I’ve been getting back into doing a little metal detecting lately as it’s not really gardening season right now; thus far I’ve hit one old Cracker house three times without much luck.

You might have seen my ridiculous video on the topic a few weeks ago:

I can’t say I’ve really found anything amazing yet, though the Woodmen of the World fraternal order badge in the video was pretty neat.

This last weekend I did some looking around for a few hours without a lot of luck. I did find some historical oddities, though, and 4 modern pennies.

Lots and lots of pull-tabs and junk.

I know a couple of you who read me regularly are metal detector pros. If you can get in touch via e-mail and let me know a good model I can upgrade to, I’d really appreciate it.

I was thinking of getting the Teknetics T2 as an upgrade.

I currently have two entry-level Bounty Hunter detectors and both of them really get hung up on all the trash, foil, etc., making finding any good stuff a shot in the dark.

That said, I did find this cool buckle with the Bounty Hunter:

That’s pretty cool. At least I know I’m picking up old stuff.

My main site has been a friend’s homestead. She owns a few acres where multiple old Cracker houses used to stand along with a general store. I found the WOW badge there and last time I was out I also discovered a 1921 wheat penny, my first coin on the site.

The second place I just hit was a church dating back to before the War of Northern Aggression.

That’s where I found the pump organ reed plates in the illustration. That’s a front and back view.

I couldn’t figure out what they were at first, then I remembered what the inside of a harmonica looked like and thought, “hey – they’ve got to be some sort of metal reeds!”

Yep. A little more searching on Google pointed me in the right direction.

Metal detecting is a fun hobby but definitely time consuming. I probably have more chance of winning the Lottery than finding anything really amazing but it gets me outside on the weekends when the gardens are sitting empty and sad.