Doc Bach

24 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Since I don't have the 11" coil, I think the 13" is the way to go for me since they are all the same price. The only thing I'm not sure about is if the separation on the 13" is as good as the 11".

I usally access most of my relic sites by kayak,mountain bike and at some point e.bike therefore I like to carry two coils in my 280 pack just in case one has battery issues etc.Since there are no smaller coil options yet available for the D2 the13 seems to be the more practical choice. Like G L said they are the same price.

Those are some serious relics,outstanding condition!

It was a pleasant surprise for a change to watch such an insightful video.Minelab Debby is very Knowledgeable, articulate and unpretentious.I had made up my mind not to jump on the Manticore band wagon but after watching I am starting to crawfish and lean the other direction.

8 minutes ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

I'm not much of a dig a hole guy unless my detector indicates to dig there.  I do have bottle hunter buddies that can dig a hole extremely fast.

Here's a pic of a hole one of my Field Staff dug on our last day of the trip.  We were in Alaska up at a place called Moore Creek (supposed to be good gold up there) and the last day, most of us had our gear already packed and just hanging around waiting for a plane to drop in.  Spencer is still gung ho and happy to be swinging not caring a bit about being ready for the plane.  Guess he decided he'd be on the last plane out.  He is swinging right in front of the tents so everyones watching.  Eventually I look up and see him digging with his pick and think nothing of it.  Some folks start giving advice like the group of supervisors usually do at a construction site.  Finally 5 minutes later I look up and see Spencer has a shovel and is getting serious.  Now we all know when detecting dredge tailing piles, the big holes usually mean a tobacco tin or rusty can from some old prospector 100 yrs earlier.  At this time a couple of us start to wander up as we need to give better more detailed advice of how to remove the trash.  Well a few minutes and another almost foot later, Spencer gets the target out of the hole.  He starts scanning all the rocks and gravels removed from the pit and his detector is just screaming so loud and brood it's hard to isolate where the target actually is.  A pin pointer would have come in handy at this time, but most of us already had our gear packed.

Eventually he recovered it and that's when crazy started happening.  You should have seen how many guys started digging through they bags trying to find their detectors for a quickie.  No bad so sad...as I was one of them who done packed away.  I've learned a lesson though.  When in big gold country, never stop swinging until after the fat lady sings.

Just shy of 1 pound troy of AK specimen/gold .  Spencers' trip home was quite romantic as he was the sexy guy with the gold.

You just never know until you dig it.

That is very impressive! I would love to have the hard earned skills and knowledge that you gold prospectors possess in order to make such incredible finds.In my almost sixty years of detecting I have found only two nuggets and both of them were purely by accident.Anyway very nice indeed. 

18 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

Jason sounds like a Caltrans RE to me…😂

Arky - who the heck digs perfectly square holes?! 😉. Just kidding, I’ve done it also as a shovel bum!

And Ghostminer- hope you weren’t using a 6000 for that cause you long dug up and reburied the target if you were! 🤣

I do have to admit, digging holes can be a lot of things. It can be fun, sad, entertaining, maddening, exciting, frustrating, and educational. But if you ever find yourself in the wrong hole, stop digging!

Wrong hole? That brings back memories of a colorful expression that some of the older and Raunchy privy diggers that I hung around with as a teenager back in the early 1960's would often use.We probe deep while others sleep.😁

58 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   Who enjoy's digging holes besides me? Using an excavator is lots of fun but sometimes it can be even better if you use a pick and shovel. There is something exciting about hole digging. You never know what is lying just below your feet. I'm always looking for gold but sometimes you fing unexpected treasures. Old coins, nails, buckets, tuttle tooth saws, jewelry, cans, bottles, gems, etc, etc. Besides the possibility of finding interesting and forgotten items it's also great exercise. So I say, if you are feeling bored, go dig a hole. You just might find something cool. Happy digging!

I DO! And thanks for bringing up this topic and discussion about a very important but often overlooked aspect of being a true relic and artifact hunter.The only thing that I would add is the use of a well made 1/4 inch mesh sifter for the more rich and productive sites.But I'm sure that you are aware of this happy digging too you. 

And you are absolutely correct in your thinking.It's often troubling in regards to what some people will consider to be historicaly significant and spend a ridiculous amount of money on.However keep in mind that auction estimates are just that and on a good day with the right players competing again one another it could go through the roof.

24 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

Thank you!

It's kind of bittersweet, he told me some stories about the dog. Kinda saddened him but he was happy to get it back.

The old school where I used to work was next door, one day the dog ("Moe") was missing, he went over to the school and asked the maintenance guy if he'd seen the dog. The guy said "oh, you mean Moe?" Then he called out, "Moe, your ride is here!"

The dog came trotting out of the back where he was drinking water the guy gave him in a bowl. 😀

Quite a story👍😊

Presenting and gifting him with the dog tag showed a lot of class.It doesn't get much better than that  and  is one of detectings greatest rewards.

2 hours ago, Skate said:

It would be love/hate to find something like that. Obviously it would be the most awesome thing ever(love) but then where do you go after that? The bucket will have been listed and then put away. A mere 14k men's wedding band will no longer light your candle. 

 

Cock your pistol is the expression my Dad would always use.

7 minutes ago, PSPR said:

No, I think it is a legitimate concern for some water hunters.

A big disappointment for certain.

2 minutes ago, PSPR said:

You're in Belgium and I am in Texas, John.  I doubt you will get your detector any sooner even if I pull my order!  LOL

Since I don't need the $1600 I'll probably just let it ride.  But I will be very disappointed if we get to December 1st and haven't gotten any announcement from Minelab.

Do you think the Manticore is going to leak, Doc?  I guess they ALL will leak eventually if you take them in the water repeatedly.  I'm not concerned about the control housing leaking since I'll probably never take it in water above my knees.

 

Probably not and let's hope not.But it won't take long for the first in line buyers / users to find out.I was just being a SMART A$$!

31 minutes ago, PSPR said:

I don't know if the Manticore is coming at the end of November or the end of January.  But I do know Minelab is letting the Manticore story die.  There hasn't been a 'real' video on Youtube about the Manticore in action for over a month and talk of the Manticore on the MD forums is dying out.  People are starting to forget all about the Beast.

I'm not a terribly patient person and I have a Legend in hand to play with.  Maybe I should pull back my $1600 Manticore order until after it comes out and we see what people say about it.

Especially the hardcore water hunters Har Har!

1 hour ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

I don't hate my coil covers and haven't tried hunting without them yet. But I do clean a lot of dirt, sand, and other debris out of them, and in my mineralized soil, I have always wondered if that can affect coil performance.

Maybe if the coil covers had an open lattice design on the bottom it would still protect the coil and allow the dirt, sand, and debris to fall out... hmmmm.... 😏

Interesting idea.

57 minutes ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

I didn't know if it was ok to post the coins/relic pics but they were part of the trip and the main reason I was in NV to begin with was so I my team could teach on the gold detectors.

 

Great story and photos Gerry.Personally I get far more pleasure and excitement from seeing the relics and especially the Tokens than I do the nuggets.I've always been considered to be a different breed of cat by my digging friends and associates because of the fact that I would rather dig a Token than most of the coins that are encountered.The Amethyst colored tray with the embossed Griffin might possibly be an advertising piece from a San Francisco liquor agency? The concrete shack could be for dynamite or black powder storage? Thanks for sharing your adventures the great finds! D.B.

7 minutes ago, Cancelled Airline Guy said:

Absolutely worth the risk. I’m taking my cover off. If you hunt 200 days a year with an average hunt of 5 hours: that’s a 1.99 a hunt or .39 an hour if the coil last a year. If it last 2 years then .99 a day or 18.5 cents an hour. I find enough sinkers to cover that cost. I’m not trying to have a pristine deus2 a year from now anyway. 

All good points.

2 hours ago, Sinclair said:

I hate them too - but they've safed my coil a lot of times hitting stones. Would be cool, if they were only surrounding the edge / outer ring - totally sufficiant imho. Less weight + no sand problems on the beach.

Personally I cannot stand coil covers not so much because of the slightly added weight but do to the fact  that I hunt in very hot soil here in Northern California and in my opinion the dust that constantly collects in the cover does affect performance especially when hunting in the rain and it turns to mud.I am really hard on my equipment and i hunt in very rough terrain so my soloution to protecting the vulnerable coil edges from rocks and so forth is wrapping the coil edge with Coilteks cloth coil tape.You will need to purchase an after market charging clip from Doodads for the D1 and D2 but lets face it the factory clips from XP are junk.As for the bottom of the coils they are tough and resilient and hold up however they do wear and scratch therefore voiding the warranty.But how often do coils fail? And is it worth the risk?

2 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Until you get your hands on a Manticore?  Nice finds for both of you, and count me as one who would be over the moon finding a 1858-O half in that condition.

You gotta love those O mint marks!

50 minutes ago, Cal_Cobra said:

I've been sick as a dog almost six weeks, and it finally cleared up last week after a heavy regiment of antibiotics.  I haven't been detecting for a couple of months so Tom and I decided to detect one of his back pocket Spanish era western sites. 

The site is getting pretty stingy, but there's still targets here and there.  Right out of the gate I dug an interesting object that looked like a coin, but I didn't recognize it.  Tom thought it was probably a kids play coin.  I threw it in my finds pouch to investigate when I got home.   When I got home, I looked at it more closely in good light and I could see it was dripping with age, but had no idea what I'd found.  I took some closeup photos so I could better see the writing on it, and after some online research discovered that low and be hold I'd dug a hammered token from 1719!!  Here's what I found out about it:

NUREMBERG TOKEN FOR AUGUSTE III of SAXE / MARY-JOSEPH OF AUSTRIA 1719

Diameter: 22mm.
Weight: 0.78g.
Origin: Hérault.
Obverse: AUG III D(eo)G(ratia) POL .REX
Reverse: MARIA IOSEPHA - bottom STADTT (= City of  Nuremberg).

Comment: It is a token minted in Nuremberg in 1719 on the occasion of the marriage of the King of Poland AUGUSTE III of SAXONY, Polish King of German origin, with Marie-Josèphe of Austria, who thus became Queen of Poland herself.

 

Not a lot of other finds, but also ended up with a pewter spoon bowl, a Spanish period ball button (unfortunately NOT a Phoenix ball button 😞), a piece of heavy green copper that was fashioned into a kettle/spear point (very cool IMHO), and what appears to be a gold decorative piece of something fancy, not sure what but after looking it over it appears to be period.

Overall a decent hunt, although not brimming with tons of finds, it just takes once good one to turn the tide.  Tom found something cool too, but I'll let him share his good fortune 😁

Killer Token!

2 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Simon, 🤣 I think Joe D. can take that hit and raise ya one. 👍

Not for nothing, it also has thousands of miles of shipwrecks and high end hotels that all those geezers frequent! While relic hunting isn't a huge deal there, beach hunting is. 😀 It has a major influx of "snowbirds" soon, so it has an all year clientele. I'd consider myself lucky to live there, except for the ownership of the water by the treasure magnates. 😵

Speaking of geezers the earliest detectorist starting in the late 1950's and beyond who dug in the Seminole Indian villages and campsites etcetera found a wealth of treasure that would blow even the most successful and seasoned relic and artifact hunters mind.After all other than the few survivors and the spanish salvage crews the natives had the first shot at what may have washed in from the Atocha and what they could pillage from the Santa Margarita wrecks of 1622 as well as the numerous wrecks of the 1715 fleet.And judging from what I read and saw in Argosy and other early treasure mags in the 1960's and 70's they took full advantage.Then there was the Seminole Indian wars another very lucrative endeavor for todays relic hunters.We don't seem to hear much about all of this these days but you can bet that there are still a least a handful of diggers out there hunting these sites.Just an opinion from an old geezer.

35 minutes ago, PimentoUK said:

A bottle-diggers probe is certainly one possible tool/technique to consider. You could probably make your own, if you had some engineering skills. 1/8" diameter spring steel, braze a 'ball' on the end slightly larger than the wire. Search online for home-brew manufacture.

Also, using a detector: Use non-motion mode, with a large coil, with cache-hunting technique. Hold the coil 15" / 40cm above the ground, and walk slowly, holding the coil steady and level. With subtle height adjustment, the machine can be brought to the threshold, and very small changes in signal can be heard.
Good machines for this could include the Tek T2 / Fisher F75. The Equinox is OK, the self-calibrating pinpoint threshold gets in the way a bit.

What would these bars be buried in? That's a very important question. Mason/Kilner jar with steel lid? Steel box, like ex-army ammo box? Plastic food container?

Highest quality bottle probes for sale contact lou@oldwestbottles.com 50 years experience ships to all states.

First off follow JSONGS advice and look for any depressions which would be easy to spot depending of course on the amount of vegetation ground cover or if any grading has takin place or fill added and if the person who burried the items took the time to compact the backfill which is doubtful.Also as mentioned a good P.I.with larger coil or two box detector could locate it at 4 ft but 6 would be a stretch depending what the said items were buried in which would most likely a plastic bucket? Another option would be to contact your nearest Antique Bottle club and hire one or two experts with 5 0r 6 ft bottle probes to grid and probe the lot they can easily locate any holes that size and in most cases feel any sort of container good luck with your endeavors.

1 hour ago, CoinShooter1 said:

You guys are being harsh on Minelab.

I clearly see a scoop and backpack in the background of photo!

Not only that, look how wet his pant legs are.

 

Beware Terry Shannon here comes Minelabs Manticore Man!

On 10/5/2022 at 4:41 AM, schoolofhardNox said:

Nice early date. Super find. You never know how those coins end up in parks. Maybe someone raided the family coin collection or it was stolen from a house break? Maybe some dirt was brought in from an old field or house site to level out a spot in the park? But in any event.... you got it and that is awesome. 😍

All very good comments and theories by everyone.Yet another fairly common situation that can occur in parks etcetera is that trees some that may be decades old and others centuries old that can actually predate the park itself are removed for safety reasons etc but more commonly die from over watering and or become uprooted during storms.It goes without saying that when this occurs many coins relics and so forth become available to detection.The bottom line is that your hard work and perseverance paid off Troy and you were rewarded handsomely that is a great piece of silver!

YOU Cats have been smoking too much Wacky Tobaccy!