Weekend results! Hit the $70.00 mark!!

We had a great weekend with the family! Friday, Saturday and Sunday brought in some clad. Here are the results:

Friday after work and school with Max:
$1.44
2 quarters, 8 dimes and 14 pennies.

Saturday at Whidbey Island with Brittany and Max:
$1.14
4 quarters, 1 nickel and 9 pennies (1 wheatie 1936, and 1st Canadian penny)

Sunday dig with Max:
$.87
3 quarters, 1 dime and 2 pennies

Total finds: $3.45
Below ground: $3.45
Total to date: $30.58 (37 days of hunting averages out to $.83 per day)

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $70.19
Above ground finds: $39.37
Below ground finds: $30.82

Lunchtime hunt nets over $2.00!

It's pretty cool to be able to hit a city park on a lunch break and find some clad. I was able to unearth $2.09 (6 quarters, 4 dimes, 1 nickel and 14 pennies). Some of these finds were pocket spills-which allowed for fewer digs. I also found two dog tags-which one had a name and phone number. I ended up leaving a message for the person-and they phoned me back and said that it wasn't a match. At least I gave it a try. It's always nice to be able to have something back that was sentimental.

Daily finds: $2.04
Above ground: 0
Below ground: $2.04
Total finds to date: $27.13 (34 days of hunting averages out to $.80 per day).

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $66.74
Above ground finds: $39.37
Below ground finds: $27.37

Quick lunchtime hunt.

I only had about 45 minutes to get out with the metal detector today and came up with $.81 (3 quarters and 6 pennies), with 4 pennies and 1 nickel above ground. One of the below ground finds was a wheat penny-which is difficult to recognize-no date, etc.

Another quick post to add to the totals.

Total finds for the day: $.90
Above ground finds: $.09
Below ground finds: $.81
Total finds to date: $25.04 (33 days of hunting averages out to $.76 per day)

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $64.65
Above ground finds: $39.37
Below ground finds: $25.28

The weekend brought in some above and below ground finds....

Just a quick post to put something on the board. Claire found most of our above ground finds; $.26. We also did some metal detecting. Our total finds came out to $1.87 (2 quarters, 11 dimes, 2 nickels and 17 pennies.

Last few days of finds: $2.13

Above ground finds: $.26

Below ground finds: $1.87

Total finds to date: $24.14 (32 days of hunting averages out to $.75 per day

The Lincoln Penny Project grand total: $63.75

Above ground finds: $39.28

Below ground finds: $24.47

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

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.

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

Happy New Year!

Baker Lake and Mt. Baker

First find at Baker Lake.

Claire and Steve at Pilchuck park in Snohomish (detected $.39).

Total finds with metal detector since December 26, 2009.

It's New Year's Eve and 2009 is almost over. It's been a fun and interesting year with our blog-and we almost hit the $40.00 mark. We started our quest of The Lincoln Penny Project on July 12, 2009 by finding $.38 while we were camping, but didn't even think about it until this one thing happened. It's been a tradition to go up camping with my family on my birthday (July 12th)...it might be going on 15 years now. This is a place in the Pacific Northwest, an incredible lake and mountain area-which is named Baker Lake or Mt. Baker. I always help haul the boat up, and this year since my dad passed away, my mom had her friends haul up their trailer. When we got up to the lake, we parked the boat and trailer where they needed to be and my mom's friends took a look around campground 36 where we were staying. They were scanning the ground for some reason and all of a sudden picked up a quarter. The couple has been at this for years adding to their pot whenever they go somewhere. I didn't ask them how much they have found....I should have!

How much money have you passed by on the ground over the last six months? Once we saw them pick up the quarter-our hunt was on! We are a competitive family and like to play games-and this one involved exercise and a way to add to the pot. The first day started with one quarter, a dime and three pennies. Since then, our eyes have been on the prize. Everywhere one goes-it's loaded with finds. Just think how much money you have dropped over the years, and how much you have left sitting. The next time you go to a car wash take a walk around the vacuum stations. When you go shopping, park far away from the entrance and do a quick parking lot walk. We have been at this almost 6 months and have averaged $.23 per day-which equals $83.95 in one year. It's not a lot of moiney - and we aren't out looking everyday either. It's just an entertaining, family game for us. We also added to the fun and bought a family gift for Christmas-a metal detector. Now we have above ground and below ground opportunities for finding coins. Enjoy our family fun, and we welcome you to search and find treasures on the ground. We promise that they will be waiting for you.

Happy New Year!

Daily total: $.40

Above ground: $.01

Below ground: $.39

Grand total to date: $39.59

171 finding days averages out to $.23 per day

Above ground finds: $37.45

Below ground finds: $2.14

2nd day out metal detecting

Max out searching near frozen pond.
Max finds first bottle cap....with many to come. Check out the open field.
Max out detecting.
The big tree in the background is where we found the 1965 quarter.
Max finds our first quarter!
Max and I went out metal detecting for the second day in a row-hitting three different spots. Our first hunt brought in 3 Lincoln pennies from a playground. The second stop gave us a big, fat zero in coins, but a bunch of junk aluminum. The final place we visited was a large dog park in Bothell. The new metal detector takes time to understand and get the feel of. We tried using different settings while we were hunting. Garrett recommends using the "all metal" mode when learning to use the detector at first. Max and I were getting all kinds of nails and rusted spikes in the all metal mode. After an hour of hunting, we switched it to the "coins" mode and Max came up with our first quarter within a few minutes. The next target we hit was a dime. Our final target was a 1965 quarter-one year shy of silver. The cool thing about our finds was that the first quarter was a 1983-the year I graduated...and the final quarter was a 1965-the year I was born.

We didn't do any above ground searching today.

Daily find: $.63
Grand total to date: $38.21
168 finding days averages out to $.23 per day.

Above ground finds: $37.12
Below ground finds: $1.09

Whidbey Island find

This is our first day out with the new metal detector. Max was so excited he put it all together and was ready to hit the dirt digging. We went over to see Brittany and spend some time with her. She got home from work and we all ended up playing games until midnight.

For over 20 years we have had family picnics on Whidbey Island at my parent's place. We would play all kinds of games-and one in particular was, "Money in the Hay Stack." My dad would lay the tarp on the grass and dump the hay out. All of the adults would contribute to the pot by throwing in loose change and dollar bills for the kids. What a perfect place to try out the metal detector. It actually worked out awesome. The detector was hitting all kinds of signals. Max and I started digging and came up with $.46 in change. We didn't want the yard to look like a mole factory-so we gave it a rest. Of course we did a great job of putting the dirt back in the hole and the grass patch back on. It looks like it was never disturbed.

On our way back home we took the ferry and ended up finding 2 quarters in the coin return of the newspaper and vending machine.

Daily total: $.96

Grand total to date: $37.58

Above ground finds: $37.12

Below ground finds: $.46

We are getting an Ace 250 Garrett Metal Detector

Over 35 years ago I had my first metal detector. It was a black, plastic model from Radio Shack. The detector only had an on/off switch, but I felt like a king. I remember only finding a few things that counted, unfortunately most of the items turned out to be trash. Since my family and I have been coin hunting above ground and having success, we could only imagine what kind of finds could be underground.

Our hunting quest started on July 12, 2009, and to date we have recovered over $32.00 in coins and bills. A couple of weeks ago I got the idea of looking at metal detectors, so I started to search for information on the internet. I ran into a great metal detecting forum. Check out the Metal Detecting Forum site. We also recommend checking out Garrett's site.

Check out this Wheat Back Penny!

It was Thanksgiving day and we were on our way to Whidbey Island to spend turkey day with my family. The great thing about going to Whidbey is that you can drive around through Deception Pass or take the Washington State Ferry; both drives provide some awesome scenery. Since we got an early jump, we opted to take the ferry. During holiday weekends-the ferry can be a long wait if one doesn't get moving early. When Claire and I got on the boat, the ferry attendant guided us to our spot. If we would have parked one space away, we would have missed the find. As I opened the car door, I looked down (naturally). To my amazement-Honest Abe was staring up at me from the ferry boat deck. It appeared to be old, but I couldn't make out the date right away. Of course I turned it over to see if it had wheat ears-and indeed it did. It was a 1930 Wheatie! Wow...almost 80 years old, how cool! Earlier finds of the week didn't amount to much, but the wheat back made up for it.

My family will be getting a metal detector for Christmas. I had a couple detectors over 30 years ago, but never kept up with it. Because we have been finding all of these treasures above ground, we started thinking what gems could be under ground. We have decided on getting an Ace 250 Garrett detector.

Recent finds: $.41
Grand total to date: $32.48