My Two Cents Worth

by John Tewell
(Columbus, Ohio)

As finds go, this is not a huge deal, but it was a nice one for me. My name is John Tewell, from Columbus, Ohio. I have been a fan of Frank's show and his writings for some time now. I have been detecting for several years. I have a Whites XLT, a Tesoro Vaquero, and a Whites underwater detector. I like coin, artifact & jewelry hunting. I like to hunt in isolated areas, or small old towns. Because of the isolation, I take a very large German Shepherd with me. Twice he has come to my defence. Once when a Russian bum jumped out of the woods at me, and another time behind a 1930's dance hall when some gang bangers showed up and then changed their mind about bothering me. I would encourage anyone to hunt with a friend, a good dog, or otherwise be prepared. We use expensive equipment and with headphones on, we may be an inviting target.
I found a little park in a small town near my. I was told by local kids that the park had been hunted for years, and that there were some local people who hunted the park a lot. I was disappointed to hear this,but I was already there. I decided to work the far end of the park where the trees looked like they had been there for a while. I found 2 Indian Head pennies and was pretty happy. A while later I got a hit about 20 feet away. I dug a good size hole and found nothing. At this point I might have just left off digging, but it irritated me, so I kept digging. Then 8" down I saw what looked like a child's toy coin. It had a greenish patina and at first I thought it was plastic. I picked it up and it was a very nice 2 cent piece, dated 1867. Then I found a ring. The point is, don't buy the old story that a place is hunted out. Just think out of the box, try to read the landscape
and you will find good stuff. JT