Short by successful yard hunt: LC, IHPs, and copper name tag?

[paleomaxx]

Not much time this past week for detecting, but I did get about 2 hours in at a new house. I've been driving by it for years, but I finally caught the owner outside and explained why I've been looking to detect at this house especially. This road was one of the original roads through the town and as far as I can tell from my research, may have had the very first settlers in the area. My reference sources can't pinpoint the first house so I'm trying to go by relics and see if I can determine the earliest homesite. She was very interested in the history and very helpfully showed me where in the yard landscaping work has been done and where the soil would probably be original.

Obviously 2 hours isn't going to be conclusive, but the first results were encouraging. The mineralization is terrible so I'm sure I'm missing all the deeper targets but my first couple finds were an 1830 large cent in great condition and an 1881 and 1876 Indian Head Pennies.



The 1876 IHP was very encrusted, but when I was brushing the dirt away I would only get one number at a time and it felt like a scratch off card with the 1... 8...7!... rats, 6. So very close, but sadly not quite.

The other two old finds were very interesting though. This is a very pretty stamped brass piece and I was thinking watch fob, but what do you guys think?



There are traces of blue enamel left on it, but no patent stamps that I could make out. This next piece is the most exciting, but I really need your help on it:



I'm thinking it's a name tag or property tag and what I really need to know is how old it would be so I can narrow my research. It's a thick piece of copper and the lettering looks hand-stamped. "A. M. Kirby" Has anyone seen this style and know what it would have been fixed to and the approximate date range?

 

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[trapperart]

No help with age but congrats on some nice finds

 

[Kurios1]

Sweet old coppers there and cool relics. Excellent new permission. Keep after it.

 

[A2coins]

I would be offering to re sod his yard for free just give you a week or two and a dozer lol Thats an amazing 2 hours!!!!!!

 

[paleomaxx]

I would be offering to re sod his yard for free just give you a week or two and a dozer lol Thats an amazing 2 hours!!!!!!

If only; the mineralization was a huge pain. The random signals were so bad I passed over the large cent at 3" twice before picking it up, but it was a spot at the base of an old tree so I knew there would be coins there and kept hitting it at different angles. I played with the frequency on the At Pro a bit which seemed to help, but I know I'm missing tons further down. Any suggestions on that?

 

[A2coins]

If only; the mineralization was a huge pain. The random signals were so bad I passed over the large cent at 3" twice before picking it up, but it was a spot at the base of an old tree so I knew there would be coins there and kept hitting it at different angles. I played with the frequency on the At Pro a bit which seemed to help, but I know I'm missing tons further down. Any suggestions on that?

I love this setting on MY AT PRO for nickles gold First I would try changing frequencies you might be getting interference also don't be afraid to turn your sensitivity down.. My favorate setting is turn sensitivity down 2 bars ground balance then turn sensitivity back up then manually turn GB down by 8 set sensitivity if you need to to stop chatter I usually don't have to do that, I can tell pull tabs because the VDI will vary 5 to 15 numbers a ring gold will not vary more than 2 to 4 if that. coins usually don't vary in vdi much this isn't the rule but mostly for me. Dig solid signals check iron audio if questionable. any way.Hope this helps in your quest for goodies I'm sure everyone has different settings gotta find the best for your area... Tommy

 

[paleomaxx]

My favorate setting is turn sensitivity down 2 bars ground balance then turn sensitivity back up then manually turn GB down by 8 set sensitivity if you need to to stop chatter I usually don't have to do that, I can tell pull tabs because the VDI will vary 5 to 15 numbers a ring gold will not vary more than 2 to 4 if that. coins usually don't vary in vdi much this isn't the rule but mostly for me.

Yeah, lowering the sensitivity helps a ton. I kept it at 3 bars down and am just confident that I would get all of the large and shallow signals. That's probably why I almost always dig a large cent or two, but when I don't dig a single flat button at a site like this I know I'm missing out on the smaller targets. The chatter doesn't bother me much, but with so many signals the Pro is trying to report, some of the 80 and up tones will be too intermitten to pinpoint the location. In the woods or field I would just dig a huge plug around an iffy signal and take the top four inches off, but in a yard I have to be very confident of the target location so I leave a ton of iffy signals alone. I do have a 4" coil which I've thought about trying in these spots, but the target depth is low so I worry that I'm still missing the small and deep signals. I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to the XP Deus for the faster signal response in places like this.

 

[Mzjavert]

That large cent is wonderful. Happy happy joy joy.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the nice finds!

Sure love the old coppers!

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Great finds! Sorry no help on IDs, but they are definitely old. I bet you can't wait to go back for round 2. For some reason round 2 at a site is usually more productive for me. I know where the good targets are and go real slow in these areas and eliminate the quieter areas and the nail infested zones.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Nice job getting a new permission with potential, and thats a pretty good looking largie

 

[paleomaxx]

I bet you can't wait to go back for round 2. For some reason round 2 at a site is usually more productive for me.

Same here for sure; I always find more on the second trip.

Nice job getting a new permission with potential, and thats a pretty good looking largie

Thank you! I've discovered the trick with copper coins in this area is to never let them dry out even a little bit because once the edge flaking starts it won't stop. I carry around tiny bead baggies with just a little well water in them and as soon as I pull the coin out of the ground they go in before I even brush them off. As curious as I am about the date, it's the only way to save the patina and thus the details. Later at home the dirt cleaning takes off the patina in the raised areas, but that usually leaves the nice color contrast you see in this one and it ends up as a great looking coin even without any oil.