Finally Got Out And Hit A Hammered Spanish Trail Site

[Cal_Cobra]

Had a business trip to a cyber security conference in Las Vegas and wove in a side trip to my Spanish outpost site.  It's been hammered pretty hard for the past ten years or so, but I still managed to make some finds.  It was hot as he!! and the ground was parched bone dry.  In my experience at this particular site, the Equinox tends to do better when the ground's damp versus bone dry, so I have hope that there could still be some future finds to be made during the winter or spring time, but it's definitely time to find a new site 🤠

Does anyone have any idea what the button is I found at 1:05?  It's a two piece, probably Civil War era more or less, and looks to represent some European Monarchy given the crown.  I ruled out Spain and Mexico already, but couldn't find something similar. 

 

[F350Platinum]

Great hunt! Buttons are my favorite thing to find. 👍

I managed to find one somewhat like the button in question on a card of "British military buttons", but cannot make out the writing under it:

I'll keep looking. 🙂

[GB_Amateur]

Thanks for the excellent video, C_C.  As always you extract some attractive finds.  Looks like F350 has a lead on that unknown button.

I have a couple comments (not criticisms but more/less observations):

1) No Indian Head cents were minted with the 1856 date.  First year was 1859 (and as you know that from alloy 12% Ni, 88% Cu -- aka 'fatty').  There were some IH pattern 'coins' dated 1858 but the chances of one of these being in the ground anywhere (let alone as far West as you detect) is astronomically small.  So we're all left hanging as to what that date is.  😎

2) You mention iron composition objects sometimes giving a dTID of 13.  That's interesting since I've noticed that a dTID of 12-13 (USA nickel sweetspot), when mixed with iron grunts (dTID < 0) is almost always a non-ferrous target.  (I think the iron grunts are either from the ground or from nearby ferrous trash.)  I do occasionally get fooled with an old crown cap, though, giving that nickel sweetspot dTID.  Since I don't typically reject good dTID's which have iron grunts, maybe those crown caps are mixed ferrous-nonferrous signals -- I don't remember/notice.  (Note:  I don't use any discrimination when coin&relic hunting with the Equinox; just turn down the iron region volume.)  Are you getting iron comp objects with dTID 12-13 and no associated ferrous indications?

[F350Platinum]

59 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Are you getting iron comp objects with dTID 12-13 and no associated ferrous indications?

I'm not Cal (😀) but deep iron hits 14-16 on the ol' 600, always drives me nuts. 🤬 Might not be a surprise in those hard dusty places for it to come up lower.

[JCR]

Those are some interesting finds from a pretty special time & place. The dry climate sure helps preserve the condition of the relics.

Half of what I dig lately has been ruined by boggy ground.

Still hope to read how The Legend performs for you at some point in your quests.

[Cal_Cobra]

8 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Great hunt! Buttons are my favorite thing to find. 👍

I managed to find one somewhat like the button in question on a card of "British military buttons", but cannot make out the writing under it:

I'll keep looking. 🙂

Thanks for looking, that sure looks like the button!  I couldn't make out the letters either, which are likely key to ID'ing this one.   This particular site has produced a lot of buttons over the years, quite a variety of both foreign as well as American from the early 1800's to about Civil War era. 

[Cal_Cobra]

6 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Thanks for the excellent video, C_C.  As always you extract some attractive finds.  Looks like F350 has a lead on that unknown button.

I have a couple comments (not criticisms but more/less observations):

1) No Indian Head cents were minted with the 1856 date.  First year was 1859 (and as you know that from alloy 12% Ni, 88% Cu -- aka 'fatty').  There were some IH pattern 'coins' dated 1858 but the chances of one of these being in the ground anywhere (let alone as far West as you detect) is astronomically small.  So we're all left hanging as to what that date is.  😎

Thanks for keeping me honest, that's what the date appeared to be, but I'll clean it up some more and see if I can get a better read on it.  It's odd that it's cruded up because most items dug from this site come out pristine, I've even dug IHPs from there that could probably pass as un-dug. 

6 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

2) You mention iron composition objects sometimes giving a dTID of 13.  That's interesting since I've noticed that a dTID of 12-13 (USA nickel sweetspot), when mixed with iron grunts (dTID < 0) is almost always a non-ferrous target.  (I think the iron grunts are either from the ground or from nearby ferrous trash.)  I do occasionally get fooled with an old crown cap, though, giving that nickel sweetspot dTID.  Since I don't typically reject good dTID's which have iron grunts, maybe those crown caps are mixed ferrous-nonferrous signals -- I don't remember/notice.  (Note:  I don't use any discrimination when coin&relic hunting with the Equinox; just turn down the iron region volume.)  Are you getting iron comp objects with dTID 12-13 and no associated ferrous indications?

Honestly this site is so full of iron, you're likely to get iron TIDs on every sweep, but I'll pay more attention next time.  I have noticed this phenomenon for years on the Equinox though.  I've dug iron tools (axe heads, pick heads, chisels, you name it) that produced a TID of 13.  The audio is different versus say a nickle though, whereas the iron implements produce a flat audio tone and the non-iron 13's produce a bright lively audio tone (if that makes sense).  Either way I still dig them at these old sites.  I don't notch or use any discrimination when relic hunting, but as you I also have my iron audio volume reduced so I can still hear it but alleviate potential audio fatigue.

[Cal_Cobra]

4 hours ago, JCR said:

Those are some interesting finds from a pretty special time & place. The dry climate sure helps preserve the condition of the relics.

Half of what I dig lately has been ruined by boggy ground.

Still hope to read how The Legend performs for you at some point in your quests.

That dry climate and the sandy loamy soil is generally very kind to the relics and coins.  Also there's been no agriculture (fertilizers) or animal grazing (urine) to aid in destroying the coins and relics.  We have a site down the road from this one that's grazing land and almost all of the silver coins come out of the ground screwed up.  It's been a cattle and sheep grazing area for over a hundred years, so they've had plenty of time to contaminate the soil. 

I actually brought the Legend with me, updated to the latest and greatest firmware and all, but it was so hot, I simply wasn't in the mood to play with it.  Most of our sites in the summer are overgrown,  have cement like ground, or are just too darned hot to detect, so this fall and winter I'll be back at it and give the Legend a workout. 

[GB_Amateur]

30 minutes ago, Cal_Cobra said:

I have noticed this phenomenon for years on the Equinox though.  I've dug iron tools (axe heads, pick heads, chisels, you name it) that produced a TID of 13.  The audio is different versus say a nickle though, whereas the iron implements produce a flat audio tone and the non-iron 13's produce a bright lively audio tone (if that makes sense).  Either way I still dig them at these old sites.

Yep, those historic sites with so much iron (good and bad) apparently cover the entire spectrum of dTID's, whether or not those signals include ferrous grunts (dTID < 0 on the Equinox).  One thing that seems a bit strange with the Eqx (and I might just be using selective memory) is how often 13 is part of the signal.  For example, it's pretty well known that some hot rocks in gold producing areas out West will hit 13.  It would be good to hear from the designers/builders/manufacturers if there is some reason for this or if it's just spurious.

Thanks for being so open-minded when it comes to my observations.  We all (myself included) should exercise that human quality more often.

[Valens Legacy]

Great video and thanks for sharing it, nice looking button and I hope that you can identify it.