Another Seated 1/2, Recent Find

[Paul (CA)]

Got out about two weeks ago before the shutdown, local friend and I met to test our MDT units on bricks. Then, detect since the weather was very nice. We didn’t hunt the area recently giving up three seated 1/2 dollars, instead we focused on another nearby area giving up a seated 1/2 dime, bust quarter and a 1846 $5 dollar gold coin on previous hunts. 
 

We know from experience, eventually this particular area will give an old coin or two if we continue hitting it. Luck was on my side on this particular hunt, dug an 1848 1/2 dime with the MDT. Funny thing with my recent silver coin finds, these four recent pieces of silver are all seated 1/2 half’s. Two seated half dollars, two seated 1/2 dimes. 
 

The MDT bagged the recent 1848 1/2 dime, EQUINOX and Blisstool V6 scored the remaining three pieces. 
 

The bricks we tested are from an 1853 hotel, nothing remains from the hotel, it burned down in 1908 and is from the same property across the river now an orchard. Unfortunately, the bricks are only 2-3 bar with 3 at the highest end. MDT and most other top end models can see through one brick with ease. Two bricks are tougher, but barely detectable when testing. These bricks are not mineralized enough, to conduct detector comparisons.

Have a new job position, been tough visiting the forums due to homework and new job positions work schedule. Going forward will be even tougher, thought I’d post this today’s may not be too many free moments ahead.

Also, I’ll add that the property owner of this particular area allows us to detect here. Most of our finds from this particular area are in our local county’s museum, the bulk of remaining finds including an 1846 $5 gold coin are with the property owner. These recent seated finds, will probably go to the owner or be placed into our county’s museum displayed along side with the other finds. 

Great hobby we have,  Really enjoy the history part especially the research portion. If one digs into the reading material portion, sky’s the limit you’ll always have places to hunt and always keep property owners updated. 
 

Thanks for Looking,

Paul

[kac]

Nice finds, those half dimes are so small like the trimes, can be easy to overlook if there is trash around.

Well done.

[Paul (CA)]

Thanks kac,

     Half dimes are hard to find,  I’m a firm believer with using high kHz to get thin silver especially thin half dimes and tiny thin reales. With the Tarsacci,  I always use 18 kHz. With the Deus,  use HF coils with high kHz. 
 

     Thin silver especially trimes in your area, will probably be best recovered with higher kHz. Conductivity wise,  they fall lower conductivity than larger pieces of silver coins twice their size. Using lower kHz for deeper silver, is the mindset of most hunters not knowing they are missing smaller pieces of silver.

Thanks again,

Paul

[2Valen]

Great finds and keep it up, love seeing photos of nice finds.

[Denny]

Congrats Paul,

Funny no large cents, Indian head cents or shield nickels were dug up.   I’m wondering if the river crossing was a toll bridge like at Kingston.

 

[Denny]

Just now, Denny said:

Congrats Paul,

Funny no large cents, Indian head cents or shield nickels were dug up.   I’m wondering if the river crossing was a toll bridge like at Kingston.

The MDT  did a good job picking up the coin under a 3 inch hot rock we tested. When  blacksand mode is on hot rock was undetectable not a sound and made the MDT more stable.    Enjoyed hunting with you yesterday it was sure fun to get out to do some detecting. 

Denny

 

 

[Paul (CA)]

10 hours ago, 2Valen said:

Great finds and keep it up, love seeing photos of nice finds.

Thanks 2Valen, 

Maybe next hunt will yield more finds,  We need another plow to stir up the ground.

Thanks again 

Paul

[Paul (CA)]

1 hour ago, Denny said:

 

Hello Denny,

     Wish I would stayed longer,  was great to see you again and we learned how well the MDT will eliminate hot rocks. 
 

Im not a fan of using black sand mode with any detector when not needed, but I can see an advantage with using black sand mode with the MDT. It eliminates our hot rocks completely, yet conductive finds are still detectable if under a hot rock. I’ll share a little here Denny what we noticed.  And yes,  the river crossing here at this particular river was a toll bridge. Plus, River was much wider back then.

What Denny and I found out with our MDT units, If an MDT user is still experiencing some ground  noise even after properly setting Salt mode especially in areas with hot rocks.  Kick on black sand mode, it should eliminate all remaining ground noise as it did with our soil from a particular area. 
 

One particular area we hunt, is saturated with chemicals used for farming, decades of heavy dosage plowed year after year. Coupled with rock hots, ground noise is terrible. The MDT can eliminate all noise, it may loose some depth with using black sand mode but we’ll probably make it up with a much quieter machine. Much easier to stay focused, those deeper whisper signals will not be overcome by ground noise. 
 

We’re still learning the ins and outs of our MDT units, but when it comes to handling poor soil I think we both feel the MDT is our best choice of detector for these types tougher soil conditions.

Hopefully,  Denny and I can meet up again soon.

Hope to get out with you soon Denny!

Paul

[GB_Amateur]

Great finds -- I'd be happy with any one of them!  Sounds like you're giving the Tarsacci a good workout in situations it might excel.  Most of the time a mintmarked coin (particularly -S) is going to be scarcer than the same year's plain (no mintmark = Philadelphia).  The 1862 half dollar is an exception.  You didn't mention a mintmark on that one.  Hope it doesn't have one....

Are these coins coming out of really rocky ground?  The dings on the halves, particularly on the 1861, having me thinking that is the case.  (Lest you think I'm blaming you, I'm not.  Lots of things can happen to a coin which is in the ground for over a century, especially when it's up against hard objects.)  Also, do you know what is above Lady Liberty's shoulder (looks like a couple of flags tied to a line) on the 1862 half?  I suppose it could be something that happened at the mint (e.g. die clash).

[Paul (CA)]

Hello GB-Amateur,

     The ground the two seated 50 cent pieces come from are farm land,  not Rocky and all those ricks and cuts are from plow. With the exception of two shiny marks above the shoulder of 1862 50cent 1/2, that’s from my shovel. Soil is pretty good from this area,  this particular area is plowed about twice a year which is good but increases odds to damage coins.

      The area the two seated 1/2 dimes are from another area. Same property but a good 1/4-1/2 mile up river on opposite side. Another settlement, 1850’s era. Soil is saturated with chemicals, and area is full of hot rocks, what damages coins from this area is both from plow had chemicals. It’s tough to get a date from silver coins, especially worn out silver.

Thanks for the informative reply,  and both these 50 cent pieces are S mint.

All the best,

Paul