Last of the oldies from the park...

[Nick A]

Got up early and bundled up to continue at the hot spot I've been working at the park. First hole dug was after walking about 12 feet. It was an xx-33 signal, first out of the hole was a thin copper disc with a ragged hole, then a large cent and wait... there's more, a shield nickel. What a way to start! The copper disc turned out to be an 1837 Montreal Canadian Bank Token in the denomination of Un Sou. I have not been able to see a date on the large cent or the shield nickel and I'm not very hopeful.

Continued to pick up interesting keepers, a very old Chinese coin, a skeleton key with fantastic emerald green patina, an octagonal trade token, a 1942 Mercury dime, two Indians - 1880 and 1896 and a few wheats, including a 1919 that looks like it was stabbed hard with a screwdriver.

Time for lunch, so I took a break, and my detecting buddy Suzanne called so we made plans to meet up a little later back at the park. And wow, what a difference! We had hunted out our site! We were begging for targets and both picked up some wheats, but the difference was night and day. Suzanne picked up an 1886 Indian and a silver ring from another part of the park, and I did find my first ever old 3-ringer bullet. Suzanne took off and I went back over to our former hotspot to try to squeak out at least one more Indian, but it was not to be. I got a few more deep and promising signals, but they turned out to be wheats.

 

[niterider_58]

Nice hunt guys, Awesome looking token and Indians

 

[LabradorBob]

Nice job nick,I have had that happen,it's like i turned the detector off and something changed!
Great job on the finds!

LabradorBob

 

[dig1ny]

Sweet finds !!! Thanks for posting man.This is great !!

 

[Idaho PRB]

Wow! That was a really great spot..........time for another!

 

[UtahRich]

Nick,

Nice job with the park. Sounds like a great spot you have there and some very old finds.

Enjoy seeing finds from those that aren't frozen in, so keep it up.


Rich

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

" First hole dug was after walking about 12 feet. It was an xx-33 signal"

Nice finds Nick. Your coppers seem to hold up a LOT better than they do in the soil we have here in south Alabama. We hunted all day yesterday and found six wheats and can only come close to getting a date on one. The one I found with the Etrac was on top of the ground and I found it when I started to pinpoint. In reference to the quote above from your post, you say it was a xx-33 signal. I am learning the Etrac and yesterday one of the areas we hunted was pretty trashy. I was getting a lot of signals but was only digging conductive numbers above 37. I got a lot of 33's and such. Should I be digging those too? I dug a couple of signals that were close to the nickel numbers 12-14, 13-12, 15-12 etc and it was just pieces of aluminum.

 

[Nick A]

" First hole dug was after walking about 12 feet. It was an xx-33 signal"

Nice finds Nick. Your coppers seem to hold up a LOT better than they do in the soil we have here in south Alabama. We hunted all day yesterday and found six wheats and can only come close to getting a date on one. The one I found with the Etrac was on top of the ground and I found it when I started to pinpoint. In reference to the quote above from your post, you say it was a xx-33 signal. I am learning the Etrac and yesterday one of the areas we hunted was pretty trashy. I was getting a lot of signals but was only digging conductive numbers above 37. I got a lot of 33's and such. Should I be digging those too? I dug a couple of signals that were close to the nickel numbers 12-14, 13-12, 15-12 etc and it was just pieces of aluminum.

Copper can go either way, all depends, but generally they are in pretty good shape around here. This particular soil was just the kind I like, old dark black soft soil.

As far as the xx-33 signal, all depends on the site. If there are Indian heads around, I'm definitely digging deep signals from CO 27 through 42. In a trashy site, I'm looking at the depth meter for my final decision on a signal in that range. At this particular spot, there was amazingly not a lot of trash and lots of deep, deep signals, so I was digging most anything that gave a repeatable hit and a lot of iffy signals that were deep. Knowing the site and seeing my finds going back to the 1830s, and several coins from the 1860s, I was also investigating lower conductors 09-07, 12-09, and signals with COs in the low 20s that were repeatable in case I might come across early "fatty" Indians or nickel three cent pieces.

So, to answer the question, generally I would dig a xx-33 if it were deep, particularly in a site that I know had potential for old coins.

As far as nickels, those numbers seem ok, but I have found if I get a nickel sounding hit, and then pinpoint to get right over the target and then sweep across the direct center of the target I will generally get at least a somewhat repeatable xx-13, even with deep nickels. That repeatable 13 goes into my decision to dig, but I do still dig some trash, it's unavoidable.

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

" If there are Indian heads around, I'm definitely digging deep signals from CO 27 through 42."

" I was also investigating lower conductors 09-07, 12-09, and signals with COs in the low 20s that were repeatable in case I might come across early "fatty" Indians or nickel three cent pieces."

I had a good day today. I am starting to get a little better with the ETRAC. I did not find any silver or old coins today but I did dig a lot of Clad except for nickels. I dug a couple of nickel signals and got pulltabs. I am learning a ton of stuff from you guys. I am trying to put it all together but it has been a great help. In reference to the quotes from above. The first one you say CO 27-42, why those numbers for Indians? An Indian head is my quest. I will not consider that I have arrived as a detectorist until I have found one, so I am very interested in that quote. Same for the second quote and the low conductive numbers 09-07 and 12-09. Do old coins really come in that low sometimes? I get going with the area your hunting as in a new park with a lot of trash you should probably stick with the higher tones and numbers.

 

[wvrick]

Nice Finds, too bad about the dates.

 

[Nick A]

" If there are Indian heads around, I'm definitely digging deep signals from CO 27 through 42."

" I was also investigating lower conductors 09-07, 12-09, and signals with COs in the low 20s that were repeatable in case I might come across early "fatty" Indians or nickel three cent pieces."

I had a good day today. I am starting to get a little better with the ETRAC. I did not find any silver or old coins today but I did dig a lot of Clad except for nickels. I dug a couple of nickel signals and got pulltabs. I am learning a ton of stuff from you guys. I am trying to put it all together but it has been a great help. In reference to the quotes from above. The first one you say CO 27-42, why those numbers for Indians? An Indian head is my quest. I will not consider that I have arrived as a detectorist until I have found one, so I am very interested in that quote. Same for the second quote and the low conductive numbers 09-07 and 12-09. Do old coins really come in that low sometimes? I get going with the area your hunting as in a new park with a lot of trash you should probably stick with the higher tones and numbers.

Indians come in all over the place. When they are shallow, they often come in higher, like wheats CO 39-40-41-42. When they are deep, they can be anywhere. Typically CO 32-38, but also lower sometimes.

Fatty Indians 1859-1864 and Flying Eagle cents will be lower, CO 24-28, but nothing reliable. Nickel three cent pieces may come in lower, like 09-07 and 12-09 but so could deep or broken gold.

Like I said, it all depends on the site. Knowing your site and setting your mind correctly is important. Even new parks might have history to them. I was hunting a new soccer field one day and came across an old flat button, which got my mind going about what might have been there before.

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

Nick your a champ!!!! Thanks for all the answers. You have helped me tremendously. I felt really good at the end of the day today. I can see that with a lot more use I am REALLY gonna like the ETRAC..