Old Bells

[jimb]

BlueDiamonds, as promised here are a few that I have picked up over the years. I actually have more, but don't ask me why.

 

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[BlueDiamonds]

Wow, those are cool bells Jim! The second one looks like a little pilgrim lady... Around Thanksgiving, our grocery store has a commercial with little salt and pepper shakers of a pilgrim man and lady. Your bell reminds me of that. Did you find them or get them at flea markets? I'm new to metal detecting .. We found some dog tags the
other day. Not military dog tags...real doggie tags that goes on someones pet. I have a bounty hunter detector that we used. I know, they are cheap machines, but it actually worked and we found some change too so I'm not unhappy with it. We had some places make the thing beep but felt uncomfortable digging in a public park so we didn't and stuck to the dirt path the maintenance trucks use. The true test will be when we go to Sebastian and work the beach over there in September. Living in florida has its advantages at times. Oh well, looks like I had way too much coffee this morning. Thanks for the pics of the bells and info.

 

[jimb]

Blue Diamonds, The bells were all bought at flea markets. However I do have sleigh bells that were found with a detector. Now about digging in a park. Here in the Milwaukee area, back in the seventies people with detectors were kicked out of the parks. So we (club) met with the parks director and it was agreed that people could use a screwdriver to hunt in parks. I only had one problem since and that had nothing to do with digging. It might be a good idea for me to post some pics. on how to recover coins by just using a screwdriver. You probe for the coin first. Then when you hit metal, you poke the driver under the coin and force it to the surface. When some park people see a shovel in your hand they panic! But remember they use a device that puts holes in the grass that arieates the grass. The next time I go out I will take some pics. for you on using a screwdriver. Once you learn that, you will not worry again about probing for coins! I wish for you to find your first gold coin soon! There is however one draw back about hunting with a screwdriver, you sometimes scratch the coin. So use your own discretion on where you are hunting weather or not a shovel is needed. But in a fancy dancy park I would say yes! Hope this has helped and welcome to treasurenet! Jim B

 

[NGE]

Get some brass brazing rod and melt some on the tip of your screwdriver or have a shop do it for you, then just sand it to a dull point. Brass will not scratch a coin. Another method of using a screwdriver is to insert it gently while probing for your target, when you have located it, back your screwdriver out about an inch or so and work it back and forth, like making a slot in the grass, remove the screwdriver and stick your index finger down into the slot and feel around for your coin (wear a thin pair of gloves) retrieve coin with your finger, then push grass and dirt back together and step on it, no one will know you were there....... Not GE

 

[jimb]

Not, Thanks for the advice! I use your method often. However every now and then I get cut on a bottle cap with the glass still on it. I will try to up grade my screw driver as per your instructions.

 

[jimb]

This bell was found by my wife on an old Indian Camp ground next to a lake. I also found a counter wight for a roman scale that probably is 2000 years old, just ten feet from the bell. I saw one in the museum just like it. If I can ever find where I packed it away I will get a photo and post it.

 

[BlueDiamonds]

That one is rather cool too. It looks like a bigger version of the ones I put on my kids feet
when they were little, so I could tell where they were. I have 4 teens, and they were all so close
in age that when they were toddlers, they kept me running. Putting the bells on them gave
me an advantage. I could hear where they were.
The bell you show in the picture, is it an old sleigh bell?
thanks for the info on probing for coins. my metal detector is a cheapie... a bounty hunter
I bought at walmart for about 80 bucks. I dont think its that accurate in pinpointing a target
yet. Either that or i'm not 'getting it' when it comes to zeroing in on a target. Its fun thats for
sure.
I'm new to metal detecting and the forum so forgive me for delaying on the replies. I didn't know
there was a link to viewing replies. I've come on here for a reason and then forget when reading
about peoples adventures and their treasures they find.

 

[jimb]

BlueDiamonds, My wife also put little bells on our daughter's shoes. But not on our boy's shoes. She was a runner! About your detector. I started out with a cheep detector also and could not find a thing unless it was a half dollar right on top of the ground. If you are really serious about detecting you might think about getting a Compus 250. Kelly co in Florida has the best prices in the country. There really are nice things to find with a detector out there! And Florida has some nice beaches. Jim B

 

[BlueDiamonds]

Your wife is a smart lady. Those little bells were a life saver. I had to put them on my son as well as he was always into something he wasn't suppose to be. The reason I did it was because we lost my other son at the park once and it was 10 minutes of my life that I will never forget. We were all in the playground, I had my two girls sitting on the bench tying their shoes , I thought my husband had the two boys so when I was done and looked over, he only had one! Well, to make a long story short, we found him on the other side of the park on a kiddie train ride that he was suppose to have a ticket to get on. He was in the caboose all by himself, the other kids that had bought tickets were in the other cars, he was looking like he was the cat that had swallowed a canary. That inspired the bells.
I never heard of a compas 250 but i'm so new to this that I havent heard of many other than what I've been reading on here. I'll have to keep that in mind for sure, thanks!

 

[jimb]

Blue, Looks like I posted your reply in the wrong section. So I will redo it. I forgot to tell you that the Ace 250 is a Garrett detector. I know several people who use them and they all like them. It will probably be my next detector. Have you tried to post in other sections yet? I find the daily snapshots to be very interesting, and everyone likes pictures!

 

[jimb]

Blue Diamonds, Please check out the post about the 250 on today's finds "Alpha group in West Bend."

 

[BlueDiamonds]

ok Jim, I'll check it out the Alpha group on today's finds. Thanks for the info. I haven't posted anywhere else other than to congratulate a few on their cool treasure. I found a barbie foot the other day, I'm not so sure anyone would want to see that. Funny thing is, I kept it. It's not a rabbit's foot but I'm thinking it may bring me some good luck? I may just put it on a key chain. lol

 

[jimb]

Blue, Just curious, how did you decide on the name BlueDiamonds? I use to keep everything that I found too. Then after years of rusty junk, sometimes called history, I dumped at least three bushell baskets full of rust and felt free again. One thing I have learned about treasure hunting is make sure that your tetanus shots (for lock jaw) are kept current! Especially if you hunt parks that are fertilizer or if you hunt farm land.

 

[BlueDiamonds]

After my husband and I were married, he mentioned that if I pushed my first name diane "dia"
and the first four letters of my last name "mond" together that I would be his little diamond and it
was his pet name for me after that. Blue is a metaphor for the sadness I felt after he died.
I use it for my email, screen names, pretty much everything, that way I'll never forget what it is
or which site I use it on.
I haven't kept much of the junk that I have found. The hair pins, bottle caps and pull tabs have all
ended up in the park trash cans. The Barbi foot amused me. It's wearing a high heel and has sparkly
glitter on its toes.
Can you get lock jaw from fertilizer? I thought you had to step on a rusty nail or cut yourself with
something rusty, I never heard about farmland or fertilizer being a factor.

 

[jimb]

Blue, I am sorry to hear about your husband. How long has it been? My daughters name is Diana, and I wrote a book called the Adventures of Diana, but it is not about her. Diana is such a pretty name! Tetnus shows up a lot in cow poop. Hence hunting farm fields could be dangerous if you do not have a tetanus shot. You can also get it from rust or even dirty found in the ground glass! So Please make sure that your tetanus shot is current. More then once I have stuck my finger in a hole to recover a hard to get coin only to find that it was a bottle cap with a piece of glass attached. This is a wonderfull hobby but to enjoy it you must stay healthy. Did you enjoy yourself at the organized hunt that you went to? Group hunts are fun! Sort of like being in school again with all the kids to talk to. What did you find there. Sorry that I did not get back to your post sooner, I somehow missed it. And now I am spending a lot of time working on my second book. And it is a good one! It is called "God Listens".

 

[BlueDiamonds]

Jim,
How old is your little girl? Does she share your MD hobby? Whats the coolest thing you've ever found?
That's wild that you write books, I think I found your book on Authorhouse.com. That is really something
to be proud of. Who drew the picture for the cover? Is your second book going to be anything like your first one?
I didn't know cow poop could give you tetnus. I can't remember when my last tetnus shot was, hmm...
I'll have to ask my doc about getting one I guess. I hate shots.
The organized hunt hasn't happened yet. Its at the end of January in north Florida. It's going to be fun for
certain. every place around here seems like its overhunted so a new place is going to be wonderful.

 

[Detectingfreak]

cool bells!!!

 

[jimb]

Blue, My little girl is 37 and is a house wife. My boy is 41 and he retired as city Ambulance director and fireman. And now owns an ambulance company. Diana does not metal detect but my grand children love it and have their own detectors.
The best thing that I found was a $60,000 3 karat green diamond ring in a lake. It belonged to a lawyer and I returned it after seeing a story about it in the news paper.
Yes Authorhouse was my publisher. I drew the picture from a girl from my dreams.
My second book is much better then the first! But is not finished yet. If you go to the section here on treasurenet near the bottom marked EVERYTHING ELSE (Anybody like poetry?) I posted a few poems from my last book in several posts there.
Please do get a tetanus shot! Treasure hunters should all have one. I once got a rusty fish hook stuck in me that I found attached to some lead weights. Tetnus shots last 10 years and mine was about out, so I quickly got a new one.
On organized treasure hunts coins and tokens are buried that can be turned in for some nice prizes. I was president of The Wisconsin Association of Treasure Hunters for 3 years and was Hunt master each year. We had hundreds of hunters come to our hunts for the many fantastic prizes, Charlie Garrett always donated 5 detectors to us for the hunt. He is a very kind man. I know that you will enjoy the one in Fla.