F350Platinum

Thanks Joe, it was the last thing I found there near the house.

Second day of spring was a winner! A bit chilly to start, but it warmed into the 60s. At no point was it really cold because there was no wind, or just enough. Last night I told Chase I was headed to the big old farm today, I've done well there recently and wanted to check out a few more areas as well as go over some of what I already hunted. I got there fairly early, Chase has a long drive so I decided to go to the top of the largest hill, I only did it once before. The photo doesn't do it justice but it's 141 feet high, yeah not that big by any standard, but a long walk here. It's almost terraced, but probably all natural. This was shot from the top, I only found a couple of buckles on the way up and behind it. Saw Chase walking into the field below, and we searched around the farm for quite a while, both of us had the D2 and the 13x11" coil. The bigger the better here. I used my Relic program, changing from 0 reactivity to as high as 1.5 when it got trashy. I tried to go higher but targets disappeared. The 13" has excellent separation for its size. I ended up walking over 6 miles today, and got only a handful of trash: All the usual stuff, shotgun shell ends, buck balls and metal bits, very little iron even though it is everywhere. Here's what I got, I thought it was interesting/amusing enough to post: An old stamped buckle with decoration, a chrome plated and painted rooster (same reverse), an extremely old spectacle buckle, and a piece of elongated oval lead with no marks. Next row is a strange copper coin with a center hole, it appears to be either cast or hammered with the sunburst design. Two IHP's, a 1902 and 1904. Here's the large coin, it's a bit bigger than a large cent: The side is wavy so I don't think someone used a real coin to make it. It was an 81 which is a standard cent ID. The stamped buckle is very decorated. I'm thinking it was part of the last of its era. My favorite find is the metal rooster, it is probably chrome plated and painted brass. It's not painted one the other side but had the same markings. Chase got some interesting stuff too, it wasn't a spectacular hunt but it was a really nice day for one.

Congratulations, it's a great machine. What do you plan to use it for? Relics? Beach? Parks? All of the above? ? There are many knowledgeable users, definitely ask for help if you need it. ?

My pleasure. ? I should have prefaced by writing that settings aren't the key as much as research. OnX Hunt is definitely worth checking out, even for free. Hope you have a pipe hittin' root shovel, you're going to need it in those wooded areas, probably in there the 9" coil is going to be your buddy. I'm not a big fan of woods hunting but there are lots of great finds for the less timid. Some targets under roots are going to drive you nuts, be prepared with tools. In Historic Aerials make sure you overlay roads, and look at the oldest topographic maps. Some times the roads are clearly marked other times they are dashes. Here's an example: This road is gone but the stuff is still there. ? The square dots are houses and other structures. Mark locations in OnX using the waypoints, and you can literally track your destination. Let Historic Aerials have your location when using the site and it will get you close. Look at the oldest aerials too, you'd be surprised what you might find. You'll have to compare them to newer ones to get your waypoints right. LiDar will give you evidence of cellar holes and disturbed ground. If you suddenly start hearing a lot of iron ("all metal" settings are critical), you're in a hot spot, but the woods have greater challenges in that a lot of it may be big. People throw stuff in the woods at you'll see. Good luck, and I'll be following this thread with great interest. ?

Hello Colonel, we'll all be right down to show you in person. ? ? Few questions, field or wooded (probably both), dry, marsh, clay, loam, rocky or sandy? If you haven't read my tutorials on boning up for a historic area, now might be a good time: Seeing as your time is going to be limited, a bit of research is the key to major success. Maybe even Colonel success. ? I'd strongly suggest perusing Historic Aerials and LiDar maps, OnX Hunt is free but worth every penny if you do pay for it, its location and marking capabilities are incredible. 12 acres is pretty big, and if you keep your eye out for other property owners they also might be interested in knowing what treasure lies beneath their ground. Be friendly and listen carefully to them. ? An arsenal of Deus 2 programs developed lately may help, I know we have shared a few. Silver Slayer has its use, you might want to grab that one if you haven't already. If it's a farm I have been trying to find the time to post some helpful info regarding my experience, but I'll save that until you reply. ? I'll throw a Reader's Digest version at you.

Usually 7 hours on a relic site, in the summer I go 4 hours a day in the morning on the beach, at home, 6 or 7.

I can tell you that I've used all 3 coils relic hunting, and as long as there aren't a lot of stalks the 13" has been killing it. I have gone over areas later with the 9" and found nothing else. The 9" is going to be more efficient for separation and maybe isolating smaller targets, but the 13" is going to find them faster. ? Maybe some of the wizards can explain it better, but I really like ellipticals.

I've got all three, and find I'm using the 13" most often now, this is because the relic sites I hunt are pretty flat, not like last year with all the corn stalks. The farmers all planted cover crop instead of winter wheat for the most part, it was more profitable to not plant wheat. I seriously doubt that will change much in the coming months when I get out to beaches and campgrounds, but I'll have the 9" handy to hunt tot lots and other places to small for the 13". I may keep the 11" for a handy backup, and sometimes will use the 9" on the WS6 Master. I like that rig but it seems a bit delicate.

Impressive and rare find! Looked it up, here's some info: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia93187.html It's a 97 on the rarity index, kinda ironic ? Great finds especially for a beach. ? Your beach is also extremely kind to coins. ?

That's a great bit o' photo editing there Detectornado. ? Gotta ask, why is the 9" floating away? ?

This reminds me of a campground I worked over last summer, RVP. Lotsa beeps, mitigated some of it by lifting and the rest by ID. What didn't pass the smell test turned out to be a silver dime, a ton of change, and a few rings, one of them gold. Oh, and a plastic rooster. ? One day I forced myself to use kac's Park Probe as my only tool, and did well. I recommend that thing but a screwdriver or Hori knife would do just as well. A little rain will cover your tracks anyway. I hoped most targets that I wanted were within reach of my pinpointer, sometimes if they weren't I moved on. ? The only time anyone got nervous (GM) was when he saw me with my Barracuda, I don't bring the Ranger to a public area. ? Showed him how I dig, and he said carry on. ?

Dunno, I'm 6'1. Maybe that has something to do with it.

This interests me, but maybe it's a mineralization thing. ? I have an F-Pulse now, and haven't found it to be any more useful than the MI-6. I do run the MI-6 at full sensitivity however, and find it detects targets far deeper and more accurately. Guess I'll add it to my bag for Culpeper next week. ?

Maybe the offset coil is a nightmare for you as a beach hunter, but I will say for certain that after many hours using it in fields, it certainly isn't a detriment. Maybe you should consider another option? I run sensitivity high, and it detected the brass rivets in my knee pad. Switched to Velcro knee pad, problem solved. I've also used it some on the beach and don't have any issue with it, again I appreciate the extra reach so I can keep the balance in the shaft to lessen arm fatigue. Maybe there is something wrong with how you are using it. I'm sad that you are so disappointed and cynical, but it's not a justification to put others off. Soon I will be on the beach for quite a few weeks over the warm season, and don't expect there to be any problem, but y'all will be first to know. ? I also had no issues river hunting with it. None, even in waves and current. Additionally, it was much more of a problem when it was centered using a centering device. No amount of extension helped it. At 2 to 4 days a week, 4 to 7 hours a day, over the past year with the D2, I probably have over 1200 hours on it. I've had the 13" for months now, being one of the first to get it. I'm pretty sure there is nothing wrong with my technique, and I certainly have the finds to show for it. ?

Nice, there have been some complaints about the offset but you really learn to appreciate it when wearing boots with steel shanks or shoes with any metal at all. ? Heck it picks up the brass rivets in my knee pad. Always tell yourself the heaviest D2 configuration is lighter than the lightest other detector configuration. ? That might help. Good luck! ?

? Believe it or not I don't always post either, but I get out detecting so much that I find a lot of stuff. Got a ridiculous amount of land to cover now. I'm glad to see you posting something spectacular, I've only found 3 seateds so far. One dime and two halves, all in the same field but totally at random on different hunts. Great luck! ?

2 coins and silver? ? Seems familiar... ? ? That's not bad at all for a short hunt, although usually my trash isn't more than a handful, it numbers many more holes than 9, and there ain't no 19th hole where I'm digging. ? 33% success rate. ? Great job RVP, so glad you're getting out there. ??

Thanks! I love finding cut coins, added two more this year so far, and now have one I don't think I'll ever beat (1607). Either they use some rough chemicals or the clay/marl is corrosive on its own, even silver takes a beating here, lots of black stain. I'm lucky to get any details, but now and again I get a good one. The only thing I've seen come out of the ground pristine for the most part is 10k or better gold. One of these days I hope to find a gold coin, I dig almost all low conductors. The 100+ year old 14k ring I dug just needed a slight polishing. A 10k got more gold the more I polished it.

Yikes, when you post you post. It's been a while man, great to see ya back! Like the background for the coins too. ?

Yeah some times those big shallow chunks can really wake ya up ? I turn iron volume down a notch sometimes myself, and generally have the audio level at 8 until it gets windy. The backphones are fine but they don't really sit well over my ears. Been pushing up the reactivity a bit as well, 1.5 seems to be well within Chase's mention of "diminishing returns". I've also noticed as the soil dries out that lowering sensitivity to 95 is better, but it still feels like I'm missing deeper stuff if I'm not hearing some chatter. ?

At first I thought of this: But I think it has 13 reeds, not 12. ?

Thanks RVP, I'd much rather Pinpoint than Pontificate. ? Here's all the junk I janitored yesterday: I think that large round thing with the reeds is from some kind of instrument, and the 3 ringers are not minies but some kind of 52 caliber bullet from back in the day. ?

It's been doing good for me so far. You'd think it counterintuitive to use a large coil for relic hunting, but I'm enjoying it immensely, and don't feel that I'm missing anything. ?

Thanks Cap'n, even returning to my original permissions has been doing me a good turn. Went back today and didn't get much again, it was cloudy and colder and rained, so I took my wife out to dinner. ? At least I got a coin, some jewelry, and a button. The barrel tap is pretty cool too.

Wow Cap'n, nice hunt. ? I'd call that place "The Land Where Time Moved On", but albeit desolate, here we are. Beautiful photos and great story. Love that you found a Merc in all that nothing! They do like to hide under bushes tho. ? Many of your bits are cool as well, especially the jewelry and the old marine band harmonica which looks like false teeth ? that hair piece is a work of art! No need to bribe me with the Spanish, guess I've been doing ok in that category ? Relic Reaper is for those that went to leave iron behind but hear it all. In coming up with the Reaper, I wanted something that would pretty much bypass iron by letting me decide. All I ever seem to read are complaints about iron falsing, but after fiddling a bit with what made sense to me, opening up discrimination and not notching anything stood out as a way to let the chips fall where they should. I noticed Silver Slayer was very good at that, so I expanded the theme but eliminated the notch. I don't have that problem anymore, eliminating one of the two abundant materials in most of my sites. A slight turn to a 90 degree will almost always cause that audible "dive". Guess it works well in PWM too, I try that from time to time but switch back to square. I'll be trying it in Culpeper in a week or so, we'll see how it works there. If I dug the iron I pass on, I'd have quite the collection of horse and ox shoes, but also enough plow parts to build a destroyer. ? While we don't have a lot of rocks here, I believe the clay and marl are enough to snap the toughest stuff. That and in some cases over 400 years of farming. Great post! ?