Ever hunted a dirt basement?

[relic nut]

We just got a permission to hunt a property that was built around 1816. The owner is super nice and told us the basement has a dirt floor and we were welcome to check it out. I figure the small coil on the CTX might work best.
Has anyone ever tried this, and how did it go?

 

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[TooManyHobbies]

I've only hunted two, didn't find a thing worth digging. A few good hits and a couple little rings of copper from piping, that's it. Never hurts to try though. People used to bury silver, etc in mason jars.

 

[Hawks88]

Go for it. You never know what you’ll find. Let us know how it was.

 

[augoldminer]

I have done a number of dirt basements in old gold mining towns.

Many of the old miners high graded and many hid there gold in there homes and the basement floor was a good place because if the house burnt down it would not hurt gold buried in the dirt of the basement floor.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

I have and found some cool coins and relics...no jewelry yet!

IMHO: use a small coil and you may have to turn the sensitivity down a bit, since EMI may be a factor. Grid the area to be searched from N/S, E/W and diagonally. Be prepared for a lot of small junk, but you may find something very special. Take your time if you can!

Most of all enjoy the experience!

 

[etex]

One, found a few Indians and wheats and a turtle ink well that was whole but melted. Lots of rusty nails

 

[against the wind]

The CTX can handle anything. I would be very excited for the opportunity. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[claypile]

That sounds fun. But, never tried it before.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Dirt basements are full of lead solder from plumbing work, nails and other junk. Not easy to do and I've never even found a penny doing them.

 

[Upnorth42]

Where I live dirt basements are common. My mother has a 100+ year old house with one. It might be worth having a look through it with a metal detector. I have found a few old copper and silver coins in the yard.

 

[Molewacker]

Sift the first few inches for trash removal ?

 

[coinman123]

My house (mid 1700's) has a dirt basement, I spent hours metal detecting it, sifting it, and just using the pin pointer to try to find stuff. All I found was solder, iron fragments, copper piping pieces, and hundreds of nails from all different time periods. Not one thing of interest, except maybe a modern zinc cent in horrible condition .

You might have much better luck than me though, so hunt it just to make sure you don't miss anything!

 

[oldkoot]

We just got a permission to hunt a property that was built around 1816. The owner is super nice and told us the basement has a dirt floor and we were welcome to check it out. I figure the small coil on the CTX might work best.
Has anyone ever tried this, and how did it go?

I have not hunted a basement with a dirt floor but I did hunt a crawl space under a house I owned in Ohio which had a dirt floor it was attached to the basement and I actually found my best find ever in that crawl space

 

[nsdq]

Yep ,clay marbles wheats an rubber buttons an a large cent

 

[coinman123]

Also, Watch out for asbestos. I just found out that my basement is full of asbestos, and I was digging in the dusty dirt floor for hours. Who knows how much asbestos dust I breathed in that time...

 

[ARC]

No... that is one place I have never hunted.

But would

 

[ARC]

PS... when I think of old dirt floor basements I think of this horror movie I once saw.

heh

 

[Rookster]

Kinda funny you ask that. I'm hunting a 1866 home that the property covers nearly a city block. The restoration contractor wants me to go to the basement which he thinks we're the servants quarters in that day. It has a dirt floor. I'm still working the area where the outside kitchen was. I've posted some targets but I know more is there. Side note: This property is owned by a realtor which I have premission from.