tnt-hunter
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2018
- Messages
- 2,054
- Reaction score
- 12,085
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Mountain Maryland
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher CZ-21, Minelab Equinix 800, ,Garret AT Pro,
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
DAY 1
I had some luck at one of the state park dry swimming areas so I decided to try another one. The water is still down below the end of the swimming area so there were finds that are outside the ropes area that we are not allowed to access normally
I spent 5.5 hours swingin the ATPro and found 28 coins with a face value of $2.73, some jewelry, small bits of miscellaneous metal, fishing gear, a fair number of sinkers, part of a cigarette lighter case keychain, 2 and a half pairs of glasses, foil and 13 tabs.
4 of the earrings and an earring back are silver which was a surprise since some of them didn’t look that good but they are marked 925. Unfortunately the chains are not silver, but fine chains can be hard to pick up with the detector so the fact that I found them is a good thing. The machine and I must be doing ok.
DAY 2
I went back to the middle school and spent 5.5 hours with CZ21 gridding areas I haven’t finished before. I managed to find 51 coins with a face value of $2.17, a .50 caliber roundball, a BOO bracelet (eyeball find), a foreign coin, a play dime, a big stainless nut, an aluminum hair clip, a sinker, a valve stem cap, part of a zipper, can slaw, half a horseshoe, aluminum bottle caps, aluminum nails, a piece of copper pipe, a chunk of lead, 20 pencil ends and 28 tabs.
Lots of tabs and pencil ends this trip. The best find was the coin. It is a 1953 British two shilling. This is the first shilling I have found and it is almost as old as I am. Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952 so this is a picture of young Elizabeth. The acid soil was a little hard on it, but still in decent shape.
The hair clip is really beat up, but looks like things used in the 40s and 50s. The Tip-Top Products Co. started in the early 1920s and changed names in 1964.
DAY 3
I finally got back to the K to 8 school. There is not a lot of ground I haven’t gridded. The field I did this trip has been walked over while swingin a lot so I wasn’t counting on much, but I am always hoping to get lucky.
I spent 5 hours swingin the CZ21 and found 18 coins with a face value of $1.15, a silver dime, a wheatie, a brass screw, a brass adjustment screw that may be from a musical instrument, 2 pieces of a toy vehicle, some shell casings, 2 zipper pieces, a chromed brass cap, can slaw, foil, aluminum bottle caps, 37 tabs and 4 pencil ends.
The silver dime wasn’t a very good signal and I almost didn’t dig it, but I figured I was cleaning up so why not. I cut a plug 6 inches deep and it was still in the hole. I pinpointed with the Garrett carrot and scooped it out with a trowel. The signal was bad because it was on edge. As soon as I broke the dirt ball I could see the back and knew it was a merc with no mint mark. A decent looking 1917. Mercs are so nice looking. The wheatie is a 1956 in the normal bad shape from the acid soil.
DAY 4
The park swimming areas are still high and dry so I decided to try my luck in a different part of the dry lake bed at the same park I did on DAY 1. I worked another section outside the swim ropes. This one was to the side of one of the areas that looks like it was part of the swimming area long ago. I did a walk over a few years ago right before the lake filled up and found some silver jewelry and a gold ring so I was hoping for a goodie or 2, but I also realized I might not find anything and come up as dry as the swimming areas.
I spent 5 hours swingin the ATPro and found 16 coins with a face value of $0.83, a stainless spoon, an ear bud, a starter pistol blank, a button, a game tab, some jewelry, fishing gear, sinkers, a fleet of toy trucks someone buried, half a pair of sunglasses, lots of foil and 27 tabs.
I grid searched the damp sand and dig all mid, high and mixed tones regardless of the number on the display. I have the Pro set on Pro zero mode, with Iron Audio on, Iron Discrimination on 30 and sensitivity 2 down from max. Now I do dig lots of foil, tabs and sinkers, but I don’t miss the small gold and silver. Things as small as earring backs and sequins. Because I detect this park regularly during the year, most of the finds in the swimming areas are newer with a few smaller items that have moved closer to the surface so they can be detected.
This trip I was glad I dig the foil. Mid morning I got another foil signal and noticed it was reading 43 to 45 (I don’t pay much attention to the numbers) and I dug down in the sand and out popped a nice mid weight chain. It is dark gray, almost black from being underwater for a long time and I was sure I had silver. Sure enough I looked at the end of the chain and could see the 925 ITALY that is on most of the chains like this one I have found. It is a nice heavy piece of silver, 14.6 grams or .47 troy ounces, almost half an ounce. If I didn’t dig the foil, this one would be waiting for someone else to find.
HINT FOR NEW DETECTORISTS
Get to know your detector and how it responds to different targets. I may pay you to dig everything at first until you get used to your machine. Then you will know what to dig and what to leave behind. All machine are different. I use different machines in different environments because of the way I know they respond. VDI numbers are a guide, not an absolute. 43 to 45 is foil most of the time, but can be smaller gold and silver. The signal and numbers are affected by depth of target, size of target, position (flat, on edge, etc.), solid like a coin or open like a toe ring or hoop earring.
NON DETECTOR FINDS
Not much this week but I did find 3 dimes in a parking lot and a JUICY heart on the sidewalk in front of a store.
A good week for silver with 8. That makes 100 silvers with 11 golds and 1 platinum since May first. I still have a little over a month in my detecting year so hopefully there will be more goodies. Thanks for looking, good luck, stay safe and may your coil lead you to good things.
I had some luck at one of the state park dry swimming areas so I decided to try another one. The water is still down below the end of the swimming area so there were finds that are outside the ropes area that we are not allowed to access normally
I spent 5.5 hours swingin the ATPro and found 28 coins with a face value of $2.73, some jewelry, small bits of miscellaneous metal, fishing gear, a fair number of sinkers, part of a cigarette lighter case keychain, 2 and a half pairs of glasses, foil and 13 tabs.
4 of the earrings and an earring back are silver which was a surprise since some of them didn’t look that good but they are marked 925. Unfortunately the chains are not silver, but fine chains can be hard to pick up with the detector so the fact that I found them is a good thing. The machine and I must be doing ok.
DAY 2
I went back to the middle school and spent 5.5 hours with CZ21 gridding areas I haven’t finished before. I managed to find 51 coins with a face value of $2.17, a .50 caliber roundball, a BOO bracelet (eyeball find), a foreign coin, a play dime, a big stainless nut, an aluminum hair clip, a sinker, a valve stem cap, part of a zipper, can slaw, half a horseshoe, aluminum bottle caps, aluminum nails, a piece of copper pipe, a chunk of lead, 20 pencil ends and 28 tabs.
Lots of tabs and pencil ends this trip. The best find was the coin. It is a 1953 British two shilling. This is the first shilling I have found and it is almost as old as I am. Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952 so this is a picture of young Elizabeth. The acid soil was a little hard on it, but still in decent shape.
The hair clip is really beat up, but looks like things used in the 40s and 50s. The Tip-Top Products Co. started in the early 1920s and changed names in 1964.
DAY 3
I finally got back to the K to 8 school. There is not a lot of ground I haven’t gridded. The field I did this trip has been walked over while swingin a lot so I wasn’t counting on much, but I am always hoping to get lucky.
I spent 5 hours swingin the CZ21 and found 18 coins with a face value of $1.15, a silver dime, a wheatie, a brass screw, a brass adjustment screw that may be from a musical instrument, 2 pieces of a toy vehicle, some shell casings, 2 zipper pieces, a chromed brass cap, can slaw, foil, aluminum bottle caps, 37 tabs and 4 pencil ends.
The silver dime wasn’t a very good signal and I almost didn’t dig it, but I figured I was cleaning up so why not. I cut a plug 6 inches deep and it was still in the hole. I pinpointed with the Garrett carrot and scooped it out with a trowel. The signal was bad because it was on edge. As soon as I broke the dirt ball I could see the back and knew it was a merc with no mint mark. A decent looking 1917. Mercs are so nice looking. The wheatie is a 1956 in the normal bad shape from the acid soil.
DAY 4
The park swimming areas are still high and dry so I decided to try my luck in a different part of the dry lake bed at the same park I did on DAY 1. I worked another section outside the swim ropes. This one was to the side of one of the areas that looks like it was part of the swimming area long ago. I did a walk over a few years ago right before the lake filled up and found some silver jewelry and a gold ring so I was hoping for a goodie or 2, but I also realized I might not find anything and come up as dry as the swimming areas.
I spent 5 hours swingin the ATPro and found 16 coins with a face value of $0.83, a stainless spoon, an ear bud, a starter pistol blank, a button, a game tab, some jewelry, fishing gear, sinkers, a fleet of toy trucks someone buried, half a pair of sunglasses, lots of foil and 27 tabs.
I grid searched the damp sand and dig all mid, high and mixed tones regardless of the number on the display. I have the Pro set on Pro zero mode, with Iron Audio on, Iron Discrimination on 30 and sensitivity 2 down from max. Now I do dig lots of foil, tabs and sinkers, but I don’t miss the small gold and silver. Things as small as earring backs and sequins. Because I detect this park regularly during the year, most of the finds in the swimming areas are newer with a few smaller items that have moved closer to the surface so they can be detected.
This trip I was glad I dig the foil. Mid morning I got another foil signal and noticed it was reading 43 to 45 (I don’t pay much attention to the numbers) and I dug down in the sand and out popped a nice mid weight chain. It is dark gray, almost black from being underwater for a long time and I was sure I had silver. Sure enough I looked at the end of the chain and could see the 925 ITALY that is on most of the chains like this one I have found. It is a nice heavy piece of silver, 14.6 grams or .47 troy ounces, almost half an ounce. If I didn’t dig the foil, this one would be waiting for someone else to find.
HINT FOR NEW DETECTORISTS
Get to know your detector and how it responds to different targets. I may pay you to dig everything at first until you get used to your machine. Then you will know what to dig and what to leave behind. All machine are different. I use different machines in different environments because of the way I know they respond. VDI numbers are a guide, not an absolute. 43 to 45 is foil most of the time, but can be smaller gold and silver. The signal and numbers are affected by depth of target, size of target, position (flat, on edge, etc.), solid like a coin or open like a toe ring or hoop earring.
NON DETECTOR FINDS
Not much this week but I did find 3 dimes in a parking lot and a JUICY heart on the sidewalk in front of a store.
A good week for silver with 8. That makes 100 silvers with 11 golds and 1 platinum since May first. I still have a little over a month in my detecting year so hopefully there will be more goodies. Thanks for looking, good luck, stay safe and may your coil lead you to good things.
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