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Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics
Posted by Cal_cobra
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Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 07, 2016 05:26AM |
I'd planned a small detecting trip with Tom this weekend, and he bailed on me at the last minute....so, knowing that it'd likely be the last chance I'd get before the end of the year due to future commitments (work, holidays, etc), I went solo 
Back to the Western Frontier site that I posted on a few weeks ago, and check out a few new sites. This site was stingy as can be with coins, but not to be outdone by Tom and his little half dime, I was determined to eek one out! Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for, as I managed to eek out not one, but six....sadly only one counted, the other five were a modern coin spill, like some twisted fellow played a cruel trick...but at least, the treat was saved for one of the last, but not least targets to come!
This is a tough site for a VLF machine to detect, not due to the iron, I'm used to detecting in heavy iron, it's due to the alkali soil. Tom's Exp2, as expected, handles this funky soil with ease, but there's no joy for a VLF machine. I tested both the F75 LTD2 and the Racer2 there, and for this kind of soil, the R2 blew the doors off the F75 (dirt meter was pegged on the F75, and four out of five bars on the R2).
So unless signals are large, or close to the surface, even a big 3-ringer can sound terrible. It's hard to describe, but a lot of the conductors just have a scratchy sound, numbers bounce like crazy, and you end up rolling the dice on a lot of the digs. After a while you can kind of tell if a target is going to be a conductor or an old square nail or other piece of iron pretending to be a conductor, but still get a high rate of false positives. It wears you down after a while with audio fatigue. I tired all kinds of settings, low gain, high gain, 2-tone, 3-tone, you name it, it was a mixed bag. There was no magic silver bullet setting to be found, you just had to power through it, go slow, and investigate each and everything that made a sound. The next time I detect here, I may bring my CZ70 to try out, I suspect it, or a White's V3i (or Minelab FBS) machine would do well here with the right coil. Maybe by then I'll have an Impact to try out, but I think it'll take a true multi-frequency machine to conquer this particular dirt.
Anywho, back to the finds!
I was really hoping to find a period coin (preferably GOLD
and intact Union Army accouterments, like a US oval plate, eagle hat pin, or some such display piece.
The first hunt I used the F75 LTD2. Tried both DE and BP modes and have to say that I did not enjoy detecting with the F75 at all at this site. Target counts were way down, and it was a struggle to dig non-ferrous targets. It was a struggle to try to listen to the crippled F75's audio reports. Found a couple of eagle buttons, bullets and shells, but they were all hard earned. On my second hunt, I switched to the Racer2. Still struggling, but less of a struggle then the F75 was having. Target count was increased (doubled), and I managed to make my best finds of the trip on this hunt. Initially the first 75% of this hunt I was mainly finding bullets, casings, and eagle buttons. Cool, but was kind of hoping to find something different. As I neared the end of the hunt, I dug a cool button. I figured it was some kind of artillery button with the crossed cannons on it. After cleaning it, further investigation (and reading the writing on it showed it was a period Ordnance Corps Officers button 
Button depicts flaming bomb over cannons, intended for officers of the Ordnance Corps, who were tasked with development and procurement of weapons for the army. Neat button, I figured it might be somewhat rare considering that the Treasure Depot Button book is missing an example?
Then I moved to another area. Got a funky signal, and dug a beautiful, fully intact Hardee Hat Eagle
I cleaned it with some aluminum naval jelly, and it cleaned up nicely (could still pick a bit more dirt off), there's even a tiny bit of gold gilt left on it, I'm very happy with this find:
Not ten feet away from the Hardee Hat Eagle, I got the best signal of the day. One of those pure, five star, high number locking signals that you hope to get at this kind of site. I could just tell from the sweet, pure sound (which is unusual as heck for this site) that it was going to be something good, and likely a larger coin. I carefully dug my hole, and started pinpointing and much to my surprise as I was breaking up the soil, at about 5" down, I saw a large silver disc with lady liberty flash by. Out came a beautiful 1859 San Francisco mint Seated Liberty silver half dollar
I had to sit down for a minute and take it in. I detected for a bit longer, got an eagle cuff button, and a colt pistol drop, but decided that was a great way to end the day and called it.
Great Eagles concert duo!!
Here's all the finds (notice about the I got the handle off of a Cavalry Crossed Sabers insignia (above the Hardee Hat Eagle), got part of the saber last time, perhaps one piece at a time I'll get the rest of it:
Powder flask screw top (anyone know what that odd bullet above the little buckle is??):
Buttons:
A lot of lead:
This shell still has part of the bullet inside:
This tag looks more modern to me (says "something TUBE CO)??
Modern coin spill
and misc junk:
Big hunk of lead, some kind of colar or something. Note the tooling at the top. Any idea what it may have been for (talk about a killer signal!):
Can't wait to get back to this spot
Thanks for looking and happy hunting,
Brian
Back to the Western Frontier site that I posted on a few weeks ago, and check out a few new sites. This site was stingy as can be with coins, but not to be outdone by Tom and his little half dime, I was determined to eek one out! Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for, as I managed to eek out not one, but six....sadly only one counted, the other five were a modern coin spill, like some twisted fellow played a cruel trick...but at least, the treat was saved for one of the last, but not least targets to come!
This is a tough site for a VLF machine to detect, not due to the iron, I'm used to detecting in heavy iron, it's due to the alkali soil. Tom's Exp2, as expected, handles this funky soil with ease, but there's no joy for a VLF machine. I tested both the F75 LTD2 and the Racer2 there, and for this kind of soil, the R2 blew the doors off the F75 (dirt meter was pegged on the F75, and four out of five bars on the R2).
So unless signals are large, or close to the surface, even a big 3-ringer can sound terrible. It's hard to describe, but a lot of the conductors just have a scratchy sound, numbers bounce like crazy, and you end up rolling the dice on a lot of the digs. After a while you can kind of tell if a target is going to be a conductor or an old square nail or other piece of iron pretending to be a conductor, but still get a high rate of false positives. It wears you down after a while with audio fatigue. I tired all kinds of settings, low gain, high gain, 2-tone, 3-tone, you name it, it was a mixed bag. There was no magic silver bullet setting to be found, you just had to power through it, go slow, and investigate each and everything that made a sound. The next time I detect here, I may bring my CZ70 to try out, I suspect it, or a White's V3i (or Minelab FBS) machine would do well here with the right coil. Maybe by then I'll have an Impact to try out, but I think it'll take a true multi-frequency machine to conquer this particular dirt.
Anywho, back to the finds!
I was really hoping to find a period coin (preferably GOLD
and intact Union Army accouterments, like a US oval plate, eagle hat pin, or some such display piece.
The first hunt I used the F75 LTD2. Tried both DE and BP modes and have to say that I did not enjoy detecting with the F75 at all at this site. Target counts were way down, and it was a struggle to dig non-ferrous targets. It was a struggle to try to listen to the crippled F75's audio reports. Found a couple of eagle buttons, bullets and shells, but they were all hard earned. On my second hunt, I switched to the Racer2. Still struggling, but less of a struggle then the F75 was having. Target count was increased (doubled), and I managed to make my best finds of the trip on this hunt. Initially the first 75% of this hunt I was mainly finding bullets, casings, and eagle buttons. Cool, but was kind of hoping to find something different. As I neared the end of the hunt, I dug a cool button. I figured it was some kind of artillery button with the crossed cannons on it. After cleaning it, further investigation (and reading the writing on it
showed it was a period Ordnance Corps Officers button Button depicts flaming bomb over cannons, intended for officers of the Ordnance Corps, who were tasked with development and procurement of weapons for the army. Neat button, I figured it might be somewhat rare considering that the Treasure Depot Button book is missing an example?
Then I moved to another area. Got a funky signal, and dug a beautiful, fully intact Hardee Hat Eagle
I cleaned it with some aluminum naval jelly, and it cleaned up nicely (could still pick a bit more dirt off), there's even a tiny bit of gold gilt left on it, I'm very happy with this find:
Not ten feet away from the Hardee Hat Eagle, I got the best signal of the day. One of those pure, five star, high number locking signals that you hope to get at this kind of site. I could just tell from the sweet, pure sound (which is unusual as heck for this site) that it was going to be something good, and likely a larger coin. I carefully dug my hole, and started pinpointing and much to my surprise as I was breaking up the soil, at about 5" down, I saw a large silver disc with lady liberty flash by. Out came a beautiful 1859 San Francisco mint Seated Liberty silver half dollar
I had to sit down for a minute and take it in. I detected for a bit longer, got an eagle cuff button, and a colt pistol drop, but decided that was a great way to end the day and called it.
Great Eagles concert duo!!
Here's all the finds (notice about the I got the handle off of a Cavalry Crossed Sabers insignia (above the Hardee Hat Eagle), got part of the saber last time, perhaps one piece at a time I'll get the rest of it:
Powder flask screw top (anyone know what that odd bullet above the little buckle is??):
Buttons:
A lot of lead:
This shell still has part of the bullet inside:
This tag looks more modern to me (says "something TUBE CO)??
Modern coin spill
and misc junk:
Big hunk of lead, some kind of colar or something. Note the tooling at the top. Any idea what it may have been for (talk about a killer signal!):
Can't wait to get back to this spot
Thanks for looking and happy hunting,
Brian
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Re: Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 07, 2016 11:32AM |
Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> not
> to be outdone by Tom and his little half dime, I
> was determined to eek one out!
Did anyone else here catch the snub with the line: Tom and his "little half dime" ? The viewer will kindly note that "Tom's little half dime" was 1854 (as seen in Brian's prior post for this site). A FULL 5 yrs. older than Brian's pesky newer coin. I'm sseeeoooo sorry hahaha
Ok, seriously now: That's a great report ! Glad you finally bagged an old coin from there (albeit newer than mine) . It was fun getting the in-field progress reports as you worked the place. I could vicariously live through the blow-by-blow reports even though stuck here at work. I was beginning to worry .... towards your final hour, that you were going to return home without an old coin. But at the 11th hour, you pulled a rabbit out of your # # Congratz to you !
The back on that coin looks awesome, as for numismatic condition. But can we get a better pix of the front when you have time ? Hard to see the "liberty". And having seen the pix fresh-out-of-the-hole, do tell: What did you use to clean it ? Ezest ? Solo or with any other persuasion ? My half dime from this site just prettied right up with nothing but ezest soak, and gentle thumb rub.
Looking forward to more info on your crossed cannon /flaming bomb button. Eg.: date, value, etc.....
-------------------------------------------------------
> not
> to be outdone by Tom and his little half dime, I
> was determined to eek one out!
Did anyone else here catch the snub with the line: Tom and his "little half dime" ? The viewer will kindly note that "Tom's little half dime" was 1854 (as seen in Brian's prior post for this site). A FULL 5 yrs. older than Brian's pesky newer coin. I'm sseeeoooo sorry hahaha
Ok, seriously now: That's a great report ! Glad you finally bagged an old coin from there (
Congratz to you !
The back on that coin looks awesome, as for numismatic condition. But can we get a better pix of the front when you have time ? Hard to see the "liberty". And having seen the pix fresh-out-of-the-hole, do tell: What did you use to clean it ? Ezest ? Solo or with any other persuasion ? My half dime from this site just prettied right up with nothing but ezest soak, and gentle thumb rub.
Looking forward to more info on your crossed cannon /flaming bomb button. Eg.: date, value, etc.....
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Re: Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 07, 2016 03:57PM |
That is what it is all about right there, the Hardee Hat pin is the Holy Grail.......congratz
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Re: Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 07, 2016 05:45PM |
You caught that - lol That was just for you Yes it's older, but mine is much bigger...but we already knew that 
Your right, the second hunt all came together in the 11th hour, man it started off slow, especially as I explored some other areas, and then towards the end I started making some better finds, amazing how that works sometimes! It's like making that great find on the way back the to car!
I didn't do anything to the back of the coin, other then wash it off, the back is awesome, the front I let sit in some Ezest and rinsed it off, it came out nice. Looking a the PCGS site, it's an easy XF40+. The reverse is nicer then the front, if the front was as nice as the reverse, it would've easily been more in the 55-60 range as per PCGS. Doesn't matter to me, it's was a great find, only my second ever seated half!
Tom_in_CA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cal_cobra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > not
> > to be outdone by Tom and his little half dime,
> I
> > was determined to eek one out!
>
> Did anyone else here catch the snub with the line:
> Tom and his "little half dime" ? The viewer
> will kindly note that "Tom's little half dime" was
> 1854 (as seen in Brian's prior post for this
> site). A FULL 5 yrs. older than Brian's pesky
> newer coin. I'm sseeeoooo sorry hahaha
>
> Ok, seriously now: That's a great report ! Glad
> you finally bagged an old coin from there (albeit
> newer than mine) . It was fun getting the
> in-field progress reports as you worked the place.
> I could vicariously live through the blow-by-blow
> reports even though stuck here at work. I was
> beginning to worry .... towards your final hour,
> that you were going to return home without an old
> coin. But at the 11th hour, you pulled a rabbit
> out of your # # Congratz to you !
>
> The back on that coin looks awesome, as for
> numismatic condition. But can we get a better pix
> of the front when you have time ? Hard to see the
> "liberty". And having seen the pix
> fresh-out-of-the-hole, do tell: What did you use
> to clean it ? Ezest ? Solo or with any other
> persuasion ? My half dime from this site just
> prettied right up with nothing but ezest soak, and
> gentle thumb rub.
>
> Looking forward to more info on your crossed
> cannon /flaming bomb button. Eg.: date, value,
> etc.....
Yes it's older, but mine is much bigger...but we already knew that
Your right, the second hunt all came together in the 11th hour, man it started off slow, especially as I explored some other areas, and then towards the end I started making some better finds, amazing how that works sometimes! It's like making that great find on the way back the to car!
I didn't do anything to the back of the coin, other then wash it off, the back is awesome, the front I let sit in some Ezest and rinsed it off, it came out nice. Looking a the PCGS site, it's an easy XF40+. The reverse is nicer then the front, if the front was as nice as the reverse, it would've easily been more in the 55-60 range as per PCGS. Doesn't matter to me, it's was a great find, only my second ever seated half!
Tom_in_CA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cal_cobra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > not
> > to be outdone by Tom and his little half dime,
> I
> > was determined to eek one out!
>
> Did anyone else here catch the snub with the line:
> Tom and his "little half dime" ? The viewer
> will kindly note that "Tom's little half dime" was
> 1854 (as seen in Brian's prior post for this
> site). A FULL 5 yrs. older than Brian's pesky
> newer coin. I'm sseeeoooo sorry hahaha
>
> Ok, seriously now: That's a great report ! Glad
> you finally bagged an old coin from there (albeit
> newer than mine) . It was fun getting the
> in-field progress reports as you worked the place.
> I could vicariously live through the blow-by-blow
> reports even though stuck here at work. I was
> beginning to worry .... towards your final hour,
> that you were going to return home without an old
> coin. But at the 11th hour, you pulled a rabbit
> out of your # #
Congratz to you !
>
> The back on that coin looks awesome, as for
> numismatic condition. But can we get a better pix
> of the front when you have time ? Hard to see the
> "liberty". And having seen the pix
> fresh-out-of-the-hole, do tell: What did you use
> to clean it ? Ezest ? Solo or with any other
> persuasion ? My half dime from this site just
> prettied right up with nothing but ezest soak, and
> gentle thumb rub.
>
> Looking forward to more info on your crossed
> cannon /flaming bomb button. Eg.: date, value,
> etc.....
|
Re: Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 07, 2016 05:46PM |
Thanks! I was excited, and honored to dig a complete Hardee Hat pin!
I'd be equally as happy to pull out a US oval plate, I know there has to be one or two there some where!
Hombre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That is what it is all about right there, the
> Hardee Hat pin is the Holy
> Grail.......congratz
I'd be equally as happy to pull out a US oval plate, I know there has to be one or two there some where!
Hombre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That is what it is all about right there, the
> Hardee Hat pin is the Holy
> Grail.......congratz
|
Re: Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 08, 2016 04:09PM |
NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brian,
>
> These are finds of major National historical
> significance......... not to be underestimated.
> Glad to see you bring them to light!
> (((Moments that you will never forget.)))
Yes. You can't paint a more colorful picture of the "wild west" and "Americana" than cool finds like these. I even heard a rumor that Brian's conscience is so guilt stricken (with depriving the general public from enjoying them), that he is going to donate them to a museum. Right Brian ?
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brian,
>
> These are finds of major National historical
> significance......... not to be underestimated.
> Glad to see you bring them to light!
> (((Moments that you will never forget.)))
Yes. You can't paint a more colorful picture of the "wild west" and "Americana" than cool finds like these. I even heard a rumor that Brian's conscience is so guilt stricken (with depriving the general public from enjoying them), that he is going to donate them to a museum. Right Brian ?
|
Re: Western Frontier BIG Silver & Relics November 08, 2016 07:09PM |
Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Super nice digs!!
>
> especially the half!!!
>
> Seems to be unhunted??
>
> How much trash you digging ..with that many
> Keepers there must be a ton of tossers in there.
>
> Keith
Keith, I know of 2 fellows who hunted this site several times. But that was back in the late 1980s or very early 1990s. And they were swinging 6000 di pro's in those days. They got at least one nice coin (a seated half I think). And I recall them talking about some military accoutrements (one of which they highly prized, but I can't recall what it was either). But I have long since lost track of those guys. And thus we can not compare notes with them. Perhaps Brian and I are the first persons to hunt since then (hence laying dormant for over 20 yrs
)
As for the "trash": No, not much trash. If you look at the pix (from the 2 threads on this site so far), you will indeed see some tabs, clad, modern .22 shells, etc... But the better proportion is old stuff. So much so that when the occasional tab surfaces, you curse under your breath, haha
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2016 07:10PM by Tom_in_CA.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Super nice digs!!
>
> especially the half!!!
>
> Seems to be unhunted??
>
> How much trash you digging ..with that many
> Keepers there must be a ton of tossers in there.
>
> Keith
Keith, I know of 2 fellows who hunted this site several times. But that was back in the late 1980s or very early 1990s. And they were swinging 6000 di pro's in those days. They got at least one nice coin (a seated half I think). And I recall them talking about some military accoutrements (one of which they highly prized, but I can't recall what it was either). But I have long since lost track of those guys. And thus we can not compare notes with them. Perhaps Brian and I are the first persons to hunt since then (hence laying dormant for over 20 yrs
)
As for the "trash": No, not much trash. If you look at the pix (from the 2 threads on this site so far), you will indeed see some tabs, clad, modern .22 shells, etc... But the better proportion is old stuff. So much so that when the occasional tab surfaces, you curse under your breath, haha
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2016 07:10PM by Tom_in_CA.