Geologyhound

My family got me the 11 x 13 coil as a joint birthday/Christmas gift. Today was the first chance I’ve had to get out and use it. I started at a local beach just to experiment with the pinpointing in an easy to dig environment. I have heard the pinpointing on the 11 x 13 can be a little less precise. I didn’t find much at the beach other than a handful of lead weights, a few modern dimes, and a number of zinc pennies. But at least I was finding targets. I then moved on to an old school. This was pretty densely overgrown with no trace of the original structure, and I spent about half the time extricating myself from thorn bushes. However, my very first target after leaving the road was a clean signal in the copper penny range. Sure enough, about 4 inches down was a 1946D. I had had some doubts that I would find much here given the overgrowth. But, this was a proof of concept for me. About 15 minutes later I had another clean tone and about 3 inches down my pinpointer indicated the target was in a wad of clay I had a loosened. I separated the wad, and saw a shiny silver edge - an 1897 Barber dime! The only 1800s coins I have found outside of seeded hunts have been pennies. So this is my oldest dime! I also found the face plate for an Ingraham Biltmore luminous watch. I’m wondering if that’s radium…. In addition, I found the back plate for a Gruen Swiss watch. I’m not sure what the silvery “clip” like thing is. I’m thinking it did not used to be bent over like that. I was wondering if the other silvery item was an earring. My wife doesn’t think so. My son is wondering if it is the endcap for a pocket knife. There’s no hallmark on it, and it is lightweight, so I’m thinking it’s aluminum. in hindsight I probably should’ve used the 9 inch coil with all the underbrush. But all in all, I’d say it was a good first day for my 11 x 13!

Thanks! I finally had a chance to get out and use it today. The 11 x 13 is a little more nose heavy than the 9 inch. 😏. I just kept tightening the bolt until the coil remained stable. It wasn’t as much of a problem as I thought it could be.

Cool hunt! I would love to find more tokens. Looks like your fossil may be a Lepidodendron (scale tree “bark”) fossil. On a side note, aren’t aliens supposed to wipe your memory after probing? So maybe you were there longer than you thought… 🤣

Shiny! Nice merc, but I think I would be more hyped with the large cent. Is that just the standard 9 inch you have on?

When it absorbs water, does it expand in size? Can you scratch it with your fingernail?

Nice stack of silver!

Thanks! I probably have found less than half that number, perhaps only a third. So I am pleased that my D2 9 inch coil found two within about a month and a half. Now I’m going to have to go back over those locations with my new 11 x 13.

On the regular 9 inch coil (first picture over the sink) the coil ears have two notches which fit the notched insert on the side of the thumb screw. On the 11 X 13 coil, the coil ears have no notches (second picture over white background), but the insert is still notched and doesn’t quite fit into the coil ears hole except for about the first millimeter “collar” at the tip. Do you just rely on the compression of the thumb screw to force the insert into the coil ears to secure the coil to the rod? Forcing anything makes me nervous. Is this normal?

However you like to spend it, have a very happy Thanksgiving!

I am still looking for my first Civil War bullet. You are making me green with envy here! I would call that a fantastic day!

Good to know, thanks! This is in the Cincinnati area, so about an hour drive south of Dayton. Pretty much everything else I am finding here is from the 1930’s to 1950’s.

That’s OK, it wasn’t what I was expecting either… 🤣🤣 Sealter’s (?) Gold Nugget. I can’t find it on the Internet, so I am uncertain exactly what it was for. There have been some… interesting… suggestions for some similar foil wraps I have found at the same site.

Ouch! At least no bones broken. Now I need to find a $20 gold piece for you to copy…🤪

Yep, any day with an IHP is a good day!😄 Didn’t know you were out of commission, but I’m glad you’re back!

I certainly had a big grin when I figured out the date! 😁 I don’t know about anyone else but I would rather find one IHP for a day than a pile of clad.

Thanks! I have found wheaties with illegible dates. So yes, a clearly legible date is certainly welcome!

Thanks!

I know it may not be much by some standards, but 1882 beats my oldest coin by about two years. So I am happy to have it! Now to supplant it with something even older… Found it at an old school house about 5 inches down along the edge of a bowl shaped depression from an old tree. It was a little jumpy on modified fast (Deus 2), but kept giving me a fairly consistent zinc penny range signal. Also, the neighbor lady said she spoke with prior detectorists. So the site has been cherry picked.

Almost looks like the figure on the left may be holding a threshing flail. With the light from the right, you can see the left figure’s hand with what appears to be a rod and something dangling from the end of the rod in the middle. With the light from the left the figure on the right appears to be holding a hammer. You can see four fingers of the hand holding the hammer (?) shaft.

If your Apple iPhone is older than iPhone 14, then the GPS accuracy will likely be limited to plus or minus several meters (on data collection and again when attempting to find the previously located spot). Theoretically, starting with the iPhone 14, the accuracy should be better. Apple claims the new accuracy is centimeter-level, which would be survey level accuracy. I don’t know if that requires a special subscription, and I don’t have that new an iPhone. So, I have not been able to confirm.

One of the “figures” appears to have a headdress or Roman-like helmet (see attached close-up). Building off of Ghostlight’s theory, I am wondering about an Indian Peace Medal. I have looked through a lot of the American series, and those do not appear to be a good match. But there are also British and Canadian peace/treaty medals. The configuration of the few of those I have found on the internet is closer to your two “figures“ but still does not appear to be a good match. Some of the ones I have seen had writing on the back, which could equate to your “flat“ back. There appears to be lineations on the back of your find which may correspond to lines of text. There may also be some sort of small curving pattern in the middle on the back. There appears to be a larger portion of one side of your medal which is broken off. Anything made to be worn would have had a hole punched in it. Aging could have contributed to loss of the whole area with the hole. The odd thing is, the broken out portion is on the “side“ relating to the “figures“ and “text“. If that is where a hole was located, then the medal would’ve been sideways when worn. Hope you can find a positive ID, it has me curious!

Looks like time well invested. Congratulations!

If you scrape at the silvery looking stuff with the point of a knife, do little flat sheets flake off? If so then I would say you probably have a gneiss with muscovite layers. If the silvery looking stuff is not muscovite, then I have seen some petrified wood with that general appearance. But I’m definitely leaning towards my first opinion.

Looks like a lot of bullets and shotgun shells. Still, if I could turn up a two cent piece at a hunted out site, I would be happy!

Well, I went back to this site, lined up on where I found the Mercury at the end of the last day, and within about 5 feet hit a sporadic high tone amongst the nails with my modified fast program. Dug down and hit about a 3 inch root from a long vanished tree. I managed to yank it out of the way and the next cup I pulled underneath it had a clean high tone. It was another 1944 Philadelphia Mercury! I proceeded to grid the immediate vicinity from one direction and found two mid 50s wheats. I also found a 2.75 pound, 6-inch brass ring with two small label plates. One says HEEK IN. The other says N – 1654-52. There is also a 36 stamped in the ring next to one of the labels. I am guessing this may be some motor part? Sad thing is, with the price of scrap brass, this might be worth more than the Mercury dimes… In addition, I found something with a strong quarter signal (93) which I first thought was part of a hubcap. But then I found another one about 30 feet away with the same exterior pattern. The second one was mashed flat and had a little handle. So they are actually little tea cups. I showed them to my mom. She recognized the pattern and is certain she had cups just like it when she was a little girl back in the 40s. So once again, it seems like all the artifacts are from the 1940s and 1950s. I know this site was used in the 1850s. Hopefully I will find some thing that old! Still, I can’t argue with two Mercury dimes in close proximity.