1842 Church

nsm1978 · May 22, 2014

Hey everyone, I posted this before but haven't got many responses, figure I would repost here. Im very new at MD, using Ace 250. I received permission from an old church, actually the oldest church in the county. Built in 1787, but was struck by lighting and burned down and rebuild in 1842. I walked around the grounds and cemetery getting lots of hits like Iron/foil, found some coins, 1930 mercury dime, nothing to crazy. Found an old copper serving spoon which dates back to an old inn for sailors. The church has also granted me access to the basement which is cement but has a large crawl space, I will try to get you a pic. You think it is worth it? I will probably get a lot of hits from nails, etc. most hits are reading 8+ outside. I'm not sure if I'm able to dig 8 inches. I also get a hit, dig 6 inches, put my Pinpointer (Garrett) in ground and it deeps a little, it's really frustrating. Does that mean it's really old. The ground has not been disturbed according to the church. Please help.

BryanM362 · May 22, 2014

I would it's worth a try. What do you have to lose?

One of the best sites I have ever detected was an old school. If you are not finding much it was probably detected in the past. That doesn't mean you can't still find stuff, just hit it from different angles, with different size coils, different moisture content in the dirt, etc... and dig those iffy signals!

Let us know what you find.

Ism · May 23, 2014

Your deep signals 8+ might be large targets that are way deeper than 8". One way to check is raise the coil and see how the signal drops off. If you are inexperienced, it won't take long to figure it out.
If you still aren't sure, dig your hole 6-8" and see how the PP reacts to the target as you remove soil. A large target can be detected by the PP up to around 8". a small target up to 2".
If you know your PP, you can tell if it's a large or small target by how much soil you must remove after getting an initial signal (and/or) how large an area in the plug the PP sounds off on.

chopperdog · May 26, 2014

From my experience, the best place to hunt old churches is usually behind, or beside the church. In olden days, church lots were used as gathering places, and after church picnics and dinners. Going to church could easily mean a 2 hour buggy / horse ride, or walk. So people tended to stay afterwards to picnic and socialize. --- Stay away from burial grounds, (bad karma). Which side is the shade on in the afternoon? ---Look for depressions where large old trees once stood, no A/C, sit in the shade, ---- where did they tie up the buggies and horses? ----Keep your expectations real. People did not carry pockets full of change in those days. --- Lastly, sounds like a great location for a hunt with a AT PRO, it will find the coins in trashy iron areas like no other I have ever used. Good luck!

nsm1978 · May 26, 2014

Ok guys check this out! I researched the spoon I found behind the church. After carefully cleaning it, I noticed an inscription on the top of the handle. It reads: "SAILORS SNUG HARBOR" after research I found out it is a collection of architecturally significant 19th-century buildings set in a park in NY. It was once a home for aged sailors and is now an 83-acre (34 ha) city park. Sailors' Snug Harbor finally opened in 1833, the country's first home for retired merchant seamen.