Two Big Silver Coins Hunt With Manticore

[Jeff McClendon]

I was hunting one of the original Denver area parks that was built in the late 1880s. Shovel digging is not allowed at these parks so recovery is with a screw driver or probe. I have found plenty of wheat pennies, a couple of Indian head pennies, several Barber, Mercury and Roosevelt silver dimes and two silver Washington quarters at this park in the last four years after first getting the Equinox 600 and 800.

I was deliberately hunting an area that I knew would not be too wet or frozen under some trees at the edge of a popular sledding hill. I have hunted this exact spot many times with the Nox 600/800 with 11" coil and Deus 1 and Deus 2 with their 9" coils. I am guessing I have hunted this area at least 10 times since it is near the top of the sledding hill and fresh dropped jewelry and coins happen in that area every year. I was actually looking for gold jewelry but I was also interested in deep high conductors. I had my Manticore in All Terrain General Multi, sensitivity 23, recovery speed 5, iron bias 0, and I had the horseshoe button engaged so that I would hear all target responses including iron. Ground balance was 4. This ground has plenty of magnetite, square nails, modern nails and is loaded with many years of aluminum and steel trash. There are very few places to ground balance.

I heard a deep iron signal, saw red numbers and decided to turn on it and I was able to hear some faint, very short intermittent high conductor tones along with lots of iron tones. I pinpointed the target area with the Manticore's onboard pinpoint function and was able to isolate two separate targets and saw them clearly on the 2D screen with one upper area iron and the other at the high conductor far right edge of the non ferrous line. Depth was 8" on the depth meter. I dug the high conductor farthest right target first and it turned out to be the silver Washington quarter laying half way on edge at the center of the dig hole about 7" deep. My handheld pinpointer was still picking up a target on the left edge of the hole which turned out to be the business end of that iron skeleton key in the photo. It was laying horizontally. I recovered it, filled the hole and rescanned. I got a coin sized high conductor target response plain as day with target IDs ranging from 90 to 99 with very few intermittent iron responses about 6" to the left of the hole that contained the Washington quarter and skeleton key. Depth was again 8" on the depth meter and only one solid target trace was at the far right of the non-ferrous line on the 2D screen. Basically, I was starting to freak out. I certainly had not heard any target responses like that with the other detectors that I had used at this spot. The Walking Liberty half dollar was about 8" deep standing straight up on edge at the center of the dig hole.

Basically, the Walking Liberty half and the silver Washington quarter were in a spill at the same depth with the skeleton key laying roughly horizontally between them and they were all under the Manticore's 11" coil at the same time. They were situated sort of like this but buried under about 7" of iron mineralized dirt.

 

[Valens Legacy]

Great finds, and I hope to be able to uncover some coins like that one of these days.

Good luck on your next outing and stay safe out there.

[mn90403]

What a great piece of detective work there!  WTG

I think you've got a love affair going on with that Manticore now.  I'll be really interested in how you do with nuggets this summer when you get a few more hours under your belt.

I know I should have one on my beaches but the 800 gets me pretty deep with the 15 and we've had crappy wave energy for months.

[Jeff McClendon]

11 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

What a great piece of detective work there!  WTG

I think you've got a love affair going on with that Manticore now.  I'll be really interested in how you do with nuggets this summer when you get a few more hours under your belt.

I know I should have one on my beaches but the 800 gets me pretty deep with the 15 and we've had crappy wave energy for months.

 

We have not had any super cold weather hear since early February. We have had some snow each week but the ground for the most part has stayed thawed out. So, moist to damp soil conditions even deep have made deep target hunting conditions just about perfect. This usually only happens for a little while in early April and then the soil dries out fast and hardens and digging gets really tough. My silver coin and wheat penny count is absolutely off the charts for 2024 using Deus 2 and the Manticore in these ideal soil conditions. Unbelievable.

[F350Platinum]

Very nice finds Jeff, congrats.

I had a very similar experience a few years ago. Got two silver quarters, then some nails, then a '42 Walker, all in the same hole.

The 34 on my Equinox 600 was unmistakeable, so much so I called it before I dug it. Only half I've found so far. Returned to that spot later and dug a silver ring from the same spot with more nails. I think by then I had the Coiltek 10x5.

It's great to go over a place you've been before with a new machine or even different settings, I think I focus more.

[JCR]

Excellent on the Manticore and especially on the operator.

[Jeff McClendon]

4 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Very nice finds Jeff, congrats.

I had a very similar experience a few years ago. Got two silver quarters, then some nails, then a '42 Walker, all in the same hole.

The 34 on my Equinox 600 was unmistakeable, so much so I called it before I dug it. Only half I've found so far. Returned to that spot later and dug a silver ring from the same spot with more nails. I think by then I had the Coiltek 10x5.

It's great to go over a place you've been before with a new machine or even different settings, I think I focus more.

I have a buddy that is absolutely killing it with his Nox 600 for silver and wheat pennies at this same park that we and our entire club have been hunting for who knows how long. 

I personally don't remember finding anything of interest or removing a lot of surface trash at the exact spot where this spill was recovered, but another hunter may have removed something recently that changed the combination of targets just enough to make this find scenario happen.......or the Manticore with 11" coil really is that good. Had I gone over it with Deus 2 using my 13X11" coil, I think I would have heard these targets. Equinox 900 or Legend with 11"......maybe.

[strick]

Nice shooting Jeff...love the play by play...old parks over here are few and far between...most have been built over...I can think of one park that I can hunt close by...lots of over burden from eucalyptus trees which would be a minor deterrence..the risk of getting mugged slightly probable...but you have inspired me to give it a try as I have not hunted there in some time...thanks for posting as I pay close attention to your endeavors..

strick

[Digalicious]

In your play by plays Jeff, I enjoy your attention to detail. A+

[Jeff McClendon]

I just try to tell it like I remember. Its a good mental exercise and hopefully it helps others in some way.