Looks like I dug a semi-key date Barber dime today?!

Hi all!

I headed out this morning for a brief hunt in my favorite, old, pounded park, to a specific spot in the park where a hunting partner and I have managed to recover several dozen old coins. In this spot, the coins apparently came to reside at a depth apparently just beyond where the hunters back in the 70's and 80's could easily detect. All coins have been at least 6" deep; most 7" to 10" deep -- and all have dated from the early 1880s to 1907, and I think one 1908 -- nothing newer (the town -- and park -- dates to 1889). Interestingly, I've hunted this park TO DEATH, and know it well, and while I will occasionally find a stray old coin from 7-8" deep or just beyond, NOWHERE else in the park but this one area have I found deep, old coins in a concentration anything similar to this.

Most of the coins were dug in about a 4-week period, three years ago, after discovering this little "hot spot," and finds have slowly tapered off since then. We have hit the area with many different machines and coils, and it's to the point now where I may find a remnant coin from this area two to three times a year. Today was one of those days; after a good rain last night, and equipped with my Explorer and 13" Ultimate coil, I was able to tease out a deep, subtle but repeatable mid- to high-tone chirp. From 9 1/2" deep came a Barber dime -- looked to be in G-4 to G-6 condition to me, so I didn't think much of it, other than the satisfaction (and educational experience) of recovering another silver coin that I know for a fact was missed multiple times, by multiple hunters (including myself) on multiple different days.

Because I recalled that a few of those late 1800s and early 1900s Barber dimes can have some decent value, I decided on a whim to check PCGS just in case, despite the relatively worn condition of this coin. In doing so, I was quite surprised to find that this 1896-S dime, in G-4 condition, fetches $70 to $80, and a G-6 up near $100! Not that I ever sell any coin finds, but this one is one of few "semi-key date" coins I've recovered. Just thought I'd share!



Steve

I have been looking for a deep detector. So I picked up an Explorer XS. I have not used it yet. In fact I never had an Explorer before. E Tracs and CTXs but never an Explorer. This one came with the stock coil and 8 inch coil. But I was wondering what coil to get for deep deep silver. Nice Barber by the way.

I like the later Minelab Pro-coils on the Explorers. The larger aftermarket coils make an already unbalanced machine downright unwieldy.

The sweet high tones on the Explorers have have never been duplicated in subsequent models. That's a shame.

goodmore -- I love the 13" Ultimate in Oklahoma dirt, though it doesn't do quite as well in western PA dirt, for some reason. It's a great coil though.

go-rebels -- I agree in general; the 10X12 SEF, for instance, is AWFUL. But -- the 13" Ultimate is not that way AT ALL. It is no heavier than the Pro coil, and I mean that...

Steve

she is a good looking gal

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Nice coin ! As far as big coils don't forget about the Sunray X-12 Coil. It is as lite as the Pro Coil and deeper on coins on edge in my area anyways. This coil for some reason is over looked? I guess that is a good thing for us guys with few sites left to hunt and a lot of competition. Second thought forget what I said above it is an awful coil and heavy. LOL!

Gotta enjoy those surprise targets that catch off guard. WTG!

Very nice steve

Excellent find Steve good read. Nowadays we just HAVE to have an edge somehow,some way. It's seems like everything that's left is going to take some serious serious work to find. Killer coin!

Thanks, all.

I just want to say that in my response above, I think I downplayed how much I like the 13" Ultimate. Harold -- I haven't tried a 12" SunRay, so it may be just as good, but I just want to say that the 13" coil does offer slight -- but important -- performance improvements. I will say that I was surprised that it didn't do as well in PA, in the short time I was able to use it there last Summer. I think that the reason is that soil is a bit more mineralized there, at least in the spot or two that I hunted with it. I ran with the same "iron mask 22" setting that I run here in Oklahoma, but the machine "nulled" quite a bit more than usual, suggesting higher mineralization -- and that would of course not be an atypical situation to run into with a larger coil (the ground affecting it more, due to it seeing more "volume of dirt").

With that said, this coil is incredible in Oklahoma dirt. I have a spot (the spot I just dug this Barber from) that is my go-to spot. I have hunted it literally hundreds of times, and I know it, and the dirt, very well there. Given that this park, therefore, can be a "test bed" of sorts for me, I can definitely say that the 13" coil opened up a good 1 to 2 dozen targets over that past 18 months or so that would have been difficult if not near impossible to dig with other coils. It hits coins on edge very hard (though usually just off to the side of the hole, as expected). It definitely hits as deep, if not 1/2" or so deeper than the Pro coil. I'd say it's about 1/2" deeper. But most surprisingly, what it does really well is hits a deep (but not FRINGE depth, just "deep" ) target much harder than other coils. For me, my max depth in Oklahoma dirt (and my skill level) for a dime or penny is 9 1/2" to 10" deep. An 8" target is "deep," and somewhat "subtle," but easily do-able. What this coil does, though, is it takes that 8" target, that might take some decent concentration and slower, deliberate hunting to hit, and makes it as easy as a 6" target with another coil. It just really "beefs up" the response on those moderately deep targets -- and that's the part that surprised me the most. I'd say half to 2/3 of the "extra" targets this coil allowed me to dig were ones from those "moderate deep" depths that simply sounded extra-clear and strong, and made them easy digs. Maybe 1/4 of these "extra" coins were the really, really deep coins that other coils would usually not hit, and a few -- surprisingly -- were not particularly deep, but were in the hole with other targets and for whatever reason this coil suggested a "dig decision." It separates surprisingly well for such a large coil.

These are the positives.

Two negatives --

1. it does NOT hit as clearly/stable (ID and sound-wise) on a deep nickel; the Pro coil does a much better job there.
2. it results in digging a couple more "ghost holes" than other coils -- usually in my experience these are nail "falses" from nails up to two or three inches into the side wall of the hole...

Otherwise, this is really a great coil. It rarely comes off of my Explorer, and it's one I'd never want to do without. The Pro coil has not seen one minute on my machine since I got this coil.

Just FYI, my two cents worth. YMMV.

Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2015 07:40AM by steveg.