1870: GOLD FOUND ALONG TRENTON'S "PETTY'S RUN"

Articles such as the above make the heart beat a bit faster when those of us who are into the metal detecting hobby read about the exciting find of Colonial Spanish coins found along Petty's Run in the Chancery Street area of Trenton. I have been a metal detector operator since the early 1960's when the hobby was just beginning to evolve. My first unit was a "BFO" squealer that had depth capability of about 2 or 3 inches. The technology evolved as hi-tech detectors became available during the 1960's and 70' from popular detector manufacturers such as White's, Garrett, Wilson-Neuman, Gold Mountain, and numerous others. It is interesting to note that many of them went out of business very rapidly, but new ones spring up every month. Over the years I had a number of detectors. Wilson Neuman "Daytona GBD," a "Bobcat" from a manufacturer whom I can't recall, two Garrett detectors, a Fisher, two White's, and I currently own a Bounty Hunter "Pioneer 500," a Garrett GTP 1350, and my favorite, a vintage Fisher 1265X. The metal detecting hobby is a very rewarding hobby both physically and if you are lucky, financially if you are able to detect any gold or silver coins.

1870: GOLD COINS FOUND AT PETTY'S RUN

As a card-carrying member of the metal detecting fraternity, the story of the gold coins that were found along Pettys Run in the area of Chancery Street in downtown Trenton in 1870 is obviously of great interest to me. The coins were mostly Spanish and believed to have been dropped during the Revolutionary War. The article above is a tongue in cheek article where the writer conjures up an unlikely situation. However, there were MANY gold coins along Pettys Run. And for any like minded metal detector operators who are wondering, NO the Pettys run has been filled in.

PETTY'S RUN GOLD COINS; A METAL DETECTOR OPERATOR'S DREAM!

AS AN AVID METAL DETECTOR OPERATOR WHO IS ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OLD BURIED COINS THAT HAVE BEEN DROPPED OVER THE AGES, I FOUND THIS ARTICLE FROM ONE OF HARRY PODMORE'S "TRENTON IN BYGONE DAYS" COLUMNS TO BE COMPLETELY FASCINATING. JUST THINK WHAT A 21ST CENTURY METAL DETECTOR COULD DO SEARCHING THE AREA FOR THOSE 18TH CENTURY GOLD COINS! THE AREA DESCRIBED IS IN THE AREA OF BANK ST. CHANCERY LANE IN BACK OF ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL. I HAVE A NUMBER OF THE ORIGINAL 1870'S PETTY'S RUN GOLD COIN STORIES AND WILL POST THEM AS THEY ARE DIGITIZED.