Have an opportunity to hit an old 1800's town....

[Pete in MI]

nothing left standing but I have an excellent 1800s plat map of the area. I am guessing the only thing left is rusty square nails, old coins and other items and maybe privy dumps. I have an Explorer II so any ideas what settings might be good for this type of environment. I don't think there will be much trash (but have to keep in mind that the top of an old Mason jar full of coins would make things interesting - will the Iron Mask let me find a cache of coins or would All Metal be the way to go? Wondering also which coil to go with - the 10 1/2 inch standard FBS coil or the Platypus.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks, God bless and safe hunting

Pete

 

[Mike Bearden]

You didn't list a smaller coil and that would be my #1 choice starting out on this type of site because it almost has to be covered with iron, nails and such ! If a small coil is not an option, I suggest the stock coil over the platipus.
I'd also opt for using a wide open iron mask screen. Use the plat maps for the best start locations and go from there.
Keep a keen eye open (and use a little imagination) for old trees and privies etc. where the imaginary lines would cross each other for those buried cache you're hoping for.
The privy digging CAN pay off well too, just never know what might have been thrown down there.
How about near by swimming holes or picnic areas? I would try them too if you can find any.
Same with any saloons/taverns, wooden sidewalks in front of hardware/ mercantile stores, I would absolutely spend some time hunting them, lots of coins made it through the cracks of those floors back then.
Hopefully you have a lot of time to spend on the site and get the most out of it.
I worked an old stagecoach depot in Kansas for 5 weeks a few years back. It had maybe 7 other homes/buildings around it. I uncovered a shoe box full of old silver coins and several boxes of cool relics.
It's out there but takes a ton of work.

Good Hunting
Mike

Mike

 

[Pete in MI]

While I was out there one day last fall my buddy and I found a hole someone failed to fill in. In the hole was the rusty rim of a Mason jar and the ceramic lid (broken) from the jar. But there was no jar. I think someone found a cache and was so excited they were in a hurry to leave before filling the hole.

We found the foundation to the old school house. Found a hinge and loads of rusty square nails. We have maybe 15-17 buildings we know where they were. The population of the place was once over 5,500. So there had to be churches, there was at least one hotel we know of, a sawmill, railroad tracks running through the town, had a post office up til about 1910 (population then was down to less than 200).

There are a few small ponds and lakes (good places for the kids and adults to go swimming in). There is a cemetary which has been torn up year after year by vandals. (Would never hunt in the cemetary but would check around the entrance just outside the entrance). Lots of potential.

Last year I had the Garrett ACE 250 and my buddy had the Garrett GTAx 1250 I used to have (traded it to him). Neither of us found any coins and we left early as 3 car loads of young people showed up. Looking forward to getting back to that place and spending as many hours as I can there.