steveg

Thanks, Happa! Steve

Mike -- thanks! Yep, I did finger the half dime during the day, smiling each time, LOL! Yep, I'm sure it's the same feeling for me as when you dig a good ring (though yours are -- in terms of dollars -- much more valuable!) Thanks, Dan! Digging Seated coins never gets old; living in Oklahoma, there are very few; most of the ones I dig are during trips to PA, and I enjoy every one of them! GB_Amateur -- I was using the EQX 800, Park 1, recovery speed 2, F2 setting at 0, sensitivity 25. Ground balanced (at 11 on this site), and noise cancelled (though there was very little EMI -- hence the ability to run the sensitivity maxed out). There are a fairly large number of scattered square nails, and various blobs/chunks of old rusty iron, left over from the former/burned church, so lots of high-tone falsing that needs to be worked through very slowly. There is not a ton of undergrowth/vegetation here, as it's a fairly mature section of forest with tall trees, and thus the canopy blocks enough sunlight to minimize vegetative undergrowth. The obstacles are largely a thick layer of fallen leaves, and a ton of old logs/branches laying around, plus scattered tiny saplings -- overall resulting in a difficult hunt in terms of coil control. And of course, lack of coil control means more falsing, etc. -- so it's not an easy site to hunt. The half dime was roughly 4" to 5" deep, the large cent probably 6" or so. It's hard to determine depth much of the time, since the underground root matrix (and the dry soil we have right now) means popping a plug is impossible. The dirt crumbles, and trying to get your shovel back out of the ground, through all the roots, means most of the dirt falls back in the hole, and thus there's no telling where the coil originally laid, in terms of depth. Anyway, there is a layer of organic material/topsoil a couple of inches thick in most places on this site (deeper at times), and then a layer of relatively dense, yellowish clay mixed with shale, just underneath. So, the coins I've dug here are generally not all that deep, impeded by the clay/shale layer. The half dime was generally reading about 20 to 21 in the ground, though there was some iron nearby so some low-tone grunting was mixed in. I had to clear out the leaves, and a nearby log, to achieve enough coil control, to confirm if the target was indeed non-ferrous, or if it was a masquerading piece of iron. The large cent rang higher in tone/number of course, but again with iron around, it was a jumpy-ID type of target -- lots of numbers in the upper 20s, and bouncing into the mid to upper 30s, but then plenty of iron grunts mixed in. Neither coin was a nice, clean target, in terms of tone/ID. Sounds like you have a great site to check out, hopefully soon! My advice is -- sweep SLOWLY in this type of site (this minimizes iron falsing, with the square nails, which for me are much more difficult to deal with than regular modern nails), and when you hit what you think is a possible non-ferrous target, work it carefully and analyze closely -- listening very carefully. Rotate all the way around, vary your sweep speed over the target as you interrogate; kick away some grass/dirt/leaves from over the top of the target and re-sweep, seeing if the tones and ID numbers change, etc.. In other words, employ all the "tricks" you can, to discern whether it's non-ferrous, or ferrous trying to ACT "non-ferrous." But once you feel it's non-ferrous, DIG. I dig almost ALL suspected non-ferrous targets on those types of sites, because there are usually surprises... Hope that helps! Steve

Thanks, 2Valen! The second one is a Braided Hair Large Cent, 1839. Thanks! Steve

This is why I like vacationing back home in Pennsylvania! 🙂 I only dug two coins today, on a two-hour hunt at the site of what used to be a mid 1800s church, but is now just forest, and a small, old, adjacent cemetery... --Steve

I know some of my customers have asked this question, but I have not tried the supports myself. Maybe someone will chime in... Steve

Phillips_R -- THANKS! 🙂 Bash -- that is some terrific news; I just LOVE to hear that! A full days' swinging, and your shoulder being relatively happy? Makes my day! 🙂 Steve

THANKS, beatup, for the compliments! I am glad you are enjoying the shaft -- and glad you mentioned the cam lock in particular. That was a MAJOR focus of the design, and probably THE key component that I knew I needed to "get right," in order to achieve all of the improvements I was seeking to make (as compared to the stock shaft). Customers seem to really like the cam lock design I settled on, and I'm really glad my focus there, during the design stage, seems to have turned out to be a success! Thank you! Steve

Thank you all, for the kind words! I really appreciate it! Steve

Bash -- WOW! THANK YOU for the wonderful review! I am so glad you are pleased with the shaft, and I enjoyed working with you to try and provide you with exactly what you were looking for! Working with you was quite enjoyable, and so the feeling is mutual! Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts! Happy hunting! Steve

Bash, I look forward to your report! THANK YOU! Steve

BeachHunter -- THANK YOU for the endorsement! It's very much appreciated, sir! Steve

Thanks, Dan! 😉 GB_Amateur -- I totally agree with you, and know what you mean by "filling the slots" in the old coin books! 🙂 Yep, most coins that come out of the ground won't have any numismatic value, but it's the excitement surrounding the next find that keeps many of us going. I totally agree! 2Valen -- complaining? Not sure what made you think I was complaining! That was a fun hunt, and it's rare for me to have a "two Barber" hunt, OR a "four Indian Head Penny" hunt when hunting Oklahoma dirt, so I was very pleased... Thanks! Steve

GB -- LOL! Unless it was an '09-S VDB, I don't even think much about "key dates" on copper coins; most of them come out of the ground in bad enough condition that they don't maintain any value, unfortunately... Steve

GB -- LOL! Thanks for the kind words. I think the wheatie you are referring to is a 1915-D, BUT -- the magic wand that turns the coin into a Merc, should have no trouble changing the 5 to a 6, right?! 😉 Steve

Thanks guys! Mark -- indeed; the dirt in this site (and many, in this area) is not particularly kind to copper coins... Steve