Old church no finds!

[scuba]

There is a church by my house thats been there since 1849 and we cant find anything there! Its very trashy tons of iron! My group has used alot of detectors on it a BH time ranger,fisher f2,minelab xterra 705,and I just took my new AT PRO there with no luck! We could have dug more iron but there wouldn't be any grass left I know there has to be some silver there whats the deal?

 

[neuseman]

Try going to the outer edges of the yard and work your way in. Maybe this will help.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Could it be, that it was just hunted to death, by very qualified hunters, years ago? There's some machines that do a pretty good job around iron. And machines that can even get a coin under a nail or two, while still passing the iron.

I can think of a spot near me, that dated to the 1820s, that had a major "iron zone", where .... you litterally could not hear a clear/clean spot of ground with no iron or signal. When we first started working this site, we pulled lots of conductive targets from this mess (coins, buttons, cool whatzits, etc...), that were simply easier, or above, or louder than the iron. But as time went on, and we'd picked off all the easy gimmees, we had to go back through and listen more carefully. Then we opted for 2-filter machines, which separate and average better (although not known for going as deeply). Again, more stuff. Eventually even that dried up, so I even took a Compass 77b out to this zone, which can see through 3 or 4 nails sometimes, to get a conductive target (although it is a beast to operate, and tops out at 4" depth).

If someone were to work this site now, they'd be saying the same thing you're saying: "where's the coins?" or "where's ANY conductive targets?" And it might be confusing, because the ample iron indicates lots of human habitation, activity, etc....

 

[scuba]

I dont know if its been hunted or not very well could have.

 

[umrgolf]

Fill dirt is a likely answer

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Fill dirt is a likely answer

I agree Jeff. Does the ground seem clumpy when you are digging plugs? Not firm. Or is it compact and solid? Try detecting around old trees nearby. Even though fill dirt was brought in, they wont spread it over the base of the trees. I have dug some great relics in lots that had fill dirt in them around the bases of old trees.
Good Luck!

 

[scuba]

I would say yes theres alot of fill dirt. Since its been built on to three times. Sidewalks and parking lots have been poured so thats most likely the problem. The soil is not compacted and you can see it change colors without digging very deep!

 

[Monty]

I go along with the fill dirt theory. There is a small lake near my house that had a zoo, amusement park and swimming hole from about 1923 until 1959. Now it is surrounded by a housing complex and has had about 6' of fill dirt put in where the old beach use to be. Have never found a darn thing there and it should be loaded. Monty

 

[bigtim1973]

You guys need to dig up all that iron junk to open up a window where the good stuff is. That is probably why you cannot detect anything because the iron is choking up all of the good signals.