Depth of older coins in modern yard...

[sibbley]

I hope I chose the right place to post this.

Most of what I find in my yard is more modern. My house was built in 1966. Prior to that the property was field, prior to that it was part of a strawberry field.

Am I correct to assume that when the house was built in 1966, top soil was brought in which would make anything prior to that deeper than my Ace Apex can detect? The top soil is anywhere from 3-5 inches deep. Under that clay/shale.

Of course, it is all together possible there is just nothing older to find. Just starting to think I may need to look deeper.

Can anyone recommend a machine capable of looking deeper than my Apex?

Thanks,
Tony aka sibbley

 

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[Gulf Coast Pirate]

Why would you assume top soil was brought in? My house was built in 1967 on the existing grade.

 

[sibbley]

My assumption was based on modern construction in my area. In most cases here, top soil is brought in to make grade. Maybe this wasn't the case in the 60's.

 

[releventchair]

You can also look for slopes or where moved soil from site preparation ended. Minor change of elevation or where ground "drops" at yard edges. Sush a drop paid off for me in a park one time.

Kinda depends on your area and how much capital was put into site prep.
Some areas the topsoil was /is stripped and carried away to be resold to someone else. (!)
On others a site was just leveled. Other sites a house was just built on what existed.
And some sites , simply had few drops or losses!

 

[Mackaydon]

Suggestion: Find a more lucrative area to search.
Don in SoCal.

 

[sibbley]

You can also look for slopes or where moved soil from site preparation ended. Minor change of elevation or where ground "drops" at yard edges. Sush a drop paid off for me in a park one time.

Kinda depends on your area and how much capital was put into site prep.
Some areas the topsoil was /is stripped and carried away to be resold to someone else. (!)
On others a site was just leveled. Other sites a house was just built on what existed.
And some sites , simply had few drops or losses!

Thanks. Unfortunately, the only sloping is by the road. No sloping between properties. The road existed prior to 1860, all the land along our road belonged to one of three farms that were in operation till the early 20th century. The house across the street was built in 1860. I have thought about searching down by the road, but people drive way too fast, so safety is a concern.

I'm thinking topsoil was brought in. Our township is predominantly Martinsburg shale. On both properties I've dug, topsoil is between 3-5 inches. I know the other property built in 1974, was brought up to grade with soil brought in.

I have a couple other properties to search in the same general area. I'll see how they go.

 

[releventchair]

I hope I chose the right place to post this.

Most of what I find in my yard is more modern. My house was built in 1966. Prior to that the property was field, prior to that it was part of a strawberry field.

Am I correct to assume that when the house was built in 1966, top soil was brought in which would make anything prior to that deeper than my Ace Apex can detect? The top soil is anywhere from 3-5 inches deep. Under that clay/shale.

Of course, it is all together possible there is just nothing older to find. Just starting to think I may need to look deeper.

Can anyone recommend a machine capable of looking deeper than my Apex?

Thanks,
Tony aka sibbley

5 inches shouldn't bother your Ace.
I've hit silver at 10ish with an Ace 350. A small nail and piece of wire were involved. Just a tiny hint of the silver dime. Another dime had two bigger nails with it. Again just a peep. But that iron sure was obvious!
Several inches on an Indian head with rubble below a parks fill dirt.
Like other items it was laying on or near the rubble in that parks"basement". The equivalent of your shale..

It's a slow down and study little peeps when stuff is deep.
Headphones can help.
Other items nearby can make it hard. You get two or three things going on at once under your coil and have to barely wiggle your coil to get a tiny decent signal, dig it.

Be sure you're scrubbing the surface too. A coil help above the surface a couple inches costs you a couple inches potential.

I don't know your detector.
Moist soil and working a small area of it slow and in opposing patterns helps me.
Starting with a slow overlapping serpentine pattern.

Maybe bury a few items from 4-5 to 8-10 inches deep as a test garden in your yard to practice on.
Older stuff already in place should ring up louder. But a coin on edge or something similar is going to take knowing your detector well to "hear". More so if iron or something else is with or near it.

 

[boogeyman]

Suggestion: Find a more lucrative area to search.
Don in SoCal.

Yup! Find some places close to search. Save your yard for when you want a quick hunt or don't want to drive. It's not
like it's gonna go anywhere or you'll lose your permission.

youre thinking fill, does it show signs of being scraped? The goodies layer might've gone with the brush & trees.

 

[sibbley]

5 inches shouldn't bother your Ace.
I've hit silver at 10ish with an Ace 350. A small nail and piece of wire were involved. Just a tiny hint of the silver dime. Another dime had two bigger nails with it. Again just a peep. But that iron sure was obvious!
Several inches on an Indian head with rubble below a parks fill dirt.
Like other items it was laying on or near the rubble in that parks"basement". The equivalent of your shale..

It's a slow down and study little peeps when stuff is deep.
Headphones can help.
Other items nearby can make it hard. You get two or three things going on at once under your coil and have to barely wiggle your coil to get a tiny decent signal, dig it.

Be sure you're scrubbing the surface too. A coil help above the surface a couple inches costs you a couple inches potential.

I don't know your detector.
Moist soil and working a small area of it slow and in opposing patterns helps me.
Starting with a slow overlapping serpentine pattern.

Maybe bury a few items from 4-5 to 8-10 inches deep as a test garden in your yard to practice on.
Older stuff already in place should ring up louder. But a coin on edge or something similar is going to take knowing your detector well to "hear". More so if iron or something else is with or near it.

Thanks for the tips. I'll give the test garden a try. I get many short quick middle and high tones that don't register numbers on the machine. I always thought it might be interference. I actually brought this subject up because I've started wondering if they are targets deeper than the Apex can ID.

 

[DIG5050]

What coil are you using on the Apex? I have 3 coils, Ripper, Viper and Raider. The Raider is definitely a bit deeper than either of the other two, but depending on the mineralization in your soil, depth may vary.

I’ve easily hit 9” copper cents in the soil of some yards here in my area of Ohio. But in my back yard test garden, it’s hard to consistently hit a 8” clad dime using the Apex and the Raider coil. My back yard soil is mostly clay with a bit of top soil mixed in and some iron bits to boot.

It’s very possible there are no old coins in your yard to find. I’ve hunted with the Apex in many permissions of old homesites, and sometimes there are just no old targets to extract.

I’ve often wondered if lack of depth is the issue, but going over the same areas with the Deus II-9” doesn’t yield much more. The Deus is a champ at un-masking targets commingled with other trash, and that may be where the Apex is lacking. Working the Apex over these areas will usually yield most of the same targets, but it takes more work and careful listening to the Apex’s sounds in the headphones. HH.

 

[sibbley]

Yup! Find some places close to search. Save your yard for when you want a quick hunt or don't want to drive. It's not
like it's gonna go anywhere or you'll lose your permission.

youre thinking fill, does it show signs of being scraped? The goodies layer might've gone with the brush & trees.

It's possible the pre-1966 goodies layer might have gone away when they built the house. I've only found one coin pre-1966, a 1949 wheat penny. I do have a few other places to search. I'm sticking to my yard and my in-laws to get to know the Apex.

 

[sibbley]

What coil are you using on the Apex? I have 3 coils, Ripper, Viper and Raider. The Raider is definitely a bit deeper than either of the other two, but depending on the mineralization in your soil, depth may vary.

I’ve easily hit 9” copper cents in the soil of some yards here in my area of Ohio. But in my back yard test garden, it’s hard to consistently hit a 8” clad dime using the Apex and the Raider coil. My back yard soil is mostly clay with a bit of top soil mixed in and some iron bits to boot.

It’s very possible there are no old coins in your yard to find. I’ve hunted with the Apex in many permissions of old homesites, and sometimes there are just no old targets to extract.

I’ve often wondered if lack of depth is the issue, but going over the same areas with the Deus II-9” doesn’t yield much more. The Deus is a champ at un-masking targets commingled with other trash, and that may be where the Apex is lacking. Working the Apex over these areas will usually yield most of the same targets, but it takes more work and careful listening to the Apex’s sounds in the headphones. HH.

Using the Viper. When I ground balance, the number is in the lower 80's. Old coins would be cool. I'd be thrilled finding and old square head nail!

 

[Picketwire]

I get many short quick middle and high tones that don't register numbers on the machine.

If they stay in one place, that is a sure dig signal. Even short low tones with no numbers that don't move can be great targets. If the pinpoint moves, it's probably junk but what you just described is likely coins or other good nonferrous targets too deep to give a number. That's what silver hunters look for. I'm not an expert but I would dig those every time.

 

[cudamark]

Unlikely coins and such are going to sink below your clay/shale layer, so, getting something that will detect deeper isn't going to help.

 

[sibbley]

If they stay in one place, that is a sure dig signal. Even short low tones with no numbers that don't move can be great targets. If the pinpoint moves, it's probably junk but what you just described is likely coins or other good nonferrous targets too deep to give a number. That's what silver hunters look for. I'm not an expert but I would dig those every time.

Just went by sound this afternoon. These items are definitely older than the other items I've been finding. The nails and small iron pieces really weren't that deep. Slight chirps with no number on screen about 4-5 inches. The large piece was a faint low tone that read 1. It was about 11 inches, boy did I work for it.

Thank you to everyone. I learned from your tips and suggestions and found my yard does hold some older items.