I found a "SMALL" coin cache in 2008

and I mean small just 8 coins but the way they were found with the remains of a coin purse makes it sort of interesting to me...Also the means by which the coins were found makes it interesting to say the least...The 2 seated liberty dimes ( Both 1887)were the first out of the ground about 8 inches deep and was found with an X-terra 70 high freq small coil wide open sens, 2 tone all metal, auto tracking on .then the X-Terra found 2 Indian head's one 1882 and an 1887 about 10 inches...The area was right next to a well hole in the woods good loamy gray dirt devoid of rocks and square nails aplenty ..
I then tried the larger medium freq coil and found no other coins..

Then tried a 6000 pro xl all metal watching the meter for jumps and found a 1889 V-nickle at about 8 inches hit hard but it should in all metal? then no more coins


tried an mxt with 5x10 dd coil relic mode wide open tracking off and nothing..

Tried a Tejon 9x8 coil sens just below chatter disc nail reject, nothing.

Vaquero 9x8 sens wide open disc nail reject and found my deepest coin Indian another 1887 at 13 inches.

Tried a 1236-x2 sens 8, disc iron preset. silencer off, 5 inch coil. picked in the nails for about an hour and finally gor a good hit and it was a 1868 2-cent piece about 6 inches deep in pure machine gun iron..Then no more coins..

Then used a Lobo St wide open sens,nail disc,8 inch round coil and found the purse parts..(brass latches) and one more 1887 Indian these were masked targets in the 6- 8 inch range..

I have use other machines and combo's even the Omega 8000 and I can't locate any more coins but I have a feeling that there is more!

Would love to try my T-2 in there with the 99 sens and see what happens..

Any one think there's any more in there? I think the big silver might be on down deeper..

Might just run a trench through there since it's a small confined area and all coins come out in a 5'x5' area..

P.S. I have used a multitude of detectors in there( except I didn't use my TDI in there)..and it goes to show that no one machine can get it all..

Here's a shot of the coins [img713.imageshack.us] Gotta be some bigger silver deeper!

Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2010 03:43AM by Keith Southern.

Keith:

Your post sure seems really interesting and well written. Thank you for taking the time to submit it.

Congrats on the nice finds, Keith!! As for the specifics you stated on if, how, and when, you found the initial and subsequent targets.....I've done a lot of "testing" (as merely a journeyman detectorist at best) intending to hopefully find just what is going on that leads to the sorts of things you experienced. Now I don't know what the actual time table was when you found all those coins with the different detectors/coils, but basically from what I've seen, and I may be wrong, if you don't test the same target in real time or at the same time with the different detectors/coils, all bets are off in concluding a detector that you can point to as a real advantage. Simply put, the ground and subsequently, the targets can and will sound off differently, literally from hour to hour if not sooner. I'll go out on a limb and state that I feel it is the fluxuation of the ground's current magnetic properties which is in constant flux. Besides the more logical and easily definable equipment choices, this wild card has more to do with if we can find something one day, go back the next and get skunked, and have additional success the next. Of course there are causes for finds such as technique and equipment selections based on conditions, but........there is just something further going on here and always has been. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. To answer your question based on my hunches, yep, there's probably more there and it's sorta like fishing......when you're there "at the right time" and make the correct "presentation", you'll find more. Good luck and best wishes.

Very interesting don't forget dampness, or dryness of the ground during the day.

LowBoy

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Yep, alluded to that with "conditions". No doubt in my mind there's more to it and actually if there wasn't, we wouldn't have anywhere near the same scope of finds after decades of previous hunting pressure.

Yes Brad & Lawrenzo there's so many variables in detecting that it truly sometimes just boils back down to plain ol' luck!

Frequency,coil sizes, sweep speed,filters,temp,ground condition's(Wet/Dry) Time of day, time of year, Moon-phase etc,etc,

It amazing we can find anything at all especially when you throw trash and bad dirt in the mix...

Yes there's more in the ground right now than has ever been found .. I'm a firm believer in that scenario..

The different detector's I used in the coin spill spot although not used at the same time against each other and it took about 6 months to get them all just proves things that are not logical..Like the low freq pro xl getting the low conductor nickle while the high freq xterra 70 left the low conduct nickle but was hot on the silver...but neither would see the masked target's

Could I of stayed with one machine and hunted it different times in the 6 month period and made the same finds?? Maybe/ Maybe not..

Still could be the right combo on the right day at the right time (In the right sun spot cycle Ha-Ha)

Almost like there's a certain "magic" that happens when you are detecting ...

I can tell you another thing if you don't detect for a while and get out of you're zone so to speak or have the attitude that you can't find nothing or there's nothing there you might as well stay at the house because a positive attitude can go along way when you are swinging especially in a locale where the odd's are stacked against you..

Has anyone ever taken a newbie with them and they find the best piece? One reason why they do is they don't know how to detect (Maybe they do and we forget as we go along forgetting the basic fundamentals) so they they dig everything they hear and also they are so eager to make a find and they have alot of positive energy they are putting forth in there quest for treasure...

Lot's and lots of things go on in detecting that's more than just having the "right equipment" oh sure it help's but it's not the end all reason finds are made!Sometimes everything goes against the book's so to speak...

Still it's the greatest hobby on Earth!!!

Thanks Fella's

Keith

All good.....all interesting......all valid data. Now....................GO BACK IN THERE WITH A "ELLIPTICAL" DD COIL.....equipped detector...and see what you find. Sounds like you found a coin spill (vs. cache). I'd venture to say............especially if that area is littered with iron.................you have only 'touched' the volume of coins in there. Start with elliptical DD coil detector............and also.....don't be afraid to remove some of the larger iron pieces.

I have been through this exact evolutionary process.............in one specific spot. So far............with MANY different detectors......it has been about a 12 year process. Some time ago.................I think I posted this specific experience.

Kieth I know what you're saying.
I found an area in a weed field a couple years ago by luck. It's loaded with iron nails from 1 inch, to spikes about 4 inches + or -. It has bitts of pottery and pieces of orange brick mixed in. It's my favorite area to hunt. It has yielded coins from 1808 to 1858, large cents, half cents, flying eagle cents, coppers, musket balls, and handfulls of old buttons.....no silver there, yet. I have dug pits there with success, finding coins past detector debth and also using a rare earth magnet. Each pit contains a good two handfulls of iron crumbs plus dozens of nails. The field is cut only about twice a year after the weeds grow hip high, no problem if digging pits, but regular swinging is impossible unless they cut it. Every now and then I'll check it to see if it's cut. I went there a couple days this past week after a cut, just regular swinging over areas gone over many times in the past with Whites DFXs, E-tracs, Explorers, and F-75s. I had my F-75 with the stock 11" coil, as always, and still mannaged to pull out one large cent 1847 and two half cents 1809 and 1825 plus a thimble, two musket balls and four buttons. All these finds are in amongst hundreds of iron grunts.... ya really have to concentrate when using zero disc 90+ sens. Lawrenzo, the ground under the weeds is dust dry. Many iron falses and many deep nails at the edge of the holes but the area is worth the labor. In this area, from the detectors mentioned, the F-75 seems to be the tool to use. In this area, because of the coin dates, (as Tom has said in previous posts) it may be hiding gold coins.
Day after day, decade after decade the old coins just sit in the ground...we know the're there...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2010 02:35PM by ozzie.

Keith,
May I recommend buying the SRARC dvds which Tom was the guest speaker. In this dvd Tom goes into great detail on how he sanitized a 5x5 area pulling many more targets out down to 17-21 inches. This may be a good idea for your area as well.
Just a thought. (Shameless plug?) Awesome info none the less.
Paul

Never mind... I just saw you already got the video.
Paul

Ozzie.................man after my heart.

I know what ya'll mean .....Iron hunting is a trick in itself for sure!!Actually it's more of a tuned skill...I usually just take a WW2 entrenching toll lock it at a right angle and if I get a hint of a signal it's as simple as just pulling a plug of dirt with one swing at the ground.. I have found this method the best and it's amazing what a spit or pop will sound like once the dirt is moved around just a little...

The site I was talking about with the coin spill actually looks like a gopher went crazy in there during a hunt...( No open holes when I live.. I promise)
I usually in a small area loaded with iron remove the big iron first then work through the nails investigating every little pop..I have the luxury of not having to keep a neat hole in deep wood's hunting and before I leave I can restore the ground to an original appearance in few moments!

I got into sifting and trenching about 20 years ago when I saw the stuff that's in the ground you cant hear while I was digging bottle pits..

I have tried the Omega with the Bi-Axial DD coil and it failed to produce..It was actually the worst machine I had at this site for digging the Square nails..? But then they are the kind that have been alloyed with brass? I believe for a type of corrosion control so they are tuff to reject but the Omega absolutely loves them!! not bad just more digging and time consumption..

All the big iron is out of the way right now... I believe it is more of a depth issue than anything limiting any more finds?? I would love to try the T-2 in there since becoming accustomed to the 99 sens.. and just working through the noise so to speak!

I wonder what the odd's would be on a gold coin lurking in a spill like this?Slim ?( Do ya think lets say a $5 gold piece would sink as fast as a 50 cent piece or a dollar?)
My area was pretty dang poor in the Post Civil war South..Heck it was pretty poor before the war..

I heard of an area about 5 miles from the house in a Yankee camp site 5 gold U.S. coins dated in the 1850's came to light 3-ten dollars 2-five's..


thanks for the replies!

Keith

A gold coin is possible........... but it'll sink much faster than silver. It's quite a bit more dense/heavy per size ratio. The Half Eagle has always been (in history) the 'workhorse' for all of the gold coins minted. They were coming out of circulation very fast in the late 1890's.

This is a very informative post. Shows we should never assume anything. I'd think at some point you might want to take a drop cloth and dig a hole maybe 3 ft across and a couple of ft deep or until you get no more iron, then detect and sift... You could use Tom's method of taking the top layer of grass off if it's in a lawn.

Keep us posted!

Julien

Nice finds and great play by play write up Keith.

I think Brad is right on with all the variables, I've seen it several times myself.

I have a little area that I've been hitting for over a year that gives up goodies every time I hit it. Actually the first couple of hunts it didn't give up anything, it wasn't until I got a deeper seeking machine (CZ-70, followed by the F75 LTD) that it started producing and at first it was almost like a virgin site (found three barber dimes, a SLQ, indians, teens wheabacks, silver war nickles, etc. in one day). It's a small patch, about 20' x 60', and every time I go by this area I detect it. I thought the silver had dried up there for sure, as I had several hunts where I'd get a couple of wheatbacks, or an indian head, but no silver. The area had always been moist to wet when I'd previously hunted it, but then a couple of hunts ago I got three mercs in one hunt, a love token, and a dozen wheatbacks (including 6 in one hole, how did that get missed??). This day the ground was bone dry, and it made a big difference. The next hunt the ground was also dry and I plucked out an uncirculated barber dime and more wheatbacks. I had all but written this place off, but persistence paid off and showed that ground condition variables play a BIG part in your luck I know there's more there, every time I hunt there, I crawl along at a snails pace trying to coax out a deep silver crying out to be rescued from it's purgatorial state of suspension. My next plan is to hunt the spot in all metal and dig anything in hopes of removing iron to unmask a few more keepers, or finding that iffy coin on edge so deep that it's reading as iron. I know there's more there!

HH,
Brian

Nice!

Blast from the past!

Whatever happened to BuckeyeBrad ?

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes Brad & Lawrenzo there's so many variables in
> detecting that it truly sometimes just boils back
> down to plain ol' luck!
>
> Frequency,coil sizes, sweep speed,filters,temp,gro
> und condition's(Wet/Dry) Time of day, time of year
> , Moon-phase etc,etc,
>
> It amazing we can find anything at all especially
> when you throw trash and bad dirt in the mix...
>
> Yes there's more in the ground right now than has
> ever been found .. I'm a firm believer in that sce
> nario..
>
> The different detector's I used in the coin spill
> spot although not used at the same time against ea
> ch other and it took about 6 months to get them al
> l just proves things that are not logical..Like th
> e low freq pro xl getting the low conductor nickle
> while the high freq xterra 70 left the low conduct
> nickle but was hot on the silver...but neither wou
> ld see the masked target's
>
> Could I of stayed with one machine and hunted it d
> ifferent times in the 6 month period and made the
> same finds?? Maybe/ Maybe not..
>
> Still could be the right combo on the right day at
> the right time (In the right sun spot cycle Ha-Ha)
>
> Almost like there's a certain "magic" that happens
> when you are detecting ...
>
> I can tell you another thing if you don't detect f
> or a while and get out of you're zone so to speak
> or have the attitude that you can't find nothing o
> r there's nothing there you might as well stay at
> the house because a positive attitude can go along
> way when you are swinging especially in a locale w
> here the odd's are stacked against you..
>
> Has anyone ever taken a newbie with them and they
> find the best piece? One reason why they do is th
> ey don't know how to detect (Maybe they do and we
> forget as we go along forgetting the basic fundame
> ntals) so they they dig everything they hear and a
> lso they are so eager to make a find and they have
> alot of positive energy they are putting forth in
> there quest for treasure...
>
> Lot's and lots of things go on in detecting that's
> more than just having the "right equipment" oh su
> re it help's but it's not the end all reason finds
> are made!Sometimes everything goes against the boo
> k's so to speak...
>
> Still it's the greatest hobby on Earth!!!
>
> Thanks Fella's
>
> Keith


to me this seems to confirm the often repeated saying "that an area is NEVER hunted out" is very true.

Ever think of using different coils...….used to clean out old yards with a CZ using 3 different coils and yep they all found coins missed by the other two...
Man must have a big closet to store all those units...nice post and sure shows your determined...only several gold coins found locally and each time a coin purse find so Tom's post makes one think....

That’s really cool Keith!

Seated is soooo hard to find in my area!

Aaron