Coming up empty handed

[IDigVirginia]

Ok so obviously it could be user error, it could also be that everyone around here is so tight that any coin they ever dropped they picked up. I have an AT Pro which I recently purchased and have put about 10 hours on it. Prior to that I used a Fisher F4 and a Bounty Hunter Discovery 2200. My family owns a house that was built probably in the 1800's if not earlier. I have searched it with all 3 detectors and I have found a bunch of trash and a few modern (post 1965) coins. Their was an old stage coach that ran in front have the house that was the trail from Roanoke, VA toward Bristol, VA. Am I just unlucky? The soil is rich, very dark brown and easy to dig. It makes me wonder if the older stuff has sank over the years beyond a depth my detector can reach. I know that something has to be lost for me to find it but it blows my mind that I can search an old farm house that I feel like many other detectorist would LOVE to hunt and I come up with zilch. Since I started detecting (in my free time) I have only found 1 silver dime and it was an Rosie. Everything else has been clad or junk. I'm not a glass half empty kind of guy and I don't want to get discouraged to the point of quitting the hobby because every time I get a chance to go out and hunt I'm very optimistic and excited. I just need to figure out if this is the norm or am I doing something wrong.

By the way I have hunted beaches, parks, other older home sites as well. This particular house just seemed like it would be a hot spot.

 

[tanz 82]

I'll bet a previous owner of the property laid down loam to grade the yard . I run into that with many permissions I get up here in my area

 

[against the wind]

Thanks for the post and congrats on getting to know the PRO. I used that machine for more that 2 years and it is a very productive and accurate machine. I hunted a lot of trash laden areas in NYC so I switched the coil to the 5 x 8 to pick up the good targets. For depth, at old sites like yours, I would suggest using the larger stock coil. The AT PRO has recovered targets at 10 inches for me. You need to go slow and dig all targets. There had to have been a clothesline and outhouse on the back of the property.
If you don't clean out the trash that may mask the goodies, you won't get true readings. Apparently the back yard was.used for bbq's.
Try placing a nickel over a quarter and then swing the PRO coil over it. A normal nickel signal is 51 - 52. A normal quarter signal is 86 - 87. Don't get discouraged. The PRO us a very capable machine. Give it time to produce. You should be finding buttons, suspender stays, and household items like spoons and other utensils.
Keep at it and log all finds and hunts. You will start to see progress as you get to know your machine. For now,, Dig Everything.
Good luck and HH.

 

[Bruce R]

See my hand ? That's from my digging tool. And I got virtually nothing to show for it, but it doesn't stop me. There's always that next spot !!!View attachment 1320639

 

[CRUSADER]

Haven't read all the answers but the area your doing could have modern fill (top soil brought in), that could explain it.

What's the deepest coin you dug?

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I get a lot of blank spots down here, and I assume it's because the whole city was built on drained swampland for the most part, and the good stuff has just gotten deep over the years. I recently hunted an 1850's house that I had found some nice coins and tokens in when we were remodeling it, but the yard gave up nothing but trash and a few modern coins.... I want to eventually try a bigger coil and see if I can coax any deep stuff out of some of the places that were duds before. If I do I'll go through again with my stock coil and clean out all the shallow trash first and hope for the best. But then again, some places it's entirely possible that the good stuff is just not there....

 

[IDigVirginia]

Went back for another round today at the same location. Found some trash I threw away and here is a picture of the other finds. '72 and 2007 Lincoln. I don't know what the deal was but I kept getting signals in the low 80's and kept digging up what looks and feels like melted aluminum? That's about an 8th of the total number of pieces of melted aluminum I dug. Any idea what that's all about?

 

[Bruce R]

You're probably digging an old trash fire pit . By the way, you're not empty handed anymore.

 

[CRUSADER]

Went back for another round today at the same location. Found some trash I threw away and here is a picture of the other finds. '72 and 2007 Lincoln. I don't know what the deal was but I kept getting signals in the low 80's and kept digging up what looks and feels like melted aluminum? That's about an 8th of the total number of pieces of melted aluminum I dug. Any idea what that's all about?View attachment 1320817

Fire pit, or they used to dump the ashes from the house nearby.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Detecting after a good amount of rain also seems to help enhance the halo effect of those deep items, so it comes into range of the detector.

Sometimes there was soil added, sometimes the items sink lower than can be detected, and sometimes theres just not that much there.

If they do any digging at that site, that maybe your answer.

Keep at it, you'll find the answer.

 

[Scrappy]

I could have sworn I posted but here I go again....

You need to remove the layers of shallow bull crap before you get to the deep signals. Even the best detectors have trouble with masking.

 

[WHADIFIND]

All I can add is that after about a half century of doing this, one thing I've learned is that the "treasure" is NEVER where one thinks it is, it's where one finds it. Don't build your hopes too high on what a place looks like. Wait until you find. Also, hunt where you think nothing old could ever have been there.

Lots of times yards, grounds, etc get fill dirt or re-sodded.

Stay optimistic but tailor that with the knowledge that finding something is the lower of the percentages.
When it happens, appreciate it!

Keep the faith!