Advanced Park Hunting

[Dan Hughes]

Are you tired of finding mostly new coins in public parks?

My new podcast (radio show you can listen to on your computer anytime) is full of tips on how to find the older - and hopefully, more valuable - coins in parks.

If you're new to the hobby (or even if you aren't), you might want to start with the Park Hunting 101 show, #006. (Even though it's dated two years ago, I just rewrote and re-recorded it last night.)

Then listen to the newest show, #048, Advanced Park Hunting.

Both programs are short (just over 4 minutes), so you can listen to them quickly. You might want to grab paper and pencil and take notes!

Listen here: http://thetreasurecorner.com

By the way, I've totally revamped my http://treasuremanual.com website, making it easier to read and navigate. (I think I've checked it over pretty well, but if you find any typos there, please let me know).

And you can click on the "Free Articles" link there for several articles full of tips for treasure hunters.

---Dan Hughes

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[bazinga]

Are you tired of finding mostly new coins in public parks?

Nope, I have a GOOD machine.

 

[Dan Hughes]

Are you tired of finding mostly new coins in public parks?

Nope, I have a GOOD machine.

You have a machine that can read dates on coins?

So you can skip the new ones?

That IS a good machine.

 

[bazinga]

Are you tired of finding mostly new coins in public parks?

Nope, I have a GOOD machine.

You have a machine that can read dates on coins?

So you can skip the new ones?

That IS a good machine.

I'm not sure where I implied that my machine reads dates. But finding old coins in public parks is not a difficult task. For those that say it is, well they just aren't using the right machines.

But yes, I do skip the bulk of all new coinage when out detecting. I dig all quarter signals just because I enjoy silver rings. But other than that, if I were to go out and hunt for 8 hours in a public park, I might only find $1.00 or less in coins that are not quarters. I've had many days where I dig twice as many old coins as I do modern coins. All of this in public parks.

 

[Dan Hughes]

]
I'm not sure where I implied that my machine reads dates.

You are implying it when you say you "I skip the bulk of new coinage when out detecting." How do you know the pennies you're skipping over aren't early wheaties? Or the nickels you're ignoring aren't buffaloes or even V-nickels?

By zeroing in on quarters, you are finding coins of higher denominations, not older coins.

Or am I missing something?

 

[bazinga]

]
I'm not sure where I implied that my machine reads dates.

You are implying it when you say you "I skip the bulk of new coinage when out detecting." How do you know the pennies you're skipping over aren't early wheaties? Or the nickels you're ignoring aren't buffaloes or even V-nickels?

By zeroing in on quarters, you are finding coins of higher denominations, not older coins.

Or am I missing something?

You are missing something.

I dig the quarters just for the off chance of digging a silver ring. I never stated that I zeroed in on quarters. I simply stated that that is the only clad that I will bend over to dig. I avoid bending over to dig modern coins if at all possible. The only time I dig a modern penny or dime is if I stumble into fill dirt or they are right there on the edge of being old enough / deep enough to be silver or a wheat.

I don't really dig nickels at all. They are enjoyable to find, but they come out looking like garbage. So I've only dug 10 old nickels this year.

If you want to go dig all newshallow pennies and nickel signals for the off chance that you might find a buffalo or wheat penny, be my guest. Wheats are not that important to me. I find too many to get excited about them.

But to put it more simply, with the right machine, finding old coins is effortless.

With the wrong equipment, one might be limited to finding just 1 or 2 per hunt. I prefer 10-50 old coins on my hunts. It makes for a more pleasurable day.

 

[Coins4Cheese]

I listened to your podcast, and it was pretty good. It gave me a quick refresher.

 

[Lowbatts]

Thanks for keeping us refreshed Dan!

Popped a couple silver rings out the last week that read about where a copper mem/clad dime should read. Sidewalk work, not park work, but it's in the understanding of what your rig is saying and listening to it.

 

[Dan Hughes]

Tim, not to hijack my own thread, but if I'm reading your sig block correctly, you're getting the same depth with your 1235 that you get with your 20?

Fantastic! I've had a 1225 and 1235, and I feel like my CZ-5 gets better depth (though those two machines had excellent depth - they easily outdid my Tesoro Golden Sabre).

Which machine were you using for those silver rings?

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Keep up the good work Dan.

What's up with the hall of fame avatar?

 

[Dan Hughes]

Keep up the good work Dan.
What's up with the hall of fame avatar?

That's a photograph of the plaque I was presented with when I was inducted into the Treasure Hunter's Hall of Fame in 1999.

At the time, I was Associate Editor of Treasure Quest magazine and a heavy contributor to the magazine and to the early internet treasure hunting discussion boards (mainly the old Prodigy network).

Thanks for asking!

---Dan

P.S. Here's a list of members. Needs to be updated with the last three years, though:

http://www.streeter.org/community/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=978

 

[Dan Hughes]

Mike, here's the rest of the plaque:

 

[mxtman2]

But to put it more simply, with the right machine, finding old coins is effortless.

With the wrong equipment, one might be limited to finding just 1 or 2 per hunt. I prefer 10-50 old coins on my hunts. It makes for a more pleasurable day.
[/quote]

So.. Arn't you gonna tell us folks out here with inferior machines what kind of revolutionary machine you have? "Finds old coins effortless", "10 to 50 old coins per hunt". You should be the one in Dan's hall of fame! I "prefer" gold coins on my hunts. But so far that hasn't happened! Must be I have the "wrong equipment".

 

[bazinga]

So.. Arn't you gonna tell us folks out here with inferior machines what kind of revolutionary machine you have? "Finds old coins effortless", "10 to 50 old coins per hunt". You should be the one in Dan's hall of fame! I "prefer" gold coins on my hunts. But so far that hasn't happened! Must be I have the "wrong equipment".

Everybody already knows what machine it is. It's the one everybody is too afraid to learn or they say is too noisy.

If you are hunting parks, then you do have the wrong equipment. If you are hunting elsewhere, then my statement may or may not be true. But for old coin hunting in parks, there is one obvious choice that trumps all of the rest.

 

[Dan Hughes]

Everybody already knows what machine it is.

I really have no idea what machine you're talking about.

I've been in this biz for 35 years and have yet to see anything remotely close to universal agreement on something like this.

Fords or Chevys, Chevys or Fords.

 

[bazinga]

Everybody already knows what machine it is.

I really have no idea what machine you're talking about.

I've been in this biz for 35 years and have yet to see anything remotely close to universal agreement on something like this.

Fords or Chevys, Chevys or Fords.

The Explorer / E-Trac line.

The reason there is no agreement is because most people are too cheap to be able to afford one. And others think it is too noisy or too hard to learn for their liking.

In the past 3 years, I can only remember two occasions of public park hunting where another person found more silver than I did. One, the guy found 7 silver and I got 6. He was using an Explorer SE Pro. The last time was this spring at a group hunt for our club. I got 4 silver and my buddy got 5. I did get 5 Indian Heads to his 2, though. He was using an Explorer II. Only one silver was found that day by the non-Explorer users.

 

[Dan Hughes]

Bazinga, by group hunt, do you mean a bunch of guys waiting for a "GO" signal to start flying fullspeed across a coin-planted field?

Or do you mean a club outing to a woods or a farmer's field to hunt land that has never been hunted before?

If the former, the targets are generally planted shallow and the skills of the operator are much more important than the quality of the machine.

I've seen veterans with old Compass Coinmasters run circles around people using the latest and greatest, not because they had better detectors, but because they had more quality experience.

My guess is that you do so well because you have put the time in to learn what you're doing, not because your machine is so much better than others. I'll bet you'd beat those guys even if you traded detectors with them.

You can't compare detectors by comparing results of different users. You have to check each detector against the same set of targets.

 

[bazinga]

It was a group hunt at a public park. Nothing was planted.


I've taken people out hunting with me and had them sell their machines within days. I've showed other top of the line machines a signal that I could identify exactly what was coming out of the ground and their machine was unable to hear it no matter what settings they tried. In these cases, it is the machine. If another machine can't hear a signal, they just aren't going to dig it.

 

[Lowbatts]

It was a group hunt at a public park. Nothing was planted.


I've taken people out hunting with me and had them sell their machines within days. I've showed other top of the line machines a signal that I could identify exactly what was coming out of the ground and their machine was unable to hear it no matter what settings they tried. In these cases, it is the machine. If another machine can't hear a signal, they just aren't going to dig it.

I agree, I've been amazed at finds some relative newbies have been able to get once they started listeninig to their ETracs. It's a superior machine. Being I'm not a chest-beater or post-hanging noob I don't run out to get one. I can go out with folks who outhunt me and shake their hands, say job well-done and be glad the goods were gotten.

Of course having a better machine would not make me a better TH'er, or a more gracious one so life goes on. As an aside, I wonder if anyone has any clue as to how many coins the ETracs, even in good hands can miss?

 

[bazinga]

It was a group hunt at a public park. Nothing was planted.


I've taken people out hunting with me and had them sell their machines within days. I've showed other top of the line machines a signal that I could identify exactly what was coming out of the ground and their machine was unable to hear it no matter what settings they tried. In these cases, it is the machine. If another machine can't hear a signal, they just aren't going to dig it.

I agree, I've been amazed at finds some relative newbies have been able to get once they started listeninig to their ETracs. It's a superior machine. Being I'm not a chest-beater or post-hanging noob I don't run out to get one. I can go out with folks who outhunt me and shake their hands, say job well-done and be glad the goods were gotten.

Of course having a better machine would not make me a better TH'er, or a more gracious one so life goes on. As an aside, I wonder if anyone has any clue as to how many coins the ETracs, even in good hands can miss?

I know an E-Trac in the hands of somebody who is used to a White's machine will leave a lot in the ground. But a lot of it is knowing what sounds are coins chopped off by iron and what are iron falsing. Once you master this, that's when you really tear it up with the Explorer line in public parks. Others will be left in shock at how you can leave a park with 20 old coins on the day and they have 1.