I think I'm a ferrous/AM kind of guy -- the beast is finally speaking to me. :minelab:

[Willy_MN]

For most of the season my hunting partner and I have been detecting a few fields where the first settlement in our county stood. Our hunts have given up several minnie and musket balls, .44 Henry cartridges, 1865 and 1871 IH cents, 1854 Seated dime, 1854 Seated half dime and many other relics. Up until the last couple weeks I had really struggled with the falsing/nulling that I was getting using IM and conductive sounds and hadn't made very many finds at all. Two weeks ago I decided to try ferrous sounds and opened up the IM all the way. It took a little while to get used to the barrage of low, iron tones. But, once I got used to that, the finds started to pop out of the ground. While I haven't made any of the coin finds at this spot yet, I'm feeling more confident now that I won't miss any that I walk over in the future.

Now that I had gotten used to the ferrous/IM setup, I decided to stick with it on my next "normal ground" hunt, which was at an empty lot that had a house on it that dated to the late-1870's. I ended up digging three Wheat cents and the M. Hohner harmonica cover in the picture below. The cover dates to right around 1900.

[attachment 162919 HohnerCover_Early1900s.jpg]

I continued to use the same setup for a couple hunts the week of 5/10. I managed to pull the 1918 Wheat from a 1903 home that I have permission to hunt. Last Saturday I headed to a neighboring town where they had one of their oldest streets torn up. I dug the '52 Wheat and my first Barber coin (1898-O), which was also my first 1800's coin. It's in pretty sad shape, but I'm still stoked to have finally broken into the 1800's!

[attachment 162922 WeekOf5-10-2010.jpg]

Today after work I stopped at the same 1903 house to hunt "for a half hour" before I headed home to get some work done. Well, stuff started to pop out of the ground, so I ended up there until almost 9:00. Oh well, I can mow the lawn and haul garbage to the dump tomorrow. The Merc was an "iffy" signal, but the sound was kind of there from two directions. 4" down, out pops a rusty, old nut and bolt -- dang it.....duped again. Ran the X-1 thru the hole before closing it up and got nothing but the sweet sound of silver. Took another 2" of dirt out and there was a 1919 Merc. The flat button was a cool find. The back says "Scovill Extra Rich" and has some remaining gilt on it. Anyone have an idea on the age of it? The tin cover is from a container that held brass shoe nails. The token is my first and I was pretty sure that I was about to dig my first large cent. While a large cent would have been great, the token is pretty sweet in its own right. It's from Parry Mfg. Co. out of Indianapolis. They were a high end buggy builder from ~1880 thru the early-1900's. I believe the token dates to right around 1895. On a side note, my daughters and I are going to be renting this house starting June 1st, so I anticipate posting a lot more find pics from this yard.

[attachment 162920 5-21-2010.jpg]

I guess the point to all of my rambling is for other newer Explorer users. Once you get used to the machine in factory presets for a while, try some different setups until you find one that clicks for you. If you don't have Andy Sabisch's "Minelab Explorer and Etrac Handbook", I highly recommend picking up a copy. There are a lot of different setups laid out in the book to try. Once you find a setup that suits you, things really start getting fun. I'm glad I stuck with the machine, even though there were times that I wanted to run it thru a wood chipper.

Thanks to everyone (especially Bryce) for the knowledge and encouragement you guys/gals are so willing to share. Minelabs are great machines and this is a great hobby/obsession.

Good luck and HH,
Jeff

PS - Here's a pic of the half dime my partner dug at the old town site. If it wasn't for the gouge in the back and staining, it would grade EF+. The details are amazingly crisp, but time and many crop tillings has taken its toll on it. Still a great coin to see come out of the ground.

[attachment 162921 1854SeatedHalfDime_5-20-2010.jpg]

 

[dewcon4414]

I prefer Ferr in a field situation as well with a couple notches of disc just to eliminate mineral noise. Youd be surprised how well it helps. You tend to hear only 3 tones in Ferr and rarely have to look at the screen.... but then its like beach hunting anyway in that you dig anything that isnt iron. A lot of people think you dont get iron bounce from iron in Ferr but you do, it comes in the form of crown cap tones... lower right corner from the rust. In a field that rust and hot rocks are about your only problems. In a park, especially a trashy one you get that rust, hot rocks, and aluminum. In a park using Cond i do have to look at the screen more often, but i also slow way down, get more nickels, and tend to check my screen and depth gauge. Cond does seem to lock onto iron harder than Ferr. If you are a digital screen person then you best learn the tones the TID is useless because the Ferr numbers just arent as accurate and bounce all over the place. This proves once again.... the Explorers are very indivisualized and you just have to use what works for you. Looks like you may have found what works for you by all those great finds.

Dew

 

[TokenDigger]

Nice finds and good hunting. The relics are really cool and that token is in nice shape. You are probably correct about it's age. I don't know about the age of the flat button but maybe someone on the forum can tell you. Great work and HH!

 

[LabradorBob]

Great finds and way to go,I jump to ferrous at a lot of old sites,houses seem to have yards full of nails.
I do what you did,go to ferrous wide open,dig anything that gives a higher tone.
Congrats.
LabradorBob

 

[dewcon4414]

Those old flat buttons are circa 1860. They also had glass white ones they used around that timeframe, so if you see them just laying on top of the ground scarf them up. Sweet token, must have been for advertising not used as a trade token. The only trade token listed by Wagaman was perry's pool hall around 1912. Great digs.

Dew

 

[Willy_MN]

Thanks for all of the comments. It feels good to finally break through a little with this great machine. Dew, you are correct with your comment on the token being an advertising token and not a trade token. Also, your date of 1860 for the button seems to jive with the information I've been able to find on the internet as well. I'm heading back over to the house to show the place to my sister and her family. While we're there, my brother-in-law and I are going to hit the yard a little.....I'll let you know how we do. We had a good bit of rain the night before last, so that may wake up a few more signals.

Thanks again for the comments,
Jeff

 

[Hotcz70]

Once you get used to the machine in factory presets for a while, try some different setups until you find one that clicks for you. If you don't have Andy Sabisch's "Minelab Explorer and Etrac Handbook", I highly recommend picking up a copy. There are a lot of different setups laid out in the book to try. Once you find a setup that suits you, things really start getting fun. I'm glad I stuck with the machine, even though there were times that I wanted to run it thru a wood chipper.

Excellent advice Jeff...and some nice finds friend

I'n glad you found a group of settings that produce for you.

As for the "wood chipper"....nope...but I sure as heck would have liked to wrap my SE around a tree a few times

 

[Willy_MN]

Thanks, Bryce -- it's been a journey with the machine. But, it's really starting to click.

Dan and I hit the yard again today for a while. I was distracted with meeting some of the neighbors and cleaning up a tree limb that came down in the storm the other night. I only managed a handful of copper memorials and a few clad dimes. Dan managed an older looking silver ring and another Parry Mfg. token like the one I found on Friday. I think this place will be giving up goods for a long time to come.

Hope everyone is getting out for some hunting.
Jeff