Square nails led the way

On the way home from work on Friday I drove thru a county park I often detect, to see if a certain field was rid of snow...well it was, so thats where I'm going Saturday morning.
One area in this field is loaded with small square nails where in the past I've dug up dozens of detectable buttons, large cents, half cents & one flying eagle cent.
I have my F-75 w/ the 4x6 coil and only reading iron for an hour I decided to dig anyway. I dug a plug about a foot in diameter and about 8" deep, recovered the nails, put the little coil in the hole got another signal, dug down another 6" found a flat button.Well that led to a couple more buttons more nails & now the hole is about 20" deep shaped like an upsidedown mushroom. I almost need a miners light to see in the hole. Scanning in the hole I get a nice high tone, pinpointed it and pulled out a beautiful 1825 half cent. Dug & probed some more & found a nice 1808 large cent. All totaling, 8 buttons, 15 nails & the 2 coins.
Filled in the hole while tamping w/ my feet every 6 or so inches, cause if I don't, all that dirt won't fit.
Now, I don't know if I got lucky or are there buttons & coins under all those nails..Hmmm. I'll go back tomorrow and dig some more nails, yeah, thats what I'll do.

Square nails are GREAT! Meaning you got some old layers of dirt you are working in.
Of course we Don't want the nails, (even the old one's) but you show why it's great to stick with it and don't quit on a productive hole.
Nice going!

Thanks SilverPete,
I went back to that same spot, repeated the procedure, bingo, uncovered two more large cents, 1813 & 1833, both in abnormally great shape compared to many I find at shallower stratum. No buttons this time. I did notice an ash & charcoal layer with pieces of pottery mixed in around the same depth as the coins. Maybe it was a burn pit or the house burned years ago. There were some rocks mixed in but they didn't look like foundation rocks. There is no indication of a house on a 1876 map I have, but the date on the coins suggest an older home may have been there.

Awesome finds and a great lesson!

Probably a really old homesite or similar.
Great indicators though! Pottery might suggest a home or perhaprs covered wagon that would easily transport items like that. (as oppossed to a rider and horse only) Charcoal as well could fit into a semi-permanant life style as well.

If true, then great possibility to locate a popular sitting area (for example) that might lead to more coins. If the nails are really localized, you may have an old outhouse for instance, then of course there may be remenents of another structure nearby.
Keep an eye out for any rocks with a pattern. (Probably under a layer of grass/weeds) which may suggest an old garden. Also any plants that look out of the ordianry (I'm no expert there for sure) may suggest too of previous inhabitants.

Well I think you have something really exciting. Even if you don't find anything else, I sure had fun writting about it!
Love this hobby.
Peter

It is my DEEPEST (no pun intended) recommendation that you acquire a Rare-Earth magnet.....excavate dirt.....and utilize the hi-powered magnet to remove all the flakes of rust....and nails............THEN utilize the detector (in all-metal mode) at high Sens settings.....and find/locate ALL of the non-ferrous items. I am giving a speech/presentation on just exactly this......this coming Friday.....in Tampa. What you have found.....is common.......IS 'the norm'. And you will begin to 'experience' as to the WHY'S/WHERE'S/WHEN'S and WOW'S!!!!.....of this hobby AND................AND..............most importantly; the legitimate justification in testimony as to just exactly WHY over 95% of the targets we wish to find are MASKED/TOO-DEEP. It's laborious; priceless/well worth it. On the home page of this forum......is a article titled: "The Painful Truth". You may want to read this.......if you have not already done so. Yes, square nails are a critical "key" (tell-tale) to success.

Remember; your hunger, burning passion, attitude and perserverance in this laborious escapade .... can have GREAT rewards. Do not take this lightly. And if you find a silver coin of any of those dates mentioned...................OR....you find a GOLD coin of that era..........it'll exonerate you from the reasonable-and-customary "norm" ...standard-of-hunting expectations. It is not uncommon to 'find' $100/Hr in this extenuating concerted-effort calorie-burning evolution. Remember; paper money hardly existed...and was NOT trusted during this era/generation. --GO THE EXTRA MILE! .....And be careful with the buttons.....as they can command high-$.

Tom

Tom, I have read all of your articles on this site, and thank you sincerley, for the amount of user information & schooling you give to us.

I'm looking into the earth magnets & see they come in all different shapes, sizes and strengths. Is there one particular shape or strength magnet that you found to be suited for our situation? Maybe one that can be mounted on a dowel for ease of use. Easy to carry or works better in a hole ?
Thanks,
Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2010 09:31PM by ozzie.

I would recommend one with at least a 300Lb pull. One that's approx 4" x 2" x 1" ....as a rough size should suffice. I have a 350Lb and a 766Lb pull Rare Earth magnets (I think they are rated N42). The 766Lb one SHOULD be mounted on a shovel handle......so as to save my back. It weighs several pounds.

Hope this does not sound dumb. Is there any danger to metal detector electronics when using a very powerful magnet near it.

Thats a good question dalpal. I copied this from a magnet dealer:

•The strong magnetic fields of neodymium magnets can damage magnetic media such as floppy disks, credit cards, magnetic I.D. cards, cassette tapes, video tapes or other such devices. Electronics such televisions, VCRs, computer monitors and other CRT displays can also be damaged.

Along the beaches south of Clearwater, FL we have been finding square nails and quite a few of them. In the past year they have been doing a lot of beach re-nourishment and it has always been a dream of mine that their suction tube could be shoved down into the hold of an old treasure ship wreck and now being blown all over the beach. Just a dream but....those square nails come from some where and they are ship's nails and have just appeared since the re-nourishment.Maybe could be a dream come true!

Wally

I daydreamed the same thing Wally, when I saw them pumping sand from large pipes onto Jersey beaches. There has got to be treasures out there, those barges are out quite a few hundred yards.
People were finding WW1 munitions on the beach after the army corps of engineers got done.

So far.... the 766-lb pull Rare Earth magnet has yet to damage the F75 & F75 LTD. Yes, I have rested the magnet up against the control-head (I don't recommend this).....and encountered no problems........even with the unit running.

Ordered a rare earth magnet, it should be here in afew days.

I went back to that area again with a 4'x 4' drop cloth, detected iron and just dug, picking out the many nails first w/ the f-75 then w/ the pinpointer.
The first couple holes, buttons, mostly flat, ranging in size from 1/2" to 1-1/4" in dia & nails. Last hole of the day, buttons, then a nice high (in more ways than one) tone. Same size as a large cent so I pocketed it and went on. After a while another nice high tone, located it, this coin is the same size as a half-penny but much thinner, pocketed it, filled the hole & went home.
After cleaning the two coins, they were not what I thought they were, never saw them before.Fired up the computer and found out the large cent sized one is a 1806 Bahamma Copper w/ Georgius III DG REX on the obverse & a three masted sailing ship & national motto on the reverse. The smaller half penny sized one has no date. One side reads,____?___ commercium later? other side reads Nurnberg Jetton??? I could'nt find anything on the net about that one. If any one has info let me know. Total 24 buttons, one coin and one... ?????, don't know. Can't wait for the magnet to come in.

Darn Ozzie that is really terific! Until I read the last sentence did I realize you were Not using a magnate. Awesome job without the magnate...
Just wait till it arrives!!!
I am ordering one online (a good one) but until then, I am going to use a strong one from a local hardware stoor I am getting today. (I just can't wait!)
Great going.
Pete

And all of this in only a 4' x 4' area! But,,,,, the real question....and more importantly; the "EDUCATION" ascertained is:

HOW MANY TARGETS WERE DETECTED WITH THE DETECTOR BEFORE EVER DIGGING A PIT.

Vs.

HOW MANY (non-ferrous) TARGETS WERE FOUND AFTER EXCAVATION AND 'MASK' REMOVAL!!!!

This is going to 'stun' you (as you are starting to witness). It is the utilization of the Rare Earth magnet that is going to........once again......'stun' you to yet ANOTHER order-of-magnatude of 'awareness'.

You may find 1 or 2 non-ferrous targets in this 4' x 4' area with the metal detector. Then, digging a pit and removing all of the 'masking'.........after all is said-and-done........ you may find another 20 more non-ferrous (serious 'keeper') targets.

The realization of "Over 95% of the targets we choose to detect; remain 'masked', silent masked, or are too deep".....will ensue.

And is it not interesting to find non-ferrous targets that are highly conductive (like coins)....and......some of them are the size of large-cents..........at depths that are (otherwise) WELL within the reach of the detector; yet are COMPLETELY masked.

Your foreign coins (back in the day) were very common....and were 'in circulation' within a local community within a town....in the U.S. I have hunted a small section of a old town here in Florida ... that was occupied by a fair amount of Portuguese. I was finding 'circulated' Portuguese coins. ------ In fact..........if you go to Chinatown N.Y. or San Francisco......it is not uncommon to see modern Chinese coins in circulation...right along side U.S. coinage.

Be careful with those buttons (and many other types of targets)....as they can be HIGHLY valuble.

I DO recommend keeping track of "How many targets were detected BEFORE digging a pit" vs. "How many MORE (additional) targets were found AFTER excavation/pit-digging". This education is PRICELESS....and will (via the education ascertained) help your success-rate for ALL future endeavours.

Tom

Tom,

The 4'x 4' is the size of the dropcloth I used to put the soil onto. The area where the nails are concentrated is roughly about 50'x50' and nails thin out gradually from that area. I discoverd this area about 1-1/2 years ago, detecting without digging a pit,finding half dozen large cents, two half cents,my first flying eagle penny & more buttons than anything else (except for nails).
The magnet should be here Monday, hopfully.
We've had high winds & pouring rain here for a couple days and the last time I was at the site was last Thursday, this weekend's a wash. It's now Sunday and still pouring rain. This field is not easy to swing because of the weeds & such and the park only cuts it once a summer....not a big deal because the area is located/found/discovered. It's only been a week since I started digging pits & following the nails & buttons to the coins. As you know a hole thats 24" in dia by 20" deep, fluffs up to be a good size pile of dirt. I'm not yet abel to get all the nails & iron out till the magnet comes in, but I'm doing the best I can with the detector & probe. I can certainly see the masking going on as I dig out the ferrous. & bingo..a high tone. The 4x6 coil along with the speed of the F-75 gets me high tone repeatables between some of the iron....and of course some falsing. But.. once I get that high tone, that deep in the hole, a little wiggle w/ repeats I know it's something good. Another good thing about this spot is, no trash except for nails...no tabs no caps no slaw.

And ya know Tom, I'm not sure it would be as exciting/fun if it was easy & simple, with no effort, to find old coins/relics. I enjoy all the tactics, tricks, stratagies I get form you & everyone on this forum along with "in the field applying & doing". What I'm trying to say is, if a detector comes out that can see around trash & iron, it would be too easy..our forums would be filled with finds and pictures of finds and after a while it would be boring & fade away, no more need for "tricks of the trade"so too speak. It goes along with everything in life...if you don't put effort and hard work into something it dosen't mean much to ya. Sorry for straying off the subject. I'll post an update when there is one, on this excavation.
Thanks,
Steve

Well said Steve...

Perhaps without realizing it but you really started a great thread here.
This topic-The 2009 Report by Tom-Has started me on a whole new
path in my detecting life.
Last night I "sampled" a small section in a construction site,
(just 1 foot square-only had 30 minutes)
that had plenty of iron signals...
Got 2 wheats amongst a load of iron beeps.
Can't wait for my Rare Earths to arrive.

Thanks again Steve...

And Tom-You da Man!!
Peter

Good progress!

Got the earth magnet today from the brown truck. It was packed in the center of the box, surrounded w/ peanut/foam and 1-1/2 inches of bubble rap around the magnet. The magnets dimentions are 4"x 2"x 1", N-42, 350 lbs. pull strength.
I put some iron nails on the ground and measured vertically, the distance it would pick up the 1" & 2" nails. It'll draw the nails straight up @ 4.5 inches. I think I'll attatch it to a small hand held 3 prong garden rake, that way it will fit in the holes & I can scrape the sides & also run it through the loose dirt. I can carry it in a hammer holster without much difficulty.
Ya have to think when handeling this magnet, can't just put it down anywhere. If it sticks to the bed of my truck, I believe I'd have to get out the pry bar. Hope there is no tractor parts in the ground.

That magnet is deadly...........more than you think. Treat it BETTER than you would a loaded pistol. You WILL and ARE GOING to get 'bit' by it several times.....as careful as you may be. Let's hope that NONE of the incursions are blood-splattering (((been there...done that))). Your shovel (fortunately thin sheetmetal) will be your first target. It is one of the best tools you will ever have (as you will soon see).....but it is deadly. In many respects; it's an educator. I 'suspend' mine in a 4" x 4" wooden skeletal frame BEFORE putting it in my vehicle.

One of my hunting buddies is right-handed...and carries his standard magnet in his rear left pocket. I'm left-handed...and carry my Rare Earth magnet in my rear right pocket. Yep, at one point in time..... we came too close to each other..... and... in an explosion.... we became 'joined-at-the-hip'. Embarrassing and painful. No one else knew what just transpired. We had to have some large grown men pry us apart. A serious pain-in-the-butt. And NEVER use a (iron) pry-bar to pry anything CLOSE to this magnet.

And another time..... I jumped up into my truck.......completely forgetting about the magnet in my back pocket...........and I instantly became fully suspended from the door pillar of my vehicle. I only weigh 165-lbs.......and with the smaller Rare Earth 350-lb magnet......it was not even 'challanged'. Yep, had to have two grown men dislodge me from the truck. Good thing they were there.....or I may have been suspended for quite some time. I can attest; blue-jeans have VERY strong pockets.

You may laugh.......but.....you WILL have some incursions. That magnet is not a toy.

You will see 'puffs' of dry dirt go airbourne.......when the magnet pulls a nail out of the loose excavated pile of dirt.....maybe 1/2" depths. Watch your eyes. It looks dumb to have your startled eyes 'wide-open' whilst these 'puffs' of dirt explode to life....as iron is being removed.

You will still have to 'touch' most of the ferrous metallic targets that you need to remove........but.......once they stick to the magnet....they will not casually scrape off of the magnet as you continue to 'rake' it through the dirt. The nails will easily pull off of the magnet by hand...as they have lost most of their magnetic properties (due to heavy oxidation).

You will be startled again.....when you detect a sans-ferrous excavated pile of dirt......only to hear quite a few non-ferrous targets.....some of them quite high in conductivity......and some of them quite large. You will love the education; yet, cry by just exactly how bad (and how much) masking is taking place.

Tom

Great story ozzie. I think I am heading in that direction now with my coin hunting ways. You said it best if we could buy a detctor that "sees around trash and iron" it would get dull after a while.

I have been detecting on/off for 20 years. I would go out, swing the coil, here a good tone and dig, that's it. I am finding out after reading what you guys and Tom are talking about, "work". I am so use to listening only for good tones and diging. I never thought of all the other tones I was hearing might be good targets as well, or do like you just did ozzie, dig the trash, than go back and see what you were missing!

That's is amazing that you found those coins after digging the nails. That's a lesson to all of us, see what we are probably missing! Yeah, it's work, but it will pay off.

It's a way different approach to just swinging the coil for hours...

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