Bought my first ever metal detector - a gently used X-Terra 70 - a couple weeks ago. Finally had a free day to try it out on Delaware's ocean beaches last weekend. Took a bit of adjusting to get it fitted and comfortable, and a bit of trial and error to figure out sensitivity and ground balance, but the multiple viewings of the instruction videos did what they were supposed to do.
First stop was the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park....took a while but I finally passed over my first "real" target. A couple scoops and I had my first ever coin - a couple year old penny. Hey, if you start at the very bottom, the only direction is up.
A little further up the beach and I was digging my second coin. Yep, another penny.
Left the Cape and headed a few miles south to the Delaware Seashore State Park beach at Tower Road. Wasn't real sure where to look, but the tide was just about all the way out so I looked along the edge of what would have been a submerged slough at high tide. The first coin on this beach was a clad quarter - ironically, a Delaware state quarter with Caesar Rodney on the reverse. Found three more clad quarters and a chunk of what looked like melted blob of metal. Silvery in color, relatively light weight, about 1 1/2 inches in overall length. No idea what it is, but it went into the baggie with my coins.
While none of the coins were valuable, they made my first day of metal detecting a success. One question...what should I use to get the white crust off of the pennies and the dull patina off of the quarters? Or, am I supposed to leave them that way?
Thanks!
First stop was the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park....took a while but I finally passed over my first "real" target. A couple scoops and I had my first ever coin - a couple year old penny. Hey, if you start at the very bottom, the only direction is up.
A little further up the beach and I was digging my second coin. Yep, another penny. Left the Cape and headed a few miles south to the Delaware Seashore State Park beach at Tower Road. Wasn't real sure where to look, but the tide was just about all the way out so I looked along the edge of what would have been a submerged slough at high tide. The first coin on this beach was a clad quarter - ironically, a Delaware state quarter with Caesar Rodney on the reverse. Found three more clad quarters and a chunk of what looked like melted blob of metal. Silvery in color, relatively light weight, about 1 1/2 inches in overall length. No idea what it is, but it went into the baggie with my coins.
While none of the coins were valuable, they made my first day of metal detecting a success. One question...what should I use to get the white crust off of the pennies and the dull patina off of the quarters? Or, am I supposed to leave them that way?
Thanks!
