UT Dave

Didn't take any beer on this trip. There was some 90 proof sipped around the campfire though. - Dave

A man of your experience should know, Mr. Bach, the answer is BOTH! I thank you for your congratulations, too, many of you guys responding here are pretty high up there in my book and I appreciate the kind words. - Dave

This is a later one then. Under good light and magnification I can see the arrows on both sides of the date. And, while very worn, the rays are still visible as well. Edit to add: Just weighed it, 5.55 gm. - Dave

Got to do a little roaming this weekend and detected some ghost town sites while I was at it. Couldn't have asked for better weather, low 70s, sunny, light breeze both days. Camped out under the stars. Just a real nice time. At the first spot, the first target I dug, was this: My first seated quarter. I don't care that it's slicked off, the date is readable 1853 and I haven't ever found a seated quarter before so it put a big smile on my face. Using my Manticore. It was only a few inches deep but I did pull two square nails out of the hole before spotting the quarter. And a few other coins, each from different sites. My buddy found the Rosie and the 1918 wheatie using my Nox 800. And ribeyes on the grill 😁 - Dave

Looks like too much fun! - Dave

For the record, @abenson has posted pictures before, that I immediately knew exactly where they were taken. I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I know I have posted pictures that he knew exactly where they were too. It's just good policy to be cautious about that stuff. - Dave

Woo hoo! Oh, man, oh man. Way to put in the work and make it pay off! - Dave

Awesome find. And great identification. I wouldn't have known that's what that tool is for. - Dave

Wives that enable our fun are priceless. My Wife just giggles at my excitement over what I think are killer finds. She always asks if I found anything good, and when I say yes and show her an old silver dime and a junky piece of .925 jewelry she really does just giggle. She thinks it's just dumb, but cute 😆. I think some of the silly stuff she likes to do is just dumb, but cute too 😁. It works for us! - Dave

The school is over 100 years old. Which is what got me there the first time. But of course, the current building is from the 60's, and who knows how much dirt moving and reconfiguring have gone on in more than a century. Finding indications there were oldies at detectable depth has had me going back. Like I say, nothing but wheats before this morning. But, deep wheats, well, you know 😂. - Dave

A school I've been interested in for a little bit. Today was the fourth time I've hit it. But even including today, only about 8 hours total. Had not found old silver, yet, before today, but enough deep wheats that I felt there had to be some silver waiting. I have found a couple nice .925's there the three previous hunts. With the days getting shorter, I only had about an hour and a half of daylight to hunt this morning before the soccer army arrived en masse and it was time to go. Just a gorgeous morning to be out though. Cold enough to be comfortable in a hoody. Nobody there but me until the soccer horde descended. I don't mind the soccer horde though, they are no doubt the source of the fairly consistent .925 here. Running the Manticore in ATHC, sensitivity 20, recovery 5, one region all tones, finally pulled a silver coin out of this field, a '39 Merc from 7" deep. That's pretty good depth for any machine in this dirt and it gave a definitely dig me signal. When soccer is done soon, and before the snow flies, I need to spend some more hours here. Also pulled a .925 cross, that I initially thought was probably junk. It was balled up in mud and I thought it might be some sort of stainless steel clip or something. But I also thought it there was a chance it was some sort of bling so I put it in the keepers side of the nail pouch. And after rinsing the mud off at home saw it is indeed a silver cross of sorts. Truth be told, I'd MUCH rather be out in the desert ghost towning. But things have not lined up for that lately. Nobody else wants to go and I'm getting just old enough that going by myself on longer trips isn't as much fun as it used to be. But, even though I'd rather be doing that, I'm sure not unhappy getting in some fun turf hunts when I can! Seeing silver in the dirt is always a good feeling! - Dave

With the age on those pennies, I think I'd tend to agree with @TripleT I don't think that spot has been hit hard. Curious how deep those pennies were @KDX and maybe what sensitivity you were running with that much ID splatter? - Dave

Gold feels soooo good. - Dave

That's a beauty! - Dave

I could try taking a much better photo and doing some processing to try and bring out details. Something like Dstretch might actually bring something out. - Dave

Turf hunting (as opposed to relic dirt), I do normally cherry pick coins, to include nickels, but not to include zincs. Partly just to play the odds and partly just to avoid digging more than needed on manicured turf - I do my best to leave no trace. Depending on the exact location and my mood, I will often include digging anything above square tabs and below zincs that sounds clean and round. I don't use disc on the machine though. I hate the way it clips the audio, particularly when trying to scrub in heavy non ferrous trash. I run 1 region all tones, normal profile. Sometimes all metal, sometimes with Manticore default disc which is like 0-5 only. And let my ears do the disc. - Dave

Found this at an 1870s silver mining camp last weekend. I believe it's a Chinese coin. But can't say for sure. Too weathered to make out the markings if any remain. It's 24mm and weighs 2.41 grams. Coin? Thoughts - Dave

Have not got out for a park hunt for a week or two. Got in a fun one today though. The weather was just so nice. Park wasn't crowded at all. Lots of dig me signals. Just a very pleasant morning. And... Scored two .925 rings, both very plain but pretty chunky with the biggest at 8.85 grams. And... A silver Washington! And a wheatie. And $9.25 in clad. Dug only about half a dozen trash targets. Just being very selective and cherry picking hard. And this is weird. My phone automatically cut out the background. I don't know how to do that on purpose. Weird. - Dave

I'm finding the Manticore a fantastic coin cherry picking machine. But I'd hesitate to suggest settings. Not only your soil may be very different, but your ferrous coins are something I've zero experience trying to cherry pick. You may want to actually try raising the recovery speed on your test targets. Can't hurt to see. Not sure what mode I'd want to use for the Loonies and Toonies, those are compositions I don't dig. But I'd definitely try ATLC. When cherry picking turf for coins and silver jewelry, I've got to where I almost always run ATHC. With sensitivity usually 19 or 20, rarely any higher but down as low as 16 is not rare. Recovery speed, in my conditions and the way I like to run, I usually end up with a recovery or 5 or 6. That's tuning for TID stability, basically, and letting depth take care of itself. But I've gotten very good depth with the machine in hot park turf. The machine really scrubs the clad and silver out of the trash in the parks around here. - Dave

It would freak me out. - Dave

The two coils M8 and M15 were announced more than a year ago and none of us can buy them yet. Fourth coil... Maybe someday, maybe never. The M8 still seems like maybe never. Waiting on Minelab for coils is unpleasant. - Dave

So, no sarcasm here, no trying to be funny. What does a Bigfoot call sound like? A little context for my question... I have recorded a number of wildlife sounds that have been used by a leading predator caller manufacturer. And, some years ago, actually heard/saw on a TV show, a sound I recorded being used to try and call a Bigfoot. I have called in literally thousands of animals, everything from jackrabbits to mountain lions with that sound, myself. But no Bigfoot. - Dave

That looks like so much fun! And the Ice Palace pendant is amazing. - Dave

That BSA ring cleaned up nice.

Don't ask me. Double secret probation jinx or something. But three more today. I like the sterling BSA rings. - Dave