Popular Post GB_Amateur Posted October 16, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted October 16, 2018 After a fairly lean summer (90 hours hunting from early June to late September), surprisingly that included five permissions, things have picked up over the last three weeks. Here are the details: Hunt 1 in Schoolyard: 4 1/2 hour hunt on my favorite (one of only two) schoolyard, running Park 1, ground balanced, custom 5 tones, Iron Bias 3, recovery speed 6, I got a clean 25-27 signal at moderate tone depth (turned out to be 4 inches) and was very surprised to see a 1912 (common issue) Barber dime. 'Surprised' because 1) this schoolyard was a pasture prior to 1955, 2) (when I got it home and cleaned) the condition graded out AU-53 meaning this coin had seen very little wear/circulation in its lifetime, and 3) I thought I had been over this area previously (obviously not). Does this make sense? It certainly is possible that a coin minted 40+ years previously and in near mint condition could get dropped. For example, a previous recent hunt produced a fresh drop (surface) 1980 near mint Lincoln. Now having searched this schoolyard for nearly 100 hours I've theorized backfill was brought in 26 years ago when the original school was replaced with a modern one. So this is my best theory -- I'm occasionally finding coins that were relocated to this site from a considerably earlier drop zone. No matter, gotta love that silver and the outstanding condition is a bonus. Hunt 2 (3.5 hours) in city park established 1948 (previously industrial site first occupied in the 1890's): This is my EMI noisiest site, one I've had a lot of trouble with in the past with multiple detectors but particularly the Eqx 800 in multifrequency. Besides buried power lines along the street there is a hospital with helipad across the street. As I neared the street I encountered serious EMI and checking the individual frequencies saw that the problem was at 40 kHz. In my experience this is the exception -- most of the time (from underground powerlines, I think) it's 5 kHz that suffers worst. So..., since I'm looking for coins I chose to run at 5 kHz with gain of 19 (custom 5 tones, iron bias of 0, ground balanced, recovery speed 6). Hunting in a spot I had never previously searched (thinking it was modern fill) I got a strong copper-penny / dime type signal, thinking likely a copper Memorial or clad dime. Nope, only about 2 inches down: silver!! After cleaning it in water at home it showed a 1928 plain (common) date with the reverse in no better than VG condition, but a reasonably attractive, strong obverse. Always thrilled to find silver and this time no exception. Note: the ID's I was seeing at 5 kHz were consistent with multi-frequency ID's. This is reassuring, that when forced to hunt in single frequency the detector acts as expected. Hunt 3 (3.5 hours) in same city park: While out on hunt 2 I recalled that my new, long-awaited 6 inch coil was to be delivered that afternoon while I was actually on the hunt. Sure enough, there it was in the mailbox when I arrived home. Next day was my chance to try it out. I chose a part of the park I had hunted many times in the past with great success, both with the F75 originally and later with the Eqx 800. This area had previously accomodated a 1920's home, so quite a bit of iron (nails). Park 1, gain of 20, custom 5 tones, iron bias at 2, recovery speed 6. Searching a spot I know I've been over at least once with the F75 and probably twice with the Eqx 11" coil I got a decent (but with neighboring iron hits) nickel zone signal. Expecting junk (pulltab, canslaw, pencil ferrule, crown cap to name just some of the imposters) out popped a Jefferson 'nickel'. It seemed to have the typical dark toning characteristic of this kind of coin after being in the ground for a few years, but it wasn't orange color which tend to represent the worst examples of alkali corrosion. Still, didn't think it was anything special. Turns out it was my 3rd Warnick (this one 1943-S) of the summer! Next I searched an area which (based upon the density of trash) I had previously concluded was the house's trash dump. Running a small coil gives me confidence in such an environment and under a bush I got a very strong penny/dime signal which turned out to be a near-surface Wheat penny (1945-D)! 40+ years lying there waiting for my new 6 inch coil. My last old find I'm still unsure of depth/location since I didn't remember much about its recovery. When in old sites I dig anything above 17, even though that means pulling up the hated Stinkin' Zincolns, since Indian Heads and long buried Wheaties can give signals in this low. I do remember excavating a copper penny which showed no detail at all based upon the amount of dirt/crud it had accumlated over decades in the ground, but at the time I didn't expect anything more than a 1940's Wheatie at best. Thus I was quite surprised after getting home and soaking it that the reverse wreath of an Indian Head (1896 so over 120 years old) -- my second IH of the year. Summary/Conclusion: Although the Eqx has been an excellent producer for me in 183 hours of hunting, I'm pretty sure any decent detector would have found the two silver dimes. Neither was particularly masked nor deep. However, given that I was covering previously well-searched ground on Hunt 3 it sure seems likely that the combination of the 6 inch coil and the unmasking ability of the Eqx 800 pulled those 3 oldies out where other searches have failed. To add an extra note to those latter finds, over those 3 1/2 hours I only found two other coins -- a clad dime and a Zincoln. 60% of the coins I found that hunt were oldies. As can be seen in the photo, the dimes are characteristically (for my soil) as nice as the day they were dropped, but the two pennies and even the Warnick suffer from staining and (in the case of the pennies) scaling. I hope to be able to clean those up in the future. P.S. all of the hunts were 'all metal' (no discrimination or notching). 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiftaaft Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Wow GBA! Congratulations. I was just getting ready to post my head scratching 6" coil finds, but you definitely bested my few coins (see my thread here ? ? I am going back now to study your notes. I am intrigued by the all metal. I haven't yet got enough confidence to try that, but your results are compelling. I love the detail of your hunts and the settings you are using. Thanks for taking the time to share your hunts and your amazing finds!! Tim. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiftaaft Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Boy, that barber is in great condition!! you were right in your comments about how nice that is.!! Tim. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hemmingway Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Hi GB_Amateur… thanks for sharing your recent coin hunt with us. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this presentation and particularly appreciated that you provided a detailed description of your observations and thoughts at the time, and the settings utilized with operating your detector. It was such an informative and interesting read, thankyou. Congratulations on your coin recoveries, the silver coins are always a welcome addition to our collections, and especially that handsome Barber dime. It appears to be in remarkable shape, not bad for a coin that is 106 years old and has likely spent most of those years in the ground. I would think the war nickel ought to clean up nicely too. I’ve found a few over the years, and have been quite pleased with how easily the stains were removed using a brief (mild solution) electrolysis followed by a very light finger application of a silver cleaner (Goddard's Long Shine Silver Foam) / water paste followed by a warm water rinse. Of course I’m not at all concerned about any associated value when employing such methods, but just want the coin to look nice. Below is a photo of a very ordinary but fairly representative dug example that I've cleaned using the described technique. Thanks again for putting together this excellent post, including the nicely illustrative photo of your coin finds………………………Jim. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackpine Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Appreciate the details on your hunts including settings I haven't give the 6" much time yet Congrats on the great finds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gillespie Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Wow, what an awesome story. I think I want the coil now. I might think about parting with my TDI coils to fund one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB_Amateur Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 21 hours ago, Tiftaaft said: I am intrigued by the all metal. I haven't yet got enough confidence to try that, but your results are compelling. For me, the key here is to adjust the volume of the various tone regions. I want to hear iron but I don't want it blasting my ears so the volume for the iron region (0 and below) is my lowest. Highest volume for the silver/copper zone and just as high for nickels (12-13 sweetspot). The part between iron and nickel and also between nickel and silver/copper are intermediate. (As noted previously, if Indian Heads are expected I lower the highest tone breakpoint to ~19.) It's great that the Eqx 800 has so many settings that allows each detectorist to choose his/her own. I've read here that many like to operate in 50 tones and if I had a 600 I'm sure I would learn to work in that space. But for me the signal confusion has been pretty overwhelming when I've tried searching with 50 tones. What I've settled upon (and it seems to work for me) is to use the profile setting for Park 2, 50 tones and my default hunting to be Park 1, 5 tones. If I get a solid/consistent hit in default I don't worry about it -- just dig. If I get iffy ID's & tones in Park 1, 5 tones I can quickly switch over to Park 2, 50 tones and see how steady the tone (ID) is before making a dig/not decision. Of course there are other techniques which I use, such as the 90 degree angle of attack. But the more info you have the better your decision will be. And when in doubt... ? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB_Amateur Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 Thanks for all the 'likes' and comments. I'd post if no one ever spoke up but it is confirmation to receive appreciation from others, particularly those who themselves are excellent chroniclers of our pasttime. Pardon me for not responding to each of you, but I certainly appreciate (and read with great interest) everything you say, both in response to my post but especially elsewhere on the forum. I can only hope that my reports give you 1/10 the inspiration that yours have given me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiftaaft Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 17 hours ago, GB_Amateur said: For me, the key here is to adjust the volume of the various tone regions. I want to hear iron but I don't want it blasting my ears so the volume for the iron region (0 and below) is my lowest. So do you find that the feedback with all metal gives you a less masked/cleaner tone when hunting? I toyed a little last night in all metal, using the 600/6", and lowered the volume in the tone 1 section (though the break isn't movable on the 600... or I haven't figured out how to do it yet). It was kind of like a threshold feel with the constant iron chatter (I was in a pretty infested site last night). I switched back and forth... in and out of all metal a few times... I didn't notice a difference on the few non-ferrous targets I found, but I did feel like I wasn't missing anything in all metal. I will try it some more, as well as with my 800 and more customized settings ability. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB_Amateur Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 2 minutes ago, Tiftaaft said: So do you find that the feedback with all metal gives you a less masked/cleaner tone when hunting? Not particularly cleaner. But instead of tone+dead hits I get high-tone+low-tone hits which I find are easier to register. Further, I can hear nearby iron tones and I also can pick up when iron tone and high tone are co-located, such as what you sometimes get with nails. I know some people who use discrimation (threshold in particular) will switch that off when they get an iffy signal, but I just find it easier & faster to keep it off in the first place. In high trash I've gotten false high tone hits halfway between two iron hits. Maybe there are ways to figure this out when threshold discriminating. Another thing I sometimes do is to dig up the offending iron hit in order to get a better location for the good hit (and often that clears up the TID of the good hit). Knowing there is something nearby from the start makes it easier for me. I really don't have much experience running discrimination except for back in the old days when there wern't multi-tones (Garrett Groundhog in my case). I just got comfortable listening for all tones when I learned to detect with my Gold Bug Pro, which is simply 2 tone, but IMO 2 is a lot better than 1! Apparently some detectorists let the site determine which way to go, and probably that's better if you're confident in both methods. All my life when I learn a way to do something I just stick with it and try to learn something completely different rather than spending the time to 'improve' something I already know how to do. Can't say that's the best approach for everyone, though. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now