Live rounds, tokens, and lots of gold...

Obsessive

Hero Member
Apr 16, 2017
604
861
NW Portland, OR
Detector(s) used
XP Deus/MI-6 w/ HF/XF/LF
Tesoro Cibola / Land and Sea pinpointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
..

well... gold colored junk jewelry.

I'm guessing that like most folks here, for me there are no quick stops to just detect for a bit. Every time I go out I end up spending another 8 or 9 hours digging and swinging and digging. I'll skip lunch and forget about dinner, ignore my cell phone and not even think about those real world responsibilities.... which is probably another reason I like this hobby so much. And these long summer days are great to just keep moving. Or take a break and go fishing like I did last week :icon_thumright: I found a great primitive camp site right next to the river. The gate keeper obstacle at the entrance must have kept everyone else out and I ended up having the whole place to myself for a few days. Couldn't have been happier, but next time Im bringing my detector.

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At this point Ive got a bit more than 80 hours behind me with the detector, and while I have no great finds to share, I still want to share what I do find. But I often don't. I come on the forum to post-up but end up reading everyone else's posts - finds better than mine - and decide no one really needs to see the pile of crusty pennies and dirt packed screw caps I spent all afternoon unearthing... and I know Im not the only one finding these things. Of course, I've yet to travel more than a few miles from my own home to detect, or ask permission to hunt in someones yard. But I'm working towards that, I promise. I've started scouting via satellite, marking places on a map, and doing drive by's to get a visual on the land. Then I stop at the next park or public stretch of land and put my head down and start swinging.

I am finding wheat pennies, which for me is pretty great. I keep hoping if I follow the wheaties they'll lead me to some silver... but it hasn't happened, yet. I find this hard to believe, but tis true. As a long time coin collector this will be a big moment for me. So far I've found about a dozen Wheaties though, and hopefully soon I'll unearth a silver coin. I get excited every time I find a piece of clad, and even though know its clad and can clearly see its tarnished green or brown and red, I still have to check the date to be sure.

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And I am finding older trash, so I suppose that means Im on the right track... check out this old glue tube.

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I did find my first *real* gold ring a few weekends ago. Nothing fancy, about 1g of 10k. And I sure had to work for it; the signal was one way and scratchy, my pinpointer wouldn't pick it up, and I generally had a hard time finding it in the dirt, but when I did I sure was excited.

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Fast forward a few pounds of trash to today, and for a brief moment I thought Id hit the big time when I saw a ring shaped item poking out of the plug with all its sparkly little dots... but, pulling it a little closer, I realized its costume junk. Too bad, yes. But its only fuel for the fire to keep me digging. Shortly after I found the ring, I found another vein of junk gold. Only this time a bracelet, in parts. Corroded and broken, piece by piece I dug each one from the hole, seeing that golden hue and wishing it was real.

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And yes, I found a token... a truly rare and every sought after a 2009 Chuck E. Cheese game token. My first for the year. I think I'll be putting it on ebay soon. :laughing9:

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I also found a live 9mm round, and a few fired ones. They're some kind of a training round or blank, but the middle one has no strike mark on the primer .

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And while these aren't the treasures Im hoping for, Im still glad to be out and digging and enjoying everything I find. I can't be the only one here who did research on pull-tabs throughout history just to reassure myself that those teardrop shaped ring pulls really are a piece of history.

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Eventually I'll wise up and stop digging those obviously large and noisy targets that I know are no good.

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But if I do, I won't find cool things like this:

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These things that look like rocks are actually the smaller chunks of metal slag I found one day. The big ones wouldn't fit in my pouch. Must have been a fire or something.

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... and there's just so much trash. And if it ain't trash, its pennies.

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:pot-of-gold:
 

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sprailroad

Silver Member
Jan 19, 2017
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Grants Pass, Oregon
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All Treasure Hunting
Yep, your post shows that you truly are a "Metal detecting guy", and with all that trash, you just keep going, welcome to the group, in fact your user name, "Obsessive", is what I think so many of us have become with swinging a coil, and I don't think we would really have it any other way. I too had a former life once-------------.
 

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
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42,606
Ann Arbor
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Great post. You are a great writer, I relate to everything you talk about, this hobby is very fun and exciting you never know what you will pull out of the next plug. I have gone weeks with just finding the 1945 pull tabs and clad but I'm just as excited to find something great every time. I wish more people would share their cladventures ,Me included. Thanks for the awesome post Tommy
 

ScubaDetector

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Mar 1, 2016
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Port Huron MI
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Well at least one nice gold. I was looking for a pile of gold coins!
 

Trezurehunter

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Mar 22, 2003
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Illinois / Oklahoma
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Congrats on your Wheat pennies, and good luck on your quest for silver.
 

against the wind

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Jul 27, 2015
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Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania
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Excellent post,,
Your removal of all those trash targets is a service that the next coil swinger who hits that spot is going to appreciate. lol
Congrats on your hunt.
 

AlienLifeForm

Bronze Member
Jan 31, 2010
1,589
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DFW Texas
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Neat finds. That is not normal 9mm brass, it appears somebody has been playing with a case trimmer and trying to make some experimental loads. Almost appear as if they were trying to make a weird subsonic load with that plastic projectile, probably fired only by the primer.
 

CRUSADER

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May 25, 2007
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ENGLAND
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''Eventually I'll wise up and stop digging those obviously large and noisy targets that I know are no good''

Thats OK at some spots but at better spots you need to clear everything. Lost count of how many great finds are stuck under or next to these large its of iron etc..
So what I'm trying to say over the years I've done it, is that the 'wiser' move is to clear it. Many detectors are sold to those who think Discrimination helps knock out all the trash & locate more good stuff. For years now I use no Disc.
:thumbsup:
 

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Obsessive

Hero Member
Apr 16, 2017
604
861
NW Portland, OR
Detector(s) used
XP Deus/MI-6 w/ HF/XF/LF
Tesoro Cibola / Land and Sea pinpointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for the positive words of encouragement everyone. I'm looking forward to more good times.

I'm also contemplating upgrading my detector selection and curious about how the experience is with different tones to indicate different metals and knowing with some approximation how deep the item is in the ground. Maybe next month. What do you guys think?

Meanwhile, I did some searching on those rounds, seems the proper term is "Simunitions". I used to have a few friends in the Coast Guard, one of them talked about doing training with these rounds that fired small paintball like projectiles and how much they actually hurt. The bonus is you can train with your regular duty weapon to maintain consistency in muscle memory as well as response to the discharge force and sound. Heres a pic of some unfired sim rounds compared to non-sim rounds. Exciting.

dwKUP1L.jpg
 

dirtdigginfool

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Mar 8, 2014
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south central ohio
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Great post! I got a good chuckle out of the part where you said you still check the dates on the dirty clad...which us what I used to do. Then I finally unearthed my first silver coin, a Rosie and BOOM! I T wasn't dirty! You'll definitely know you've scored silver when you dig it...and I'd like to be there when you do to see your reaction. Good luck...Ddf
 

AlienLifeForm

Bronze Member
Jan 31, 2010
1,589
2,337
DFW Texas
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-TRAC, Garrett ProPointer, Lesche Digger
Primary Interest:
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Thanks for the positive words of encouragement everyone. I'm looking forward to more good times.

I'm also contemplating upgrading my detector selection and curious about how the experience is with different tones to indicate different metals and knowing with some approximation how deep the item is in the ground. Maybe next month. What do you guys think?

Meanwhile, I did some searching on those rounds, seems the proper term is "Simunitions". I used to have a few friends in the Coast Guard, one of them talked about doing training with these rounds that fired small paintball like projectiles and how much they actually hurt. The bonus is you can train with your regular duty weapon to maintain consistency in muscle memory as well as response to the discharge force and sound. Heres a pic of some unfired sim rounds compared to non-sim rounds. Exciting.

View attachment 1465692

Interesting, first time I have seen them. I just knew that 9mm casing was way too short, lol!
 

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