Finds with my new Ace250

[mountainplayer]

Hi all. This is my first post.

I'm a newbie to metal detecting, but not to this site. You folks got me going with all of your great finds.

Just received an Ace250 three days ago. Right away, I've had luck finding pennies at 2-5" in my front yard. Also found that sprinkler attachment that I've been missing.

Last night, I went to a site near town (and a major river) that was a late 1800's railroad depot. No trace of it is left, not even old foundations, so I used advice I got from this site and looked for flat areas overlooking the river.
Didn't find the coins I was hoping to find, but to my amazement found what I think is a square nail. The pics show some of the clad from my front yard as well as the nail.

Detail pic of the nail is after I broke at least 3/4" off of it trying to jiggle it around for best light. Hope you can see how the layers are separating.

I'm hoping that you'll share some of your expertise with me and let me know if this nail matches with the late 1800's time period of the site. Depth was around 4-5".

 

[mountainplayer]

Detail picture of nail.

 

[Noodle]

Hey Mountainplayer,
I don't know much about dating a square nail, but I commend you on your hunting! To me, if it's square, it's OLD. The quality of it may have to do with the environment it's been trapped in for 50-200 years.

You've gotten off to a great start and I wish you MUCH luck. You've just gotten started. The giant has been awakened! Wait 'til you find those first coins. The older, the better. Silver. Gold. Pull-tabs..

Keep us posted! We're always willing to give encouragement and share knowledge. (I don't have any ... knowledge, that is ... but I'm full of encouragement!)

- Noodle

 

[Paul in WA]

You are off to a great start. Welcome!

Paul

 

[mountainplayer]

Thanks, Noodle.

Your encouragement means a lot. I was starting to feel frustrated that I only seem to find coins in my front yard. Not counting the nail, which I don't mean to discount, but still I can't help feeling I'm doing something wrong. I guess I just haven't gotten used to the machine.

Paul in Wa, just saw your post. Thanks! What part of WA are you from?

 

[Postalrevnant]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby Mountainplayer. Good job on the finds the first time. Its the first of many many finds for you.

Rev

 

[ringfinder]

Hey wellcome to the forum. You now have one of the
hotest detector's on the market. I have one myself and have found
many items with it. I suggest you try putting your sensitivity down
to around 4 notches. You can go higher but it may cause a lot of noise.
I also like to hunt in jewelry mode. If their are a lot of pull tabs in the area
and they are giving you fits, use the coin mode. In the coin mode you can
still find mens rings and nickels. You won't find small ladies rings in this mode.

If you hunting a very old site with not much trash, try using the all metal mode.
It will still ring out for a good coin find. I picked up 4 pocket knives the other day
using this mode. I like to try them all and see what I can find in each mode.

I have posted several finds using my ACE 250. If you go back through the
posts this year, you will see some of my finds.

I must also tell you I use a SunRay Probe with my ACE 250, it helps dig out
those really deep coins in a hole. I recommend you use a probe. It doesn't have
to be the SunRay, but it is the best.

Well hope I have helped u some. HH, Ringfinder

 

[mountainplayer]

Thanks for the tips, Ringfinder.

I'll look into the probe. I do seem to be still learning how to use the pinpoint feature. I take it that you trust the Ace on even those deep (8+") holes. I wasn't sure if I was just getting false readings, since I've read on this forum that the Ace isn't that good deep. I've seen your excellent finds over the last few months...I didn't realize you found them with the Ace!

You folks have been great. Forum member comments and suggestions are what led me to the Ace in the first place.

 

[funkman]

mountainplayer,

I have the Ace 250 and love it. took a little getting used to the pinpointing but getting better. I just got a Bullseye pinpointer and that helps even more. If you have any old maps of the site you are working on maybe they can help you figure out where the depot stood. Are the tracks still there? If not then use all metal mode and try to find some more relics. Once you start finding a spot where there are quite a few things in one area, it should help you figure out where the depot stood and possibly net you some nice coinage.

HH

Funkman

 

[Blackjack77]

Congrats on the finds, you also picked a very
popular MD-
Don't discount Your own property- I've found
about 30 coins on My property so far- most
from before 1965. Its also a great place to
learn your MD.
HH

 

[The Gemologist]

Good start. Now get out there and find that gold.

Welcome too

 

[Danimal]

Keep it up!
The ACE250 is a great machine (at any price)
I have actually witnessed where my ACE (with the bigger 9x12 coil) picked up an item that my friends Minelab ExplorerII and his son's White's DFX heard NOTHING...even with both units cranked up all the way!...the item ended up being a badly corroded copper belt-tip that was broken in half, but still...in pinpoint my ACE heard a whisper, and their $1000 machines heard nada.

(BTW, I am still gonna get an ExplorerII this winter lol)

 

[mountainplayer]

Blackjack77, Gemologist and Danimal:

Thanks for responding to my post, and also for the good wishes!

My interest in this hobby started because of this forum, and I'm officially hooked. I need to be careful that my job doesn't suffer!

I've been getting some really good tips from here and from the Garrett forum, and now I'm dying to get back to the site of the old railroad depot. I'm going to try to steal away later this afternoon and use some of the tips I picked up. I'm learning that I need to place a little more trust in the unit, and credit my numerous dry holes to still learning how to pinpoint. Maybe I'll bring a bigger shovel until I get better!

Any ideas about the (possible) square nail? It was found in the area of the RR depot, but because there are no structures, foundation remnants, etc., that I've been able to locate I'm not sure I'm looking in the right area. Knowing whether or not the nail is potentially late 1800's would be a big plus.

Danimal, I've been following your lunchtime digs. Great job and some beautiful coins. Knowing now that you've been using the Ace250, get ready for some serious brain picking!

 

[birdman]

You should do well! The 250 is an impressive unit for the money.The nail is an old one and I would hit the site again!

 

[groundfisher]

Welcome Mountainplayer. That nail definitely dates the 1800's railroad site.There should be more artifacts in the area that you dug the nail.Take it slow and and listen for the fainter,deeper signals.If you're getting a lot of false signals then you're running your sensitivity too high.Read and reread your owners manual and practice setting your sesitivity and discrimination and pinpointing techniques.It takes time to get to know your detector.I hope you make some good recoveries from the site.Best of luck!

 

[buscadero]

8) MP: Welcome to TN! Nice Finds! For your Square Nails, Check out: http://www.mtsu.edu/~histpres/services/naildating.htm

I can't tell w/ all the corrosion! Good Luck!

Joe

 

[YankeeDownSouthAdv.]

WTG!!..i had found a few od those back a cpl years ago, with my old ace 250, have a whites prism V now, just got it as i have recently gotten back into the hobby!!! looking forward to finds like that again myself..gregg

 

[cheese]

I tear down old houses as part of my business. The older houses from the 1800s are built with nothing but square nails. Seems like the round nails start showing up in the 1920's houses around here. I'd say anyplace you find square nails is a place to detect! Those rusty nails will fool the detector sometimes though. If you pay close attention to the ID screen, you'll notice that the ID will hit on a good signal (like dime) almost every swing, but once in a while it will usually go over to a different signal...like maybe 50cent piece. That's a sign that it could be rusty iron...but I'd dig them until you get a feel for the machine and it's habits. Don't get discouraged by your finds just yet. It took me a long time to learn what to do, what signals I want to ignore, and what signals are worth checking out. The more you use your machine, the better you'll understand it. Keep an eye on the meter, and after a while you'll see patterns that help you become a better detectorist.

I don't own a 250, but I bought one for my wife. She is having some of the same frustrations...but she is also relatively new to detecting altogether. Half the battle is getting on a site with something worth finding. The other half is knowing your detector well enough to find it.

 

[mountainplayer]

Hi All.

Thanks to Buscadero, ocalasix and Cheese for the replies.

Buscadero, thanks especially for the info on dating my square nail. I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but it definitely has layers running lengthwise, not across. From the website, it fits with those made between 1835-1890 which matches the dates I know of for this spot perfectly.

Cheese, you couldn't be more right. I read a bunch here on this forum, as well as the Garret forum. I also managed to sneak in a two hour hunt today. I'd been to this spot and dug what I suspected was an older square nail and bunch of nothing. Today I used the "minds eye" pinpointing ideas I found on the Garret site, instead of the Ace250's onboard pinpoint function, and made my best find yet. Its a really nice condition US Army button with "Horstman Philadelphia" (I think..still dirty) on the other side. Rang like a 50 cent piece.

Here's what I've learned so far. The "minds eye"pinpointing is where you locate a repeatable signal, then move the coil in short strokes from side to side while slowly bringing it back toward you. When it stops, the target is right under the forward tip of the inside coil. Tell your wife to try this, it made a big difference for me.

The idea is to maintain the signal the entire time, so you need to do some fancy body english to locate the best spot to start with. After that, you just walk the signal back until it disappears, and try to visualize the exact spot.

I'll post a pic as soon as my son gets home with the camera.

 

[YankeeDownSouthAdv.]

your very welcome, and hopefully i will be posting some pics real soon...gregg