1890s house bummer

Confederate Sailor

Jr. Member
Aug 9, 2013
90
54
Athens, Alabama
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Garrett Ace 400.
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A co-worker let me hunt his backyard today. I was so hopeful of finding my first silver or anything of value but no luck at all. I'm kind of bummed out. The amount of iron was out of this universe! My poor Ace 250 would sing a solid low tone the whole swing there were so many iron targets that close. I did find two 1980s pennies, this cheap nickel plated child's ring, a brass window plate from an old Bluegrass Extra model bubble level made by B.H. & M. Co. of Louisville and a metric butt-ton of nails. image-2686631180.jpg image-1310544529.jpg
 

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Jason in Enid

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Oct 10, 2009
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Shake it off and go to the next site. LOTS of house sites are complete wastes of time, but you have to hit as many as your can because some a good and a few are great!
 

DPBOB

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Apr 12, 2006
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After a while , when you upgrade your detector, hit the property again. You'll be happier. Thats what I did years ago.
 

mr helton

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May 20, 2013
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After a while , when you upgrade your detector, hit the property again. You'll be happier. Thats what I did years ago.

Totally agree. I hit a house when I had my F2 that was exactly like the one in OP. Once I got a Spectrum XLT and went back I pulled out a ton of older coins!
 

Argentium

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Feb 2, 2008
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I feel your pain man , ( spoken in my best Bill Clinton voice !) but please don't end it all - tomorrow's a brand new day !
 

Pointman

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Feb 18, 2013
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I’ve used about all modern ones but right now: CTX 3030, White’s MXT Pro, XP Deus, Vaquero, White’s TRX
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I have been to newer houses metal detecting, post 40s' and found lots of silver and old items and I have been to 1800s houses and found nothing. Recently, I went to a 1880s' house and couldn't find anything and looked around the bigger trees and noticed that the dirt was higher around the bases. This told me that the top layer of dirt was removed. I think I found one Memorial cent in the half acre.

Yesterday I hunted a 1920s lot where I had only found a 1943 war nickle on the curve. I went back yesterday and realized that the top layer of dirt had also been removed, so I worked the very front edge next to the road and managed a few 20s' wheat cents, silver spoon, two tokens and a 1945 Canadian penny. A hint that I learned is to look at Google maps because I manage to find where old walkways were at on cleared lots and I am able to concentrate my search more. Google is a couple of years behind on their pictures which works well on recently cleared sites.
 

OP
OP
Confederate Sailor

Confederate Sailor

Jr. Member
Aug 9, 2013
90
54
Athens, Alabama
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 400.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I am currently out of places to hunt and now having to try and find the next place. Not being from here or knowing many people has it's drawbacks.
 

Hookedondetecting

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Jul 18, 2013
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Suggestions-
Your Ace has iron discrimination settings. Did you try and lock out the iron signals? That would help you concentrate on better targets.
I don't understand how you could have one continual low tone. (and put up with it)
You might also turn down the sensitivity to two bars and start from there. Some yards like mine act nuts from cable tv wire or Wifi signals.
I go to the front yard and the erratic operation is gone.
Maybe try again?
 

OP
OP
Confederate Sailor

Confederate Sailor

Jr. Member
Aug 9, 2013
90
54
Athens, Alabama
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 400.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Suggestions-
Your Ace has iron discrimination settings. Did you try and lock out the iron signals? That would help you concentrate on better targets.
I don't understand how you could have one continual low tone. (and put up with it)
You might also turn down the sensitivity to two bars and start from there. Some yards like mine act nuts from cable tv wire or Wifi signals.
I go to the front yard and the erratic operation is gone.
Maybe try again?

Yes it does discriminate out the iron. I was hunting in coin mode but I did put it in all metal mode just a few times just to see how trashy the area I was in was due to lots of false signals. Sensitivity was set on four. The ground was so trashy my pin pointer was near useless because there was metal everywhere.
 

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Gridwalker306

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I don't want to preach the church of the AT Pro, but with the small coil I find so much good stuff in the iron invested areas.
 

Pointman

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Feb 18, 2013
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I’ve used about all modern ones but right now: CTX 3030, White’s MXT Pro, XP Deus, Vaquero, White’s TRX
Primary Interest:
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I don't want to preach the church of the AT Pro, but with the small coil I find so much good stuff in the iron invested areas.

I agree with you. Brings life to the junky areas.

I recently searched a 1920s house and didn't really find anything and it was on an acre and a half. I went to the front and then found all my finds in an area to the side of the house. Ended up finding most of it in an area about 30 x 30'. Ended up having a 1906 Indian cent, wheats and a Mercury dime. I would pound the heck out of the house and grid it in different directions and dig everything that has a consistent signal (nickel and above) swinging in two directions with your AT Pro. Also, go back after the ground gets wet.
 

Sovereignelite

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Sep 30, 2012
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AND some of the "old", "nice" looking houses have been searched before as well, especially when they're on the "main drag" If it looks like a good place to detect it's likely someone else has thought the same thing especially if it's highly visible in a high-traffic area. We all get those duds but sometimes going over it again on a different day will yield different results.
 

Davers

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Jan 8, 2013
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OP- As the others have said , don't give up relic/coin shooting can and is tuff, esp,these days , while I can not speak for your machine , my 1st md was a whites classic 3 cir,1998 & it got the job done once I got used to the settings [ witch to use in diff, soil/ areas]. imo your machine should sound off on silver pretty well even a-moung all the chatter so just keep going and try new places [not as trashy,like woods] & set your md to low settings & you should start finding shotgun brass or lead/brass bullets then set the descrim, to where the shotgun brass fades out, then set it back to where the SG Brass sounds strong then at least you should keep digging the SGB signals and above. You could also do this as an air test or by throwing diff, targets on the ground to see witch settings give strong tones on the items you desire to dig. I prefer to to learn target sounds/ settings in real /natural conditions & in time you will gain experience. ??? :icon_scratch: :icon_thumleft:
 

TommNJ

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Nov 3, 2008
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Hang in there CS it's part of the hobby. Good finds come when you least expect them, maybe try looking at some goggle, bing or historicaerial(.com) maps if you have not already, you'll be surprise what places are right around the corner. Good luck.

TommNJ
 

CASPER-2

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I feel your pain - I hit a 1890 house too a month ago - friends mothers house up for sale
thought I would easily find some silver - come to find out they took about 2 feet of dirt front back yard and put it on front yard - just got a few wheats
 

OP
OP
Confederate Sailor

Confederate Sailor

Jr. Member
Aug 9, 2013
90
54
Athens, Alabama
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Garrett Ace 400.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Went to the local park today to find some change and was told by the park director to leave. This is the same guy who said as long as I filled my holes and stayed off playing fields was ok with it. Today was a different story because now he's afraid that during fall in the rainy season the tiny holes will sink. Mind you every Thurs-Sat there are at least 100 cars parked on the grass for athletic events even if it has rained and for movie nights outside. Most of what I find is just below the surface or no deeper than 4". He even watched me dig a shallow coin and refill the spot. He also said he had NOT seen anyone else at the park MDing. WTF!?!
 

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Hookedondetecting

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Jul 18, 2013
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That's a Bummer!
 

chiloquin

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Dec 21, 2011
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Don't get bummed out with the bad hunt. Keep at it and learn your machine and how to poke through the iron. I would go back to the same site after learning to discriminate the iron, and I'll bet the result will be different. I've been metal detecting for 20 years and I still find I can learn from others advice. get to know the machine and what is is capable of, and ask for advice from others. Good luck when you go back to the house, and HH.
Mike
 

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