[size=medium]In the past I have posted periodically when two of my friends, Chris Beniston and Tom Smith, have been on one of their multi-week detecting trips. This time, however, I wasn't on-line to make regular posts and only have a wrap-up of their jaunt before they head back home in the west.
For those who haven't read any of these posts, Chris, now a resident of California, and Tom, from here in Oregon, take one or two detecting trips. I thought by now they would have started to journey south along the eastern coast, but they spent most of this trip in MA and a few nearby states. In talking with Chris when he called in their results before heading to the airport, he said that they'll most likely concentrate on New York for another 2 or 3 trips over the next year, then they will start to work into another section of the country.
In my case, I have made some 4-day to 1-week detecting jaunts with some friends during the past twenty years, but these were generally to camp-out sites. Ghost towns, mining camp sites, and so on. On occasions we combined those trips with drive-throughs of older, smaller to mid-sized towns in search of renovation work and the like.
I know of folks who 'buddy-up' on some CW war sites and make a detecting trip out of it, too. But in Chris & Tom's case, they are doing basically what I used to do back in the late 60's and through the 70's and into the early 80's. That is, they travel around in search of a city park, a 'green,' a school, courthouse lawns, etc., etc., and hunt in city environments, generally in lawns, and concentrate on potentially older coins.
To do so, they have mastered their detectors and techniques, they put in the time to detect, as well as travel about in search of a likely-looking site. From time-to-time they have asked permissions to detect a private yard, and generally get the go-ahead 9-out-of-10 times. A year or two ago when Chris first ventured into the New England area in search of a few overlooked older coins in the northeast corner of the US, he just rented a car as he had done on some other trips, but decided to purchase a mini-van to accommodate their travels. Most jaunts are at least 2 weeks, and most generally they are 3 or 4.
Now, I know that many of us, most perhaps, just are not afforded the time or wherewithal to take on such a lengthy trip. But that doesn't preclude us from having a hunting buddy or two join us for some dedicated shorter detecting trips. I'm just curious how many forum posters and/or readers make an effort to work a particular 'territory' and concentrate on it in an effort to thin it out a bit? I'm not referring to ghost towns or military encampments and the like, but how many seek out older coins (primarily) by working to 'thin-out' parks and schools and other city sites.
If you'd prefer not to make it an open discussion, I'd welcome an E-mail. What I am interested in is gathering the number of 'buddies' in a group (or just you if you're solo), a general 'region' of the country that is being worked (because I think some areas get more attention than others), the make and model detector used as well as search coil preference, and the honest typical coin depths.
For my information gathering you can E-mail me at: MonteVB@comcast.net I'd appreciate it.
Thanks,
Monte
PS: For those who are wondering how Chris & Tom did, here are some general numbers. This was Chris' best trip so far as number of US silver coins is concerned. I did get a report that our friend, Roy, joined them for the last couple of days and on one day this week got an 1853 Seated Liberty 25
For those who haven't read any of these posts, Chris, now a resident of California, and Tom, from here in Oregon, take one or two detecting trips. I thought by now they would have started to journey south along the eastern coast, but they spent most of this trip in MA and a few nearby states. In talking with Chris when he called in their results before heading to the airport, he said that they'll most likely concentrate on New York for another 2 or 3 trips over the next year, then they will start to work into another section of the country.
In my case, I have made some 4-day to 1-week detecting jaunts with some friends during the past twenty years, but these were generally to camp-out sites. Ghost towns, mining camp sites, and so on. On occasions we combined those trips with drive-throughs of older, smaller to mid-sized towns in search of renovation work and the like.
I know of folks who 'buddy-up' on some CW war sites and make a detecting trip out of it, too. But in Chris & Tom's case, they are doing basically what I used to do back in the late 60's and through the 70's and into the early 80's. That is, they travel around in search of a city park, a 'green,' a school, courthouse lawns, etc., etc., and hunt in city environments, generally in lawns, and concentrate on potentially older coins.
To do so, they have mastered their detectors and techniques, they put in the time to detect, as well as travel about in search of a likely-looking site. From time-to-time they have asked permissions to detect a private yard, and generally get the go-ahead 9-out-of-10 times. A year or two ago when Chris first ventured into the New England area in search of a few overlooked older coins in the northeast corner of the US, he just rented a car as he had done on some other trips, but decided to purchase a mini-van to accommodate their travels. Most jaunts are at least 2 weeks, and most generally they are 3 or 4.
Now, I know that many of us, most perhaps, just are not afforded the time or wherewithal to take on such a lengthy trip. But that doesn't preclude us from having a hunting buddy or two join us for some dedicated shorter detecting trips. I'm just curious how many forum posters and/or readers make an effort to work a particular 'territory' and concentrate on it in an effort to thin it out a bit? I'm not referring to ghost towns or military encampments and the like, but how many seek out older coins (primarily) by working to 'thin-out' parks and schools and other city sites.
If you'd prefer not to make it an open discussion, I'd welcome an E-mail. What I am interested in is gathering the number of 'buddies' in a group (or just you if you're solo), a general 'region' of the country that is being worked (because I think some areas get more attention than others), the make and model detector used as well as search coil preference, and the honest typical coin depths.
For my information gathering you can E-mail me at: MonteVB@comcast.net I'd appreciate it.
Thanks,
Monte
PS: For those who are wondering how Chris & Tom did, here are some general numbers. This was Chris' best trip so far as number of US silver coins is concerned. I did get a report that our friend, Roy, joined them for the last couple of days and on one day this week got an 1853 Seated Liberty 25