62
Above ground finds: $39.02
Below ground finds: $22.60

The last two days of coin finding....and our first silver item!

Finds for today.
Max finds our first silver-an earring 925.
Total finds from yesterday.

Max and I went out metal detecting after he got out of school to a private beach in Bellevue, WA. We ended up finding $1.15 in change (2 quarters, 5 dimes, and 15 pennies). One penny was our second wheatie-a 1956D. I was able to video Max unearthing our first silver item-an earring that had CA 925 stamped on it. It also had a stone similar to an aqua marine. Way to go Max!

This morning Max and I hit Matthews Beach in Seattle, WA for a quick hunt. We ended up finding $2.00 in change (6 quarters, 4 dimes and 10 pennies).

Check out a couple of our videos on youtube (LincolnPennyProject) when you get some time.

Finds over the last two days: $3.29
Above ground finds: $.14
Below ground finds: $3.15
Total finds to date: $20.77 Day 23 averages out to $.90 per day

Grand total for The Lincoln Penny Project: $60.34
Above ground finds: $38.98
Below ground finds: $21.36

Last few days of finds. Max finds first Lincoln wheat back penny 1919S!

Finds for the last few days.
Max before finding the first Lincoln Wheat Back.

It was a fun few days of hunting for coins above and below ground. Max was excited to get out and hunt with the metal detector. On his first signal-Max pinpointed it and started to dig. The ground was too hard, so I took over with the digging. We have the unearthing of our first wheat back penny-thanks to Max. Check out our youtube videos at (LincolnPennyProject). We were so pumped for our first wheat back find...Way to go Max! We also ended up finding a titanium ring.

The last few days have brought in $.28 above ground and $3.16 below ground (8 quarters, 8 dimes, 1 nickel and 31 pennies).

Here is a photo of Max with a fishing pole that he made from things he found during metal detecting.

Last few days of finds: $3.44
Above ground: $.28
Below ground: 3.16
Total finds for the year: $17.48 20 days of finds averages out to $.87 per day.

Grand total of finds for the Lincoln Penny Project: $57.05
Above ground: $38.84
Below ground: $18.21

Discovery Park and Golden Gardens

Finds for the day from both parks.
Finds that need to be cleaned up.
Claire helping with the clean up of gear.

Claire and I went on a Saturday morning drive and ended up going over toward Magnolia on a whim. We did tow the metal detector just in case we wanted to hit a spot or two. Starbucks was calling Claire-and the previous $40.00 found gift card came in handy. On the way into Starbucks-Claire found the first find of the day-an Honest Abe penny on the cement. The morning paper's crossword was difficult-so we ended up working on the jumble instead.

Discovery Park and Ft. Lawton was the same...haven't been there in over 20 years though. I brought out the metal detector for a quick spin while Claire read at one of the picnic tables. We ended up walking in the trails and went to the Indian Cultural Center...ran into a couple of cool dogs. Claire liked Louis the best-he was a little fireball of a speedster rat dog-but a cool one. My favorite dog ended up being a Great Danemation, a dalmation/dane mix (not sure what you call them). Finds at Discovery Park consisted of a few pennies, a dime, an old Shick razor, an ornamental steel plate, and part of a watch.

We toured the Seattle neighborhood of Magnolia and ended up eating at Whole Foods. Our final stop was Shilshole Marina and Golden Gardens Park. It was approaching dusk and you could hear the seal barking and kids playing on the beach near camp fires. Claire walked the beach and I hit the grounds with the metal detector. I ended up scooping up some quick change and it was getting pretty dark when I hit my last signal. By that time-Claire was already finished with her walk and watched me pull the find. We didn't know what it was. It was bigger than a quarter, and she ended up thinking it was a Sacajawea Dollar or an Asian coin of some kind. She took it over to the water spigot and washed it off. It was a John Quincy Adams presidential dollar-our first! Our last stop of the evening was a trip to the grocery store where I found one dime near the Coinstar machine.

Daily total finds: $1.55
Above ground finds: $.11
Below ground finds: $1.44
Total finds to date: $14.04 Day 16 averages out to $.88

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $53.50
Above ground finds: $38.56
Below ground finds: $15.05

Last few days of money finding

Money and other finds.
Edmonds Beach with the Washington State Ferry in the background.

The last couple of days turned out to be on and off rain around the Pacific Northwest. In between projects and during my lunch time-I was able to get in a couple of quick hunts. This was my first visit to Edmonds Beach for metal detecting. I really wasn't expecting much, but did manage to dig up a total of $1.24 in change. The coin count consisted of 1 quarter, 7 dimes, 1 nickel and 24 pennies. A marble was found with the quarter and the two keys were found at different parts of the beach. I was also able to find one nickel above ground at an AM/PM station.

Last couple of days totals: $1.29
Above ground: $.05
Below ground: $1.24
Total to date: $12.49 Day 15 averages out to $.83 per day.

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $51.95
Above ground finds: $38.45
Below ground finds: $13.50

Above ground find at a Coinstar machine

Today was my lucky day. It started on my way to a job site in Edmonds. Before I got to the site, I needed some fuel from 7/11. I'm pretty good about the environment and decided to pick up a Starbucks card that was left on the pavement to check the balance-keep or dispose of. This card was put in my wallet and off I went. The next stop was the local Albertsons grocery store for a sandwich. I had to stop by the Coinstar machine to see if somebody left me something. On the floor near the machine was a dull looking item. At first I thought it was a gray sticker, but I noticed it was a coin with wheat ears-a steel Lincoln 1943S penny. That's a new coin for The Lincoln Penny Project! We still are awaiting our first wheat back penny below ground with our metal detector, but now have 5 above ground wheat backs since our quest began.

When I returned home, I handed Claire the Starbucks card to see if she wanted to check it out the next time that she hit the coffee place. She got on the phone and dialed in for the balance...and the robot said, "you have a $40.00 balance." It sure pays to pick up things off the ground. When in doubt, do it!

Finds for the day: $.07

Above ground finds: $.07

Total to date: $11.20 Day 11

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $50.66

Above ground finds: $38.40

Below ground finds: $12.26

We are over the $50.00 mark of money finds!

Total finds since The Lincoln Penny Project began. Above and below ground finds.

Our quick afternoon hunt brought in $.88

Since The Lincoln Penny Project began on July 12, 2009 - we have recovered lost coins and bills in the amount of $50.61. It's been even more of an adventure since we got a Garrett Ace 250 metal detector for Christmas. We initially started out hunting for coins above ground and have been successful. It's amazing what people leave behind for us to pick up.

Max and I did a quick park hunt and our batteries for the machine finally quit on us. Since we didn't have any AA's with us, we had to hang it up for the afternoon. We did however dig up $.88 (1 quarter, 6 dimes and 3 pennies).

Daily find: $.88

Above ground finds: 0

Below ground finds: $.88

Total finds to date: $11.13 Day 10, which averages out to $1.11 per day.

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $50.59

Above ground finds: $38.33

Below ground finds: $12.26

181 finding days averages out to $.28 per day.

Bothell metal detecting the last 2 days

Max and I went out Friday after school and Saturday morning for a few hours combined to metal detect. Friday we dug up $.93 and a tiny silver ring. Max ended up finding 3 quarters and the ring. This morning we hit the same spot and tried to complete part of the park that we weren't able to hunt. We dug up $2.14 in clad, so the two days ended up being successful. Here are a couple of photos and video clip of one of the digs.

Friday's total: $.93

Saturday's total: $2.14

2 days combined: $3.07

Total finds to date: $10.25 Day 9

Grand total for The Lincoln Penny Project: $49.73

Above ground finds:$38.39

Below ground finds: $11.34

Whidbey Island hunt

Ferry boat ride over to Whidbey Island

Finds of the day!

I had to hop on the Washington State Ferry early this morning, but first needed to fuel the truck up. Of course I was near my favorite car wash and had to check out the above ground finds for coins. To my amazement a few shiny coins were waiting for me; one quarter was in the coin return of a vacuum station, a dime and penny sat near a coin return at the car wash station and the other two coins (dime and penny) were on the pavement.

I caught the 7:30am ferry to Whidbey Island to go to a job site for roof and gutter cleaning. Do you think that I brought my metal detector? Indeed! When I was finished with work it was close to 3:00pm, so I had to get in some quick detecting before it got dark. My first stop was Ebbey Landing, an historic lookout point/trail in Coupeville, WA. This stop brought in $.63 of clad (2 quarters, 1 dime and 3 pennies). My next stop was the City Beach in Oak Harbor. I ended up finding $.47 (1 quarter, 2 dimes and 2 pennies). I did however find a couple of other non-coin items. The first find was a Lions pin and the second was a copper bracelet. I'm still waiting patiently for my first silver coin.

Daily totals: $1.57

Above ground finds: $.47

Below ground finds: $1.10

Total finds to date: $7.18 Day 7

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total finds: $46.66

Above ground finds: $38.39

Below ground finds: $8.27

Lunch time calls for the metal detector again!

Finds for the day.
The park in Lynnwood.

I've driven by this park dozens of times and it's packed with people during the summer. The afternoon weather was decent, so with my detector along, I give it a shot. The machine starts hitting a lot of signals right away. It's making noise every few feet, and the sound determines that the grounds have a lot of junk. A few people are in the park, so I decide to get my headphones to eliminate all of the beeping noises for my nieghbors. The first signal that sounds like a coin excites me. The dig pulls one dime and a penny in the same hole. The overall digs bring in $.64 in coins (5 dimes and 14 pennies).
One of the signals really sounded good. As I was digging, I noticed a round object that was thicker than a coin. When I pulled up the object, I was pumped to find out that it was a ring-maybe silver? Of course the first thing that I do is look for a mark or identification of the ring. No markings unfortunately, but it does have some kind of gem-a possible pearl or opal? The ring is heavy and appears to be old and hand made. I was please about the day's haul.

Today's total: $.64
Above ground finds: 0
Below ground finds: $.64

This year's total: $5.61 Day 6

Above ground finds: $.35
Below ground finds: $5.26

Another lunchtime hunt!

Check out the dirty coins and buckle!

Since we got the metal detector for Christmas, my lunchtime has a new meaning. I hit the City Park in Edmonds-and the city purchased the 10-acre park nearly 100 years ago. I'm sure that the park has been hunted, but I did get in close to an hour. I ended up with $.58 (2 quarters and 8 pennies) and an old steel belt buckle.

Daily total: $.61

Above ground: $.03

Below Ground: $.58

Total to date: $4.87 Day 5

Lunchtime detecting

45 minute park hunt.

It's really cool when you start getting the hang of something. Let's take metal detecting for instance. At first you get it out of the box and you can't wait to start swinging the machine. Of course you watch the video on how to use it, but you barely remember anything that you saw...You just visioned coins coming out of the ground. When we first hit the dirt, tones would beep from the machine like crazy-and we just started to dig. We didn't look at the screen or hear the tone-we just dug. After our first few coins, we started to listen to the machine and actually read the screen.

Today it finally clicked for me. I took a quick lunch break and got the machine out to detect a local park. It's a baseball field, skate park with landscaped grounds. I hit the grass right away and started hearing beeps. I'm learning the sounds of the machine and can distinguish between a good tone and bad one. When I hear a good tone, I look at the screen and see what it's detecting. It might read out penny, nickel, quarter, etc. Then it might register junk too...foil, aluminum, etc. If I feel it's worth digging, I go to work. Today the tones were just right, and the reading on the screen looked good, so I dug away. I was pulling coin after coin during the first 15 minutes. My plugs were nice and consistent, and the coin was exactly where I thought it was. How cool!! Total finds for the day amounted to $2.56-which consisted of 6 quarters, 7 dimes, 2 nickels and 26 pennies. I was pumped. No silver or wheaties yet......

We are still looking above ground too and came up with 6 pennies today.

Until next time-Happy Hunting!

Daily total: $2.62

Above ground finds: $.06

Below ground finds: $2.56

Total to date: $4.26 Day 4

All for $.07! Was it worth it? Absolutely.....

The park near the Seattle Times building.

First find of the day-a Lincoln Penny.

Finds for the day (2 pennies and a nickel)...junk too.

Woke up this morning and thought about digging some dirt. We have the Seattle Times printing faciltiy near our house. Next to the building is a huge park where people play frisbee, football, soccer and other events, and over the summer a lot of coins can be lost. This is where I decided to dig for the morning. It appeared that the grounds have been swept before because I covered a lot of ground without any signals from the detector. The ground was really marshy, but I continued on. The detector started hitting some signals, but they sounded and detected trash. Finally I hit a good tone, so I dug a plug of dirt. The hole was full of water and it was entirely muddy...what a mess. It took a while to find, but out surfaced the first coin-a Lincoln Penny. The next signal and hole that I dug was a two coin pull; a nickel and penny. The $.07 took me around 30 minutes and it was a muddy mess. My mission was to find something from the park, and I'm glad that I gave it a shot. On the way back to the truck I found a penny that added to The Lincoln Penny Project. Keep at it and happy hunting!

Daily total find: $.08

Above ground finds: $.01

Below ground finds: $.07

Total to date: $1.64 Day 3

How much did we find on the second day of the year?

It's January 2, 2010 and the second day of the year turned out to be a winner. Claire and I went to a couple different stops in Coupeville on Whidbey Island with the new metal detector. The first stop was the Coupeville Town Park which brought in one quarter, four dimes and eight pennies ($.73), and the second stop was where they hold the farmer's market. We ended up finding one quarter, a dime and two pennies ($.37). The park also brought in a child's mood ring and the market grounds find was a piece of costume jewelry. We did find some junk as well, but didn't find any above ground money. Still trying to track down our first piece of silver, gold or old coin of value. Can you believe we also got in some exercise?

Check out one of the interesting blogs we are tracking Money Walker! It's a great story about money hunting and exercise.

Daily total: $1.10

Below ground finds: $1.10

Total to date: $1.56 Day 2

Look what the first day of 2010 brought in!

It's the first day of the year and the excitement will build for the next 364 days for The Lincoln Penny Project. Claire and I challenged each other to see which one of us would come up with the first find of the year. I told her that I would find a dime first and she said she would find a penny. Our first stop was Half Price Books-and the parking lot gave up zip. She did end up scoring on some great $1.00 books though. Then we went to the Redmond Town Center. On the way back to our car we both took different routes. I ended up calling Claire over to our first find of the year....it was a dime, four pennies and a nickel ( a total of $.19). How cool!

Our next journey was on the Washington State Ferry to Whidbey Island. We stopped off at the Red Apple Grocery for some snacks and found $.06. We then got to our final destination-Coupeville. It was nearing dusk and I had to try and get in 15 minutes of metal detecting-which I ended up digging 2 dimes and a penny ($.21).

First find of the year nets us $.46

Above ground finds: $.25

Below ground finds: $.21

Grand total to date: $.46 Day 1