Had To Hit The Beach Again

[schoolofhardNox]

I returned to that same beach again for what was going to be a decent low tide. I must admit I was kind of tired that morning and it showed in my not so smart strategy. Basically I used the wrong detector, with the wrong coil, during the wrong part of the tide recession. That's it in a nut shell? The beach was starting to sand in and my use of a 14" coil for the GPX on a very wet, black sand area, littered with iron was a bad choice. I should have let the sand dry a bit and used the 5x10" coil. Also used the Equinox with the sand too saturated (11" coil), and it performed marginally. For my area, it is better to let the surface of the sand dry a bit and let the saturated part be below and not surface, for the coil to see. All of the silver was found in the dry sand with the GPX early on. Also by shifting to a lower area, you can see the ratio of zinc to copper pennies was way different than the other two hunts. So even after 50 years of detecting, I am still able to make some rookie mistakes ? But I did get a great silver spoon at 20". It was a ghost signal that I chased and it ended up being that spoon. I think it reads-1HAS.W.Kennard&Co 925. I'm heading out to another beach tomorrow to see what it holds. I need to give that beach a rest for a bit. The fun continues.........

[GB_Amateur]

Not being a beach hunter myself it's hard for me to recognize which coins are silver and which aren't, other than the design (e.g. Walking Liberties, Standing Liberties, etc. are obviously silver).  What is your total silver count in this thread?

It's pretty amazing what the heavy surf will expose ('expose' not taken literally, but brought within range of a detector).

Do you have a good way to clean up those corroded silver coins (fingers crossed)?

Great hunting, and your years of detecting really are paying off.  Don't beat yourself up over the small mistakes.

 

 

[schoolofhardNox]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

Not being a beach hunter myself it's hard for me to recognize which coins are silver and which aren't, other than the design (e.g. Walking Liberties, Standing Liberties, etc. are obviously silver).  What is your total silver count in this thread?

It's pretty amazing what the heavy surf will expose ('expose' not taken literally, but brought within range of a detector).

Do you have a good way to clean up those corroded silver coins (fingers crossed)?

Great hunting, and your years of detecting really are paying off.  Don't beat yourself up over the small mistakes.

 

 

Oops sorry. I forgot that not everyone beach hunts. Most times the silver coins come out a gray color. But every once in a while they are brown like clad coins come out. Usually my pictures will keep the lesser value coins together. This includes clad coins, copper and zinc pennies and any older non silver coins like Buffalo, Indian, etc.. I then post all my silver coins and silver jewelry/relics in one shot. Gold is rare and always in it's own picture. Total silver count for that beach in 3 visits was 57 coins and the chain, medal and spoon. I do not clean them yet, but will eventually after doing some more reading on how to do it. That gray corrosion hides a lot of blemishes in the surface. Sometimes it's better to leave it than to see what's behind that mask

[schoolofhardNox]

Today's beach hunt was at a different beach. This beach is small and has incredible EMI from the (dual track) electrified train rails. I can only hunt when they un-energize the tracks, usually for about 20 minutes. Then they re-energize the tracks and I have to wait , sometimes 30 minutes. But there are deep silvers to be had, so today it was all GPX territory. Only 3 silvers, but one was a worn 1903 Barber quarter. The usual clad, some copper pennies and possibly a steel cent in the mix too. Anytime I get silver is a good hunt. But now back to work until next week's hunt.

[kac]

You inspired me to hit one the beaches here so I blew off work on Monday for a bit. Can't believe how much has been washed away from the storms. Dunes down from 1-2 feet here. Found a recent zinc penny a foot down in new shape. Usually those bubble up in no time in the salt.

I heard that an old shipwreck washed up on a nearby state park and they closed it. Heard there was gold coins with it but that could be some local pirate rumors going around.

You ever consider getting a TDI Beach Hunter for the salt rather than beating up that GPX?

If you need to replace pots and switches check out the waterproof ones, should be some that will fit. I stopped using my Tesoro at the beach because I don't want to trash it.

[schoolofhardNox]

9 hours ago, kac said:

You inspired me to hit one the beaches here so I blew off work on Monday for a bit. Can't believe how much has been washed away from the storms. Dunes down from 1-2 feet here. Found a recent zinc penny a foot down in new shape. Usually those bubble up in no time in the salt.

I heard that an old shipwreck washed up on a nearby state park and they closed it. Heard there was gold coins with it but that could be some local pirate rumors going around.

You ever consider getting a TDI Beach Hunter for the salt rather than beating up that GPX?

If you need to replace pots and switches check out the waterproof ones, should be some that will fit. I stopped using my Tesoro at the beach because I don't want to trash it.

I was able to try a TDI SL for a couple of land hunts, and it is a good machine. Never tried the Beach Hunter version. The problem with a new to me machine is that it would take a while to get the best settings to equal or surpass the depth I am getting on the GPX. I can regularly (consistently) hit coins at 15" with a nice solid (but faint) sweet sound. I can vaguely hit coins to 20" on occasion.  The more EMI in the area, the shallower those numbers become. The beaches took a good hit from those storms, but if you are finding that zinc at a foot, you are in an area that is filling back up with sand. That is the problem I am running into the last two hunts, hence why my silver count dropped and my zinc count rose.

8 hours ago, phrunt said:

You can buy toggle switch covers that fit the GPX, I've got some for mine just been too lazy to put them on ?

 

Tell me more old wise one.? Where can I get some of those? Eventually I will have the unit so watertight  that it will weigh 10 lbs ?

[GB_Amateur]

11 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

...possibly a steel cent...

That is interesting.  I assume you tried a magnet on it.  I've never found one of those nor do I expect to.  First off they should sound off in the ferrous region on a discriminating detector, and that's if they survive years of corrosive (rust) action.  Quite a rare find for a MD, IMO, although not worth the metal it's minted on, unless it has that elusive 1944 date. ?  ?

[schoolofhardNox]

1 minute ago, GB_Amateur said:

That is interesting.  I assume you tried a magnet on it.  I've never found one of those nor do I expect to.  First off they should sound off in the ferrous region on a discriminating detector, and that's if they survive years of corrosive (rust) action.  Quite a rare find for a MD, IMO, although not worth the metal it's minted on, unless it has that elusive 1944 date. ?  ?

Didn't do the magnet on it, but the rust tells it all. It was found with two other wheats, so I'm assuming  that it is a steel cent. If found alone, I would just think it's junk. It's in the picture with the clad coins in the copper cent row, at the end. That rusty glob is it ? Too rusted to get any details on it. You may find one by accident if it is in a pocket spill of other coins. I have found a couple that way in the parks.

[kac]

I had looked into getting the TDI Beach Hunter but for the amount I hit the beach I couldn't justify the costs and instead sprung for a SeaHunter MK2. That little stock 8" coil hit the penny at a foot with no problems in wet sand, think it really fades at 14" but still a huge upgrade in depth when compared to a IB machine. I can well imagine how nice that GPX is in the salt, I would be scared to use one out there. I do love the hip mount for the SH, makes for easy all day swinging especially considering the control box seems to be weighted for neutral buoyancy.

Your definitely correct on the wash out with new sands over the old. I noticed the dunes are really chewed up. Soon the weather will be too cold for most and I'll toss my neoprene waders on and hit the surf when it's a balmy 35-40. Like to get more hours on that pi. Pin pointing with the PI has been a bit tricky, seems to ring off the edge of the coil rather than the middle like a IB machine. I am a PI noob I'll admit it ?