1885 & 1890s Houses Not Producing :shrug:

[AngelicStorm]

I got permission to detect an 1885 house a few weeks back which is sitting next to another house built in the 1890s. I even have permission to detect the house on the other side of the 1890s house which was built the same time time as the 1890s house. All three of the houses are large with large yards and in the middle of town. In order to cover them properly and progress without double and even triple tracking without losing track, I have come up with a way to grid these properties. I have been hitting the main (middle) house on and off with no set method the last month or two and not coming up with nothing except a pocket watch and it's guts. Also an 1899 Indian Head Penny and a couple of wheats. The 1899 Indian Head Penny was right on top of the ground beside of one of the two wheats (1917) I found there. Thing is, the ground they were right on top of is really part of the drive way which is full of hot rocks and probably is one of the reasons for the two pennies being right on top of the ground. Considering the ground is hard as a rock in those areas is the other reason they could have been right on top of the ground. I have covered a good bit of ground there and put in many hours detecting this property in random areas with like I said, no real method.

Since I have gained permission to hunt the 1885 house, I have been going there off and on the last few weeks. No one lives there and the owner never hardly comes by. So, because of that, I can go there any time. With such a privilege to detect a property with no limits (besides neat plugs), it seems like it would be a dream come true. I figured since I can detect there, I would start off by gridding it. That's what I started off doing and have done the last few times I have been there. Out of those times, I found my first silver (1964 Washington) with the 3030, a WWI Commander Collard Insignia, and an old copper ring. One find per hunt. Lots of ground covered. About 18 hours in those few hunts. Yesterday I went back there. I spent 5 hours gridding from where I left off. A lot of ground covered evenly. I found nothing at all. It seems like I would be pulling a lot more stuff out the ground considering the coverage and time spent on this site as well as the middle 1890s house. Also, I have not really touched the other yard so that one is still up for debate.

Knowing the middle 1890s house and the 1885 houses aren't producing like I would think they should be, I think that maybe they have been hit hard by someone or some people. The thing is, I'm not sure if it is natural for these types of houses to not produce so much since I haven't detected these types of homes before these. Another thing that is noteworthy is that I have a few more sites that are from the 1910s-1930s and they produce every few inches. These sites I'm referring to are medium sized houses with medium sized yards. The few targets I have found such as the Indian Head Penny beside the wheat penny was probably because the person/s detecting that area was avoiding the hot rocks or I just got lucky. I'm thinking me finding the other targets might just be some spots I got lucky to come across because the other person/s missed them. Still, I'm not sure if these sites have been detected or not.

Maybe the larger houses are bigger targets and are more likely to have been detected?
Is this typical detecting conditions of larger houses like these?
What does your experience tell you about this?

 

[Larry (IL)]

I have found out here in the Midwest over the years that big old Victorian houses are quite a good target to metal detectorists and I have had a few produce but more often than not they turn out to be disappointments. When you think about it, hobby metal detecting has been around for almost 60 years so finding a place that has not been hunted before is getting harder and harder but persistence will pay off in the long run. Keep asking and hunting, they are out there.

 

[squirrel1]

Well, some things to consider. How hard is the ground to dig? If its real hard sink rate is low. An yes even a moderately performing detector can clean these areas pretty good. Try and detect away from the house. A lot of detectorist will hunt only around the sidewalks, porches etc and if they don't find much pack up and leave. Does the site have much iron? Does it seem to have substantial pull tab signals? If not that's also a good sign the site has been searched. Try running your detector hot say 26 manual and higher with stock coil if you can. Could be most targets left are below the 8 inch level. Usually house yards this old only take a few minutes to tell if they are virgin or not. Sounds like these aren't. But don't give up though. I would try and concentrate in the trashiest parts of the yards with a real slow sweep.

 

[brother steve]

I have been disappointed with quite a few old houses which in my mind look like great places. Hard to tell if they have been hit before and they probably have if you are not finding anything.If you are confident in yourself and your detector and you are not producing,then it is time to reevaluate the site. Sometimes the least obvious places produce the most.

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I find the obvious bigger house have been hit first. Most of the time I find my best silver in the old smaller houses.

 

[JamesM]

Do you know when those homes were last lived in? I would think that at the very least, you would be finding some clad, pull tabs etc, if those properties haven't been detected.

 

[ironman200081]

Not all yards are filled with dropped coins. True, folks spent more time outdoors in the non-air conditioner and TV era, but that does not necessarily equate with more finds. Yes, it is possible that the yards have been detected before. It is just as possible that there are not many old coins lost in the yard. I concur with Steve above. If you are confident with your skill and machine, then your coil simply isn't passing over any metal. Time to seek out a new target. Good luck!

 

[PryorCreekJoe]

Have evaluated the site as a whole? Where was the clothesline? Where was the outhouse? Are there large trees and particularly on the west side of the house for evening shade? Most people would have sat under the shade trees in the summer as Ironman mentioned there was no air conditioning back in the day. Have you looked up the houses on the Sanborn maps? It should show any out buildings on them. Where would kids have played? Do they have detached garages? Note where all pathways would have been. Again for the outhouse, clothesline, garage, garden, dog pen, play areas, etc. Do you know anything about the previous owners? Large or small family or no children. The hot rocks might be cinder slag from coal heating. They used to dump it on the gravel driveways and let it blend in with the gravel. Try to put your mind in an 1890 mindset and ask where would you possibly lose pocket change. Just some ideas that I ask myself on such a site. The owners may have been misers or just plain poor. It does sound like it may have been hit before too. You just never know.

PryorCreekJoe

 

[mike4663]

I have found alot of old houses had fill dirt added, some removed old dirt for fresh top soil and to get a nice lawn. If your not getting lots of targets under the coil at 100 year old houses its fill dirt, targets could be very deep.

 

[Doctorcoinz]

Very likely the site has been worked out by others years back. I have seen sites like this before. Mostly you just get iron signals a sure sign it;s been worked out.

 

[mcb613]

I too have had a few like that. The old saying " never hunted out" is a falicy. In fact , i have hunted out my own virgin spots. However, u can always dig the marginal signals a pull a keeper now and then. Good luck though!

 

[BartOscar]

n/t

 

[BartOscar]

I hunt primarily on private residences. To date I have been on 25 properties of the late 1800's and early 1900's. I hit one home that just kept on giving. The neighbor next door was so excited she asked me to detect on her property. There were two of us and we did a thorough job and NOTHING!!! Neither home had ever been detected so there is simply no guarantee something is lurking in the soil!

 

[mcb613]

BartOscar, I had a couple properties that reportedly never have been touched... nothing! I think sometimes the elevations are filled in, putting coins deeper than detection depth. Today hunted a new spot dated pre-1868, nothing and dirt looked to be filled. I think the best spots are the roughest looking farms, seems like the rough ones dont care about estetics and dont lanscape or fill.
HH

 

[AngelicStorm]

I have found out here in the Midwest over the years that big old Victorian houses are quite a good target to metal detectorists and I have had a few produce but more often than not they turn out to be disappointments. When you think about it, hobby metal detecting has been around for almost 60 years so finding a place that has not been hunted before is getting harder and harder but persistence will pay off in the long run. Keep asking and hunting, they are out there.

I have been discussing it with a couple of people I know about metal detecting being around for almost 60 years. Just being out detecting and getting around with people finding out what I do has lead me on to a few detectorists who have hunted my area. Nothing set in stone about them detecting these properties since I have not spoken to the new found detectorists. One of the detectorist is an older guy who used to detect almost every day all day. He would brag to my great uncle on his finds. I actually remember him holding his hand out showing his finds for the day when a sidewalk demolition was taking place here. That was way back when I was a little kid though. He had two cent pieces, V Nickels, Shield Nickels, and some silver. Basically a whole hand full of treasure he had found. Considering his past enthusiasm for detecting, I would not doubt he was the very one who wiped the properties. Not saying it was him, but could have been. It could have also been a jewelry store owner around here who used to detect 10 years ago or the random guy who stopped by me and told me he used to dig up his grandmas yard detecting here or even the random guy I saw detecting a couple years ago. So, the possibility of them being detected in the past is very real. It might have been hit hard way back in the 60s-80s. It

 

[Larry (IL)]

Some young hunters might not have been born yet but many of us old timers remember the record high silver prices in 1979-80 when silver got up to $49 an ounce and metal detecting was also at a record high as well. Some detectorists considered it their job and hunted to make ends meet with hunting ethics as a very low priority and finding silver coins very high. Many of the banned towns and parks today go back to those times when it took "too long" to fill a hole when another silver coin could be dug instead. So when I hunt an old Victorian house that does not yield much, if anything, I say, darn, 33 years too late............

 

[GKMan]

I have heard the legends of yore about the silver that came out of them thar hills.... I was young in 1979-80 - about four or five, and didn't get my first detector until 1984 a Fisher 1210-X. I As a teenager I ended up working in the detector shop we had bought the Fisher from. My main task was working on assembling parts for the early Excalibur's that I am sure are still in use by some. Favorite part was pressure testing the housings... All these years later I am fortunate enough to be able to detect with the owner of the shop. Hopefully someday my 6 1/2 year old and year old will enjoy the hobby as much as I do...

But regarding these houses

I too believe that these houses have probably been picked pretty clean. I detect alot of these older farm houses that most likely had their yards flattened out by adding or removing dirt and so I would try along the edges of the property or any wooded area, perhaps those detectorists of yore missed those areas or, the ground hasn't been disturbed. My most recent detecting was a 1770's farm house. That yard is mostly fill, or has been flattened for the kids to have a place to play. Worked it over pretty well.. Lots of wheats, no silver, and alot of deep aluminum cans. Gosh I hate those... Dig ten inches down in a nice lawn cause you think you may actually have a silver or large cent and find a can grrrrrrr. However, I waded in the six inch deep stream along the property and found a bunch of early buckles about six to ten inches down... Those detectorist of yore missed those!

 

[Atlas]

Sounds like the yard may have been hunted already but are you getting any iron or trash signals? If there is iron trash present then the CTX should be able to sniff a few goodies out from among the iron. Again if there is trash there then there could be some goodies in the trash.

My brother got permission to hunt the local "Poor Farm" and we hit it hard. We decided to call it the" Penny Farm" cause that's all we could find. With the exception of an old large cent and war nickel for my bro. We dug lots of wheat cents and figured the silver dimes were there but not, and this was a virgin site.

I would try a TTF set up with an open screen and a tight disc screen for silver and the 11-13 conductive line open all the way back. Hunt with the open screen and see what kind of high conductors you can pull out. You might also break away from your gridding and check all the high percentage spots again with the TTF and sensitivity cranked if you can. I would also try smooth on the audio response, this has helped me.

HH

 

[Eric in RI]

n/t

 

[AngelicStorm]

Silver $49 an ounce..... Wow! No wonder those guys considered it their jobs. Especially if they were finding silver left and right while leaving holes in the ground. It does appear to be to late for me finding anything obvious on these properties but I will try what GKman and Atlas suggested. The idea GKman is a really good one that I didn't think of and I might be able to sneak some using that program Atlas mentioned since there is a moderate amount of iron at these sites. Thanks.