tnt-hunter
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2018
- Messages
- 2,057
- Reaction score
- 12,107
- 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
One of the scout parents asked if I could help him find a jack handle that got lost on his brother’s farm. It is up in Pennsylvania about 35 minutes away. I said I would and went up to search. He showed me the area where he believed it had been lost. It was bare ground that had been bulldozed. The handle is cast iron, U shaped and about 10 inches across. I covered all the ground carefully and had no luck. He found some railroad ties pieces that had been used with the Jack when the handle was lost, but they were outside the area I had searched. I searched around that area and still no luck. He concluded that the handle may have gotten caught in the dozer’s track and it could be anywhere in a fairly large area.
He invited me back to his house to detect. The house was built by a doctor in 1900 and is part of his farm. I spent 5 hours swingin the CZ21 and found 14 coins with a face value of $0.78, part of a lipstick tube, an oil lamp piece, an aluminum toy fork, a toy cookie cutter, a toy pistol, a stainless spoon, a rose tag, a toy plane, a brass ball finial, a dog tag, 3 wheaties, a small piece of a croatal bell, .45 caliber slugs, a broken reins guide, 2 brass rings, a fishing lure, some miscellaneous metal and 8 tabs.
I was surprised and disappointed by the number and types of coins found. I was sure I would find some silver and some older coins. Nothing great. There was a lot of dead space and very few iron signals. The best find was the Somerset County dog tax tag from 1913. Unfortunately that was under a rock and I broke a piece off during the recovery. There is another piece missing that must have broken off before I dug it, but it wasn’t in the hole.
DAY 2
I went back to the K to 8 school to clean up some more areas. I spent 3.5 hours swingin the CZ21 before I got rained out. Things are thinning out but there are still a few things to find and the goodies are scattered so you never know when one will pop up. I keep hoping.
I spent 3.5 hours swingin the CZ21 and found a whopping 6 coins with a face value of $0.15, an aluminum tag, a sinker, a 1952 wheatie, an elephant embellishment, an old bullet, tiny aluminum washers, a lock, a button, the end of an old bar fuse, some can slaw, aluminum nails, bottle caps, 42 tabs and 4 pencil ends.
Ball buttons can be old, but the backmark on this one indicates it was made after 1965 so not the winner I was hoping for.
DAY 3
I went back to the permission with the great front yard and used the CZ21 for an hour to cover the grass strip between the back fence and the paved alleyway. Then I used the Equinox for 4 hours to redo the front yard and part of the back yard at a 90 degree angle from the first go round to see if I missed anything with the CZ21.
I only found 3 pennies and a piece of a a toy car beyond the back fence and I didn’t find anything in the back yard, but the front had a few goodies still hiding in the ground.
Altogether I found 18 coins with a face value of $0.31, a dead pocketknife, a piece of a toy car, a tag/pin, 2 IHPs, 2 wheaties, a button, a folded piece of brass, a tiny crotal bell, 2 pins, a valve stem cover, part of a clock, a small brass finial, part of an aluminum needle threader, small bits of construction aluminum, aluminum bottle caps, foil and 3 tabs. (The large pin, the valve stem cover and the clock part all came from the edge of the neighbors yard. I accidentally went too far several times as I gridded. So they weren’t missed the first time because I didn’t cover those spots.)
I have not used the equinox very much and before now only on the beach. So I played with the programs a bit. I did most of my work in Field 1 and played around with park 1 and 2. I got a decent signal in FIELD 1 and switched to PARK 1 and got no signal at all. I dug the target and found an iron skeleton key and 2 inches below that was the valve stem cover. So program choice does make a big difference. I prefer a detector that finds it all and you can switch off the iron like the old Excalibur 1000 I used to have.
The wheaties are a 1911 in decent shape and a 1956. The Indians are an 1892 and a 1907. That makes 4 Indians from this yard. I have detected 6 or 7 houses on this street over the years and all of them produced Indians.
The thing that looks like a mine chit is actually a pin. Part of the pin is missing, but the part that is there has a manufacturer’s mark of MATTHEWS. I can’t find any A. S. CO listed anywhere so not sure what company it was from.
The best find of the day was the tiny crotal bell. It still rings as usual and has a makers mark of OC. The only information I can find on OC is Oliver Crr. He made bells from 1725 to 1727. So a nice little bell that is 200 years old.
As I did before, I have everything, even the junk, to the owner. My fun is in the finding. He can give the goodies to his kids as momentous of the house they grew up in.
DAY 4
I went back to the older scout camp to cover part of the parade field. That’s where I found most of the silver in the past and my first Spanish silver cob coin. I spent 5 hours in the drizzle swingin the CZ21 and found 48 coins with a face value of $3.26, a flashlight, a crucifix, 2 silver dimes, 2 wheaties, a flat button, 4 scout emblems, a big copper square nail, a brass whatzit, 3 .22 slugs, a bunch of .22 brass (not pictured), a shoe grommet, a hat pin back, the head of a brass tack, part of a belt loop knife hanger, 6 camp tent pegs, a railroad spike, a little can slaw, 3 grommets, some lead chunks, 20 tabs and one pencil end.
The crucifix is aluminum so nothing great. The dimes are a 1953 D and a 1956. They were about 3 feet apart so possibly lost at the same time. The wheaties are both from the 1950s and a little rough from the acid soil. A nice variety of scout emblems, Mother’s pins for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class and the Eagle from an Eagle medal. Scouts loose so much, bad for them and good for me.
The flat button was a nice surprise. It is plain on the front with a slightly raised edge on the back. No backmark is visible, but it could have been eaten off by the acid soil. A nice old find. Not much really old comes out of here, but I have found Spanish silver here so old things are possible.
The best week of the new year so far. Of course it is only the second week so I still have a long way to go. Thanks for looking, stay safe, good luck and may your coil lead you to good things.
One of the scout parents asked if I could help him find a jack handle that got lost on his brother’s farm. It is up in Pennsylvania about 35 minutes away. I said I would and went up to search. He showed me the area where he believed it had been lost. It was bare ground that had been bulldozed. The handle is cast iron, U shaped and about 10 inches across. I covered all the ground carefully and had no luck. He found some railroad ties pieces that had been used with the Jack when the handle was lost, but they were outside the area I had searched. I searched around that area and still no luck. He concluded that the handle may have gotten caught in the dozer’s track and it could be anywhere in a fairly large area.
He invited me back to his house to detect. The house was built by a doctor in 1900 and is part of his farm. I spent 5 hours swingin the CZ21 and found 14 coins with a face value of $0.78, part of a lipstick tube, an oil lamp piece, an aluminum toy fork, a toy cookie cutter, a toy pistol, a stainless spoon, a rose tag, a toy plane, a brass ball finial, a dog tag, 3 wheaties, a small piece of a croatal bell, .45 caliber slugs, a broken reins guide, 2 brass rings, a fishing lure, some miscellaneous metal and 8 tabs.
I was surprised and disappointed by the number and types of coins found. I was sure I would find some silver and some older coins. Nothing great. There was a lot of dead space and very few iron signals. The best find was the Somerset County dog tax tag from 1913. Unfortunately that was under a rock and I broke a piece off during the recovery. There is another piece missing that must have broken off before I dug it, but it wasn’t in the hole.
DAY 2
I went back to the K to 8 school to clean up some more areas. I spent 3.5 hours swingin the CZ21 before I got rained out. Things are thinning out but there are still a few things to find and the goodies are scattered so you never know when one will pop up. I keep hoping.
I spent 3.5 hours swingin the CZ21 and found a whopping 6 coins with a face value of $0.15, an aluminum tag, a sinker, a 1952 wheatie, an elephant embellishment, an old bullet, tiny aluminum washers, a lock, a button, the end of an old bar fuse, some can slaw, aluminum nails, bottle caps, 42 tabs and 4 pencil ends.
Ball buttons can be old, but the backmark on this one indicates it was made after 1965 so not the winner I was hoping for.
DAY 3
I went back to the permission with the great front yard and used the CZ21 for an hour to cover the grass strip between the back fence and the paved alleyway. Then I used the Equinox for 4 hours to redo the front yard and part of the back yard at a 90 degree angle from the first go round to see if I missed anything with the CZ21.
I only found 3 pennies and a piece of a a toy car beyond the back fence and I didn’t find anything in the back yard, but the front had a few goodies still hiding in the ground.
Altogether I found 18 coins with a face value of $0.31, a dead pocketknife, a piece of a toy car, a tag/pin, 2 IHPs, 2 wheaties, a button, a folded piece of brass, a tiny crotal bell, 2 pins, a valve stem cover, part of a clock, a small brass finial, part of an aluminum needle threader, small bits of construction aluminum, aluminum bottle caps, foil and 3 tabs. (The large pin, the valve stem cover and the clock part all came from the edge of the neighbors yard. I accidentally went too far several times as I gridded. So they weren’t missed the first time because I didn’t cover those spots.)
I have not used the equinox very much and before now only on the beach. So I played with the programs a bit. I did most of my work in Field 1 and played around with park 1 and 2. I got a decent signal in FIELD 1 and switched to PARK 1 and got no signal at all. I dug the target and found an iron skeleton key and 2 inches below that was the valve stem cover. So program choice does make a big difference. I prefer a detector that finds it all and you can switch off the iron like the old Excalibur 1000 I used to have.
The wheaties are a 1911 in decent shape and a 1956. The Indians are an 1892 and a 1907. That makes 4 Indians from this yard. I have detected 6 or 7 houses on this street over the years and all of them produced Indians.
The thing that looks like a mine chit is actually a pin. Part of the pin is missing, but the part that is there has a manufacturer’s mark of MATTHEWS. I can’t find any A. S. CO listed anywhere so not sure what company it was from.
The best find of the day was the tiny crotal bell. It still rings as usual and has a makers mark of OC. The only information I can find on OC is Oliver Crr. He made bells from 1725 to 1727. So a nice little bell that is 200 years old.
As I did before, I have everything, even the junk, to the owner. My fun is in the finding. He can give the goodies to his kids as momentous of the house they grew up in.
DAY 4
I went back to the older scout camp to cover part of the parade field. That’s where I found most of the silver in the past and my first Spanish silver cob coin. I spent 5 hours in the drizzle swingin the CZ21 and found 48 coins with a face value of $3.26, a flashlight, a crucifix, 2 silver dimes, 2 wheaties, a flat button, 4 scout emblems, a big copper square nail, a brass whatzit, 3 .22 slugs, a bunch of .22 brass (not pictured), a shoe grommet, a hat pin back, the head of a brass tack, part of a belt loop knife hanger, 6 camp tent pegs, a railroad spike, a little can slaw, 3 grommets, some lead chunks, 20 tabs and one pencil end.
The crucifix is aluminum so nothing great. The dimes are a 1953 D and a 1956. They were about 3 feet apart so possibly lost at the same time. The wheaties are both from the 1950s and a little rough from the acid soil. A nice variety of scout emblems, Mother’s pins for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class and the Eagle from an Eagle medal. Scouts loose so much, bad for them and good for me.
The flat button was a nice surprise. It is plain on the front with a slightly raised edge on the back. No backmark is visible, but it could have been eaten off by the acid soil. A nice old find. Not much really old comes out of here, but I have found Spanish silver here so old things are possible.
The best week of the new year so far. Of course it is only the second week so I still have a long way to go. Thanks for looking, stay safe, good luck and may your coil lead you to good things.
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