After nearly forty years of metal detecting!

[Kenkoehn1950]

I think, based on what I'm gathering from all of you metal detecting enthusiasts, that I am finally figuring out why I haven't been successful in pulling older stuff out of the ground. I have a White's Spectrum XLT and a Garrett AT Pro and have pulled out an occasional Mercury dime, a Rosie or a Washington quarter, but nothing from the 1800's or early 1900's. I am finally coming to the conclusion, again based on what all of you have said, that if that is my goal, then the targets that give a loud, clear signal at 0-4 inches are not the targets I necessarily want. I am looking for the deeper targets that give off an "iffy" signal, correct? I'm guessing I'll still pull out my share of junk, but will also be pleasantly surprised from time to time. I've always blamed my lack of success on the "highly mineralized" ground here in Denver, but once this gosh darned snow melts, I am going to give my theory a try and hopefully be able to display some nice gold or silver on this site!

 

[whammy]

That Spectrum is a nice machine and I've found many nice items with mine. I still have it although I've upgraded. You have to dig all the low numbers to get into the gold area. Many many will be pop tabs, and then bang, a gold ring. Dig those iffy signals, and the ones that just whisper to you. Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[bill from lachine]

Ken,

I've dug 30 or so gold rings over the years and pretty much dig everything from foil and up regardless of depth.

And to make it a bit more challenging most of my sites were heavily hunted before I started...lol.

Regards + Bill

 

[Tom_in_CA]

kenkoehn, what you are saying is only true, if you're working locations that are stratified according to depth. Typically turf is this way, for instance. But if you get out into chaparral type terrain, hard-pan deserty type terrain, etc.... then depth is not as pronounced for old vs new. Same for old-town urban demolition tearouts, etc.... Lots of places where you need-not go deep, to get oldies.

So the much BIGGER recipe for getting old coins is where you hunt But yes, if you're working turf, then sure: depth is going to get the older stuff. And be aware: That even though you might get a famed turf-deep seeker machine (like an explorer for instance), your battle is only half -waged: A good step to make next is to purposefully pass any signal that is less than 5" deep. Yup, even quarters, gimmee clad, and kiss shallow gold jewelry goodbye. Reason is: That if you keep stopping to dig all the shallow stuff, your mind will become self-consciously tuned to the loud "bongs". Such that even though you have a machine that can grasp deeper whispers, you are subconsciously not tuned to them, and are spending your entire day digging the shallow stuff.

Although you might *think* you can have the "best of both worlds" in the turf (shallow plus deep silver), it never seems to work out that way.

 

[gordonquixote]

Most of the silver I dig is shallow (seated quarter practically laying on the surface). 1"-4" seems to be the zone for silver locally.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I believe that both detectors you own, will find the old coins you desire. Are you one to hunt permissions, or do you continually hunt the same public lands, over and over? All of my 19th century coins have been dug on private property. People have been actively detecting the town I reside in since the mid 70's. A majority of the older coins have been dug, especially around the mansions in town and around the old school.

 

[CTwoods]

I don't know your area and soil types etc...

But I am a colonial era relic hunter in CT. I spent the afternoon at a lost cellar site 5 minutes from home. It is now a pasture and trampled by cows during grass season. I was so shocked that I got the 4 best 1700s fancy design flat buttons I have ever dug, and all were 2 to 3" deep...maybe a tick more. 2 early spoons down 5 or 6 but they are HUGE targets.

I don't recall any of my oldest coins being very deep at all.


If you think your soil is bad, can you make a test garden and let it get rained in and settled...maybe that would help figure things out?


Sometimes we sweep too fast and we don't overlap by 1/2 coil. You will miss deeper and iffy hits that way. You might barely clip the center of a deeper coin with the edge of the coil, then it might seem like a false, so you don't try to center right over it. A deeper small target sometimes takes a few concentrated passes, just to get a repeatable hit

 

[MrMikeJackie]

After 40 years I'm guessing the reason you're not finding it is cause it ain't there.

 

[dirtscratcher]

I don't know about the whites but just got an atpro. The only place I can hunt right now is the shoreline of Flathead Lake. It easy digging and to learn it I'm digging everything because it's so easy to dig. The amount of iron is outrageous. What I'm learning is the atpro will find the deep coins but the most important thing is tone of signal. Visually the I'd is all over the place but in all that iron you can still get a good tone and find a coin. I guess what I'm trying to say is if I were looking for a nice solid visual id I probably wouldn't have dug a almost nothing.

 

[scotter1]

the xlt is a great machine.you need to learn more about it.the more you learn how to tweek it the more youll start finding better things.listen to the machine close and read the vdi,s.i found my oldest coin so far an 1809 large cent with my xlt at 12 in.your ground has alot to do with it also.damp ground and low iron is the best.

 

[Jeremy S]

Some of my oldest finds have been deep "iffy" signals (where the numbers jump around with just a faint high tone). When you are at an old site dig everything and remove all trash that you find. That trash can and will mask out other nearby targets. I couldn't tell you how many times I've dug and removed a few tabs or other trash, rescanned the hole, and pulled out an Indian or other old coin nearby.

 

[fistfulladirt]

You just never know. I have dug mid-1800's coins in parks as shallow as 4" deep, yet in those same parks, modern clad coins as deep as 8".

 

[bakergeol]

You have to remember that Colorado became a state in 1876. It is not going to have the old history - mansions, buildings, churches, ect as the eastern states do. In addition Denver has had a large and active metal detecting community for many decades. My old coinage I found in Colorado pales in comparison to the old coinage found back east. Your best bet is private property not detected by others.

Detecting over 50 years
George

 

[A2coins]

Do your research go to the library get maps. talk to the old timers.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Ken, I would ask you one question. Are you detecting in the older places ? The older places hold the older coins / items. I hit local parks, schoolyards, etc. for quite a while before I started researching & going to farmers fields, & door knocking on homes that were built in the 1800's. I would also find the occasional Merc. or silver Rosie until I found new ( older ) places to hunt. Then the Barbers, Seateds, Large Cents, etc. started to show up. And yes, you are also right in listening for the very faint deep signals. Just don't ignore the blasters either. I had one like that in a field I thought would be a can, & it turned out to be a Morgan Dollar. Good luck.

 

[mndigger48]

All old finds are not always deep I've found old coins and relics in as little as two inches, hunt sites that are older late 1800s to early 1900s.

 

[Randy Combs]

Most of the silver I dig is shallow (seated quarter practically laying on the surface). 1"-4" seems to be the zone for silver locally.

I agree with this

 

[dirtscratcher]

I live in Western Montana and the only shallow old stuff is found in plowed fields.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

You may want to run some tests, get a coin of the kind you're looking for, tape it to a stick, dig a few holes of different depths and wave your detector over it, and listen.