Beautiful Barber That Has Been Underfoot And Coil For 50 Years

[Zincoln]

Chose to post this to illustrate what we all know, the masking effect is real.  Went to a park that is pretty well picked through.  It has been hit hard by every detector club and enthusiast in our area.  Last year I was able to pull a $5 gold coin that was masked by iron out in the brush, and yesterday I was able to pull 4 coins, one being a nice semi-key barber quarter in areas that I've detected no less than 20 times with my host of detectors, and I'm sure has seen thousands of swings over it.  It was only 4-5 inches down, but was surrounded by nails.

After getting a new to me 10"DD replacement coil for my V3i, which seems a little hotter than my previous coil, I headed out to see if I would be able to find something I've missed.  There are no 'dig me' signals to be found, just a rare bouncy or very iffy directional signal to dig.  Working in an old nail bed with small river rock down about 4-5 inches where trails were once graveled, I was near big old iron and a lot of nail signals.  First signal was messy, something I've never considered digging before, but it had a few inconsistent high beeps mixed in with plenty of iron in my Mixed audio program (iron in one ear, good tones in the other).  Opened the plug and had several responses from the pin pointer.  Picked one, loosened the soil a bit deeper expecting a nail, and removed a small scoop.  Out pops a VF 1899 S Barber Quarter on edge.  A bit surprised, but thrilled.  Then I recovered 3 nails in the hole making a nice little circle around it, none further than 3 inches away.  

In the next few minutes I'd repeat the same dig on a signal I'd generally pass on, and out popped a 1907 IHC and a 1912S wheat all at about 5 inches in the rock/dirt matrix.  and with iron nearby.  Could have covered these with a garbage can lid.  I'd dug 3 or 4 wheats before in the near vicinity, so I knew something might be here, but how on earth have they remained hidden this long with so many detectors passing over them, me included.  Thank you iron!

The hobby has gotten tough, but there are still good targets in those 'hunted out parks'.  While i like my Deus quite well in many applications, the V3i with it's sophisticated programmability (such as selecting how many signal responses in a particular range result in an audible and visible VDI response, and it's mixed mode audio ) allows me to eke out a few well masked targets and keep the hobby fun!

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Beautiful Barber quarter 👍

[Bill (S. CA)]

What a gorgeous coin.  Interesting that you found it with the V3i.  That detector was and in the opinion of many still is ahead of its time.  It has come up in discussions numerous times and one has to wonder if Garrett has any plans to rebrand it like they did with the Goldmaster 24K.  Personally I loved mine but the limitless options/adjustments wore me out.  Wish I'd kept it.  You prove that it isn't all about super power and depth, it's setting the detector up right and knowing how to use it.  i know it's a lot of work but it would be cool to see a video of you hunting with yours.

Thanks for posting your finds.

 

Bill

[GB_Amateur]

Both the 1912-S Cent and the 1899-S Quarter appear to be in nice shape.  Both scarce date+mm and exciting finds, IMO.  The other two coins shown seem to have some rim damage/deterioration, otherwise they would be competitive in condition.  (What's the date+mm on that second Lincoln?)

IMO, digging those iffy signals is why you got these goodies this time compared to previous hunts (by you and others).  Would a smaller coil on the V3i do even better?  I would think it won't have problems with those coin depths and it should see fewer nails.

[Zincoln]

Thx Bill.  I know that a video on setup and interpretation of the responses would likely be helpful.   I don't have the discipline to spend time videoing and editing.   Get too caught up in just being a detectorist.  

You are so right on the settings.  I call the Deus a simplified version of the V3i.  Key settings are available in the Dues, just at a much coarser scale.  Adjusting filters for swing speed, response speed settings, SAT speeds, coil choice, # of target responses in a range, best data or correlation, etc, etc all can result in different results on the V3i....but it does take some time to effort to wrap one's head around the various settings and then to ensure one uses the key features in proper combination.  I think the 3 frequency visual output has been key to simplifying my ghost town hunting, and i really like what it tells me about deep targets when separating nails from likely good targets in parks and yards.  I use the Deus more now given how much lighter it is, but the V3i still shines in a number of applications that the Deus hasn't yet matched.  User or machine.....I'll leave that to the reader.  

Too bad they are now difficult to repair.  Losing pixels on one of my units and unlikely to get it repaired unless I find a dead or used unit i can harvest the display from (or it may be the gfx logic chip).  Given it only appears when backlight is on, believe its logic based and probably means a mainboard replacement.  

[Zincoln]

3 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Both the 1912-S Cent and the 1899-S Quarter appear to be in nice shape.  Both scarce date+mm and exciting finds, IMO.  The other two coins shown seem to have some rim damage/deterioration, otherwise they would be competitive in condition.  (What's the date+mm on that second Lincoln?)

IMO, digging those iffy signals is why you got these goodies this time compared to previous hunts (by you and others).  Would a smaller coil on the V3i do even better?  I would think it won't have problems with those coin depths and it should see fewer nails.

Hey GB,

The second wheatie is a 24s with a little corrosion.  Agree the 12s was quite nice.  I run most of my copper through a  hot peroxide bath.  Really cleans them up, seems to harden the verdigris (as most come out green and soft), but does leave them a darker tone.  Either way, they are 'damaged' so nothing much lost.

I do use my smaller coils in many locations and out in the brush at this and other parks.  I've found this 10"DD to be an optimum size for depth of detection in our matrixed and mineralized soil here (8-9" best case...after that it more or less drops into iron unless its a large coin).  This park (finds in the maintained area of the park) are often 5" to infinity due to historical soil movement, and that's about max depth for 7"DD in this ground, and too deep for the 5.3 concentric or 4x6DD.  7" DD may have found this quarter. Wish we had some Midwest soil, but guess that's why we still have good targets at under 6".  I've hunted spots that I get better depth from the smaller coils, but sadly this location isn't one of them (at least unless I want to dig every iron signal I get, and I don't think I have that many years left).  

Zincoln

[jim tn]

Some very nice finds and excellent hunting. Nice looking Barber! HH jim tn

[CPT_GhostLight]

Excellent hunt, Zincoln! Great finds and a great testament to your skill with your V3i!

 

[abenson]

Never did get acquainted with the White V3i, just seemed to complicated to setup correctly. Nice bunch of older coins, always a welcome site to see an IHP or Barber coin pop out of the dirt. 

[Zincoln]

51 minutes ago, abenson said:

Never did get acquainted with the White V3i, just seemed to complicated to setup correctly. Nice bunch of older coins, always a welcome site to see an IHP or Barber coin pop out of the dirt. 

Hello Andrew,

If you want to run it more or less out of the box, it's not much different than running a Deus.  Just focus in on several key adjustments and modify stock programs.  You seem to have than new D2 working well for you!  Seems you and I never made the same Northern Nevada outings in order to meet.  I run around w/ OregonGregg and UtahRich who frequent this site.  

If you want to get fancy, you can adjust all sorts of things....but to a large degree its not necessary.  Main thing is to match swing speeds and coil types to recovery speeds (effectively just like changing the Deus between 1 thru 5....just a lot more graduated on the V3i).  I don't think it's necessarily better than the Deus or the 800 in a GT like you hunt....but it can work virtually as well when set up right w/ a small coil (4x6 begin my preferred option).  You have an audio method to classify rusted tin, and I can do the same looking at the Spectragraph by seeing how the 3 frequencies respond.  Rarely wrong on tin ID.  Now, you might be successful w/ the Deus running the 9" coil in the GT debris field (you have, and i have), but running the V3i w/ the 10"DD or even 9" coil over the same ground won't impress.  Have to go way down in coil size to allow it to sift through the junk.  Those bigger combos just don't work out on the nail board test...but it works quite nicely with the 4x6 or even the 5.3 (6" concentric)...and using the salt/desert alkali setting seems to really true up the responses.    

Sure wouldn't go get a V3i now if you were new to it, given the other lighter and easier to operate models on the market....and it does eat batteries if you don't have the RNB battery that gives you about 16Hrs on a charge.  Keep fearing the one i have will fail on me soon w/ no replacement.  If anyone has one they want to part with for the White's machines....let me know!