Here's a good Deus story with a lesson.

bzepol8

Jr. Member
Dec 3, 2010
49
215
Folsom, ca
Detector(s) used
deus, tejon
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
I found this miners match case in the gold rush fields around Sacramento. Found the bottom half on one trip, and a really awesome relic hunter friend told me to get out there again and find the lid. We went together the next day to try and find it. After both of us sweeping the area several times, there was no luck in finding that lid. I had tried many settings on my Deus, but was becoming used to the idea that it may have been lost forever. Finally, I tried one last setting. And I out the deus in reactivity 5. I had never hunted with that setting before, but it was a heavily iron infested area. Well, after sweeping the ground three more times, I heard small signal and dug up the lid. I had found both pieces of this beautiful match case, and my buddy and I celebrated with a lot of high fives! I decided to have it restored and am very pleased with how it turned out. It was a crushed and battered piece before restoration. Now, it's gleaming! The moral of the story is.......the Deus is a killer machine. If it's in the ground, the deus can find it. Don't be afraid to put that bad boy in a high reactivity setting. I was afraid cuz I thought I would lose depth. I didn't. I found a sweet relic. I've included before and after pics of my find.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20171015_164340.jpg
    IMG_20171015_164340.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 136
  • IMG_20170810_222242.jpg
    IMG_20170810_222242.jpg
    876.6 KB · Views: 107
  • IMG_20170808_161157.jpg
    IMG_20170808_161157.jpg
    1,003.4 KB · Views: 118
  • IMG_20171015_164551.jpg
    IMG_20171015_164551.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 119
Last edited:

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,721
40,804
Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
10
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice job. It cleaned up very well. My Deus also sucks stuff right out of the ground, the new 9" HF coil has done a lot for it.
 

Foot hill

Full Member
Aug 26, 2013
173
230
Ca foot hills. (Central ca.)
Detector(s) used
XP Deus and tesoro compadre minelab Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Really cool find and good to see what restoration services can do.
Makes me wonder what I've got that could be restored[emoji848]
Btw. I'm in nor ca. 49nr area too.
Got more Chinese coins than 1800 American coins around here so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

tnsharpshooter

Hero Member
Jul 10, 2012
926
978
Tn
Detector(s) used
Xp Deus 2, Xp Deus 1, Minelab Etrac, Minelab Manticore
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very nice success story.

One thing I notice.

Using elliptical HF coil using Reactivty 4 and 5, signals provided on some nonferrous are real short, user can mistake for iron wrap signal if not careful.

Beautiful find you have.
 

devldog

Silver Member
Mar 9, 2012
3,651
6,351
Georgia
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT ALL PRO, Minelab Safari
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Congrat's on the find of the beautiful match case and restoration. Glad you were able to find the top piece of this case. Well done.
 

mike b

Sr. Member
Sep 21, 2012
454
2,161
STATEN ISLAND NY
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ONLY MINELABS, and now one Detector Pro Underwater.
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Wow, that's sweet. Love the story, makes me think about having one or two finds restored also.
 

Stretch Da Truth

Bronze Member
Jan 13, 2017
1,038
1,097
Detector(s) used
XP Déus & a Carrot!
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Sweet find! :occasion14:
Persistence always pays off!
 

HuntinDog

Bronze Member
May 26, 2010
2,329
3,463
No. Cal.
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS / MXT PRO / Garrett ProPointer
Great story.
Congrats on finding both pieces.
Not often done.
And whoever did your restoration did a fantastic job!
 

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
That is beautiful! Way to keep at it for a great find! I wouldn't have thought something in that condition could be restored.
 

dirtlooter

Gold Member
Jun 5, 2014
8,889
13,497
mid western ARK
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with 9"LF and 9" HF Coils and 600 Equinox with stock and 6" coils
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
very awesome story, congrats on finding all the pieces. the restoration is totally beautiful, what a keeper piece it is now. would look great above the fireplace as a show piece. great job at not giving up and not being afraid to try different settings. I wish that I had had a deus twenty years ago when I was more able to get around.
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,377
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice restoration.
 

Gravelwasher

Hero Member
Jan 3, 2011
523
689
El Dorado County
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab
Great looking pc for sure!!

How did they get it reshaped? Maybe a little heat and compressed air?

That came out sooooo nice. Never would have guessed it would clean up that well.

Keep hunting, more treasure than rust to ya!!
 

OP
OP
B

bzepol8

Jr. Member
Dec 3, 2010
49
215
Folsom, ca
Detector(s) used
deus, tejon
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Tim Shaheen of Lawrence Miller and Company of Alexandria, Virginia did the restoration on this piece. When i dug it, it was totally flattened and mis-shaped. I don't know exactly what they did to restore it, but I was told that they tried to avoid heat as much as possible because the piece is brass and brass does not do well with heat. They were very reasonable on price and I was amazed at what i got for the money! I know they put quite a few hours into the restoration. They have very positive online reviews for their work and i would not hesitate to use them again and probably will for a miner's buckle I have that needs a bend or two taken out. They got it back to me very promptly and really took an interest in what i was trying to do with this piece. i really believe in restoration after seeing what these guys can do. Three other metal workers on the East Coast wouldn't even touch this piece for me, as they thought they couldn't do much with it. Thank you to all who wrote and told me they liked it. I'm really happy i did it. BL
 

paris

Greenie
Aug 24, 2017
11
48
Paris
Detector(s) used
none
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
persistance rewarded. I like the way you brought your found back to life. From the grave to the sky :)
 

jdiggs_treasure

Sr. Member
Jan 12, 2013
273
328
northern california
Detector(s) used
Xp deus 11"x35/9"HF roundl/Mi6
Minelab equinox 800 11"& 6" coils
Killer b wasp headphones
Whites prostars
garrett carrot
Predator ranger shovel/raptor digger
Lesche t handle/ hand digger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wow... awesome story!!! very nice resto!!! I'm in Sacramento as well, gotta love those old 49er relics!!!
 

Last edited:

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top