What do you do?

[Jack Flynn]

I've talked with quite a few people and read in several places where MD'ers pick and choose what they dig coin wise. For instance some don't dig a zinc penny and even some don't dig what they think may be clad. I've even had a few tell me they throw clad right out on top of the ground if they dig it! I guess I'm a coin whore, I dig and keep it all. What do you do? Every time the ground shark or trowel hit's the ground I get excited!

 

[CT Todd]

I dig it all and I keep it all.I have everything I ever found except clad that I clean and spend.I wouldn't sell or not dig anything.You just don't know and your unit isn't sure either.I've dug great things right at the surface.

 

[John(Tx)]

If I dig it, I keep it, no sense in throwing it back on the ground. I'm old fashioned, a penny saved is a penny earned. I remember as a kid growing up in the late 50's/early 60's, I walk the alley ways searching for bottles to sell for the 3 cent deposite, to me those were the good old days. HH

 

[Bowie]

lol,John(TX), you are bringing back memories. We did the same thing when we were kids. Cash the bottles in, catch a city bus and go to the kiddy movies on Saturday morning. Good ole days.
Best,
John

 

[jbow]

I usually dig it all. I don't know how many times I have walked away from an iffy signal, then after walking a few feet, I come back to it and dig something nice. I've learned to dig ALL iffy signals in supossedly hunted out sites. (and another secret... hunt close to the road or parking... most people walk away from the car before beginning to hunt. I found a nice sword hanger about 2' past an old barbwire fence that everyone had to cross to get into a site. I know that most hunters were walking past the fence and into the woods before beginning to hunt.)
If I am at a place, like an old, (but not too old), homesite and I am digging lots of zinc pennies I will start leaving them. If it's an older homesite i'll dig them because some of them might be IHs. You can't always dismiss things because they aren't deep. Especially if there is a grade to the ground. I've found eagle buttons, coat and cuff, on top of the ground at some places where the ground is hard and there is a slope. I found a roundball a couple of miles north of Kennesaw mtn. It was sticking out of the ground... on a flat lot. I eyeballed it. No slope at all there... just flat ground but it had been graded at some point. Who knows what was done to the ground 50 years ago?
I always dig and keep bronze pennies, clad, and everything else. The trash goes in a bucket and I sort it from time to time. If a zinc penny is too badly corroded I will trash it. I dig iron too, you never know what it might be. I've dug some nice iron relics and you might unmask something really nice.

Then again... i'm glad most people decide to not dig those pennies and iffy targets, it leaves them for ME!!!

OH... another story, again just off Barrett Pkwy they were building a church, Keeensaw Mtn less than a mile to the south. I found out about the site after the local club had hunted it hard along with everyone else in the area.. but I went anyway. Most relics were found near the north end of the site. So, after it was "hunted out" I dug, in the same part of the site a zinc time fuse holder, w/no flange from a 20# parrott shell.. it was about 2" deep. I guess everyone thought it was trash.. it's all I can figure. I saw one yesterday at the Relic Show in Marietta but in worse shape than mine, they wanted 60 bucks for it.
I don't remember what detector I was using but I checked it with my E-TRAC and it read 01-40 just like a silver dollar. I need to get a bunch of stuff out and check it with the V3 and make a list.

Nevermind... don't dig stuff unless it gives you a perfect signal and you are sure it is a good target.

J

 

[jeff & Maria]

Now THOSE were the days!

 

[Jack Flynn]

Yep I like this derailed part of the thread. Sell bottles for two cents a piece and buy fish hooks, crickets, and such.

 

[Coinsifter]

is another one towards my next lotto ticket!

 

[Ray-Mo.]

It has a lot to do with the site I am hunting and the amount of time I have to hunt.If it is close to home I dig most targets that have a chance of being desireable to me.If I am at a older site and farther away I will leave most shallow clad targets and go for the older deeper and masked targets.

I don't care much for clad and never hunt sites that do not have good potential for older coins with one exception and that is when I get a new machine and am just starting to learn it.Clad can be very helpfull in developing my skills with a new machine.I just enjoy digging one old crusty Indian Head that is worth less than a dollar more than digging $5.00 worth of clad.I just can not get excited about digging something that I can just reach in my pocket and grab most any time.

I do dig shallow clad also if I think it could be masking older deeper targets at some of my more hunted out sites where the targets are few and far between.It all comes down to what is going to be the most efficient method for recovering the greatest amount of older coins and relics at any given site.Sometimes that may be only one or two old coins in a 2 or 3 hour hunt and sometimes it will be a handfull,Ray.

 

[mikeeatsbugs]

i dig it all too. then with the clad i save, i buy coins that will at least hold some value and make my collection look good.

 

[digitrich]

Anyone who told you that they throw the clad back on the ground isn't very bright, they are going to have to dig it again next time. I dig everything that I know is not definite iron and I keep all, coins and trash and whatchamacallits because I don't want to dig them again. When you dig up anything, you chance exposing something below it that was masked by the target you just dug. Especially "like" sounding clad... a clad dime gives the exact same signal as a 1916d merc, a seated, a barber, even a capped bust. If you start ignoring clad, you have just given away some of your best finds. There is some truth to deeper coins have older more valuable potential, however that is not always the case. Ignoring shallow coins is a sure fire way to miss some goodies. And when it comes to the Etrac, the ID can vary a whole bunch dependent on a whole myriad of factors...the ID is just not exact enough to ignore repeating coin range signals, they could easily be older valuable targets that the ID is landing on zincolns or copper pennies and so on. So unless you are going out for a perfect cherry pick, time extremely limited stroll, you are best advised to dig dog dig.

 

[Shambler]

When you dig up anything, you chance exposing something below it that was masked by the target you just dug. Especially "like" sounding clad... a clad dime gives the exact same signal as a 1916d merc, a seated, a barber, even a capped bust.

agreed!

sometimes I'm too lazy to dig the zinc pennies - that means you'll miss the occasional Indian though.

 

[sharpshooter]

I don't dig the shallow zinc penny signals.

Anything past 3 or 4 inches, I dig it.

As for throwing any coin or trash back on the ground after it's dug is just plain dumb.

 

[terrywl]

Like many of you, I don't dig zinc pennies, unless I am at an older site, (my 1892 I.H. read zinc), but if I am on the beach I dig everything! Often I "know" what it is going to be 12-44 and a big sound = Al can, unless it is a watch, but then I am retired so I do have the time. Last night on the beach I hit an unusual signal, 9-40, and scratchy, had trouble pinpointing it, all signs of trash, right? A nice S 925 stamp on a woman's ring with purple stones (claimed by my GF instantly!) so remember the numbers are guides, not guarantees. HH Terry