Lake Erie Coin piles?!?

[oshvegasdiver]

I recently read in a dive book about two coin piles in lake erie. I have attempted to find out more but no luck. Does anyone else out there know anything about them? It said one is off of Fairport Harbor on the south shore. The other is located near Buffalo harbor on the eastern end of the lake.

Thanks,
Oshkvegasdiver

 

[fire_diver]

Sounds a bit suspect to me. I think if I knew where a pile of coins was laying, I'd be down there picking them up and shooting bags. Any more details from your book? Sounds interesting nontheless.

BTW,

WELCOME TO SCUBABOARD!!

FD

 

[oshvegasdiver]

well not much just that they are in 12-40 feet of water. They called them "piles" but described it as more of a scattered area. They also said there are some wooden remains of ships and described a technique called "fanning" for finding the coins.

Thanks also, I'm new to scubaboard and to diving if there is anyone in or near oshkosh, WI who needs a dive buddy let me know

 

[GIFCo147]

Yes indeed, there is a Coin Pile Dive in Buffalo...But you may be a couple of decades late in the game!

The Coin Pile was a very popular dive site in the 70's and 80's. Many people found cool coins from the early, mid, and late 1800s. There was also hardware (spikes, chains, barshot, etc.), clay pipes, and horseshoes. It seems to be pretty well picked over.

To reach the dive site, you need a boat. The Coin Pile was halfway down the first breakwall out in Buffalo Harbor, on the Lake Erie (outside) side. To find coins or artifacts, you would pick a spot and fan the silt away. As the site was shallow, you could often stay down for quite some time (80 minutes or more)

Today, there does not seem to be much comming up, and Zebra Muscles have taken over the harbor. But Buffalo has lot of great dive sites in Lake Erie, the Niagara River, and local lakes and quarries. If you are interested in diving the area, let me know. I can reccomend a great dive shop in the area.

Take care!

 

[dhandy]

I can only speak to the one in Buffalo Harbor. My father was an avid diver, and spent many summers diving on the coinpile wreck you are describing. He wrote articles on it, showing it was actually at least two separate vessels on top of each other. He found many coins from two different eras. Unfortunately he is no longer living, but I have many of the coins, and a lot of memories of the storys he told. The coins are not so easy to find though. You have to blow away sediment, and have LOTS of patience. Good luck!!

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

I can only speak to the one in Buffalo Harbor. My father was an avid diver, and spent many summers diving on the coinpile wreck you are describing. He wrote articles on it, showing it was actually at least two separate vessels on top of each other. He found many coins from two different eras. Unfortunately he is no longer living, but I have many of the coins, and a lot of memories of the storys he told. The coins are not so easy to find though. You have to blow away sediment, and have LOTS of patience. Good luck!!

Could you post some pix of the coins, and info on them please. I would love to see them.
you can see some of the gold coins me and the group of divers I dive with have been getting here on the east coast on the "things you have found thread".
ZDD