My boss recently retired. He knows that I like to detect and said that he could get me on a small natural lake across the road from his farm that has been used as a local swimming hole in the past. This lake is on a 1860 plat map (original survey in this area) , so it is a natural waterhole. We have been very dry here for months and the lake is as low as it has been in many years so he called me up and said now would be a good time to go.
I have been using a Minelab Xterra 70 the past several years and decided I should take 3 detectors so he could try his hand at it (he had never detected before) and we would also have a backup. So I let him use the Minelab with the 10.5 DD and I decided to use my CZ70 with my Sunray FZ12 and took my Tejon for a backup, but did not use it.
The ground above the original shore was about as hard as a brick, so we could not really hunt the parking area or where an old outhouse use to be or areas where people may have hung there clothes on bushes or whatever. We hunted a sandy section of the shore and lake bottom that had supposedly been used as the beach and also a little beyond that area on both sides.
Of course, we found quite a number of shotgun shell brass and quite a few lead fishing weights. I also found a half dozen copper jacketed bullets, some .22 casings and some pistol casings.
I found my first Mercury dime, a 1925. It is in pretty bad shape. My other first was a 1 cent Kansas Sales Tax Token (aluminum and about the size of a dime minus the raised edge). I also found 2 Washington quarters: a 1967 and a 1988, 2 Roosevelt dimes: a '67 and a '94, 2 Lincoln Memorial cents: a 1965 and a 1970 , 2 zincolns that are so corroded you can barely make out the back edge and top of the head of Lincoln, but his face and date of the coins are gone.
The main problem here was all the aluminum trash: beer cans, can pieces, beaver tail and modern rectangular tabs. Only found a couple of nails and was not using any discrimination. No crown caps, only found several screw caps. Lots and lot of aluminum from small pieces to complete cans.
5 or 6 inches of sand on top, then heavy, thick black clay under that. The coins were all in pretty tough shape. The tax token has a bend in it and has some corrosion but not nearly as bad as the coins. Where was the wheats or old silver? I would think that nothing could sink lower than the top of the heavy clay.
What could I do to clean up the Merc and the tax token? Would the peroxide in the microwave thing be the ticket? The Merc is heavily worn and scratched looking so won't be much even if I can get the crusty corrosion off.
The CZ with the FZ12 was banging hard on these targets. It was fun using the CZ70 again. The landowner came by and I met him. I plan on gong back once we get enough moisture to make the areas above the shoreline soft enough to dig targets.
I have been using a Minelab Xterra 70 the past several years and decided I should take 3 detectors so he could try his hand at it (he had never detected before) and we would also have a backup. So I let him use the Minelab with the 10.5 DD and I decided to use my CZ70 with my Sunray FZ12 and took my Tejon for a backup, but did not use it.
The ground above the original shore was about as hard as a brick, so we could not really hunt the parking area or where an old outhouse use to be or areas where people may have hung there clothes on bushes or whatever. We hunted a sandy section of the shore and lake bottom that had supposedly been used as the beach and also a little beyond that area on both sides.
Of course, we found quite a number of shotgun shell brass and quite a few lead fishing weights. I also found a half dozen copper jacketed bullets, some .22 casings and some pistol casings.
I found my first Mercury dime, a 1925. It is in pretty bad shape. My other first was a 1 cent Kansas Sales Tax Token (aluminum and about the size of a dime minus the raised edge). I also found 2 Washington quarters: a 1967 and a 1988, 2 Roosevelt dimes: a '67 and a '94, 2 Lincoln Memorial cents: a 1965 and a 1970 , 2 zincolns that are so corroded you can barely make out the back edge and top of the head of Lincoln, but his face and date of the coins are gone.
The main problem here was all the aluminum trash: beer cans, can pieces, beaver tail and modern rectangular tabs. Only found a couple of nails and was not using any discrimination. No crown caps, only found several screw caps. Lots and lot of aluminum from small pieces to complete cans.
5 or 6 inches of sand on top, then heavy, thick black clay under that. The coins were all in pretty tough shape. The tax token has a bend in it and has some corrosion but not nearly as bad as the coins. Where was the wheats or old silver? I would think that nothing could sink lower than the top of the heavy clay.
What could I do to clean up the Merc and the tax token? Would the peroxide in the microwave thing be the ticket? The Merc is heavily worn and scratched looking so won't be much even if I can get the crusty corrosion off.
The CZ with the FZ12 was banging hard on these targets. It was fun using the CZ70 again. The landowner came by and I met him. I plan on gong back once we get enough moisture to make the areas above the shoreline soft enough to dig targets.