Dirtshark

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....

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. 

4 hours ago, rvpopeye said:

Nice place . I predict you will spend a lot of time there !

What's yer "general area" ? Looks like my woods..🤔 

Southern NH

Yeah, I am looking forward to finding the good stuff. 

I think I impressed the home owner when I told him I found a bunch of 9MM bullets. He laughed and admitted the spot i found them is his little shooting range. lol. Little buggers ring up so nice. 

A super nice couple on 1750's farmhouse 

Place ooozes history. 

My first time out I found a great Horseshoe with Nails still in it. That was awesome because the place used to be a horse farm....at one point..

Then I found the button. I can't place the date, but looks like half of a two piece button. Maybe late 1800's? but could be more modern. 

Also 7 9mm bullets, golf balls lol and some other garbage. 

There is also a bottle dump there I didn't even look at yet. 

I guess this is my first good permission!

Such wonderful people, I insisted they keep the horse shoe and they flatly refuse, "Keep everything just send me a picture"

Just got one thing to say about that.....Thank you Lord Jesus!!!!!

1 hour ago, F350Platinum said:

Not sure which item you are referring to?

This bit. Actually I think it is a parasol part. 

Is that a spindel whirl in the trash pic?

On 4/26/2022 at 11:36 AM, Jeff McClendon said:

Wonder if the new M3 setting will be even more sensitive than M2 on smaller targets and if it will be included in Beach Mode……..?

I also hope the next software version will be easier to update. I still haven’t been able to update to 1.07 from 1.05…….and mostly silence from Nokta Makro support even though I email them each week🤨.

I had no problem updating the first time, but when 1.7 came out I had the darndest time.

Tried every usb port on my laptop, then had to try three different usb ports on ny desktop before it worked. Very finnicky about the ports I think. 

And I am a computer nerd. The update issues should be looked at. 

I found a small peice of metal that I think is pewter. It rings in as 25 on the legend. 

It isnt anything special, just a small chunk. Doesn't bend and isnt magneticly attracted. 

Have any of you found any pewter and if so what vdi was it?

Thanks! 

15 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

Did you find it in a field? I found lots of big iron in the farms I hunt until I learned to "tune it out". 👍 Hard to speculate without something to compare its size to. Location context helps too.

By tune it out I mean ignoring iron tones, and sometimes you have a setting that helps. Falsing stuff takes time to recognize but you almost never get away without digging some. 🙂

And of course sometimes you might want a particular iron relic. 😀

Yeah, I found it in a field, kind of pasture like spot.

I run in all metal mode and dont dig all iron targets, but this one screamed. I think it is a little hand forged something. 

Found this, looks forged. Maybe an old chisel? 

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

I forgot my traditional junk photo.  Here is the junk from both spots.

Lol 22LRs and pull tabs. Some good old boys had a night there. 

I can't imagine finding gold like that. Congrats. 

Your target ids are exactly what I am seeing.

Large aluminum is ringing in a clean 40 as well. Like cans. 

Haven't found any jewelry with it yet. I do dig 17s and such and so far it has been small aluminum or can slaw bits. 

Learning the Legend has been fun. Just when I think the machine is crazy I realize the machine is right and I am wrong. 

One thing I noticed today is I will crank evertthing up and I hear chatter, all tones, all metal mode or g mode, then for some reason the chatter stops. Everything goes quiet. I noticed that if I wait it will suddenly start chattering again. Like it goes to sleep when it hits a strong signal and I have to wait for it to recalibrate or something. Not sure what this is all about. 

Anyway, went out for 5 hours and found some good junk. Nothing good but it was hitting targets and that is what i wanted to see.

Digging iffy targets has been a mixed bag. This machine can go so deep an iffy signal could be super deep or just maybe not there. I see people losing iffy targets on videos, interpreting those iffy signals is an art. I still waste a lot of time chasing foil but I am learning the tones. 

One thing for sure, coins scream with 1.70. 

Thank you for your post, interpreting the ids and tones is critical and your numbers are 100% accurate based on my experience. 

Yeah, I am looking forward to it. 

Hope to connect with some folks and learn a bunch. 

I also can't wait to hunt that sweet farm. 

Yeah, take care of your mom, I lost mine a long time ago and she was 80. I miss that old bird. 

Hi all, 

Just wondering if any of you are attending BONE 29?

I will be there Tuesday and part of Wed. for the natural hunts. 

I guess Brad from Green Mountain MD will be there. Love his channel. Should be a great time.