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How would a mason jar read on the Etrac.

R

Rick73

Member
Lets just say there may be a mason jar buried with coins in it with the lid facing up. How would you think this would readout on the display. I know early lids were made of zinc before they went to steel.
 
I would think they would read about FE 11-12 and CO 32-38, but might read higher just because of the size and disclike characteristics.
I have never tested any myself.

HH,
 
IF the jar is full of coins the E trac will read the coins not just the lid. A lot of silver will read like a silver dollar. But if it is mixed coins then Im not so sure. The best way to know this is to go to any antique store and buy a mason jar with the old lid, fill it with the coins you expect and try it out.

I'm certian that you will have more trouble with depth then with the coins mixed alloys. When they are all in a group then they hit just like they are one coin. Get a glass full of your old coins and run the coil over it if you dont want to buy the mason jar.

Good luck but only if you retrun and tell us how you did if you find it.
 
I have a couple of old mason jars; one with a screw on lid and one, a Kerr, with the metal lid and a metal snap to hold it in place. If it'll help I can run my coil across them and see what they read. I also have some silver coins if you want me to put some in there and take a reading. Have dollars, halves, quarters, dimes, half dimes, nickels and a three cent piece. Let me know if you want something specific.

Mike
 
I've dug several of the old screw on lids before, the grey metal ones with a glass insert. They are definitely a good sounding signal. They ring up in the mid to upper 40s CO, I just can't remember the exact numbers.
 
Most of the time, for me they read like a quarter (Co 47). If they were full of coins, I think the Fe would be low...like 8 or less and possibly the Co could be up to 50.

It is "Nebraska State Law" that all zinc canning lids be at a minimum of 10 inches......:rofl:

NebTrac
 
NebTrac said:
It is "Nebraska State Law" that all zinc canning lids be at a minimum of 10 inches......:rofl:

NebTrac
Click to expand...

Haha I think we have that law here too. You get a great sounding signal and dig.... and dig.... and dig, until finally you see it's just a lid. Just waiting for the day I find one still attached to the jar.
 
If the old zinc jar lids corrode as fast as the modern zinc pennies I wouldn't think there would be much left of the lid after 100 years or so.
 
I found a mason jar still intact..Got excited !!!! It was full of NAILS !!!!
 
I have dug several of them...one next to a very large tree. I took my time digging and ten minutes later I got the lid out...yes just a lid. It was oriented like the jar was beneath it. My heart was just racing the whole time though. When I finally stood up I had to quickly sit down again for a couple minutes. BTW Minnesota law is a lot better with a 6" minimum!!!
 
pilot said:
BTW Minnesota law is a lot better with a 6" minimum!!!
Click to expand...

Must be our Sandy Soil here where I live. You pretty much know when you can't get a signal on the X-1, after excavating 6 inches that your chasing a canning lid....but you still want to get rid of the signal and "you never know".

NebTrac
 
In my 2 weeks with my new etrac i have dug alot of large round metal objects that ring up in the high 40s on the conductive side.
I found a mason jar lid once that was ceramic. Im guessing the outer ring with threads was metal, but the round disk part i have is ceramic.
Not sure, but i think it must be really old.
 
bonepicker said:
In my 2 weeks with my new etrac i have dug alot of large round metal objects that ring up in the high 40s on the conductive side.
I found a mason jar lid once that was ceramic. Im guessing the outer ring with threads was metal, but the round disk part i have is ceramic.
Not sure, but i think it must be really old.
Click to expand...

Yep, those are the old zinc canning lids we're joking about. Sometimes they corrode, but most of 'em are in pretty good shape, 'til I dig 'em out. They have that white "milk" like glass in the middle.

NebTrac
 
I guess I've hunted long enough now that my heart doesn't race any more when I finally get down to the lid. In our soil, they ring up a solid, repeatable 11-42 to 12-43 from several directions. The big tell for me is that they give a shallow depth reading, usually in the 6" range. I know if I haven't hit a penny within the first 6", I most likely have a deep canning lid. And we have them everywhere around here. Our canning lids are always in one complete piece, until you uncover the edge of it. At that point, they spontaneously explode into 200 fragments, and you spend an hour trying to get every little piece so you can determine if there was anything below the lid.
 
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