Got out with my buddy etracjoe last Sunday to a field in Southampton, LI that had just been deep plowed the previous day. This field delivered many goodies from the 1700's - when we used it this past fall for our first ever Artifact Detecting Team group hunt - Joe and I were the first persons detecting the property since that event.
We knew that it was going to be planted within about a week - so we took the opportunity to hit it for a few hours to see what we could recover before it would become off-limits to detecting until the fall harvest and next plowing. Boy was walking in that deep plow a killer on the back - it's like walking on the moon sinking in 4"+ deep with every step. Soil was so fluffed up - it was almost 8" higher than the area that hadn't gotten plowed yet.
This property is almost totally free of any non-iron junk other than the occasional crushed can that of course comes in with a banging signal - usually a 12-42. Typically, I'll raise my coil about 6" over the ground if the target appears to be too big when I'm doing my "pullback the coil to pinpoint it" routine, and if I still get a signal at that height - then I'll pass.
Now, I'm a big proponent of using 2 tone FE in the locations that I hunt which are fairly clean farm fields. Set up correctly the E-Trac becomes super fast on the signal response and any target even close to the coil, whether iron or not, will usually deliver some sort of a signal. In a fairly clean field, it's nice to walk at a brisk pace and hear the low iron grunt and high tone of a non-iron item. It's really not a big deal to quickly glance at the screen to see the numbers and decide to dig or not. Depending on how much time I have, I may pass on digging anything showing a 30 CO or less. I may miss a few colonial buttons but I know I'll recover every bronze, copper or silver item that's 10" deep or so that I'm swinging that coil over. If I have plenty of time - I'll dig everything that comes in higher than a CO reading of 07.
Now this field is about 60 acres so you know that for the few hours we had to detect we would only be able to cover a fraction of the property. I'll admit it was quiet and after about an hour we were becoming discouraged when I got a solid 12-42 banging signal and pulled a slightly bent 18xx large copper. Last fall we pulled old silver out of this field so I knew there was more here, I called Joe over to see the find and said my usual mantra "large copper means small silver". We agreed to detect our way back towards the car for a lunch break now somewhat more encouraged. I decided to walk my way back right next to the row in the dirt that I had used to head into the middle of the field in the first place when I got a solid, repeating small target signal coming in at a 12-39/40. Well the mantra worked - it was small silver... Another "reale" to be added to the collection - this time a 1782 half reale in decent shape.
It's always truly exciting to find old silver - especially when you crack into the 1700's. I understand that having one of the finest silver sniffing machines ever made helps - but it truly is luck when you happen to walk over the spot where something so small hides while working just a fraction of a 60 acre field.
As a PS to this story, I had the opportunity to get back onto the field yesterday as the rain we had here on Weds/Thurs kept the farmer from planting. This time I took my hunting buddy who happens to be on the board of the Southampton Historical Museum - our benefactor this past year for our Team hunts - and who also happens to live in the area of these colonial era farm fields. He asked me to bring over my silver collection to let his wife take a look at the different reales that I've found which has been an elusive coin for him in his 30+ years of on and off detecting. He recently converted to an E-Trac from a 15 year old White's and I've had him set up in 2 tone FE since he started using the machine late last fall. I believe it's the fastest way for someone new to the machine to get good results. I showed his wife that 1782 half reale I had just found and told her this is what Bob is after. Wouldn't you know it - same story only flipped - I'm skunked and Bob comes up with an 1802 one reale - worn but legible. His first reale ever. WOW - what a day...we were high fiving and he was beaming with pride...
We knew that it was going to be planted within about a week - so we took the opportunity to hit it for a few hours to see what we could recover before it would become off-limits to detecting until the fall harvest and next plowing. Boy was walking in that deep plow a killer on the back - it's like walking on the moon sinking in 4"+ deep with every step. Soil was so fluffed up - it was almost 8" higher than the area that hadn't gotten plowed yet.
This property is almost totally free of any non-iron junk other than the occasional crushed can that of course comes in with a banging signal - usually a 12-42. Typically, I'll raise my coil about 6" over the ground if the target appears to be too big when I'm doing my "pullback the coil to pinpoint it" routine, and if I still get a signal at that height - then I'll pass.
Now, I'm a big proponent of using 2 tone FE in the locations that I hunt which are fairly clean farm fields. Set up correctly the E-Trac becomes super fast on the signal response and any target even close to the coil, whether iron or not, will usually deliver some sort of a signal. In a fairly clean field, it's nice to walk at a brisk pace and hear the low iron grunt and high tone of a non-iron item. It's really not a big deal to quickly glance at the screen to see the numbers and decide to dig or not. Depending on how much time I have, I may pass on digging anything showing a 30 CO or less. I may miss a few colonial buttons but I know I'll recover every bronze, copper or silver item that's 10" deep or so that I'm swinging that coil over. If I have plenty of time - I'll dig everything that comes in higher than a CO reading of 07.
Now this field is about 60 acres so you know that for the few hours we had to detect we would only be able to cover a fraction of the property. I'll admit it was quiet and after about an hour we were becoming discouraged when I got a solid 12-42 banging signal and pulled a slightly bent 18xx large copper. Last fall we pulled old silver out of this field so I knew there was more here, I called Joe over to see the find and said my usual mantra "large copper means small silver". We agreed to detect our way back towards the car for a lunch break now somewhat more encouraged. I decided to walk my way back right next to the row in the dirt that I had used to head into the middle of the field in the first place when I got a solid, repeating small target signal coming in at a 12-39/40. Well the mantra worked - it was small silver... Another "reale" to be added to the collection - this time a 1782 half reale in decent shape.
It's always truly exciting to find old silver - especially when you crack into the 1700's. I understand that having one of the finest silver sniffing machines ever made helps - but it truly is luck when you happen to walk over the spot where something so small hides while working just a fraction of a 60 acre field.
As a PS to this story, I had the opportunity to get back onto the field yesterday as the rain we had here on Weds/Thurs kept the farmer from planting. This time I took my hunting buddy who happens to be on the board of the Southampton Historical Museum - our benefactor this past year for our Team hunts - and who also happens to live in the area of these colonial era farm fields. He asked me to bring over my silver collection to let his wife take a look at the different reales that I've found which has been an elusive coin for him in his 30+ years of on and off detecting. He recently converted to an E-Trac from a 15 year old White's and I've had him set up in 2 tone FE since he started using the machine late last fall. I believe it's the fastest way for someone new to the machine to get good results. I showed his wife that 1782 half reale I had just found and told her this is what Bob is after. Wouldn't you know it - same story only flipped - I'm skunked and Bob comes up with an 1802 one reale - worn but legible. His first reale ever. WOW - what a day...we were high fiving and he was beaming with pride...
