Metal Detecting discussions and finds

It's in the old Chili's building on Beach south of Warner.

I recognized Fulton park in your earlier post. I live on the other side of Magnolia.

 

Oh, and BTW, DO NOT get all flustered if you are constantly digging "trash items" because that is simply part OF IT!!! I know this was a present and all, but for the people that go buy an MDr thinking they're going to get MASS $$$ are in for a rude awakening!!!

Just go out there and enjoy the hobby. Depending on where you live, you will have a tendency to find older type stuff or newer stuff. I'm a firm believer that the more eastern part of the U.S. you will find more of the much older stuff (i.e. older silver coins and/or MORE of them is more to the point) as well as Civil War type stuff. As you head more towards the western part of the U.S. you should find the same/similar items, but not nearly enough as the states "grew" from east to west, if you get my meaning?

But that is just my personal theory on it as I look at it as, trying throwing some sand, for example... you're going to get more sand that is closer to the source and less as you travel outwards. Same/similar concept on what I'm trying to convey.

Anyways, the point being, just enjoy the hobby regardless and if you find something super cool and hopefully super old (i.e. old silver coin, belt buckle, etc etc etc) then those are very nice finds for sure. But there are those odd items that can be pretty interesting too. Everything has a story at some point.

HH \_

 

HAHAHAHA, sweet deal. I was just at the park today for a little bit with my sister's dogs as my sister came down to help me move some stuff and she brought her dogs.

But yeah, maybe meet up there some day and either hit that area, or drive down Goldenwest all the way to the beach area. I like to park off of "Orange Street" because there is free parking. The beach is only about 2x blocks from there.

Anyways, if you want to meet up some day, that would be pretty cool. I'm super close to that park... about 3/4mi or so away.

 

This f**king sucks... I went out for a whole hour this morning and didn't find f*** all... what a piece of junk. I'm going to throw this thing..



That's what we're supposed to do, right?

Okay, seriously... I went out for about an hour and a half this morning, a nearby park which is fairly quiet. My goal was just to see what I could find on the surface as I don't think, even though it's a rural park, it's appropriate to dig holes, no matter how well they're filled in, and no, other than garbage, I didn't find anything. I was hoping for a quarter, but.... So, some questions..

1. The park is an old homestead, so I imagine there's a lot of junk under the surface, but walking around, I was getting continual indications of both ferrous and non-ferrous hits, and by continual, I mean, up to a half-dozen per detector sweep. I had it set for all metals and 2 steps down on sensitivity, which seems to be recommended. Is this likely to be minerals, actual metal in the ground, or an improperly configured detector (and if so, how should I configure it?)?

2. To save a headache, I took a dime, tossed it on the ground, and reduced the sensitivity until it was such that it would return a reasonably strong hit, but eliminated most of the other noise; is this a good approach when looking for surface, or near-surface items? If not, how best to set up?

3. I also have a Garrett ProPointer AT; I explored several finds in loose surface dirt, and it would give a strong return on the surface, and even when going down several inches, I wasn't finding anything. Is this likely to be minerals in the soil? I had thought that pinpointers were only good for an inch or two of detection.

4. One thing I did find was the metal top of a pencil:

Laying on the surface as shown.

What I would like some explanation on however are the readings I was getting on the detector:

The piece of pencil is directly under the coil, and it's showing the item as being >20cm depth. Now, I'm only set down one notch for sensitivity, and I noticed that when I was setting up my 'dime test' mentioned above, with the coil passing an inch or two above it, it was showing as being 5-10cm down. Not I understand that this is not a guarantee, but is there any sort of way in which you can estimate actual depth, or is this again, a configuration issue which I can improve/minimize by doing things differently.

Thanks!

 

Im new to the game also, but i can find some junk!! prob need to set out one of each, penny, nickel ,dime, quarter. I turn off ferrous for the most part unless i get a good signal. Im using equinox so prob be different settings, but a nice shiney penny rings at a 16ish for me.

In a park you should be finding numerous beer tabs that ring similar. Your ground level may be needed adjusted or put in auto mode.

 

When I can get out to do it, I'm diggin everything. Mainly because I'm hunting around relatives houses, and I figure they probably want that crap outta the ground anyway

 

Like new Nox 800 for $700...
Includes about 9mos left on the transferable warranty, two coils and free shipping. It’s not mine, so I don’t know anything else about it:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/13989-equinox-800-bought-june-2020-700-shipped/

 

Yup. Trashy areas can be daunting, but usually will produce some goodies eventually. Just keep at it.

My tips for the day.

- Dig everything that has a repeatable solid signal. Note the ID on the screen before digging. Note the depth the target actually was retrieved at. You will eventually learn the ID, tone/tone length, and tone depth on these. Can be a good treasure, relic or other.

- Dig everything that has a repeatable broken signal. Note the ID on the screen before digging. You will eventually learn the ID, tone and tone length on these. Most likely going to be junk, or could be a rusty or damaged relic, or occasional bent coin/jewlery near junk.

- Practice proper target X-Y pinpointing with the coil before making a plug. Challenge yourself to get as centered as possible. Over time you will nail good solid toned targets with such accuracy, that you won't need a huge plug.

- Practice proper plug digging. My buddy and I have several methods we use in grass.
3"-6" Round hole, that depends on expected target depth.
3"-6" Toilet bowl hole, has hinged side to keep grass roots in tact on one side.
4"-7" VaJayJay hole, reserved for REALLY nice manecured grass/lawns. This is usually no more than 4" deep and a single straight line and the sides pulled open like a VaJayJay. Then remove soil until you reach your target. Put everything back, and then press the sides back together. Completely hides the hole and will not damage the grass in any way.

- Square off a 3' by 3' area using bright colored golf tees or other non metalic markers. Spend one hunting day on this square and this one square only. Cover the area going north, then south, then east, then west, then diaginal from each corner. Dig everything. You are going for quality over quantity of good targets.

- Remind yourself that for every one clad coin, you will dig 6 nails, 10 pull tabs, 10 bottle caps. Surface clad doesn't count here.

- For every one silver coin you dig, you will dig 10 wheat pennies. Soooo, if you are finding wheat pennies, you will find silver, because obviously the area has not been cleaned out yet. Most silver coins were minted up to 1964. Wheat pennies were only minted until 1958.

 

Selling a Keene 140s drywasher with a Honda powered blower if anyone’s interested, it’s going to be in the marketplace here.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...rywasher-with-a-honda-4-stroke-blower.687828/

 

Got out for a bit today. The spot we went has a famous hotel that burnt down in the 1870s... The cool find of the day is some silverware from the hotel that was in the fire, you may ask how we know the silverware was from that specific famous hotel which would be a good question.... luckily the hotel was a very proud place, and stamped the name (******* Hotel) on all of there silverware. Pretty unique for the 1800s.

Random lock plate




Another super cool find of mine from today, my friend referenced it as a "pumpkin seed whiskey flask" probably from 1860s or 70s... I guess they are extremely rare to find in tact.








And a 1914 wheat penny surface find in different area

 

Nice!

 

To me at least, kind of weird to find a random wheatie on the ground like that? SUPER COOL though either way!!!

I LOVE wheaties!!! I collect them. All of mine are from CRH though.

 

It is weird to me too... but I have found some crazy "surface finds" over the years. I don't hunt in areas that see a lot of traffic like parks or beaches or any of that. 99% of the time I'm hunting places way off the beaten path that were occupied historically but are no longer. Fires, wind, water, animals, etc. All can create opportunity. I have found a 1898 dime and 1895 nickle right on top of the ground at a long lost railroad siding, a bar token and a 1910 dime sticking out of a road bed, a in tact spur sticking out of the ground while hiking into a ghost town, a standingiberty quarter sticking out of ground in a ghost town, and countless other things. It is definitely crazy. The latest being that ~150 year old whiskey flask that was sticking out of the ground in a pretty heavily forested area. I always try and get a picture of the item before picking it up. I have really good ones of the coins on my old phones, with the bottles, when they are sticking out of the ground 99% of the time they are broken so I poke them with my boot. You can usually tell right away If the rest of the bottle is attached

 

@tirediron very good input from @INSAYN

definitely repeatable signals are good. On my ACE250, if I get a really nice SOLID "dime" signal... that is ALWAYS a very good sign!!!

What I like to do is "walk around my target" as well while swinging. It helps with zoning in on the target a bit better, from my personal experiences. It works for me at least.

In either case, try to "dig" everything you find... unless you know it is likely going to be something you're not really caring in looking for... like an iron signal, for example.

It just all depends on what you want to look for, obviously. Meaning, if all "I" am going to be looking for is silver/coin type signals then those are the only things I want to recover, if you get my meaning. Again, what "YOU" are wanting to look for that day? I have a tendency to just leave it in "All Metal Mode" and just adjust the sens from time to time. I dry sand hunt more than anything, but starting to get back into the parks and such as well.

Anyways, always some good advice from the people on this thread!!!

 

Oh and in the case of this wheat penny. It was in an area I had hunted several times, some electrical linemen had just been in the area to do some maintenance and they had plowed a new road into a telephone pole. This was right in the road. Also found several non ferrous targets amongst all the nails where they plowed.

 

JESUS H MAN!!! I MUST do some hunts with YOU some day!!! VERY NICE!!!

 

AHHHHHHH, they obviously must have "unearthed it" then? VERY NICE!!!

 

Well people, I will be heading out to Iowa starting Oct 16 and coming back to good ol' Cali on Oct 24 and/or 25th. My sister and I have to go do some "family property evaluation" amongst other things... so we will be pretty busy once we arrive, but I will be bringing my MD'r along with me to get some swinging in here and there when I get the chance.

There has never been a time though, that I did NOT get poison ivy? Somehow, some way, it ALWAYS tends to get me??? What's the saying, "leaves of 3, let it be?" I avoid just about ANNNNNNYTHING growing and STILL get it somehow???

There is this one tree that supposedly has "Virginia Creeper" growing on/around it???

Anyways, not really a vacation type trip by any means as we really need to focus on getting things done, but I will be hunting the property for sure when I get a break.

I'll take pictures and post my findings for sure... junk or not!!!

 

Another thing to consider.

If it's really trashy (meaning that you get a lot of beeps and squeaks on every swing), try some of these:

-Slow down your swing and see if you can pinch out a repeatable high tone in there.
-Lift your coil up high enough until you lose all but a few beeps and squeaks and then pinpoint those and dig them up.
-Dig everything in a single 3 square foot area at a time (as I presented above).

Once you clean out an area of surface and near surface junk, you will then begin to unmask deeper treasures you would otherwise miss.

I have a local park that has been detected since detectors have been on earth. Compass Detectors were built near this park until it the business burned down in 2003 and folks hammered this park with those for 40+ years.

I personally have hit that park for many many many many hours over the past 20 years with 3 different detectors.
It is really getting slim pickings even for junk. But, I still find silver coins, V nickles, wheats, indian heads, and other really old stuff. We have just picked out all of the junk within 6" from the surface. Most anything I find now is greater than 5-7" deep and no more than 2-3 targets per hour. Nothing but occasional recently dropped surface clad otherwise.

Dig, dig, dig
Learn what the detector is telling you first, using quality headphones.
Then learn what the detector is showing you on the display.

 

@tirediron Another good thing to note here that is being said... don't get too discouraged with the trash targets because as stated, eventually when the "near surface junk" is cleared out, it leaves the possibility of getting targets that were otherwise "masked". So, very good point here!!!

"Sniper Coils" help with trashy areas as well.

But yeah, "Dig, dig, dig" is pretty much the standard, if you will. The heater that you swing is just a "tool" to help find stuff, if you get my meaning? To me, it's like playing "detective work". It also relaxes me and I actually drown out the world and I'm in my own little world when the headphones are on!!!

Oh, and one other thing to take into consideration as advise, ALWAYS re-swing over the area of the recovered object (i.e. assuming something was recovered). Sometimes, you will find more things... which kind of goes along with what was just stated above... in a way. But yeah, it is ALWAYS a good thing to re-swing over the target area after a recovery!!!