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Shot to Hell

20 Oct 2011

Usually we Detectorists remove nickels from the ground and the condition is what we most times would fondly call "Shot to Hell"! While out last weekend with the E-TRAC, the nickel I found was literally that! I got an in-ground Fe-Co reading of 11-11 which was wavering to 12-14 as I swept the area. Generally this level indicates a nickel, but I was in a colonial period area and it could also be a small flat button. The target wasn't at all difficult for the E-TRAC at 6". When I retrieved it from the ground, I couldn't believe my eyes... It was a coin! A "Buffalo" nickel that had been bent from being shot with a .22 ca. firearm and the projectile soldered itself to the coin! Unfortunately the bullet is covering the date as you can see in the photo. The possible scenarios for this to happen could be endless! Obviously a "hunter drop" in the last century... Did he purposely impress his friends by propping it on a tree and hit it on the first shot at fifty paces? I did find this nickel at the base of a fairly large tree. Or did the coin lay on the ground for years and someone else's bullet hit it as it neared the end of its trajectory? The bullet does show signs of a copper jacket in the crushed lead. What year did .22 cal. bullets get a copper jacket? Regardless of how it happened, it certainly is a unique puzzler find for sure! What's next with the E-TRAC! Robert H. Sickler - New York, USA

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