Looking for rings - -

[dahut]

I've been on a forced vacation the last week, having too many hours in my vacation bank. I was told I must take some time off and this was as good a week as any. I agreed, of course, because it was a week I could go detecting - sounds like a great week.

Well, today is the last day of vacation, and I hit the local athletic complex. I've been working on Clive Clynick's 'Ring Enhancement' program lately and this was another good chance to give it a go. The other day I snagged a small gold ring using this program, but today that wasn't to be repeated.

I did get tossed out of the recreational complex by one of the grounds keepers, however. That is always fun.
'Seems this chap felt I was invading some sacrosanct borders buy coming into the common areas around the ball fields. He was nice about it, but insisted I leave, against all my efforts to change his mind.
I'm writing a letter to the Parks Dept. chief to see if I can build up a good image and get him to give me passage.

The finds were typical, for such hunting. Clad coinage to the tune of just under $4, can slaw, EO's and pull tabs:

The can slaw is particularly bothersome. It comes in right around nickels and often gives a nice, tight signal response. Usually it is just below the nicks, but not always. Pull tabs and screw caps are normally easy to identify, by their signatures. But I'm gonna have to go to school on that can slaw, until I get it sorted out.

I did manage to snag a lone, 1940 Wheat Ear Cent, though. It was an odd find, as there is no good reason for it to be there. Had I been in the older park in town, I would not be surprised, but this complex was "created" only in recent times. It was most likely part of some fill dirt load. Another one of those neat detecting flukes.

 

[flash5153]

Some of them pennies look like they are worth about the same as that can slaw. Small pieces like that sure do give a good reading if your ring hunting, I dont think that will ever change.
Not a bad haul,its way better than going to work. Oh ya, and your getting paid. Gotta love that.

 

[whadda]

I am very jealous ,my wife and I run a small business and can't take a week off very often, although we are at christmas, so hope to get to some beaches somewhere ,, sorry for being a noob but is can slaw pieces of aloy can ,,maybe from a mower?
and what does clad stand for,,

 

[lazyaussie]

hunting for rings in the grass is a Tough gig dahut, I've try ed a few times & ended giving up due to the junk i hunt the beach for my gold now.
cjc's books are great I've learnt heaps, sizing targets, listening for the gold signals & more, i still dig every non Ferris signal as I'm still trying to get my head around some of it.
good luck gold hunting
lazyaussie

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Spot on with the can slaw. Coke cans that have been eaten by a mower.
You'll enjoy detecting when you get some time off. It can be a very relaxing hobby.
Mick Evans.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Hi Dave.
Just curious. You mentioned identifying pull tabs and screw caps by there signatures. Are you referring to the pull tabs bouncing around and the screw caps giving a longer pinpoint fade over coins, or have you noticed something else?
I assume that you are talking about the 1350.
Thanks.
Mick Evans.

 

[dahut]

I am very jealous ,my wife and I run a small business and can't take a week off very often, although we are at christmas, so hope to get to some beaches somewhere ,, sorry for being a noob but is can slaw pieces of aloy can ,,maybe from a mower?
and what does clad stand for,,

Clad is the common "silver" coinage you have in your pocket. As you probably know by now, the words "silver coin" is a misnomer, since there have been no genuine silver coins for many years. 1964 was the last time they were minted for circulation in the U.S.

Since 1965, dimes, quarters and halves have been made from a sandwiched, or bi-metal, blank (called a planchet).
This sandwich is a coin copper core, clad with outer layers of shiny cupronickle. Thus the name, "clad".
Cupronickel is the same material as the common U.S. nickel, an amalgam of copper, chromium and nickle.

However, this clad composition has the same electrical characteristics as the original silver coins, which is why they hit the same on a detector.

On a side note, this composition was chosen on purpose. It gave the same weight and electrical features of the earlier silver coins, so as not to interfere with the operation of the millions of coin vending machines then in use. There are easier, cheaper ways to make a silver colored coin, but the clad method was chosen primarily for that reason.

P.S. Never be sorry for being a newb. No one knows everything... we are all newbies at something.

 

[dahut]

Some of them pennies look like they are worth about the same as that can slaw. Small pieces like that sure do give a good reading if your ring hunting, I dont think that will ever change.
Not a bad haul,its way better than going to work. Oh ya, and your getting paid. Gotta love that.

It 'aint gonna ever change, your right. SO that means I have to. AS they say in the Marine Corps, "Adapt, improvise and overcome."

Ooorah!.

 

[dahut]

Hi Dave.
Just curious. You mentioned identifying pull tabs and screw caps by there signatures. Are you referring to the pull tabs bouncing around and the screw caps giving a longer pinpoint fade over coins, or have you noticed something else?
I assume that you are talking about the 1350.
Thanks.
Mick Evans.

Never assume too much, Mick. I am not referring to the 1350, as I still haven't found one.
But you are on the right track. Each detector has its own characteristics, and with enough practice, you can begin to understand the trash in the ground. In fact, you must go in search of it. John B. - Edmonton says much the same thing, that it is site selection as much as anything else which leads to success at finding jewelry. Trashy sites mean plenty of people have been there. Combine that with physical activity and the odds go up of finding the jewelry.

Jewelry is not deep in modern sites, but it is invariably mixed with low-to-midrange trash. What is needed, then, is not earthshaking depth, but the ability to accurately process trash signals and display meaningful information about them. That way you understand trash, and don't have to fear it's presence.

The point here is some serious out-of-the-box thinking:

Do what no one else does and get to know trash and how it responds. Then everything else is, by default, good.

Read that again. The goal is to actually look for trash and get to know how it responds. Hereafter, the screw cap is welcome, the pull tab your friend.

Radical stuff.



P.S. If you'll look again at the picture, you'll note that all the trash I found was tight and concise. No hunks of crap or large shreds of can slaw. These do give themselves away, more often than not. Finding less of that, in itself, is a worthwhile goal.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Nice haul. Where do you live, Russia, that you get kicked out of sports fields? I don't understand that. Everything out here is wide open.

Bill

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Good point. Hunting for junk is a very good idea as it increases your general knowledge. Part of the reason I had a significant increase in a recent series of hunts, because I was chasing signals outside the norm and they were turning out to be coins.
Mick Evans.

 

[dahut]

Nice haul. Where do you live, Russia, that you get kicked out of sports fields? I don't understand that. Everything out here is wide open.

Bill

Sometimes it seems like it, Bill. Small men in small positions of authority often turn into tyrants.
The city has this notion that it is hot stuff in the scheme of things and I'm certain he felt it was his place to protect his territory. Or something, anything. It's not the first time I've encountered such fellows.

The area in question does have a fence around it, but the gates are open during normal business hours for maintenance, public access, deliveries, etc. If I was there on the weekend, there would 500 people tearing the place up and leaving their junk to be picked up. As it was, I was there on a weekday, alone, and I'm sure I seemed out of place to this dude.

So I wrote to the Parks Dept Manager and made my case. I told him all the usual stuff detectorists say and that I understood how the guy felt, etc. You know the drill...

I also enclosed this permission form and a SASE for his convenience in complying with my request:


Mr. XXXXXXXXXX, Director
City of Aiken, Parks Recreation and Tourism
XXXXXXXXX, South Carolina

Let it be known that I, XXXXXXXXX, Director of the City Of XXXXXXX Parks Recreation and Tourism Department, do hereby give permission to David Hutton to metal detect in and around the concession areas of the XXXXXX XXXXX Athletic Complex, as well as other properties maintained by the XXXXX parks and recreation department. In so doing he agrees to the following:

1. Always return grass/soil to its original state,
2. Never re-bury trash items, dispose of all refuse properly,
3. Never use any but the smallest of implements to make recoveries and leave no holes,
4. Never interfere with occupied or storage areas,
5. Make every attempt to locate rightful owners of precious finds or items of possible sentimental value,
6. Never detect during scheduled athletic/recreational activities or after nightfall,
7. Follow all instruction of site foremen and abide by safety notices,
8. Enter only at already opened gates and usual points of entry,

This permission is in effect until further notice and Mr. Hutton understands that this is a provisional permission. Violation of any of the above named guidelines will result in revocation of these privileges.

Signed, _____________________________________________________________________,
Director, XXXXXX Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism.

Date, _____________________________________ 2009

I also inserted one of my cards, placing myself at his departments disposal:

So we shall see what comes of it. I dislike going over someone's head, but I would like to continue detecting there. Sometimes, you do what you gotta do. It really is a "honey hole" of coins and jewelry.

 

[slingshot]

Yeah. I was searching a school about 10 years ago when one of these "security" people confronted me at a school I had been searching for about 15 years. Even when I told him one of the teachers,even NAMED him, told me it would be fine as long as I didn't come on school days, he felt it was "in my best interest" to leave. My best friend just happened to be a deputy sherriff and came across this guy and this guy told him he had just run a "weirdo" from the premises, probably a starving hobo. When he mentioned metal detector, my friend asked him about the make of my auto, which was an unmistakeable van (he probably thought I was living in it), he told him that "weirdo" was "my best friend". Sorry I wasn't there to see that.

 

[flash5153]

The parks commision in my area charge 10$ per year for a metal detecting permit. It took me a year of detecting to find out about this,,,yes the hard way.But all the DNR did was tell me to go get one,but did make me leave.

At first I thought,,, just another way to make money,,, you know Boo hoo. But it didnt take long to realize that this was a great idea. Not only do the officials know that you have a permision to be there(once checked for permit they remember you well) But as a detecter , gives a better feeling of being there.
Maybe you could suggest this to them, they might bite if they can make a little money.There are other benifits to this also, the only drawback is the money. For me is very MINOR, like I said I am very happy they do this.

 

[dahut]

The parks commision in my area charge 10$ per year for a metal detecting permit. It took me a year of detecting to find out about this,,,yes the hard way.But all the DNR did was tell me to go get one,but did make me leave.

At first I thought,,, just another way to make money,,, you know Boo hoo. But it didn't take long to realize that this was a great idea. Not only do the officials know that you have permission to be there(once checked for permit they remember you well) But as a detector, gives a better feeling of being there.
Maybe you could suggest this to them, they might bite if they can make a little money.There are other benefits to this also, the only drawback is the money. For me is very MINOR, like I said I am very happy they do this.

WARNING: Personal Political Views AHEAD. Read at Your Own Risk​

I'm never a big fan of bureaucracy. God knows, we have enough of it now, with more coming down the pike. I won't open the door to more of it.

Here's how it goes - "Uh Oh, look at him with that gizmo. He's doing something on his own over there, that we can't relate to. Hell, he might even do something we don't like. We need to control him. For starters, we can make him buy a license..."
Last time I checked, I paid my taxes so they could have a job. Now they want me to pay another tax to pursue my little hobby?

But that is just my anti-social input. I'm convinced that Independence of Action is an illusion anymore. That died with JFK. If you doubt that, take a look at our modern, collective cry: "Man, someone needs to pass a law against that!..." How many times have you said that?
John Q. Public didn't used to, you know. Not like he does now, and it marks a radical paradigm shift in our culture.

When that change occurred, The Age of the Independent Man was swept away by the emergence of the Group Initiative.

I won't suggest a permit. If it comes to that, I'll suck it up and get one.

 

[slingshot]

Excellent, David. They won't charge those who destroy fences, toiletries, playground equipment, and park decorations-but they want to charge responsible persons whom they think are benefitting from responsible use of their facilities. One needs only to recall the name of a famous sunken ship salvager to remember this.