The Strangest Thing Happened

[Patrol]

Went detecting with my wife from Flagler Beach, FL to Anastasia Island and found nothing! Stopped off at Ft. Matanzas National Monument and talked to Ranger Rich. Great guy, knew all about MD'ing but told me that MD'ing at the National Monument was illegal. Even carrying the detectors in the car was illegal. Hmmm. He gave me a couple of beach sites to check out that were not on Federal land. The first one was beautiful but a bust, the second we were told was nice but nobody goes there. We decided to hit it anyway - that was the strange one.

We checked high on the beach and low on the beach - nothing. Then we checked an area 10 ft wide between the high and low area and the detector went crazy with hits. For an area 10 feet wide and for the length of the beach we hit coins (3-4 inches down). Over 70 coins within an hour along this strip. The coins were mostly pennies (unfortunately) and were 10 to 40 years old. My wife and I ran out of energy and quit to come back another day.

We thought it was strange that the coins were in a narrow strip and almost all the same denomination. Does this mean that there is a strip where the quarters wound up as well and another for dimes and nickles? We did this all at high tide and plan to go back at low tide to find other coins and stuff. I guess the ocean does strange things. (I would like to find the cob and escudo strip!)

We had great fun but wonder if the weight of the coins moves it to a certain level on the beach? Thanks for listening.

TE

 

[re-tek]

you probably found the towel line or the pay line as some call it.

 

[Patrol]

Re-Tek, Thanks for the reply.

Re-tek, by "towel-line" do you mean where people lie on their towels?It sounds plausible. Cheap people - only pennies?

I am not so sure it applies here. We have had strong winds a week ago and it rearranged the beaches. I have to think this beach was also rearranged during the high water and high wind event.

TE

 

[ringding]

I know what I have done in the past was set the discrimination on my metal detector to ignore pennies. Someone may have been through there before and cleaned up all the dimes and nickels and quarters.

 

[Patrol]

Ring Ding, Thanks for your reply.

That also sounds very plausible. I can see why someone would want to discriminate pennies, my back is killing me. At least I hit something. At the other beaches I didn't even get bottle caps.

TE

 

[ivan salis]

sounds like some disced out pennies -- hit the nickles and dimes and quarters and silver or they "salted" their favorite "cob" hunting spot with pennies to drive other detectorist nuts so they leave their spot "alone"

 

[Patrol]

Thanks Ivan,

The plot thickens - I can see that about salting the area. It did drive me nuts but whoever did it didn't know I like digging everything, including bottle caps and especially money. I am new to this and I still think it's magic.

TE

 

[ivan salis]

some folks salt an area with BB's to mess with PI type all metal machines on salt water beach areas to keep folks from "their cob hunting spots" --- however BB's will not stop machines that can discrimanate the iron out -- thus pennies are used --- its low down tricks 101 -- Ivan

 

[Patrol]

Thanks Ivan,

Are you that devious? I would hate to see low down tricks 401. Tricks or not, my wife loves to pull pennies out of the sand. I hope to hit the place at low tide to see if there is something that someone is trying to keep us from getting.

Conspiracy theories - they are interesting.

My wife thinks that someone was trying to amuse their kids by having them find pennies on the beach. Ivan, I like the cob hiding theory better. It makes going back much more interesting.

TE

 

[ivan salis]

only the best top notch type discrimation machines can cut out both iron and pennies but leave in --silver and gold --- few folks have them --their "pro level" and yes some folks play "dirty" sadly and while I 'm not one of "them" --- I know they do exist--- your right however you don't want to see me bag o' dirty tricks . -- Ivan

 

[BuckleBoy]

But the important thing is to get back to that spot and try and find a COB Even if you don't hit one, you'll clean house on the clad

-Buckleboy

 

[chipveres]

I used to find coins in a line parallel to the water on Miami Beach & couldn't understand it. Then early one morning I saw the guy operate the beach-cleaning machine. It has an angled blade like a bulldozer and the bottom edge of the blade defines the coin line.

Chip V.

 

[Patrol]

Thanks Chipveres,

Good answer but in this case it probably doesn't apply. This beach is out of the way and I don't believe they clean it with a machine. I believe they are proponents of the "Good God Theory" ; "God put it there and God will take it away".

TE

 

[JackInFlorida]

Hey gang,

After pulling up a half a dozen nails at Wabasso beach on Saturday, I had the same consipiracy theories in my head. Seems very unlikely that a beach as well hunted as Wabasso would still have so much metal under the sand. Iron or other . . .

Jack

 

[ivan salis]

well it could be this -- my metal detecting club has a kids penny hunt (ansd salts the adult hunt area with pennies to make it interesting -- you might have found the left overs of a club hunt -- now thats very possible indeed

 

[BobG]

I've seen it on several beaches.

Much like the action in the pan when panning for gold. The waves are no different than what happens in the pan, only on a more montserous scale. Things of close to equal weight and density will collect together.

Hunt to the water and back up for several yards. Look behind you and you'll see where most of your holes are. Now quit wasting time, and hunt that line. Your in for a treat when you hunt the low tide.

 

[kydave]

Several years ago a hunter reported finding 180 reales on Thanksgiving after a storm that took 12 feet of sand off the beach leaving big cuts. You know they couldn't have been too far apart! Somewhere around Turtle Trail i think.

 

[ivan salis]

yes -- indeed where ever it was -- hit it hard and often --- somethings going on there --