My Detecting Trip To Northeast Usa, Part 2

[GB_Amateur]

Upon departing the Colonial Site in NW Massachusetts I made my way towards Eastern Pennsylvania to meet up with member here dogodog and spend half a day detecting one of his sites.  I was fortunate that he had previously mentioned he'd like to get together for a hunt and since I was on his side of the world this seemed like a good time to take him up on his offer.  The hunt was only part of the enjoyment as we spent some time (while driving and also over lunch, which he generously bought) to discuss detecting.

The site, which is one he's hunted previously but continues to hunt and make good finds -- see his recent posts -- was previously a private swim and sports club recently acquired by the local government.  I don't think I'm going out a limb to say that except for DoD and his friends he's brought there, it had never been previously detected.  This is like stepping on a time machine back to the 1970's but with a 2020 metal detector!

We began searching an open area which may have been a sports field or maybe just a play area for kids (of all ages) but it was in the open sun and it was becoming what dog said was the hottest day of the year so after about 15-20 minutes we headed to the backside of the property where we could detect in the shade of some large trees.  I was using the Minelab Equinox 800 and 11" coil with my standard park and school settings:  Park 1, 5 custom tones, no notching, Recovery Speed = 4, Iron Bias F2 = 0.  He told me he was finding silver coins at shallow depths so I turned down the gain to 22 from my 24, but even that was overkill although the EMI was easily eliminated with noise cancel.  I actually never did a ground balance since pumping the coil showed the current setting at turn-on was quiet as a mouse.

The early 15-20 minutes in the open produced some clad and copper Memorials.  The back (shaded) part proved more promising.  I got the first trophy (and as it turned out, my best find of the day) -- a 1941-S Merc in excellent condition other than the dark toning which was surely caused by some chemical in the ground.  After showing DoD, it wasn't more than 10 minutes when he called me over to show me his first silver -- a Roosie.  Then he shifted into high gear and found a 9 kt gold mens wedding band followed by his own Merc.  I found quite a few pennies (see photo below) and a few (not old) nickels the remainder of the total 3 1/2 hours of detecting but only about half the number of coins (old and new) that dog did.  Hey, I didn't want to show him up on his own turf!    Here's a pic of my total recoveries:

Oh, that's not a pulltab from a dinosaur's drink can but rather a thoughtful gift from DoD -- a detecting towel.  I still haven't figured out why he put a pulltab image on it....  At least it wasn't a Stinkin' Zincoln.  Speaking of which, there wasn't a huge amount of trash, and particularly not that many beavertails which often fool me as being nickels.  I got more aluminum bottle caps (three, one of which isn't shown) than classic pulltabs and not a single modern tab although I was doing some mental discrimination.  Three tacks (which DoD warned me about) sure sounded sweet, as usual.  Here's a closeup of my coin haul:

As usual my photography leaves something to be desired, but you're not missing much detail.  From right to left:  clad quarter (2001 North Carolina state quarter -- most recent date of all my recovered coins), four clad dimes, three Jeffies (oldest is the top one, a rather crusty and corroded 1941-D).  Next are three rows of copper Memorials sorted by decade:  one from 1980-82, nine from the 70's and four from the 60's.  On the left are three heavily green scaled Wheaties and my best find, the Merc.  I did find 3 Zincolns (shown in the previous photo) but in my book those are trash, not coins.  Here are closeups of the 1941-S Merc (also shown are my two best finds from earlier in the trip which are highlighted in another post):

Except for the dark toning (which isn't all that bad), the condition of the Merc is quite nice.  I note that the ground in this part of the country, and that include NW Massachusetts where the large cent was found, seems to be even more unfriendly to copper and copper alloy coins (including USA 25% nickel composition coins) than my soils at home.  I know others have found similar deterioration of coin in other part of the Eastern USA.  I don't think it's due to the trees since we pretty much share the same species, so it must be some inorganic chemical(s) in the soil.

Better than the detect was meeting dogodog and discussing several topics including soil effects, depth of finds, and coil options -- particularly DD vs. concentric.  To put an exclamation point on this last topic, he showed me how well his Tesoro Compadre (w/fixed 8" concentric) performs, which he switched to after a short time detecting with his Eqx800.  I've returned home with a new found respect for Tesoro analog circuitry and am planning on learning my Vaquero.  (kac, don't say "I told you so" even though... you told me so, as have Monte, Rick N, and others here.)

[F350Platinum]

Great trip to visit doggo and again I'm jealous of your Barber. 😡 You've had quite the trip! 👍

[kac]

Another good run for ya. Not a bad haul at all.

[Valens Legacy]

Another great hunt for you again, and glad you had some good company to spend the day with.

 

[dogodog]

GB, I had a fantastic time detecting with you, Even know it was pretty hot. It was an honor to host you and spend time with someone who likes the detector talk. I'm glad you found that merc, because I missed it the previous hunt I had there. It was honestly 16 inches from a silver ring I found. As for the dark color of the older silvers in that area, I think it might have to do with the oak tree's and the amount of tannin in the ground. Just a guess. Once again THANKS and I hope we can do it again soon. Oh and next time your spending more than a couple of hours.

[rvpopeye]

The staining makes it easier to read that merc ! 

[Joe D.]

Outta likes for today guys,

   But GB, I very much appreciate how you, and others here, lay out your stories to share with us! I too hope to one day make my "rounds" for a hunt or three, with some of you "Northerners"!😁  Old coins and stuff are few and far between this far South! Even on the Treasure Coast Beaches, it generally takes a significant weather event to get to the "good" stuff, and even then, there are alot of locals, and others, concentrated in a narrow search area! Not ideal, but goes with the territory! Most I've met are friendly enough!🤬  (just kidding)!!🤣

   Looking forward to some more adventures, to be vicariously along for the hunt!!👍👍

[Monte]

GB_Amateur, a good 2-pa report.  Looks like you had some success, but the more I read about a lot of the finds made in NE USA, the more I am thankful for all the old yards and old ghost towns and other early-era places I have enjoyed 'Out West'.   Often I would find more Seated Liberty and early-date Barbers, 2¢, 3¢ and vintage 5¢ coins by percentage of my finds than a lot of what I see made on the Eastern side.  Odds are many places 'Back East' experienced a lot of growth that ruined the opportunity to find good stuff.

As you know, not everyone makes some of those old coin finds in some of our western ghost towns, but when made, they are often definite keepers.  However, access to old private property is often one of the better opportunities we have.  I wish you the best on future trips farther from home ... both to the East and to the West.

Monte

[Raphis]

I enjoyed the write ups of your trips.
Congrats on your finds and for meeting up with forum members to share/gain knowledge in the hobby, and to hunt spots you never would have hunted otherwise.  Your hunt reminded me of a virgin site I was invited to detect by a forumite years ago.  The site was a large, private community for Veterans that was built back in the late 40’s era. The site was loaded with oldies...I managed 98 wheat pennies and close to 15 silvers on a 3/4 day hunt there.  It was the only time I hunted the site.

The toning on your merc is quite common on the southwest coast.  I have found a few thousand silver with that exact toning.  I also found quite a few silver that came out of the ground looking as white as a ghost (oxidation), and within seconds of being exposed to oxygen, the coin turns dark purple, then black.  

[IdahoPeg]

Great write up, and I love the pulltab towel…what a hoot! Definitely get our share of them on the beaches. Its wonderful that Forum members can visit and host each other on outings…cool!👍