Dan(NM)

22 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

From the looks of two of those dimes, the water+soil combo is no friend to 90% silver.  And obviously worse on the 95% copper as that middle Wheatie is worse than burnt toast.

I'll stick with the dry land, although the ease of hunting that means I have more competition.  I'm not a gold jewelry detectorist but due to gold's chemical inertness (at least until it's mixed with too much copper), not to mention its high bullion value, I realize that's what you water hunters (salt and apparently fresh) are really after, anyway.

Not intending to demean your efforts, Dan.  Even that toasted silver retains its bullion value, but I get more excited seeing your numismatic valued finds and except in the worst soils you've apparently got a better chance for those in the dry, as I'm sure you know.

I'm not a big water hunter, although I do own a Nemo by Blu3 and will go into a lake or a river if it looks like a popular swimming hole. I'd rather hunt exposed dirt next to water because it's so much easier to retrieve the targets. These are the worst looking coins Ive dug since I've been in Texas. I think some farm lands drain into the creek and it could be the chemicals. This is not a place I'd go into the water lol. I do plan on keeping tabs on the water level for obvious reasons.

3 minutes ago, longbow62 said:

Good job on the silver. That looked like it was some work swinging that bank!

Thank you. the worst part is the mud, it's a sticky gooey mess lol, clings to everything.

We are in semi drought conditions here in Central Texas. I went back to the park that's been producing quite well. Today I focused on where the water would normally be under normal conditions. I ran my tone break right at 21 because the trash was almost unbearable. I may have left some nickels but I was able to pick up a few keepers. When I have more time and patience I'll go back and investigate the mid to lower tones.

Park 1 works great in fresh water.

48 minutes ago, Mark Gillespie said:

Nice recoveries.  Been a while since I've been out.  Lost my hunting buddy to Covid last month, it's been hard to believe he is gone.

 Sorry to hear that. I started the new year off with covid, I was very fortunate that it was the mild version.

6 minutes ago, JCR said:

Nice hunt. The weather has been nice but it is getting dry again here. Something made of bone would not be out of place in your area. Could be quite old too.

I showed the ring to my wife and sister in law, both of them said it gave them some weird vibes. I told them I was compelled to pick it up lol..

5 minutes ago, steveg said:

Dan,

EXCELLENT hunt!  What's the ring-like item on the far right?

Steve

Thank you very much. I'm not sure Steve, it looks like it's made out of bone or somethinglike that. It was laying on top of the ground in an area where I have dug v nickels

Beautiful day here in Central Texas. I drove over to a park about an hour from my house and had a very productive day. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

10 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Good to know.  I sometimes do similar when driving home from Colorado using Google maps (and HistoricAerials).  So far it seems I've ended up in places that have been detected, but one in particular was producing a Wheat or two.  Just wish I had more than a couple hours to hunt them....  It'll cost me an extra night in a hotel to accomodate that.

Whatever you're doing, it's obviously the right thing for your area.  I look forward to seeing what you find in 2022.  And you've inspired me to find some old parks in out-of-the-way towns within a couple hours of me for some weekend jaunts!  I think I'm lucky compared to many that my area and the entire state hasn't seen much detecting (relatively speaking) in the last several years.  I know there are some unhunted public places here.  But I'm also going to ask for some private permissions.  Back to my younger days getting turned down by the lasses.  At least the land owners won't laugh when they turn me down while thinking "and you thought you had a chance?!" 

I did spend a few days in my hometown in Northern Texas, dug 35 silver coins in 3 days of hunting. I would hunt 8-10 hours per day. I have a feeling I may have to do some door knocking back in some of the towns that produced. I hope the yards produce like the parks   Being a married man, I'm used to hearing no ; )

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Wow. Just wow. Reminds me of “the good old days,” and truly an inspiration knowing results like this are still possible. The secret of course is not a new detector. It research, and willingness to always be seeking and trying new places. Brilliant proof some really great locations are still out there, that do not require crazy amount of travel.

Just a wonderful post in so many ways. Thank you! 

Thank you Steve.  A few spots I would pull up and think to myself, no way is anything left, it's way too obvious of a place. You have no idea how many times I would shake my head in disbelief at what was coming out of the ground, I was stunned and that helped fuel the fire even more. I will add, not everything was deep, I dug a lot of shallow good targets and a boatload of crappy iffy signals that turned out to be keepers.

4 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Spectacular results for this late into the 50+ years that affordable, lightweight instruments for making such finds have existed.  No doubt you have significant skills in the swinging, recognition, and recovery part of MD'ing but I suspect you are among the best at researching to uncover ununted or lightly hunted sites that contain old coins.  Six silver halves and 25 silver quarters -- those don't come out of sites that have seen much (if any) detecting, at least not when you're using an IB/VLF.  "Well done" doesn't do this justice.

You mentioned a tone break (presumably dig / no dig break) at 18.  I see a few silver content USA 5 centers (aka 'Warnicks').  Did those come in above 18 or were those incidental finds (e.g. from a multi-coin hole with higher conductive sidekicks)?

Also, did you log the number of hours swinging, and if not will you give an estimate?

 I appreciate the kind words. I've been hunting on and off since 1988, so after awhile you learn to recognize potential producing areas. It helps having used the Nox exclusively for 100's of hours chasing deep iffy targets for almost 4 years. When I approach a new site, my thought is, if there is anything within the detecting range of the Nox, I'm going to find it, the machine was built for the kind of places I hunt.

  Now, I wish I could say that I spent hours in the library searching over old newspapers and microfiche for spots. But, what I did was look at a paper map, pick a couple of towns close to each other, call the parks dept or city office and ask them where the oldest parks were 🙂 If I found a wheat or a 5-6" deep coin, I knew the spot would have potential and I would beat the place into submission lol.   I did meet a few hunters out on the trail, none were interested in digging deep targets, just shallow clad, that was very encouraging. 

  I was very lucky to happen upon a few parks that had some great coins and stuff left. As far a time spent, If I drove an hour or more to a site, I'd spend 7-9 hours hunting. I would do that a couple times a week when I could, so, maybe 40-60 hours some months. If I were to guess, I'd say 300-400 hours. I missed almost 3 months of hunting this past year due to a move in the spring and only got out 1 time in Dec.

  As far as the warnicks go, several rang up in the zinc or low 20s. If a spot quit producing high conductors, I would break down a start looking for nickles lol, didn't happen often.  Most of the parks I hit weren't that old, 1920's or 30's. I did hit a couple of parks where I grew up that produced very well, 35 silvers in 3 days, that was a big advantage, but surprising that I found so many after all these years.   Everything clicked for me, I happened upon some poorly hunted sites, had a great machine and put in the time and effort and the rest is history.

3 hours ago, steveg said:

Wow -- what an incredible display of finds, capping off an outstanding year of detecting, Dan!

CONGRATS!!!

Steve

Thank you sir!!!!

2 hours ago, longbow62 said:

Congrats, you had a super year in my opinion.

Thanks, one of my best silver years in a while.

5 hours ago, GotAU? said:

Nice! I mean, wow! I can’t imagine how that must look in person, what an amazing collection! And thank you for also sharing information about your techniques and settings details too, what a inspiration and help for us newbies!

Thank you. It's very satisfying to see some keepers at the end of the year.

Looks like February or March before I have one in hand. That's too bad because the weather's great out here in Central Texas.

8 hours ago, wltdwiz said:

nox is not loud underwater & hard to hear over the regulator

I have the same issue with hearing the Nox while using my Blu3.

After buying the Nox and a Whites top of the line and not using either, why waste more money on another machine your not going to use.

5 hours ago, Loren said:

Has anybody ever tried a screen cover to reduce glare? I wish detector companies would make some attempt to reduce glare because I can't really see the display in most of the Deus II videos.

I use the Nox and glare has never been an issue for me. These screen protectors aren't advertised as anti-glare.

I use these on every machine I get. I cut a template and place it over as much of the screen as possible. They're almost indestructible, plus The price is right too.    "Zagg InvisibleShield for Amazon Kindle Fire Screen". I buy them off eBay for 5 bucks. I am more concerned about the screen getting scratched then I am about the housing getting scuffed up.

I see my name on one 🙂

7 minutes ago, basstrackerman said:

That skinny cable will be less resistant in the water than a standard coil cable which will be on the other water detector. 

 I'm more concerned about durability. I hunt in rivers around rock and boulder outcroppings. Seems like knocking the clip loose from the coil could be an issue. I'm assuming the cable clamps to coil.

According to Dilek, the pinpointer they were working on is being redesigned to pair to the Legend. The Pulse dive will not pair up to the Legend.

I have one on pre-order, I'm rooting for it to out do my 800, but, I have my doubts. If it performs decent, then it'll be my water hunting machine. I also am on a pre-order list for the Deus 2 to use as a relic machine. Not to keen on the skinny cable to hunt in the water.

3 hours ago, Rick N. MI said:

What a spot to hunt! Nice hunt. Try soaking the unidentified coil in hydrogen peroxide. At the bottom it looks like the crust on it is almost ready to start popping off.

Thank you very much, I was able to clean it up enough to getting ID, looks like I got myself a slick shield nickel.