Started today with a rental

[New to MDing]

Hi:

I'm "New to MDing" and I started today with a rental. I thought a good place to start was around the house. Since my house was built in 1890 I thought I might get some good finds. I found some loose change yesterday and some identifyable and unidentifyable "relics" but no coins older than 1962. My question is how deep should I have to dig to go back to the late 1890s? I found a target and started digging and digging and digging. I was about 3 feet deep when I decided to call it quits only because the location is on the property line and I would have been undermining a fence. I am also wondering if I could have been getting a false signal. I'm using a Whites Coinmaster Classic III. Any thoughts, encouragement or advice would be appreciated.

Is it a given that older finds are deeper? As in Archeology? What are others experiences?

 

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[The-Bone]

Great to have you aboard!! Most coin finds are recovered less than 8" deep...in fact most are made in the first 4 inches. You should not have to dig 3 feet for anything unless it is something as big as a manhole cover. Older coins should be deeper than newer ones but that is not always the case. If the land was dug up coins could be scattered throughout the soil.Also, certain soil types will allow coins to sink at different rates. One last word of advise, any large piece of metal nearby a coin will 'mask' it. The detector will always pick up the larger object and never see the coin

 

[BIG61AL]

Welcome to the madness....

 

[Noodle]

Basic rule on one's own yard is "dig everything." Discrimination high to begin, then drop it to pick up on deeper stuff after the surface treasures are found. In a house that old, you're sure to find something. Don't forget to look for "outside-the-house" areas. Kitchens and stables were often located a distance away from the main house during the late 1800s to early 1900s. Good luck! -Noodle

 

[Tom_in_CA]

As for your 3 ft. hole, that you eventually gave up on: My hunch is that you were doing something wrong. You were mis-interpretting a signal. I was a club president for many years, and took newbies out quite frequently. I saw many such "disappearing signals" or "signals I had to give up on", and invariably, there was always a mistake on the user's end. Here's just one example: A guy calls me over to check his signal that he'd been working on for 10 minutes. I come over, swing over his now-enormous hole, and immediately see the problem: He is detecting at the corner-base of an abandoned military barracks where we were hunting, completely unaware that the "signal" he'd been getting, was merely the corner of the building, which had an un-seen pipe on the inside of the wall/corner. He was unaware that the tip of his coil is "hot" too, so as he swung, he keeps getting a signal. He assumes it is "down" more, when it's actually in front of him, where he can't swing any closer to the building. I mean, I can go on and on with examples like this, so don't get lost "in the example"

The best way to know how to hunt, is to buddy up with someone who is proficient (not just a sand box clad hunter, but someone who routinely "comes in with the oldies"). Even if you guys only go to a modern place, just pick any place with random signals, even if just clad at various depths, and trade off signals. In each case watch how he swings, watch how he X's over it, listen to what he's listening to, ask him why (or why he doesn't) pass certain targets/sounds. Otherwise, there's simply no way to learn "in print", how to detect, unless you're willing to go through LOTS of hard-knocks times on your own Because things like "sounds" can not be described in "print", no more-so than asking someone to "please describe the sound of C-minor in printed text". It can't be done. It has to be heard/shown.

 

[ldablo]

It's good to keep in mind too that different detectors take time to get to know. The advantage of using a detector you own or have regular access to is that you become very familiar with what "it" is telling you.

I'm surprised at the sometimes drastic difference between how detectors react to the same things. It was a good idea to rent. Renting or borrowing a detector is a great way to determine which ones you like and or dislike and the quirks of each and such.

The main thing is to have fun (and dirty fingernails).

LD

 

[Glenns5900]

the location is on the property line and I would have been undermining a fence

What kind of fence?? How close was it to the hole?

If it was a wooden fence - It could have been a nail holding the boards down that was in the path of your swing. The coil does not care if the target is below it or above it.