Againstmywill

Was out to the local park on the football field. It just rained a couple days back, so the ground was moist. Usually these conditions mean that deep wheat pennies or silver is easier to get to. Today I hit a 33 in Park 1, recovery 4, 50 tone, and all metal. I thought there was a possibility of a silver quarter, but to my surprise there was a silver ring instead. Looks like it may be from the 1940s. It was resting on top of a clay layer under the sandy surface. I think there were 3 wheat pennies, but they are very crusted with sand.

6 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

Yes I have been hunting parks and baseball fields, but do not have the 15" coil.

I have the stock 11" coil and most of my finds is with the sense at 18 with everything else on factory settings.

I will remember what you have stated and give it a try the next time I get a chance at another field.

Did you see the 23 cents I found a couple of days ago?

Yes, those were very nice finds that I would be happy with any day! Congrats!

What mode are you using? I hunt in Park 1 about 99% of the time. If you are not using 50 tones, I would suggest you use that, or assign the numbers I said just one tone so you dig everything in that range. I personally like the 50 tones for the information that can be aquirred by investigating the item from different directions.

3 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

I am using my grandfathers Equinox 800 since he died, and no I have not found a ring yet.

Have you hunted parks? I have found that using the 15" on the Equinox helps me cover far more ground. I generally run on 17-18 sensitivity and 7 recovery. I'm not going for depth if I am looking for jewelry; I'm going for coverage. If you are hunting a very trashy site, your ears will cry out for mercy in 50 tones. Stick to a football or baseball field and find a place away from the stands where foil is generally thrown down. For gold, focus on solid, repeatable signals in the 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 range. Yes, gold can be outside of those numbers, but the law of averages can keep you from digging crazy amounts of trash. For larger silver, like a men's band, you will generally want to watch for a number close to a quarter or just a bit above. 

10 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

Great finds, and one of these days I will find a ring (I hope).

Have you ever found a ring? What machine (s) do you use?

For my style of hunting--parks, baseball and football fields--I keep the 15" on 99% of the time. It finds things so small at times that I have issues locating the item even with a pinpointer. It really doesn't go much deeper, but it allows me to vacuum much faster. When I use it along with 7 recovery speed, it picks through targets very well. Would I use it downrange at a trap shooting range? Probably not. 

I have used it at the beach before with mixed results; it found nothing good just like the 11". The negative that I have experienced at the beach is when the coil gets wet and then you start detecting the dry sand. The extra weight of the sand can be a bit much until it dries enough to shed the sand. In addition, the drag in the water makes swinging it for long periods of time a killer to my joy of detecting at the beach. 

Some finds are attached to show what the coil has found in the last year. It is no slouch when it comes to the thin rings.

Decided to go more for silver today at a possible older site that now is a grass parking lot for a school. I had really high hopes of the Equinox pulling silver from the ground as there wasn't much trash so I lowered recovery to 4 and increased sensitivity to 24. There was plenty of depth, so I even busted out my t-handle shovel. I got a very strong 32-36, and decided to dig it even though the coil was still able to pick it up about 10 inches off the ground. I was expecting a can given the footprint of the sound as the coil waved over the object. Down about 6 inches was what I thought might be a money holder or a makeup compact. 

I waited to open it until I got home. Sadly, there were no gold or silver coins inside. It is still kind of cool. From the looks of the design, it appears to be from the 40s-50s. The makeup still smells similar to how it should smell. There are no words that I can find on the outside or inside. It is not magnetic, so I assume it is brass. Anyone with an idea of a brand name would be appreciated.

The silver dime was unexpected. Given that I don't find a ton of silver coins, each shiny coin coming from deep in the ground is also thrilling! Although I have detected the area a time or two in the past, I have not found anything good there. Plans are being made to go back.😁 

The weather in FL was warm today. I know other parts of the U.S. have frozen ground, so I thought lots of pics of fairly mundane items might be appreciated.

1 minute ago, locator said:

Hello Againstmywill. May be it is one of thosel, just older? --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-climbing_equipment#/media/File:Belaying8.jpg

Should have mentioned that it seems like it is brass...good heft to it. Does look similar, however. Also, I'm in FL.😁 Thanks

Anyone have any idea as to what this is? It is not magnetic at all, and rang in as a 32 on the Equinox about 12" down on an athlete field. Thought it was going to be a silver half, but it turned out to be Andre the Giant's ring! It looks like it was not bent, just mounts at the angle that it is. Old hood ornament?

https://aweinspired.com/products/ruth-bader-ginsburg-necklace-solid-14k-yellow-gold

Looks like you may have the less expensive one:  https://aweinspired.com/products/ruth-bader-ginsburg-necklace-gold-vermeil

Really like the video showcasing the spoils from all your hours of toil! Was the lake drained after a long time of being full, or is this an annual ocuccurance? Thanks for sharing and allowing us to vicariously enjoy your finds.

7 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Have you wondered why these fractions occur -- e.g. almost as many quarters as dimes, and considerably fewer nickels than either of those?  Also, do you have a breakdown of the pennies into 95% copper vs. Zincolns?  (I assume 'Sacajawea' includes the same composition later dollars, e.g. Presidentials.  But no Susan B. Anthony nor the larger earlier format?)

I hate digging pennies! I can 95% of the time know when a penny is going to be dug. The only reason I dig them is because of the chance of a larger gold ring or gold coin. As I look at the number of times I dug pennies, and compare that to the number of rings that were in the same numbers, I have dug thousands of pennies with no rings...or gold coins. I should probably just cut my losses and bypass the pennies, possibly missing something. Years back I did not dig many nickels because I was not smart enough to know that is where the gold hung out as well. Nickel numbers are improving with time. The quarters and dimes are dug because it is easy money. All $1 coins were counted the same. The vast majority of $1 coins were found in Utah. I believe I have only found one in FL the last 2 1/2 years. I do not take into acount the difference between copper/zinc pennies.

7 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Does this report include older coins (e.g. 90% silver)?

No. I started out counting all my coins after a hunt. Then life got busier and I would let the coins collect for a while. I would still go through and count them, but then even that ended due to time and interest in keeping that up. Now, the coins get counted if they go through the CoinStar machine. So, all the rejected coins that are shown in the pictures above are not coined toward the total. I recognize that it throws the data off, but time is money!  The silver goes into another spot that does not get counted toward the totals. I find very few silver coins, so it is not that big of deal.

Just added the CoinStar-counted coins to my ongoing spreadsheet. Here is a breakdown of over 22,000 coins I have dug since 2011. Makes me sad to know that the 8,813 pennies I have dug are only worth less than $88 (loss due to crusty pennies). Total value is $2,213.63.

I have sent in a number of the Garrett Pro- pointers. Upon taking one of them apart thinking I could fix it---which turned out not to be the case---a capacitor was bulging when opened up. The rest of them were having the same issue as that one, so I assume that is what goes bad with them. Each of the Carrots I have had seem to last about 3 years before displaying the issue. In all fairness, Garrett did me a solid by replacing the units for a very reasonable amount. See post from last year.

2 hours ago, FloridaSon said:

I can see wear between the washers - the whitish areas. Also across the break point. And look in the holes that accept the bolt. So may be a combination of things.

From the looks of this, for the wear to be the cause of the breaking, the fracture would have to follow the arc that is scored in the plastic. It did not; it snapped perpendicular to the possible weak spots. While there is stress that causes the failure, it seems likely that it has more to do with the composition of the plastic, IMHO. 

Cashed out the last two peanut containers tonight (2019+2020). Total for all 4 was $703. This year I had a much higher percentage of quarters due to my outings this spring at a local rec. center. Last year's total was $145, and this year's total was $236 and still going. I included a picture of pre-Florida rejected coins and Florida rejected coins. Obviously, Florida soil is not kind to zinc pennies.

7 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

Great find on the ring, sorry for no fish though. Did you try using the beach settings to find the fish?

Good luck on your next hunt.

Use a slow crank bait for the fish, it is getting cold and they don't move as fast.

Temp was 83° today in Florida. The fish were trying to hide in the shade to avoid the heat! It may have been the 10 ft. alligator that was limiting the number of fish.😳

Just got back from a 45 minute deposit tonight. Two peanut containers down, two to go! The manager had to come and open the machine a couple times to clear crusty pennies and bent coins. The two times she did that, it printed out receipts for cash with the fee deducted. At the end, she credited back the $24.68 in fees. So, I got $115 in Amazon and the rest in cash! Total was $322.53. It was a fun time with my son who has had the experience before.😀 The last two pics show the rejected pile, likely about $4 in pennies and other mutilated coins.

Now it will be easier the next time! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I remember the first time standing there for about 45 minutes feeding a bunch of dirty coins into the machine. It sounded like a Las Vegas slot machine on steroids 🤣. I felt bad for the people coming to cash in a couple dollars worth of coins as I was in the middle of a major deposit of currency.

Hold on...not so fast! Did you find it using your CTX3030 while metal detecting in Smith's Cove? Looks Templar to me. I hope you put it in your top pocket! 😁

https://www.usmint.gov/news/consumer-alerts/mutilated-coin-program