Newb here looking for advice

[snowskate]

Hey all,

Just started metal detecting about a month ago and have been out a few times. Have found several coins in my backyard:

This was from my first hunt, a rental ACE 250:

US Penny 1919 -US Penny 1919 -US Penny 1947 -US Penny 1947 -US Penny 1954 -US Dime 1964 -Canada 1Cent 1966 -Canada 1Cent 1972 -Canada 1Cent 1983 -Canada 1Cent 1986 -Mexican Cinco Centavos 1964 -Mexican $100 Pesos 1987 -Bahamas 1 Cent year unknown (coin damaged)

I enjoyed it so much I decided to buy my own ACE 250 but haven't had much luck since that first hunt.

I haven't found anymore wheaties or silver since, but have found some clad, a few bullets, 1958 pepsi bottle next to some trash (spiral glass 6.5 fl ounces), Slaymaker "rustless" padlock, donation plate (found this at a site, the donation was made by one of my former professors parents).

Here is my top 3 goals for starters
1) indian head penny
2) sub 1900 coin
3) gold (any kind)

Does anyone have any suggestions on sites to hunt in the area (around Bloomington) that might get me one of these? Anyone else here hunting within 30 miles of me?

 

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[Mackaydon]

Snowskate:
Welcome to Treasure Net!!
You may wish to place your Q. in the Illinois section of the Forum. Scroll down from the opening page to the section where you'll see all the states; click on Illinois.
Good luck and good hunting,
Don.......

 

[snowskate]

Hi Don,

Thanks! Hmm.. that is odd because it is showing that I am in the Illinois forum,

"TreasureNet Forum > TreasureNet By Location > Select Your Area.... > Illinois > Post reply ( Re: Newb here looking for advice )"

So are you saying this is not in the Illinois section?

 

[p2c]

Snowskate,
You are in the right area, Don may be mistaken in your surfing. Unless you meant that less known "illinois" that is a republic in the confederacy of belchadistan ...
Anyway I am up in Chi-town area, but lived in Bloomington-Normal from 1989 to 1996. I didn't hunt then. There used to be an old orphan's home (actually rather large) in the area where Pine Street joins into Locust St. It was torn down sometime in the mid 1990's and now some of the land has been developed and a few of the original buildings (still standing) have been converted into office buildings. You could ask the owner if you could track him down if you could hunt around those buildings. Also, there are several older homes in downtown Bloomington -- ask permission though. Downtown normal, Fell park is pretty old. I am sure it's been hunted a lot, but worth a try. Perhaps some of the older Churches as well if you can get permission.
Then there are a lot of older communities -- El Paso, Carlock, etc. around you. Try to determine if there are any old parks in those smaller, older communities.
The area you live in does have pretty good history, so you should be able to find places.

Also, Milner Library at ISU would be a good place to do research. And also, I am sure there is a historical society. I know there must be a club down there. Join it and learn from others.

Good luck and happy hunting.
-Jon

PS on Gold, gold coins are scarce. If you want a ring you need to hunt the junk signals, because gold, particularly jewelry registers in the pull tab range normally. Also, it may be easier to make a trip to a beach for gold jewelry, though it exists in parks, playgrounds, sledding hills, etc...

 

[DPBOB]

Look for old maps in your area..
Historical Map Works
or Historical Aerials

 

[snowskate]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the info! Ah yes, the ISSCS.. I believe one of my friends dad's owns the grounds, so that is definitely on my list. I have done some research, found a club and have made a list of potential sites. All this snow has me bummed out though.

I want a gold coin so bad, that would be my ultimate treasure. Guess I wont stop hunting until I get one =)

Thanks again for the tips!

I have looked through most of the old maps in my county, has some useful info but still not very skilled in tracking down locations from looking at the maps.

 

[p2c]

I may be wrong on this, so someone else can pipe in, but I think your best chances of finding a gold coin in Illinois would be at an old farmstead site that existed prior to the great depression. A lot of people buried their gold after the Gold Standard was suspended and the fed called in this nations Gold Supplies in 1933.

 

[snowskate]

Thanks for the tip! I will have to do some more research to find older sites.

I couldn't resist hunting in the snow so I swung in my backyard for about an hour.. didn't find much but I did find my first toy car. A "TURBO THUNDERBIRD"

 

[Lowbatts]

"I want a gold coin so bad, that would be my ultimate treasure. Guess I wont stop hunting until I get one =)"

Welcome to madness!

I've found gold in a lot of forms over the years but coinage, well that's a rarity on a scale with winning the lottery. Then again just looking at the sheer number of coins found this year as reported here in the Il forum you've gotta wonder where they're hiding.....

Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[Mackaydon]

Snowskate:
My bad; sorry.
You're in the right place.
Don.....

 

[twistidd]

Welcome to the forum! You've done well with your Ace 250, silver on your first hunt? Not bad at all!

If you in fact become hooked on the hobby, then I suspect that at some point you will upgrade your metal detector. I'm not bad-mouthing the Ace 250, as I too own one, but you'll see with time that the Ace will limit your options in a great way. Keep the Ace for the beach, tot lots, stuff like that. I haven't sold mine because it comes in handy at times, but virtually all of my best finds were made with the White's M6. A lot of people would actually consider the M6 an inferior machine, but I think I've done OK with it. Look into the Minelab machines, they aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for. Just watch this forum and pay attention to the ratio of finds of Minelab owners vs. machines the the Ace 250 or Bounty Hunters.

BTW, don't get frustrated if you can't find a gold coin. Very very few of us have ever found one, and most of us never will. The reason finding a gold coin is such a mindblowing occasion is due to the infrequency at which they are found with metal detectors. Good luck, and dig all the nickel-penny signals if you want a gold coin.

Joe

 

[snowskate]

Thanks =)

I do plan on upgrading at some point when I can afford it, but for now the ace will have to do. It seems like everyone around here has the minelab etrac.. not sure. I will have to ask the local club what they think.

Just this week I was watching some videos about how gold sometimes shows as pull tab.. can't help but think some of the tabs I passed up was my gold coin

mark my words.. I will find that gold coin.. or go crazy trying

 

[p2c]

Snowskate,
You have a goal for all that modern coinage you find, and it does add up. I just switched to a Minelab Etrac from a Fisher F70. I know that talking detectors can bring out strong feelings because sometimes people's opinions can be colored by brand loyalty, especially if they have hunted for decades with the same brand. A huge part of what makes a detector good is the user knowing full well how to use it. That being said, every detector has its limitations. That is plain why I chose to switch from the F70 to the Etrac. The best input will come from people who have had experience with multiple machines or at least have really compared more than one machine. A couple of Illinois guys gave me input on the Fisher vs Minelab and that was what sold me to change (that and the tremendous amount of finds the Etrac users were making). I can say even though I've only hunted 4 times now with it, I am glad I made the change. But it is an expensive decision, so make sure the input you get is good input from multiple sources and not someone who has succumbed blindly to brand loyalty.
Also consider what type of hunting you want to do, where, etc, these types of decisions also affect the type of detector that best suits your needs.

 

[snowskate]

I do want to shell out the cash for top of the line.. maybe thats where part of my tax return will go..got the 8k first time home buyers credit this year =)

I am very tempted to walk down the street and detect on an abandoned building site. There are no posted private property/no trespassing signs on the property. What do you guys think? I know someone has to own it, but its just sitting there telling me it has some old coins for me

 

[p2c]

I'd suggest being very careful. It's one thing to walk through non-posted no trespassing, its another to dig. You could check with the county tax clerk, or someone in the municipality to track owner. If all else fails, I'd ask neighbors to the place. If you can't track an owner, perhaps ask neighbor's permission as they'd likely be the ones who would call it in. At least if police did come, you'd have a fall back that you talked to the neighbors and they said okay, in that case that may get you out of a misdemeanor and fine down to just being asked to leave the place. In all likelihood, you wouldn't have trouble, but if you did it could be bad.

 

[kimsdad]

Here's my thoughts on it: Research it, find the owner & get permission. If you can't find the owner or get permission, move on to the next spot. Try to put yourself in the property owner's shoes - ask yourself how you would like some stranger digging up your property without asking? No coin is worth getting in trouble for, and I never want to put myself in a position where someone else has control over my destiny, so to speak. If someone owns it - and someone does - someone could take offense to your exploring their land. I don't want to give the hobby a bad name, either.

I've hit some sites that looked like they would be loaded with oldies, only to find they were "empty" of anything good. Don't let your imagination drive you crazy about what you might be missing there. It could be a good looking dud.

And before I forget again, welcome to T-Net!!!
Neil

 

[snowskate]

I have done some research in the area, and the site the building is on has a lot of history.. mid 1800's factory with small ties to Abe Lincoln. Definitely don't want to get in trouble, but can't say I'm not tempted to walk over there right now. I suppose I will try to track down the property owner. Thanks for the advice =)

 

[snowskate]

found the owner but only a business name with PO Box in Arizona listed as contact.. business name not found anywhere online. They have owned the parcel for 25 years.

is there some sort of public record where a business has to be registered that anyone knows of?

 

[Lowbatts]

As a professional property owner stalker I can tell you cold calls are hard. What you need is DP Bob, he's the King of Cold Calls! I've gotten dozens of invites from strangers while working street rehabs and such, picked and chosen carefully.

If there's a property I'm interested in and I cannot make casual, face-to-face contact with the owner then I'm in trouble. Some people just sell better than others. But never walk on to someone else's place not knowing firsthand and ahead of time that it's okay. Ditto Neil.

A nearby company owns a ghost town I'd maim someone to hunt. Nevermind that they'll move in with earth movers in a year and destroy every trace, they just don't want someone playing in their yard so I know the feeling. Do send some type of ambiguous inquiry on the property to the address listed. Be nonspecific until you know you are talking to the person who can make the call on permission.

BTW, we haven't bumped up the old map links for awhile so here's some for your review.
http://landplats.ilsos.net/
http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/ilhap/county/
http://www.historicmapworks.com/

Have fun, find us Chicagoland looters a place to go for a day trip of piracy downstate there and get back to us!

 

[snowskate]

so people just come up to you while you are detecting a torn up street and say you can metal detect their property? Yeah.. I figured most people wouldn't want to get a call like that, but not sure else how to handle it.

Thanks for the map links =) I have done what seems like a ton of research and have a list of fairly significant sites. Problem is most of them are on private property. Top site right now dates back to early 1820's (earlier if you include the Indian tribes that were in the area), lots of key locations within just a couple square miles, including 2 pre-1900 fair grounds.

Hopefully I can find someone who knows someone who knows someone that knows the owner of one of these locations. I'll let you guys know if I make any progress