Dirtshark

Hi, 

SO I have been using the Legend and learning it. Finding cool stuff and overall the Legend is doing a great job. 

One thing I have noticed though is some odd behavior. 

Lets say I find an iffy signal in an Iron infested area. I will typically scan the iffy signal, change angle, scan again trying to see if the iffy signal tightens up at all. 

Sometimes, I will do this and the detector will start chattering. Sometimes when this happens I can just lift the coil off the ground and it will settle down sometimes it wont. When this happens and it doesn't settle down I will try changing the settings, ground balancing, channel scanning and nothing works. Even lowering gain doesn't help much.. 

Odder still I can leave the area where this is happening, wait until the chatter stops and go back to where I heard it and everything is fine. 

It is almost like it gets overloaded by all the iron and mixed signals and loses its mind. 

I can't seem to figure out a solid reason why this happens, 

Anybody have any thoughts?

Thanks!

10 minutes ago, Tom_in_CA said:

 Some of the guy who fought in the 1860s in the CW, had previously gone to the CA gold rush.  And then returned back home to their eastern states.   And could conceivably have brought buttons back eastward.  

 

And while these pre-date the G.R. (1850s), yet :  In CA, when the Gold Rush hit, a lot of coastal folk here in CA (where the missions were, and thus the PB's were), left the coast and went inland to the Sierras.  This is one possible explanation as to why a few PB's have been found in the GR country.  Since it's conceivable that some were still circulating along the coast in the late '40s/early '50s.   And might thus explain why some THEN made their way back east.

 

But others disagree and think they started from the east coast, and came overland westward.  I don't buy that.   There's just too many of them on the west coast , compared to only scattered presence on the east coast.   So I say they arrived here on the west coast by ship, to the CA ports, and the Columbia River area.    I know of hundreds and hundreds found in CA (heck, 100 from a single field alone !).   Compared to the east coast where they are flukes.

 

While it's true that the vast majority of the migration was east to west , yet some guys did indeed return back home to the east, when the GR fever petered out.   This explains, for example, why 1850's S mint coins show up in CW sites, for example (albeit rare).

 

The circulation time for PBs was the 1810s/20s.   But I've found them in sites that were not habitated (by Europeans anyhow) till the 1840s.  Meaning that some were still in use, even to the 1840s.   Considering that there was a shortage of manufactured good on the west coast during Spanish & Mexican times, it makes sense that buttons would have been used and re-used, over and over.  Thus some all the way to GR times, and thus perhaps making their way east.

 

Interesting !

Fantastic post. 

I agree with your view. Makes sense that the PBs that are found east were brought back. Dates line up. 

I did read one article, like a research journel and there was one guy who suggested that they might have been manufactured at least partially in Connecticut.  But the prevailing school of thought is they spread widely as indian trade tokens. Many having been found in Indian burial sites. I imagine because they got them cheap and they looked cool. I mean, a Phoenix is pretty cool. Lol

I love a bit of history mystery. 

Oh, I just remembered the home owner told me that one of the prior owners was a civil war Gettysburg vet who was a horder of sorts. Could be it was collected by this guy who liked to hang onto junk. Just a thought. Intriguing.....

3 hours ago, Tom_in_CA said:

Nice job.   Those buttons are a "goal unto themselves" here in the extreme-hunter circles of CA.  We love them. 

 

Here's an article I wrote on the subject.   You can find your particular button here.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rX9XFCFw-SKRiUFZfdtzFg7GIjUwzoJJ/view?ts=6182e46f

 

thanx for sharing ! 

Thank you very much for that document, I had alread found and read it. I appreciate the work it took to compile that data. 

How it got to NH in my hole will remain a mystery. A fun one. 

Definitely my coolest find since starting detecting. And although I wouldn't sell it, my most valuable find. 

1 hour ago, Doc Bach said:

That is a killer button D.S. and tough to find.It took me 50 years to dig one.Mine is the #28 type one style two large variant my unsolicited advice would be to pound that site congrats. 

Yeah, it has a crazy mysterious history and finding one on the east coast seems even more bizarre. And on my permission it is even crazier. I have not found one single old coin here. One Wheatie. So I know it has been hunted or at least coin shooters had their day. Either way, a real fathers day treat I will treasure.

Here is a better pic. Im afraid to clean it. 

Awesome fathers day hunt. 

Dug some ox shoes, horse shoes, then switched to my small coil and started fishing through the iron...

Nice old thimble, sadly broken. Small musket ball. And the top find, a bizzare Haitian military button. I think this is incredibly rare for my area. The button dates to around 1800 to 1820 I think. 

Exact same button here with the history.  Crazy. 

https://www.icollector.com/FRENCH-PHOENIX-INDIAN-TRADE-BUTTON_i20183505

Great post!

I totally relate to what you are saying about going over and over the same area and getting the trinkets hiding among the iron and foil. I may be out for 2 hours and get nothing good at all and then pull a cool old button out. I attribute it to being new to detecting in general, new machine, and tough targets. In fact many of the good items I find start out as sketchy signals that hint at a relic. And most of the finds I am getting are all within 10 or 15 feet of each other in one area. I am planning to go over it several more times, learning the ground, seeing what the detector likes, etc. 

Cool finds. 

My older daughter wanted to see me detect so we went out to the front lawn and searched for 30 mins or so and she found an old maybe 1800s lock plate. She was thrilled. And I had been over that area many times and that is the oldest thing I have found on my lawn. 

I am starting to think that no area is ever truly searched out. 

A twist of thread that is. 

Found this near where I found a colonial shoe buckle chape. Looks old, no markings. Oddly enough it still had thread attached. Wild.

9 hours ago, Cascade Steven said:

Very nice find.  Congratulations.  Regarding the "plate" on the back of the spoon, I would like to respectfully offer an additional option.  I have done a little metal casting work over the years and learned that sometimes such a "plate" or thicker section was added initially when the spoon was either stamped or cast.  This "plate" section was used to reinforce the junction between the bowl and handle of the spoon as that is a weak spot.  If the "plate" was added later, there should be a very fine line at the contact.  This line may not be visible until the spoon is thoroughly cleaned and examined under magnification.  However, if the craftsman was very good, they could blend the contact so it is almost unidentifiable.  Just a little food for thought.  Again, congratulations on a nice find.

Thanks, I was wondering about that back plate, I couldn't see any examples that looked like that. Made me think it was older than 1800s but I have no idea.

I will examine the plate and see if it has a fine line like you suggest. 

5 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

I am always excited to go metal detecting. So many things to remember, prepare, and collect before going. Most times I get everything.

Told my wife today, "A bad day of metal detecting is better than a great day at work!" 😀

So true, hell, a bad day metal detecting is better than a good day golfing....

Wait a minute, that may not be true. Actually I know its not. Lol

3 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Well I forgot my scoop today 🤣 still had my composite trowel, but close to the water I had to dig like a madman before the water filled it in.

Thanks for the vote of confidence! 👍 yeah I've found some dog tags and had noble intentions but encountered the same thing, or would have had to pay a lot to get info.

Lol, I forgot my shovel the other day scouting a new permission. Its a good thing I didn't have it because I got there late and I was finding stuff that I couldn't dig.

I try so hard to not forget anything but the excitement of a new permish got to me. 

28 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Definitely old.  Looks like mid-to-early 1800’s based on the classic fiddle handle design.  Clean it up and look for a maker’s mark on the underside of the handle (are you sure it is not silver or silver plate?).  From there you can google the name and get an idea of when and where the silversmith or metal craftsman plied his trade.

No markings. Very plain.

Brand new permish.

So I meet the homeowner and get the grand tour. Like Disneyland for detectorists. Great family, and they are friends of my brother. I have no friends, lol. 

Old place. Cellar holes, abandoned well, the works. I do a quick scan and because I am an idiot and forgot my shovel I just dug a couple signals with my hand tool. So I am just scanning, listening to the iron, kinda just seeing what is obvious. 

I look down and I see what the Legend beeped at and there sticking out of the ground was a spoon. I grab it and give it a look over, saying....hmmm could be old. Maybe pewter. Possibly colonial. 

I head home and look over the spoon. A ground find essentially, and I think to myself, dang, this looks old. 

What do you guys think?

Looks primitive and thin.

Thanks guys, yeah I was blown away when I saw the eagle, the shield, the I in the shield!  

As a noob when I see these things they are always new and exciting.  

But the story goes, at one point a Gettysburg vet settled here and was a notorious horder. 

Ah, I love the stories....

I guess all my good posts are "firsts" because I am a newb

Back on the same property I searched in this thread:

I spent 2-3 hours here today and I was not finding anything. This place must have been searched but either way, I know there is still some good stuff because after 2 hours of nothing I decided to go back to the place I found the buckle part and do a deep search. This time switching back to the 11" coil. 

Got a hit on the Legend, around 40 ish, Not strong enough to register on the ferrous/nonferrous indicators on the legend. A bit wonky swinging from different angles, like so much of the garbage I have pulled from this place. 

At first I thought it was a coin, but much to my surprise it was my first Civil war button! Man, I thought it was just a common button and as I slowly realized that it was an eagle, man, I was over the moon. 

Full shank baby!

This place was hunted before, I have to believe that, but they left some goodies behind. 

I may have an option to crawl under the barn which I will for sure. I bet there is good stuff under there. 

Anyway, as today proved to me, don't give up, change things up, and stuff will show up. 

Happy digging mates!

There is a video comparing the LG 35 to the 6" and 11" coils. 

Definitely seems to go deeper. 

6 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Dirtshark, gotta apologize for thinking you were the same person that found an intact 1700's shoe buckle as well. 😂 I corrected my post above.

The Badger is giving you some great advice, he helped me quite a bit when I joined. If anyone knows what's going on up there he would.

Hope to see more stuff from ya! 👍

The one thing I have learned about this hobby is that you can't get too much advise. 

Most people think you just grab a detector and go but there is so much more to finding the good stuff. 

It really isn't easy and people have no idea how much garbage you find for every cool item that comes up. 

Yes, thank you Badger and all the kind folks here. 

Half the sport is the people you meet along the way. 

1 hour ago, F350Platinum said:

Yes it is. 🙂 You put a firecracker in it, the wick comes out the fuse hole. 1850s. I could look for the carriage it was broken off of, but see my post above about big iron. 😀

Thats really a cool find. Used to shoot model cannons back in the day on the 4th. Boom!

I did see your post. Good advice. At this point at this site I am digging anything solid. There could be good big iron there and the homeowner would love any old iron. 

At this point I am finding that you have to interpret signals based on a lot of factors. That buckle part was all over the place. 

28 minutes ago, Badger-NH said:

 

Ha, I just realized/remembered that you joined the NH detecting forum a few months back and that you recently got the Legend. The name Dirtshark didn't click until I saw here that you're in NH. You should be posting your stuff on the NH forum as well as here. There have been some good finds being made lately and everyone would like to see how you're progressing.  👍

Good point! I stopped going there because it seemed pretty dead, but now that folks are digging I bet it is busier. 

I will post there also. 

53 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

There's good stuff there for sure.

I live in a part of Virginia that was incorporated in the 1640s. The "development" where I live (we bought the "spec" house) has seen multiple farms and activity dating back to then. Here the ground is a mixture of sand almost like that found on a beach, loam created by vegetation, and clay, both red and gray.

Thankfully the housing market crashed and a farmer bought the ~100 odd acres in front of my house.

I have found from almost two years of searching here and other farms in a 25 mile radius that nothing but large iron has sunk to more than 8" here despite the sandy ground. I doubt even the earliest plows dug much deeper than that. Someone might disprove this with a pulse induction detector but would be hard pressed. I'm sure you'll find what is there with your Legend.

I wouldn't worry as much about "deep" targets as clearing the more modern trash that is in the top 2-4", and going back over that area again from a 45 or 90 degree angle.

I was lucky enough to get a permission recently that had never been hunted. It is another 100 acres or so, very large.

In 3 hunts I got this much, excluding the copper bracelet:

That's not much from such a large place, but sometimes people are just not losing or tossing stuff all over. 😀 It's also possible that the early occupants didn't have much money.

Conversely I could show you about 5 such cases of finds from a smaller field in front of my house, but nearly no coins, just a few cut pieces of Spanish silver and half Reales.

Another example is a 2-acre field where I found the following in about a 30-foot square:

And next to nothing else.

You'll have to find the "sweet spot" in any area by random scouting, I could make a really long post. 😀 I hope you'll find one there.

 

Is that a mini cannon? Holy carp those finds are awesome. 

Funny you mentioned tilting over targets. I have been doing that and I believe the Buckle was a product of just such a thing. 

Those signals that are 40 or so, iffy, no ferro or non ferro indicator. I tilt and see if I can get a squeak. 

Thanks for sharing your finds, very cool. 

Was watching AquaChigger video and he pulled a button and he called it a "Blow Hole" or "vent Hole" button. 

I searched on that and the predominant opinion is that BlowHole buttons are VERY old. 1750s to 1790s perhaps much earlier. 

What I was reading said that they are often mistakenly considered to be more modern but they seem to be colonial. 

If so, then my little button with the pattern intact is a very nice button!

19 minutes ago, Badger-NH said:

If there are very few old non-ferrous targets, it was likely detected before. A virgin home site or farm would have loads non-ferrous to dig. Most of it scrap metal trash but also interesting things like buttons, buckles, and coins. If you are digging old non-ferrous trash, it's a good sign there are good targets mixed in.

It may have been cherry picked, taking only the higher coin signals but that still leaves lots of stuff to dig. You should be digging everything above foil or avoid digging anything below nickel.

Also remember that everything you dig could be masking something better below it.

 

Good advise for sure. 

I am not giving up, but I will be considering the possibility when I dig. I am finding modern foil and can slaw, and to be fair, I only went over a small area with the 6inch coil before I left with 3 of the coolest items I have found. So I am hopeful I am tuned in. I will work on the front of the house next for a bit I think. 

But yeah, there is Iron everywhere here, so I am sure it is masking targets. 

I am hopeful that the Colonial Buckle part is a positive sign that the good stuff is in there. 

2 hours ago, Badger-NH said:

Are you sure the bottles were prohibition era?  Some of those can be worth a lot of money.

Hard to believe prohibition ended nearly a century ago. Incredible how time sneaks by.

If the bottle says "Federal Law Forbids Sale Or Reuse of This Bottle", it was made after prohibition.

 

You are right about the bottle. AFTER prohibition. It does say, "Federal Law Forbids Sale Or Reuse of This Bottle"

But that is just the first surface layer of this bottle dump. I have  no idea how long this place was used as a dump. 

I am not even looking there yet because I want the OLD stuff. 

I do have a nagging feeling that, because I am not finding old bullets or coins that this area was detected before. 

6 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

If Nokta comes out with a 10x5 elliptical for the Legend, jump on it. IMO that seems to be the winning form factor for best separation. 🙂 You don't lose much swing coverage from the 11".

You should find coins in the front yard, jump on that too. I'm familiar with the soil up there, used to live in CT near Sturbridge. Lots of iron laden granite, you'll come upon a rock as big as a car. My soil now is zero mineralization with only small stones, much easier. Farmers drink a lot of beer though! 🤣

This site has odd soil for this area for sure. 

Oh and you ain't kidding about farmers and beer there is a bottle dump the homeowner showed me and there were tons of beer bottles and prohibition era flasks. 

Hoping for coins for sure. 

11 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

You're off to a great start, DS. Good on ya finding part of the other buckle! 👍 Unless you find a burn pile you'd be unlikely to find two whole buckles, and even then, maybe.

Also a good call to switch to a smaller coil if you're in an iron patch. 🙂 Seems you have the potential for quite a variety of finds. Somebody lost a coin there if it hasn't been cherry picked.

It would be interesting to see the trash you're digging, clues to what's going on there are in the junk. I've found that the finds in a very old place may be more relics than you think!

Well, as for clues, I haven't found any old coins thats for sure, which makes me suspect that it has been dug before but the jury is out on that. I did find a small peice of brass that looked like it may have at one time resembled a small sheild, but didn't have any definition or markings on it. Unidentifiable, but it did seem old. 

I need to go back over ground I covered with the 11 inch coil with the 6 inch coil to see if there were targets I missed. 

However, I am hopeful. The home owner was encouraging me to search the front of the home so that may produce some coins or relics. 

I am so glad I switched to the 6 inch coil. It is awesome. This place has weird soil, it gets very dense after 3 or 4 inches. Very mineralized. But the 6 inch coil likes it.