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

Long time, no search...no post!

It's been quite a while since our last post. Over the last couple of weeks the weather has been terrible, so hunting has been limited....or maybe it's been a lazy spell?

I ended up stopping by the car wash to vaccum out my truck. Someone ended up leaving me 2 Canadian quarters in the coin return plus a few pennies

Finds over the last couple of weeks: $1.33

Grand total to date: $31.87

131 finding days averages out to $.24 per day.

$.14 for the day!

When Andrea came home, she said that she tracked down $.07 for the day (one nickel and two pennies). I found the same amount-with the same coin combination. How many times does that happen....never. At least it hasn't happened since The Lincoln Penny Project started on July 12, 2009.

Daily total find: $.14
Grand total to date: $28.81
113 finding days averages out to $.25 per day

First wheat back find since this quest began!

Wow! Finally the first wheat back penny uncovered. It's not like we took a metal detector over some land, dug down several inches and pulled up a treasure. This Lincoln Wheat Back Penny was sitting out in the open for all to see. It's a 1954S that's in decent shape for being 50+ years old. It was found at one of my favorite car wash stations. I needed to vacuum my truck out and noticed the Lincoln's Wheat Back staring up at me near my left front tire.

Before I used the vacuum, I toured the station-doing my rounds for the find. This one stop produced $.53 (2 quarters and 3 pennies). This sum was the same as yesterday. An earlier stop at Wal Mart brought in 6 pennies. The early morning find's total is $.59. Not bad!

Back to the car wash station. One vacuum area had a set of keys on the pavement. I snapped a picture of it and held on to the keys. The attendant was just pulling up while I was vacuuming. When I finished the job, I brought the keys up to him-letting him know what I found. He thanked me and asked if I wanted a free car wash. I thanked him and said I need to get to a job site. What an awesome day!

Update for the rest of the day. We ended up finding an additional $.36. The find came up with a Canadian quarter, one dime and a penny.

Total daily find: $.95

Grand total to date: $22.23

101 finding days averages out to $.22 per day.

Look what Max found!

The first find of the day was when I was passing out flyers around a job site we were working on. I found Mr. Roosevelt face up as I was making the rounds.

Max and I stopped by the our favorite car wash on the way home after our post office visit. Max couldn't believe what he saw in the garbage; a shiny Washington Quarter. He also found 3 pennies right by the vacuum section. The last find was another quarter-which I spotted on the ground near one of the car wash stalls.

Daily find: $.63

Total to date: $17.86

87 finding days averages out to $.20 per day

Which US President is on the dime?

Claire and I took a trip back to Washington D.C. after the school year ended with 21 students. It was a fabulous-educational trip! We had the opportunity to see a number of different memorials-including the FDR Memorial. Andrea found a dime earlier in the day. Here is a halloween costume that one of Drea's friends is wearing. I'm not sure what it is though?

Enjoy the FDR Memorial photos.....Andrea's too!

Steve in the soup line, Claire and Steve with FDR and Claire in the fireside chat.

Find for the day $.10

We continue to be baffled over our finds!

Car wash places and service stations with air/water set ups prove to be great places for finds. After a supplier visit, I drove up to a car wash and found $.36 (3 dimes and 6 pennies. These coins were just sitting on the concrete step where the garbage can and vacuum is located....unbelievable! My second morning stop came after I stopped by from ordering a couple of dumpster drops for my upcoming projects. This time I stopped by my favorite Shell Station. Four Washington Quarters were placed near the vacuum stations...just waiting for me to scoop them up.

Early morning find: $1.36

Grand total year to date: $17.08

85 finding days averages out to $.20 per day

This pace equals $73.00 per year.

Soccer field nets us $.10! Pumpkin farm zilch...

Today was sparse for the coin pick ups. I picked up the Sunday times at the store and found 2 pennies.

We went to Erich's soccer game-hoping to come up with something. One of his teammates had a corner kick that Erich was able to head in for a score!!! They played an awesome game, but came up on the short end. We did however score our very first find at the fields-a dime.

Our final stop for the day was the pumpkin farm. Hay was all over the ground-which made hunting difficult. We scooped up a couple of pumpkins and got in some cool photos. The hunt turned up zip, but the outing was grand!

Daily total: $.12

Another car wash stop results in a Canadian Quarter find+Late night Yo quiero Taco Bell find

Nothing against a Canadian Quarter. It appears this one just didn't work at the car wash. I also came up with a couple of Lincolns.

After my son's football practice we stopped by Taco Bell and grabbed some goods. Under the condiment bar we saw a round object that got our attention. It was Mr. Roosevelt heads up.

Earlier find- $.05
+ this find- $.27
+ late night find- $.10

Daily Find: $.42
Total to date: $14.16
81 Finding Days averages out to $.17 per day

Car wash and Coinstar nets us $.07

Quiet day for finds-didn't hunt much though. I made two quick stops and came up with 7 pennies at the car wash/convenience store and a Coinstar at QFC.

Happy Hunting!

Three stops-three finds!

Coinstar and QFC continues to be a good stop. Why don't people leave other change on the floor next to the Coinstar machine other than pennies. Pennies take longer to add up, but they still pay for things. Someone could have added another $.07 to their bottom line-or skipped out on the Coinstar fee. Instead I came by and noticed my neglected, copper friends on the floor begging for some attention.

7/11 proves to be a great stop. I had to drop my keys on the floor-making sure they went under the counter-so I could pick up the Washington Quarter that was strategically placed.

My last find was at an AM/PM gas station at an air/water set up. I'm Still baffled why people set their money down for someone else to pick up. Just think how many people are doing this around the country on a daily basis. There is money waiting to be found. Keep hunting!

Daily find: $.34
Total to date: $13.67

Breakdown of the finds!

Here is our money find total since July 12, 2009. There are days that we go without finding any money-or other days where we find loose change and didn't get a chance to post. This is a fun event for the family and each individual. Not only does this give us some extra exercise, it adds to our competitive nature to come up with something by the end of the day or week. We highly suggest this-give it a try! Happy Hunting!

$5.00 total-1 = $5.00

$1.00 total-2 = $2.00

$.25 total-9 = $2.25

$.10 total 23, 1 Canadian Dime = $2.40

$.05 total 12 = $.60

$.01 total 108 = $1.08

Grand Total = $13.33

78 Finding Days averages out to $.17 per day