Help!!!! About to give up "Update"

[capt. sparrow]

Help!!!! About to give up "Update"

I have been metal detecting for about two years with little or no luck.  I haven't  found anything significant in a year and I am about to give this up all together.  I have this coming weekend all to myself and I am going out rain or shine. Can somebody give me any leads whatsoever   
please.....  I know this is a big ask and I probably won't get any responses but I thought I'd try before I put this thing on e bay.  PM's are welcome, hell anything is welcome. I live on cape ann and am willing to drive a couple hours.  I have to hope someone has a lead within 100 miles of me.

 

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[EARL51]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

I have been metal detecting for about two years with little or no luck. I haven't found anything significant in a year and I am about to give this up all together. I have this coming weekend all to myself and I am going out rain or shine. Can somebody give me any leads whatsoever
please..... I know this is a big ask and I probably won't get any responses but I thought I'd try before I put this thing on e bay. PM's are welcome, hell anything is welcome. I live on cape ann and am willing to drive a couple hours. I have to hope someone has a lead within 100 miles of me.

If you are depending on putting a time frame on when and if you will find something, sell your detector now. I have only been finding loose change lately and think of it as fresh air and excercise. But I also have been in the right place and right time and found numerous pieces of gold and silver jewelry.
Are you using you machine correctly?
I see plenty of guys whipping the air, 8 inches off the ground and swinging the coil into the air at the end of each swing. They may find something by mistake, but I doubt it. Slow down. I would go and say something to them but I figure they might not want to be bothered.
The beaches are sanded in right now. I went this past week and dug a nickel and found 2 pennies laying on the surface. Plenty of times I have only found a penny for 3 hours of detecting. But I have found a ring that more than paid for my detector.
Try your closest salt water beach or NH beaches.
If this was a sure thing, everyone would be doing it. It's a hobby.

 

[BlackX]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

"little to no luck" in what sense? (I'm guessing older coins but...)

What detector are you using? My first detector I couldn't get more than about 4" and only found one or two Mercs and one Indian Head. Went to a Sov and started getting more silver dimes and one unreadable large copper. Went to an Explorer and started picking up a lot of new firsts; silver dimes and IHs are becoming pretty regular and have about 12 LCs now, including a fugio. (Oh, and two walkers and my first Seated and Barber dimes.)

There's the real estate-like mantra, location, location, location but even if you have the location, you need to get the signal too. I think it takes both.

_Rich_

 

[capt. sparrow]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

I have the only detector I can afford, a white's prizm II. Maybe it's not good enough, but I can't spend anymore. I have pulled stuff at 6 inches one indian head and one merc. so it get's a decent signal I just don't have any spots. I have researched for hours and and everyplace I try I come up empty handed. Tons of clad but nothing more. Today just really bummed me out. I went to a spot that is a seasonal chowder house it has been used for functions since 1890 and has remained the same since. Nice lawn in front ,no one around and I pulled up 60 cents in clad. I had been looking at pictures of this place for months. Functions with 100 plus people year after year, and 60 cents in 4 hours? We are talking about a small lawn to. I took my time and scanned it twice in 4 hours. Of any place in town I figured this would have been it. I pass it everyday and have never seen another detectorist. Maybe it was cleaned out years ago. who knows.

 

[jorge del norte]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

This is my sure fire way of detecting, and a others too.

1. Make a list of all the elementary schools in your area.....hit as many as you can in one day, detect the play chips, and exercise equipment area, the complete playchip area, once you get use to it....you can do a area pretty fast, the do then circumference of each play area. This should get you some jewelry, try it this weekend. I say 1 out of 6 will get you some sort of jewelry....

2. Ask your friends with the oldest house if you can hunt there yard, if that doesn't work, post this on Craigslist in the wanted section, and farming section.

We Want to Metal Detect Your Land

My friend and I both are avid metal detecting enthusists....We
love to hunt for old relics, coins, etc. Not for profit, just for the
excitement of digging up pieces of history.
We are currently looking for a few more places to detect. Mainly
older homes and properties built before the 1950's, or land that
used to have a house or other activity on it. We are both adults
with years of experience in the metal detecting hobby, and will
respect your property if allowed to detect on it. We only dig holes
large enough to retrieve the item and then refill the holes.
Some of our finds include: Revolutionary war relics, Civil War
relics, coins, jewelry, old bottles, toys, trade tokens, dog tags, lost
items, etc. If you have an old property, farm, or land that you
wouldn't mind us detecting on, please drop me an email. You
would be surprised what is buried in the dirt that you didn't even
know was there. We are willing to do some traveling in and around
the state, so drop me an email, and we will set it up.
We are also more than happy to split 50/50 the finds.

Thanks in advance....

Good Luck and keep digging!

 

[Cubfan64]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

This is my sure fire way of detecting, and a others too.

1. Make a list of all the elementary schools in your area.....hit as many as you can in one day, detect the play chips, and exercise equipment area, the complete playchip area, once you get use to it....you can do a area pretty fast, the do then circumference of each play area. This should get you some jewelry, try it this weekend. I say 1 out of 6 will get you some sort of jewelry....

2. Ask your friends with the oldest house if you can hunt there yard, if that doesn't work, post this on Craigslist in the wanted section, and farming section.

We Want to Metal Detect Your Land

My friend and I both are avid metal detecting enthusists....We
love to hunt for old relics, coins, etc. Not for profit, just for the
excitement of digging up pieces of history.
We are currently looking for a few more places to detect. Mainly
older homes and properties built before the 1950's, or land that
used to have a house or other activity on it. We are both adults
with years of experience in the metal detecting hobby, and will
respect your property if allowed to detect on it. We only dig holes
large enough to retrieve the item and then refill the holes.
Some of our finds include: Revolutionary war relics, Civil War
relics, coins, jewelry, old bottles, toys, trade tokens, dog tags, lost
items, etc. If you have an old property, farm, or land that you
wouldn't mind us detecting on, please drop me an email. You
would be surprised what is buried in the dirt that you didn't even
know was there. We are willing to do some traveling in and around
the state, so drop me an email, and we will set it up.
We are also more than happy to split 50/50 the finds.

Thanks in advance....

Good Luck and keep digging!

I'm not poo-pooing the idea of using Craigslist by any means because I honestly think it's a good idea, however I will say that I saw a SIGNIFICANTLY different reaction not only to using Craigslist like you suggested above, but also in the general responses I get from asking permission to hunt - the difference being area of the USA.

When I lived in the Midwest (Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan), I would estimate I got at least 75% positive responses from asking permission to hunt. As far as Craigslist, I got no surefire leads, but I did get an opportunity to hunt a few locations that way.

Now that I've moved to New Hampshire, I'm lucky if I get 10% positive responses to asking permission, and the two times I posted Craigslist adds similar to the above, the only folks who contacted me were other detecorists asking if I was getting any leads (hehe).

I'm sure alot of it has to do with me not being local - I really don't know the area all that well, don't sound like I'm from the NE, and generally I find that folks out here are less friendly and more protective of their things.

I think the best suggestion at this point for the original poster is to hit the playgrounds - hit every one you can and use that time to find and set aside lots of clad for that new detector and learn your machine. Detecting in playgrounds was an excellent way for me to learn the slight nuances of my detector - such that I got to the point where I could guess correctly more than 50% of the time what I was going to find under the woodchips, stones or sand. Over time I got much better at guessing and started hearing the differences in depth as well. It's also a great way to learn how to pinpoint with your detector. The last thing I got much better at was listening for the more faint tones that sometimes meant a small gold ring or bracelet.

All that training really paid off when I started going to the beach and other locations.

The other suggestion I have is to possibly look into joining a local metal detecting club - I did for a year and it turned out it really wasn't for me, but you may find a friend or two there who you can start teaming up with.

Good luck

 

[jorge del norte]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

Hey, Sparrow what have you found?

What do you think is your best finds?

 

[capt. sparrow]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

My best find was last january. I was detecting all day on the south shore of Nantucket and all I had found was clad. On my walk back to the car I decided to swing a few more times and as I looked down I saw something sticking out of a dune. I pulled it out, and though it was very corroded I could make out that it was a seated liberty half from 1862 or 63. Second best were a 1901 IH penny and a merc from 26? Other than that all clad.

 

[jorge del norte]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

My best find was last january. I was detecting all day on the south shore of Nantucket and all I had found was clad. On my walk back to the car I decided to swing a few more times and as I looked down I saw something sticking out of a dune. I pulled it out, and though it was very corroded I could make out that it was a seated liberty half from 1862 or 63. Second best were a 1901 IH penny and a merc from 26? Other than that all clad.

dude those are rockin' finds.......
you have hit 3 earmarks already in one year........


a 1800's coin, a IH, and a silver coin.........it is about patience......

.in fact i am still looking for the 1800's coin.....

 

[bradgny]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

hey sparrow ,
I live on the cape although there are a lot of people here doing the beaches every tide brings in something new ,If your ever planning another run to this area ill be glad to go out with ya ,maybe find a few good finds .
Brad

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

My best find was last january. I was detecting all day on the south shore of Nantucket and all I had found was clad.  On my walk back to the car I decided to swing a few more times and as I looked down I saw something sticking out of a dune. I pulled it out, and though it was very corroded I could make out that it was a seated liberty half from 1862 or 63. Second best were a 1901 IH penny and a merc from 26? Other than that all clad.

So you're thinking you should've already found a pot of gold by now? 

You should be reading everything you can get your hands on, looking at old maps, spending days in the courthouse looking at deeds.  You have to focus on an area so much that you know everything there is to know about it--including the names of the present-day owners of the land in that area.  Knowing them, and spending enough time to foster trust in a community goes a long way.  I can drop just about any place name/road name/owner name/schoolbus driver for the local routes/occupations of property owners/people who certain folks dislike or like--and even some owners' Middle Names!  (And that is an area where I'm NOT a local.)

Now THAT takes some time and patience!  Gotta be willing to listen to a lot of folks do a Lot of talking.  Just listening...and Remembering. 

If you want to find older coins, then you have to go to spots that are Long Gone.  It ain't as easy as waltzing up to someone's door and asking to hunt their yard anymore--and if it still is that easy in some areas, it won't be that way forever.

If we make it look easy here, that's because you don't see the Hours and Hours of Work I, along with many others on this forum, put into finding spots to dig up the goodies.


Best Wishes



Buckleboy


P.S.--you've already made some Excellent finds, so don't beat yourself up too badly.  Took me a year to find my first silver coin. 

 

[capt. sparrow]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

Thanks everyone for all the great replies. I guess I just had a bad day. I'll do some research this week and go all out this weekend. I'll share anything I find. Thanks again

 

[hollowpointred]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

it aint your machine, ive seen radio shack machines make incredible finds. ill bet it has more to do with location. its the same problem most of us have. the good spots are all on private property and it takes an outgoing personality to ask for permission. i need to get over that one myself, but thats where the good stuff is. in those older private yards.

 

[gmanlight]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

Hello Captain I've read some of your posts you've obviously done homework you found that hotel in Gloucester that looked pretty good I still might try that one If you have a detector that can hit a coin is 6 inches that's enough to get the job done. You live in a great area Gloucester and the surrounding towns are some of the oldest in the country The trick is to hunt virgin ground Me and a couple of buds just hunted a farm with old stone foundations one guy found a 1772 Spanish real 3 inches deep right under the grass I found my second Indian head 1888 right on top of the ground At a different site a 100 year old home I found my first gold 2 lapel pins not more than two or 3 inches deep I don't know if you detector will work in wet sand but the winter storm seasons can be great hunting around here I am up the coast about a half-hour from you hope I can give you a hot spot in the future till then just keep plugging away good luck Mike G.

 

[funkman]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

Capt....

Make sure you try to take your time and grid the area. Start at one spot and pick a spot in the distance and start walking towards it in a staright line. WHen you get to that spot move over slightly and then turn and walk in the other direction. Try to make a habit of doing this. I made the mistake (and still do sometimes) of going hog wild at a site and not gridding. When I did grid I found more things. Most were junk but some were keepers. If you start going all over the place you might end up missing a great coin or relic. HEck some of the finds you have found are great. Keep at it and don't give up. There will be frustrating times where you are out there for hours and have nothing but pulltabs to show for it and then other times you might come back with only one coin but it was a great old coin. I went out for a few hours last week and only came back with a religious medalion. I hope to hit a spot this weekend myself so good luck to you on your weekend hunt.

HH

Funkman

 

[capt. sparrow]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~macessex/pix/epix5.html

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.615687,-70.807121&spn=0.002207,0.004141&t=h&z=18

Just got back from a spot in Essex I hit for a few hours. The first link are old postcards of the park and the second is where it is. A couple of the structures are still there and maintained including the pavillion. Came back with a 1977 penny. Are spots like these picked over or do they require a lot of time? I am thinking since it is so accesible it has been hit pretty hard. I don't know if I should go back tommorro and give it some more time or hit a less accesible place.

 

[Cubfan64]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~macessex/pix/epix5.html

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.615687,-70.807121&spn=0.002207,0.004141&t=h&z=18

Just got back from a spot in Essex I hit for a few hours. The first link are old postcards of the park and the second is where it is. A couple of the structures are still there and maintained including the pavillion. Came back with a 1977 penny. Are spots like these picked over or do they require a lot of time? I am thinking since it is so accesible it has been hit pretty hard. I don't know if I should go back tommorro and give it some more time or hit a less accesible place.

I've heard a good number of people from Mass. tell me that the vast majority of the "obvious" places have been hit hard since the mid 80's. I'm sure there's still stuff to find, but it's probably going to be few and far between.

I'd say if you didn't find anything in a few hours and you know your machine is working well, I'd say there's a good chance it's been pretty picked over sorry to say

 

[hollowpointred]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~macessex/pix/epix5.html

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.615687,-70.807121&spn=0.002207,0.004141&t=h&z=18

Just got back from a spot in Essex I hit for a few hours. The first link are old postcards of the park and the second is where it is. A couple of the structures are still there and maintained including the pavillion. Came back with a 1977 penny. Are spots like these picked over or do they require a lot of time? I am thinking since it is so accesible it has been hit pretty hard. I don't know if I should go back tommorro and give it some more time or hit a less accesible place.

theres an old saying that no place is ever hunted out, and i believe that to be true.however, some places are very very well gone over, and now the only stuff left is the iffy signals and the stuff masked by trash and iron. if you can find a spot that hasn't been pounded and has coins in it, you will find them. there probably is something still to be found in that park, but do you want to work that hard to find it? that's the question. if the answer is no, try to find another less obvious spot. believe me when i say private property is the last frontier in this hobby! that's where the abundance of old silver is, in those old front yards that have never been searched! the trick is gaining permission.

 

[Monty]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up

Cap, I've been at this game for about 3 years and I have never found an IH! I have found much junque and crappe' though and I have enjoyed nearly every minute I was able to get out and hunt. Your best finds will come when you least expect it I have discovered. So, don't quit yet. Take Brad up on his invite and meet up with him and perhaps he can give you some tips that will help. I've learned a lot just by observing others who enjoy the same things I do. Monty

 

[capt. sparrow]

Re: Help!!!! About to give up "Update"

Found this in a field today.