56 VDI On Indian Head Cent

[miserman]

Yesterday I hunted an 1871 country church and found only one coin. The site has obviously been hunted hard. The one coin that I dug was a very green 1891 Indian Head Cent. The Indian Head was about 5" and gave a 55-56 VDI reading in all directions. The signal was not overly loud, but it had enough volume that you wouldn't miss it. A lot of the Indians that I dig give bouncy mid 50 to mid 60 VDI's. By this I mean the VDI will NOT stay on a single reading, but will bounce around and average somewhere between a high 50's or low 60's VDI. This Indian stayed at 55-56 and never even tried to read higher. Out of the ground the F75 reads it a solid 56 VDI. The 4 Tones feature on the F75 would help to identify these type of targets. When I found this Indian I was using All Metal while trying to sort out the multiple targets. I feel fortunate that I found it.......Thanks for looking

 

[jim tn]

Yeah, that's a little lower VDI then I H's typically come in for me. For some reason, I've had a couple come in that low when woods hunting, though. Funny, my first Indian this year was a 1891, too. HH jim tn

 

[still looking 52]

Nice find Miserman, anytime you find a coin dated in the 1800s it's a great day detecting.

 

[Jeff Harris]

It may be due to the ph of your soil. One of my hunting buddies told me that he and another buddy had been digging up old coins under Salt Cedar trees that were at a lower vdi than they should have been. Salt Cedars (common here in the Salt River Valley) like more alkaline soil. They figure it was due to saltier soil.

 

[jim tn]

The more one learns about this hobby and detectors in general, the more one realizes it is a never ending learning thing.

Obviously, one simply can't dig it all on many hunting spots. Even "beep & dig" diggers don't dig it all. We all say its tone first an foremast, before target i d. Well I am hear to tell you, there are some pretty good targets still out there that don't sound very good......and don't read very well, either. I dug 2 wheat cents yesterday that were actually mixed tones and flicking back and forth in the upper 60's to low 70's readings. Each, only 3-4" deep. Oh, and then there was a Barber dime that was real scratchy sounding, but still a raspy high tone. This particular site is pretty nasty with a lot of decaying iron and typical modern trash, but there was a time when I never would have dug those three signals. One is never to old to learn, I guess.

You all stay safe. HH jim tn

 

[still looking 52]

The first hour I'm detecting I'll dig a lot of iffy numbers and as each hour passes and my back starts hurting more I'll dig only the better numbers.

 

[miserman]

I'm with you on the hurting back. I will usually not dig the iffy numbers if they are loud and "seem" shallow. The mid 50's to mid 60's low volume signals are what I like to dig when hunting sites that are considered "hunted out". Sounds like jim tn is having some success in digging the iffy shallow targets.

 

[jim tn]

Kind of funny about shallow target recoveries. In the winter I do a good bit of woods hunting and over the years have recovered wheat and I H cents and V and Buffalo nickels right on top of the ground. Kick the leaves away and have occasionally kicked the coin, too. Another area that coins tend to end up shallow at times is when tree roots sloop downward like when the tree is on a slight rise. Probably get washed shallow I suspect. Anyway, pretty interesting hobby all around. Stay safe! HH jim tn