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"(Reuters) - An 1804 U.S. silver dollar sold for $3.3 million in one of a series of auctions that brought in a record total of more than $100 million for a renowned private coin collection, organizers said on Saturday. The silver dollar, one of only eight of its kind, was snapped up at auction on Friday in Baltimore. It was one of more than 200 coins sold at the event." Full Story Here

The little woman and I decided to get n a little detecting since it was such a nice day .... So, we loaded up the rig and hit the road... found a little park that yeilded up some clad... No silver or jewelry but it was a great day anyway. The little rectangular pendant had me going there for a second because I have found 14k gold that had the same coppery look.... But it was just copper. Her finds on the left, mine on the right. She has adopted my MXT and I use the V3i. and yes there was trash too. I think I dug 3 pull tabs and a little foil. The wife did a few more pull tabs.

You may have... This is a neat site to compare with graded coins: https://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#//

Hi all One of the coins my friend send me photo off. Nice find and such a beautiful coin to find. ( going to a museum) REFERENCE HERE: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s7932.html Looking forward to join him soon. Europe here i come. Long time overdue holiday. GoldEN

HI all Was detecting with couple of friend and it was not my day.I couldn't get not even smallest nugget. Nothing.Zilch. That is quite rare for me cos on my detecting trips i rarely come home without at lest couple little ones. Well got this huge signal and here it is. Was on a surface between all other rubbish. I touch it with a pick but happy with a find.: GoldEN

A few guys up in Sonora California have been on a roll finding some really good stuff recently found a jar half full of Mercury dimes

Happy New Year everyone! Here is my 2016 detecting year review. This was my first full season running the CTX 3030 and I used it almost exclusively for all my detecting. The Makro Gold Racer is responsible for a few of the finds and I plan on giving it more swing time next year. In fact, besides my Chinese coin my Gold Racer found my oldest coin of the year. An 1875 Deutsches Reich 2 Pfennig. Almost all hunting was done in Public Parks with a few curb strips and private home sites thrown in but I would say over 90% of the finds were from parks.. My goal for the year was 100 Silver Coins and I just made it with 106.. Next years goal is to NOT set a goal. It kind of took some of the fun out of detecting towards the end of the year with the pressure on and unusually bad fall weather cutting in to hunt time as I was trying to reach 100. Once I hit my number everything was good again. I was able to slow down and enjoy the hunt. I didn't get a chance to do any nugget hunting this year so I hope to change things up a bit in 2017 with some nugget and relic hunting too. 2016 Totals: Wheat Cents 328 might be missing some Indian Head Cents 30 Silver Coins. 106 V Nickels. 9 Buffalos. 8 Silver Rings 11 Misc Silver Jewelry 10 Gold Rings. 2 Key Date and better date coins 1921 D Mercury Dime 1895 S Barber Dime 1917 S Buffalo Nickel 1931 S Wheat Penny 1909 VDB Wheat x2 1911 D Wheat x2 1912 D Wheat 1912 S Wheat x2 1913 S Wheat x2 1914 S Wheat 1915 S Wheat x2 1926 S Wheat x2 Foreign Coins No Date Victoria Quarter 1870-1901 1907 1956 Canada Dimes 3 Fish Scales (5 Cent)1892 1909 and a no date 1875 Deutsches Reich 2 Pfennig. (Gold Racer) Chief Lung Tung Pao 1736-1795 Several older Canada pennies My favorite finds of the year are probably my Key Date 1921 D Mercury Dime (VF-XF) And my Sterling Type 1 Eagle Scout ring 1930-1940. I also remember the Sterling pocket watch belt clip being an exciting find also with its booming high tonesand lots of silver flash when I opened the plug. Although my area in the Pacific North West lacks some old history and does not produce really old coins like other parts of the country, it kind of makes up for it a bit with a lot of S and D mint marks.. A lot of the key date pennies I found are really nice and should still have some good value even after coming out of the ground. Coins hold up well around here for the most part with a few exceptions. I found quite a few VF XF coins. I moved mid year so lost a lot of hunt time and am missing some of my misc. finds like buttons, keys, pins and tokens. I'll find them eventually if I ever get fully unpacked. The more serious I get about old coin hunting the more I don't care about the quantity but rather the quality of my finds and the hunt itself. Might not ever find a hundred Silvers again in one year and that's ok with me. Funny how you perspective of things can change over a year. Thanks for looking and enjoy the hunt. Bryan

Got out for a couple hours today. 1893 s Barber dime, slightly-semi-rare, has xf45+ detail if it weren't for the environment damage. My oldest Chinese coin 1662-1722 Sheng Tsu reign. and my favorite of the day, the heart boot plate, Wild West prostitutes' business card of sorts :)

New to metal detecting and a little apprehensive about putting a hole in the grass at a park or other locations..... What is everyone's thoughts here?

I watch every video I can on each detector I've got to learn more about it. I've seen all about recovery speed and separation and that all looks so good. With the power in me and my detector I can notch out anything I want. Now that don't fix what I want I can apply my super power and discriminate it to a unknown place. I watch this one video showing how I can enhance one signal over another so the signal on the ring was more pronounce. I really love it when I see a depth test on one of the detector I got and how good it is. All I've said above was done in a perfect world of detecting. The trouble that I'm having is when I walk out my door to go detect all that perfect went south. Look at any depth test and you will see they check to make sure you don't have any trash around are in that hole. Not one time will you see them throw a hand full of trash in with that coin. I don't care what the size of coin they always check the hole first to make sure it's clean. Now here I dig up a coin but my big coil has trash under it too. Oh my recover speed not so good because I didn't have two nails to put down just right but I do have lots of trash. Another good one showing how to enhance the signal of a ring so it's more pronounce over the trash next to it. This is great but like the ring I found the other day I couldn't see what it was before I dug it up. I know each of you is asking what is my problem. I've come to the conclusion if I don't walk out my door I will be in the perfect world of detecting Chuck.

My 1st silver coin in 10 years and found with an ancient Detector Pro Headhunter Diver VLF detector in a bedrock bottom river in Indiana. My friend pinpointed it with the Whites TRW waterproof pinpointer in a small divot in the bedrock. He had to use electrolysis and Limeaway to get the crud off. We are pretty sure its an 1873 Seated dime. Hmm, my photo seems to have disappeared??

I have never met Steve Moore but have communicated with him in his role as Director of Marketing at Garrett Metal Detectors. A plus for Garrett is having actual detectorists like Steve on the team. Here he makes a big score. I always pay attention to gold coin finds as I have yet to find one myself. One of these days! And big congratulations to Steve Moore!!

"In 1879, America's minister plenipotentiary to Austria, John Adam Kasson, successfully persuaded the Philadelphia Mint that the U.S. needed a four-dollar coin. The exact logic of the argument has been lost to time, though its thrust was that America needed a coin that would work as a form of international currency, and a gold coin that (roughly) measured the same weight as a French napoleon or a British sovereign would do the trick. The project was given the green light, and the coin, which features a giant star on one side, was minted in a limited run of two versions. One version depicted a female personification of Liberty with her hair up, the other with her hair down. But despite Lady Liberty's multiple coiffures, the coin was a flop. "People never fully got on board," said Paul Song, the director of coins and banknotes at Bonhams. "It was too much of a reach to say that the average citizen in 1880 was thinking about international trade. They just lost interest." So Congress refused to approve the coins' widespread release, the original strike of 425 coins was sold to various politicians at cost, and the mold was scrapped. Now, one of these 425 coins is headed to auction at Bonham's LA, estimated to sell for $50,000 to $60,000 on Sept. 6." Read the rest of the story at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-05/there-is-a-4-u-s-coin-and-it-s-now-worth-60-000 Stella (United States coin) - Wikipedia The Scandalous Stella - GovMint.com

Headed out for a quick park hunt in the afternoon, not really expecting to find much. I've hunted this particular park many times, as have many other detectorists. Classic story.....heading back to my vehicle, ready to call it a day and picked up a 12.45 signal on the e-trac and popped this 1871 "S" seated liberty dime. It was a shallow two inches deep, next to the curb and ten feet from my truck. This is the oldest coin to date for me! Rob

I'm not saying you will become rich over night but it can pay off. Today was not my first time to look down at my change and take a look over it. When I did I could see it was a wheat in it and with a date of 1925. I've have had the luck to find silver in that change in the past. So if you be a coin hunter are just a trash and treasure hunter it pays to look. Chuck

This thread is so people don't think metal detecting is just digging good stuff. I do a lot of detecting where I just toss stuff in a pile for sorting later. Time to clean house so here are a few piles and some notes. First up - learning session with Minelab GPZ 7000 at Lake Tahoe beach. Fresh water lake but very mineralized beaches, loaded with magnetite sands and hot rocks. Just digging everything, and did find a ring, but just a little silver one with fake stones. Basically coins except nickels and zinc pennies go lo-hi tone. Only other lo-hi tones normally nails. Everything else hi-lo tones. First photo the pile, next photo sorted out so you can see most common trash items. Call this BEACH TRASH Next up mostly stuff found nugget detecting, but also some park detecting snuck into that pile. The sorted pile shows trash you might find nugget detecting. Nuggets of course got pocketed as found so nothing to show there. Call this NUGGET DETECTING TRASH. Extra photo showing volume of small trash targets not worth trying to sort out.... And finally some park detecting with various detectors, mostly DFX and Gold Racer plus Racer 2 and Deus. I am digging a lot of trash items for educational/learning purposes while comparing machines. The sorted pile only shows common trash; I discarded all the weird stuff. Call this PARK TRASH. Anyway, I hope this shows that it is not all digging "good stuff" and also an idea what the most common trash items are for people who have not done this sort of thing before.

I know that this question is subjective, but I am going to ask anyways. For the guys out there who have found, and continue to find, old silver coins, how deep on average are you finding them? Just a question that came to mind as I was out this afternoon picking off "surface" targets at a local park. I know that there can be a lot of factors involved, and I doubt where I am at that I am going to be finding buffalo nickels or anything of the sort. Just a curiosity.

I was searching today for something online and came across this Utube video and thought this was a pretty smart way to put your Deep seeking PI detector to good use. In the video they use it to locate deep targets, mark them and go back over with an etrac to determine whether to dig or not.

Managed to get out today for a couple hours in a local park and was excited to pop a nice silver ring and a little over $7.00 in clad. Happy Hunting! Rob

Please don't laugh!! last week i was excited about a 1968 dime, then i dug this in a new baseball field parking lot/fill dirt, its only my 5th time out learning the MXT, a 1946 wheat penny

I made an executive decision to ditch work yesterday and go detect....been fiending. My last trip a few weeks back, netted me a trip to the Doc, got poison oak worst of my life,lol. As I was heading out, here comes my son...turns out his forestry class was cancelled...COOL! So we hiked back to a camp we have been hitting on a buddys ranch. Started off warm and sunny, ended up cool and rainy. Not alot of good targets , but I got the quarter and my son got the Franc...his oldest coin so far. Best part was just getting out in nature and hiking with my boy.

A couple of days ago I went to my buddy's house to go detecting. Before we wandered off I asked him if I could try my ctx and small coil on some gold coins. As I asked this question I remembered a previous post where coin drops and old purses were mentioned. Now his family never threw anything usable awy so I asked if he still had one of those little snap purses. The kind that men and women of older generations carried. Yes, indeed he had one, and three one oz gold coins, a 1/4 oz and a mexican dos peso. Also several silver quarters and 50 cent pieces. So first I laid the gold out in a line. Nice signal from 12/9 for the dollar size,12/12 or so for the 5 dollar size and 12/45 for the american oz and the mexican oz...the Kuggerand read 0/45 and went way up to the right hand corner. The silver read as you would expect. The real surprise came when I put the purse down and spread the silver and gold coin over it...no audio signal in discriminate and very odd signal in all metal...the reading was 12/30 as i recall. I was amazed...and wonder how many lost coin purses filled with gold and silver I may never have heard.... Not many I am sure but only one would be a real heart-breaker...at least it would be if I knew... fred

Ran over to the park to get my Makro-fix after church---- wanted to hit it before the game started... I got a couple of videos.... one is long 6.23 minutes and I can't figure out how to chop the center out of it,,but i promise I will learn... I will look at it again and give you some times that you can skip.... Going GOLD hunting next weekend at the Rye Patch !!!!!!! Carry on ! LINKS: _____________Part 1 and 2_________ 1. https://goo.gl/photos/dpoXDkTMomq22wc6A 2. Listen at 30 seconds and you can hear it hit the coil... https://goo.gl/photos/pXUAJoGXqbWNSkAH6

This puppy was dropped in 1859 no doubt. Pretty stoked! The dime was an added bonus. Also found an indian net weight. Glad to get out,looks like wont get another chance for awhile,jobs are piling up.

I have been around this hobby for over 35 years and went from the guy that had no idea what ground balance or gain meant to where I am today. It has taken thousands of hours of research and time, putting good detecting habits into practice. I, myself, have been very fortunate to be around some of the best diggers that have ever held a metal detector in their hands. If anyone ever thinks they are the best and they can’t get any better or learn more about what we do, then they are sadly mistaken. To this day I continue to learn every time I turn on and start swinging. Being associated with these guys for the last several years has really given me an insight that very few people will ever have. The team of diggers I work with are some of the best and most successful group you will ever find. Our fearless leader keeps us up to date on new machines and technology to keep us at a level we have attained. Now, how do you become the best detectorist you can be? First of all you must have an open mind and be willing to listen to the right people for instruction. In the past, I have been a involved in both Archery and Bowling to high degree. Those 2 sports taught me a very valuable lesson, if you want to be the best you can be, then learn from the best, someone that is very successful. I spent a lot of money buying the wrong stuff by listening to the “expert” that didn’t have a clue. I have learned how to do research from whom to seek advice. I run into people all the time that are wanting to get better, but they listen to people that have a good line but, don’t have the success to back up their claims. It sometimes is hard to get rid of bad habits, whether it is in your swing or the way you do research. YouTube is nice and there are some good videos and knowledge to be found on the site. However, there is also a lot of wanting to be people giving some not so good advice. It’s important that you as a viewer know the difference. You ask how do I know, again look at what they have found. A few old coins or a couple of gold nuggets doesn’t mean they have the knowledge you seek. Another thing is don’t keep changing the settings on your machine because this guy says it is the best way to do it. Learn your machine from testing buried targets to find out what works to get the best results in your area. There are no magic setting, there is however very good setting to start and work with to get your best performance. You will never be good if you are always changing your detector from this guys or to the next video guy that knows it all. YOU must learn how your machine works and when you need to change settings. Learn the sounds, do not depend on the ID’S # on when to dig. They are for a reference point to what might be the target. It takes years of dedication to understand this hobby. Now let’s talk about the detector that you have or want to get. I get asked all the time WHAT IS THE BEST MACHINE? The simple answer is “none” are the best at every task. And beyond that is what task are you wanting to use the detector. How about the selection of coils (not loops or heads) is compatible with a metal detector. What is the cost of the metal detector and the selection of coils you are going to need for your task? Not everyone can afford the most expensive detector on the market. But, if goal is to be the best nugget hunter you can be and are committed to that end, then, YES the Minelab GPZ-7000 is a machine you would definitely want to consider for Gold Nugget Hunting. To be honest, I am a bit prejudice about the brands of detectors I use so keep that in mind, but I use the one’s I use because they are the machines that I feel are the best for me and the tasks I want use them. That being said, here is what I have for my needs: GPZ-7000 GPX-5000 CTX-3030 FISHER GOLD BUG-2 XP DEUS These are not the only machines but they are my choice, do your research to find yours. THIS IS MY OPINION: Yes, I put in thousands of hours swinging and learning and have found over a thousand gold nuggets and some nice coins and relics. Why did I pick those machines? It is simple for me. When it comes to finding Gold Nuggets, Minelab is unsurpassed for depth on larger nuggets. That is why I have the GPZ-7000 and the GPX- 5000. Those two machines are similar but not the same. There are times when the GPX-5000 will outshine the GPZ-7000 and so that is the one bring out of the truck. If you are hunting nuggets in an area that has had a lot of miners camping and leaving iron items and trash behind, then discrimination may be needed and the GPX-5000 is the detector I want to use. When hunting in the Nevada desert where ferrous items are limited and nuggets of all sizes are possible to be found then the GPZ-7000 is my first choice. I have owned all the Minelab series from the GP 3500 up to the GPZ-7000. The GP series detectors have been the best gold finding detectors of their time. I have been fortune enough to find enough gold to justify the investment and I believe if you have the proper tools to get the job done correctly your chances of success becomes greater. The Fisher Gold Bug-2 is designed to find smaller and shallower gold and mean from fly *#*# to nice gold in the mineralized shallow ground. It is hard to beat the Gold Bug-2 when it comes to finding really small gold, but the Newer Minelab SDC-2300 comes very close but doesn’t have iron discrimination if that is needed. The last detector I use for hunting gold is the XP Deus. Now where would I use a multi purpose coin, relic and gold machine, in tailing piles looking for specimen gold. Again, these are my choices and for tailing piles The XP Deus is not the only detector that is good for the job, the Minelab X-terra 705 is the choice for a couple of the successful team members. When it comes to coin and relic hunting the Minelab CTX-3030 is what I find works best for me. One of the reasons I like this machine because it is waterproof. If you choose to hit the lake or beach you don’t have to worry about getting it wet and it works outstanding in the water while jewelry hunting. It has a good selection of coils to cover your hunting needs. In high iron areas I use the 6 inch coil and if the area it is a more open and uncluttered spot with deep coins the 17 inch monster coil would be the choice. The Stock coil works great for all around detecting conditions. The CTX-3030 or Minelab’s SDC-2300 are some of the best in water looking for those platinum, gold and silver rings. Again, there are other choices, but the CTX has it all and it covers most all of my coil and relic hunting needs. The XP Deus however, is a good choice with very heavy iron where the coins are close to the ferrous objects. I have paid for the XP Deus in a couple spots, finding some very nice targets lying too close to iron that the CTX was unable to find. I always use both units when I am in an area where old goodies are coming out of the ground. Back to how to become the best you can be. It takes hours and hours of using the correct techniques to become consistent in producing good finds. But just knowing your detector and technique is not enough by any means! The first part of becoming successful is doing the research to get you to a good spot. You can’t just always follow your buddies to get you to a good area. If they have been there, then you are looking for the left overs. It is fairly easy to find the cream in a spot, but to find what is below the cream and mixed in with the ferrous targets, or just plain DEEP TARGETS is what we are trying to do. You must put in the time to be successful. Wanting to find older coins and relics, then you have to be at a site that can hold those old items. The local city park is probably not your best choice but can be a very good place to practice honing your skills. The same holds true for a school yard. Lots of targets to get in some practice. With all the junk targets you can perfect your swing speed, coil control and keeping your coil level to the ground all the way through your swing. Learn how to separate targets and look for the deep ones, not the easy ones in the top 4 or 5 inches. Pass those up and leave those for later, but instead listen for the faint deep signals. The deep signals should be the better coins and relics. Look at the ground to see if has been turned over or fill has been added. While driving around look for old trees or stumps that have been there for years. Watch for older homes, especially ones that have bad lawn care. It can increase your chance to detect. Empty lots where old homes once stood. Look for foundations in those lots along with colored glass and trash from days gone by. Research at city hall or the library from where old roads or buildings once stood. Get photos from the era of when the community or mining camp was first started. Look at areas that didn’t have electricity back in the day, especially mine sites. Look for old maps of towns, forts or mining camps that are not on today's maps. The internet is a great source of information, but books and maps are usually the best way to go. As my detecting partner has told countless people, you will spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars buying that perfect detector, but you won’t spend a $100 a year buying research material to get you to those spots no one else finds. They are still out there. Research is all part of learning how to become successful. Coils are always a hot topic. What coil do I need? Well, you need the one designed to do the task you are attempting. If you are looking for shallow small targets, then a huge coil is not a good choice. Same way if you are looking for deep targets a small coil is not correct choice. Are you going to use discrimination, if so, you will need a DD coil. If you are after depth and sensitivity the mono coil is what you will want because they are more sensitive than their DD partners. There is also concentric coils on our coin and relic machines. You need to match the right coil to the task at hand. Smaller coils are designed to find smaller shallow targets. Big coils are made to go deep looking for that Lunker or deep coin, but if there is a small target at depth the big coil will most likely not see it and the small coil can’t see that deep so what does that mean. You simply can’t get them all unless you are scraping off a few inches at a time down to bedrock but we do try. Again, do some testing, if you are a nugget hunter then buy yourself some lead (Bird shot and fishing weights) in different sizes and put them in the ground at different depths and TEST!!! Coin hunters bury those coins in the ground so you can barely hear them. That serves two purposed, practice on faint targets and the opportunity to try different modes and setting to see what works in real life. Air tests are ok, but the mineralization and wetness in the ground tell the real story. That way you know what works and what doesn’t. That gives you the confidence and so you will not have to wonder if your machine and coil combination is correct. You will know! Confidence is a good thing. That is how we all have learned, practice practice practice…. You don’t have to be in the gold fields or a ghost town to become better on your detector. Instead of sitting on your couch go outside and put in some time learning about to make the machine and you work together to be successful. You might be surprised about how you want to get out there and find the get swinging after honing your skill level. If you have a family, what a way to spend some quality time together. And mom and dad you know the kids are going to get better than you. In conclusion, you want to be really good or just so so, the choice is yours. Everyone doesn’t want to be a Pro but if you do, it requires time, energy, investment and a lot of hours swing an digging. Remember, if you want to be the best then learn what you can from the successful hunter. Detector classes give you a huge leap forward to becoming successful. The final word is something I did hear on a video from a fellow digger: “Look of a reason to dig not for an excuse not to dig” Thanks for your time, Rye Patch Ron PS: Always fill in your holes, ask permission and leave it as good or better than before you dug.