How deep can signal go thru solid limestone?? Help!!!

[taongisurvivor]

I have a Minelab Explorer XS and my son and I went to one of the oldest sites in our area. In 1807 a brick kiln was built before we became a state in an area that is now heavily wooded. This kiln is still in remarkable condition. Approximately 150 feet away in moderate woods you can still see the remains of a housing foundation made of shaped limestone blocks. At the corner of one of the foundations, the corner stone is very different in shape and design of all of the other blocks, showing much more care and workmanship than any of the other stones. This stone is 18 inches wide, 24 inches long, and maybe 12 inches thick, and is partly buried in the ground. When I ran the coil along the foundation and over the stone, the signal directly over the center of the stone rang the clear tone of silver. On my machine it registered a "28" with a high pitch, and the "X" box was in the far right corner partially outside the edge of the screen. The signal skipped a little over a 6-inch square area, which reminded me of several coins 'spills' I have found in the past. All I had to dig with was a garden tool, which was not suitable for dealing with that ground. Try as we might, my son and I were not able to budge the stone without proper tools.

Question: Can the Minelab signal reach thru 12 inches of limestone????

The weather here is going to be miserable tomorrow, and this will have to wait until next weekend. This is about to eat my son alive. About 20 feet from this stone foundation I found a very primitive sterling silver spoon with some engraved initials, so the site does have some potential, although it is VERY trashy.

What do you guys think, could this be a cache location????

This is my first ever post, and I did not take any pictures. I promise to take some shots of the site and the spoon if I can figure out how it works. Any information would be appreciated.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

n/t

 

[therick]

n/t

 

[Brandy[Ma.]]

n/t

 

[SNOWY]

Hi taongisurvivor,

I found references to coins ~ sometimes tins of stuff, containing old articles,
coins of the time etc. being placed under the corner stones of notable buildings since time began ... "Time capsules."

Eg. ~ "The custom of placing coins in or under the foundation stone, now very general, needs further elucidation. The earliest definite instance at the moment discoverable is an entry in an account-book at Bruges, which records that, when the palace of the magistrates of the Franc was rebuilt in 1519, an angel (coin) was laid out to be placed under the foundation stone (W.H.J. Weale in "Notes and Queries," 27 Aug., 1870, p. 184). "

And here's a link to another reference to the same practice.
http://www.ilstatehouse.com/cornerstones.htm

I'd be checking it out.
I would strongly suggest you do a search for any possibility of the site being of some historic significance BEFORE digging !!!

 

[tab-nabit]

I'm with Brandy on dig it out when it doubt - and carefully as possible - work the dig then fix the area to look as good as possible.

I hit a signal when swinging over a rock once, then ended up digging all around it. I dug a large hole on one side so I was able to leverage the rock to slide it from it's spot into the hole hopefully to turn it over. Swung the coil again and the signal rang out from the soil under where the rock was first found. I probably spent a good 30 or so minutes digging and wrestling the rock. The weather was very warm and I was about to give up a few times not knowing how deep in the ground the rock originally was. I knew if I didn't keep at it and walked away, it would rest in my mind and later be kicking myself for not finding out. This place had produced some nice relics for me in previous hunts. After all the wondering of what could be under such a plain ol rock, the back breaking work revealed a rusty horseshoe. It's still hanging up in my back yard along with others I dug. But when I look at the one horseshoe, I usually say to myself "I cant believe what I go through just for that rusty horseshoe, and it's about the worse condition of all the horseshoes I dug - what's wrong with me digging out in the heat in rattlesnake territory when the AC at home works just fine and so does the fridge". I should probably have waited for cooler weather. This dig was it for the day and after all that, I packed it for the drive home. Common sense should have told me to check that rock later when fall arrives, since I had never seen sign of anyone else in the area as it is a good hike from the vehicle.
I guess that Dig it out when in doubt may be the only way to let the mind rest. I guess ya never know till then...........HH