4 silva dimes !

[Xraywolf]

42,43 and 44 Merc and a silver Rosie, one of my best single days [or nights] ever for me.

A little history of this spot. There
is a school about 4 blocks from my house built in the 1930's. Has tot lots which I have detected dozens of times over the years, and a fair sized field, not huge by school standards but not small, large enough for a small baseball field, which is basically what it was most of its history.
So how many times do you think I have detected the old school field within walking distance from my house over the last decade since I have been into detecting ? Dozens of times ? Countless times ? Pounded to death ?
No, this is the first time I have tried detecting there. Actually tried once years ago in the heat of summer, ground was rock hard and, like a cave man, I thought "Hard ground bad ! Me no like hard ground ! Me no come back here no more !"
So apparently, I had mentally deleted this place from my head as a potential hunting spot. I know some guys will hack stuff out of hard ground, not me. When I run into hard ground or root infested ground, I generally give up and look for greener pastures. Even when I got my Deus XP last year and I was wracking my brain for a decent spots to run it, this field never entered my head, even though I pretty much drive right by it multiple times a day.

So anyhow was out detecting tot lots at night with the warm weather, not much luck in the woodchips so I started veering towards the grass. Planned on just detecting to my truck but I veered off again to the right, thinking with the recent rains ground digging might not be so bad. Dug a couple clad quarters then nailed the 1st merc, I was elated and after that, I started ignoring the screamers and started digging the spotty signals with a good coin sized pinpoint.

Good strategy, just about got more silvers than clad. Was using Ace 400, gotta say the depth of this thing is pathetic, one of the dimes I dug was around 3 inches maybe, I put it back in the hole and swept it and barely got any signal at all ... So everything I found was 3" or less.
Obviously will be going back with the Deus and see what else is there, not that I swept the field with the 400, probably covered less than 1/10th of it. Really, really good sign to find shallow silvers like that right off the bat, tells me I may have stumbled upon virgin land.

 

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[kingskid1611]

Wow you really got the dime dropped on you today.....Congrats on some beauties!!!!

 

[JoeDirty]

What is the address? lol!

 

[Argentium]

How exciting to have a site with real potential, and it's very available too - very nice !

 

[ScubaDetector]

Nice going on the silvers Doug! Hope you can scare up plenty more. Do you pack a heater detecting there?

 

[dsdigger]

Congrats on the dimes! Sounds like you and the Deus have an appointment with the"hard ground" soon! Good luck and hope you get to show some more that are waiting to be found.

 

[Xraywolf]

Me like school now, me go back very soon !

I think the 400 is defective, used to get better depth with my 250. I expect at least 5" with a decent signal for a dime, this wasn't even close. Guess I shouldn't complain, I think I will sweep it a few more times with the 400 to clean up some shallow stuff, then go for the kill with the Deus. I didn't even have gloves on tonight because I never planned to go dirt fishing, and I was using a 5 in 1 tool for digging.

No heat necessary here, well, never know about that but no, not exactly in the ghetto.
When you heading back to MI Bob ?

 

[against the wind]

X-ray, that was one sweet hunt,,
Congratulations on the silver,, good luck on your return.

 

[ScubaDetector]

Me like school now, me go back very soon !

I think the 400 is defective, used to get better depth with my 250. I expect at least 5" with a decent signal for a dime, this wasn't even close. Guess I shouldn't complain, I think I will sweep it a few more times with the 400 to clean up some shallow stuff, then go for the kill with the Deus. I didn't even have gloves on tonight because I never planned to go dirt fishing, and I was using a 5 in 1 tool for digging.

No heat necessary here, well, never know about that but no, not exactly in the ghetto.
When you heading back to MI Bob ?

Heading back April 20th. Plan to be detecting by May 1st.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the silver! Now go back there and finish that "virgin" site.

 

[Relicific]

Wow I would be thrilled with a four silver coin day.
Congrats

 

[KENTUCKYWONDER]

Wowzer, what a great day digging. Congratulations!

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on the silver

 

[Xraywolf]

Made a return visit tonight, still using the 400.
May not be going about this the right way but I am still intimidated by the Deus, and would rather clean up the easy finds with a machine that I know than go on a training session with the Deus, though of course eventually I will use it there, and soon.

Another silva dime and a quarter, 3 decades of coins in just 2 1 hr sessions, 50's 40's and 30's. Also found a silver charm, .925 marked stylized A - Very rare for me to find jewelry in the ground, almost all my jewelry finds are beach or tot lot. The lead blob, caked in dirt I thought I saw signs of a man made pattern but I was wrong, just a generic melted lead blob. No wheaties yet, kinda surprised by that, I haven't been ignoring penny signals because dimes often ring up as pennies on the 400, especially with any depth.
Just made a mental note that there is also an expansive front lawn at this school, including a huge tree that looks 100+ years old. So I am about to edumucate myself on the Deus on this ground.

You guys will horse laugh me for this, and I'll accept ,,, But I am a bug lover, I hate seeing tormented worms in the hole, hate that even more than hard ground. I try to work around them or pull them out but some of them are impossible to get out without ripping them in half ,, So more than a few times I gave up on promising signals and returned the plug, just because I didn't want to kill a worm.
I think I need to bring some sort of scoop so that I can scoop them out without mutilating them.

 

[weregolf]

A good coin hunting

 

[Xraywolf]

On a roll at the same elementary field, tonight I concentrated on an area that was the old ballfield. The old rusting backstop is still there, hasn't seen any action in years, baseball is dying out around here.
I went down what would have been the left field line towards that backstop, then cut over to where the pitcher would have been. I have found that the best way to get maximum depth out of the Ace 400, and same principle probably applies to any detector, is to dig the iffy signals. Max depth for the 400 for a coin is 6", deeper than that and you will get no signal at all. From 3 to 6" you will get a spotty signal, surface to 3" are screamers with a steady signal.
More than that, I go by pinpoint. Get a spotty signal and sweep back over the area with pinpoint engaged, if it is a coin or similar sized metal object, you will get a nice, faint pinpoint that often starts and dies quick. The detector is at the edge of its capabilities, those faint pinpoints are what I am after.
Not to say I will ignore a screamer - One of the mercs I found last time was only 3" or so, I am always thinking about recent jewelry drops, and if I think I can nail a quick quarter I will, but I really concentrated on the faint signals and I actually got 3 wheats and a merc in a row in about 15 minutes, a rarity for me.

Aluminum token dated 1957 "Uncle Sams Play Nickel", that was about 5" down at first I thought it was another merc, when I grasped it I instantly new it was not, as thin as it is I was thinking maybe a 3 cent piece, half dime or something ,,, But it was so light I knew it was aluminum and even in the dark with my headlight, I could tell it was a play $ token.
Nice find though, always nice to find something dated.
So total tonight in about an hour 3 wheaties, 2 mercs, 1957 token and some assorted clad including a Sac $.

I plan to clean this area a little more with the 400 [obviously has never been hunted], then try to go deeper with the Deus, which I still am not very pro efficient with.

Oh 1 more thing, I bit the bullet and got me a Lesche Sampson shovel a few weeks ago, If you ever told me some day I'd spend $60 on a little shovel and be happy I did, I would have lol'ed, but this thing is a pure gem. Easily cuts a nice neat 5" deep plug with almost no effort and very light. I put a rope through the hollow handle and just sling it over my shoulder, hardly know its there.
The hour I spent tonight would have been more like 1.5 hours without this thing, would highly advise anyone who does alot of coin shooting, get one.

 

[A2coins]

Great post I'm the same way with worms that's funny!!! I'm still looking for that honey hole virgin site!!!!!!!Not many people detecting around here but Ive hunted a lot of my spots to death that's great !! Now clean that place out!!!!!Thanks for the post!

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Congrats!! That's an awesome spot you have there. Definitely post the Deus results after you have hit it with the 400. It will be interesting to see if you unveil a new level of good targets.

 

[No gold in NY]

Looks like you have a good thing going. Hope you can retire on it. Yesterday when I was out , seemed like every plug I pulled out had two worms in it. I hate hurting them too. I try not to pack the plug in too hard.

Whose that laughing?

 

[Xraywolf]

I've found a few unhunted honey holes with 1800's and early 1900's coins, almost hard to get too excited with a place that yields 1940's and 50's, but I'll take what I can get. School has been there since the 1920's I think, so hopefully I'll luck into some older dates.

About worms - Believe it or not, most of my digging previously was done with a 5 in 1 painting tool, rarely ever used a shovel. Now that I got the Lesche I think its alot easier on the worms as it makes single deep clean cuts instead of the hacking I was doing before. Whenever I see a lose worm I unearthed I'll set it aside, then put it back in when I fill the plug. With their burrowing abilities should be none the worse for the wear unless they are sliced in half.