Clad stabber's ?

[HaroldILL.]

I was wondering do you clad stabber's just use a rounded off screwdriver to keep the peace hunthing athletic fields? I was wondering if you do and lucky enough to come across a ring aren't you afraid you will scatch it or other Jewelry? I have been old coin hunting for 16 yrs.,But never really clad/jewelry hunted. I'm considering tryin' it as most my close by old spots are either now closed to detecting or thined out,But I have a lot of athletic soccer fields close by for a quick hunt.

 

[mudpuppy]

I use a 6" 1/4 shaft flat blade driver....after about a month, it sharpens itself up, so you dont need to do any file work, the dirt will do it for you...I only use the screwdriver, never a trowel, I do carry a folding knife to every once in a while cut a plug or slice in the sod and go after interesting deeper signals...but very seldom...jewelry and clad is in the top 5" generally on modern sportsfields, with surface to 3 being the norm,....I have deep sandy loam here, but have used the driver all over the country in various soils with great effect, for going on 5 yrs now....I dont use a handheld pinpointer either, or the PP button on my rig...

I dont kneel either, just stoop and stab...its very fast and easy and leaves no trace...perfect for active areas, you travel light with no toolbag or kneepads and nobody cares what you are doing since you look so harmless...you can keep the driver sort of folded up in your hand with the blade along your arm so nobody even sees it. I just got done doing a post on the F series forum describing it in better detail not a week ago you might want to read...titled "Speed Hunting"....your hand gets so sensitive, you can tell when you hit a coin or ring or chain, so you dont scratch anything unless you want to...you know what it is and how deep from the audio generally...
Mud

 

[MarkCZ]

Gold and silver jewelry however nice is SOLD! or held onto until the price goes up, so scratches don't matter! smash it with a hammer, it don't matter!
Now for OLD coins which are graded on condition that's a different story.

Mark

 

[HaroldILL.]

What if it has a nice diamond in it that gets damaged?

 

[mudpuppy]

You dont have to worry about scratching anything...you hand gets so good so fast by feel...good thing about clad, who cares if you do, if you are in a modern park, old key date silver is not going to be there anyway...that said, I did get my first barber dime and first merc out of a park with the screwdriver while I was hunting clad...both were deeper than the clad layer, so a guy sort of knew by the tone there was a good possibility for older silver...all you want to do is use the driver to 'touch' the object, then you back it off just a little as you wow out a hole right over top of it, then gently touch it again, and fish your finger down in there as you tip it and pull it straight out...if you get a nickel tone, and cant seem to hit the nickel easily, then thats where a guy starts thinking 'ring' and gently poking around to find it...
Mud

 

[MarkCZ]

What if it has a nice diamond in it that gets damaged?

SOLD! before I get it home. The scratch doesn't hurt the gold and well your not likely to scratch the diamond. Now, if you find one that you want to wear then a scratch is a different story, but even then a minor scratch on a gold ring can be generally buffed out.
Remember, gold hits the melting pot, the diamond gets cleaned and remounted. Now matter how the ring is you will most likely NEVER get more than melt out of the band and the diamond is what it is.
Mark

 

[JimGilmore]

I use aa awl about 5-6 " long and the chance of finding an old coin depends on whom robbed grandpa's dresser. Last old coin i found was a 1908 indian penny in very good condition in a well hunted barkchip playground.
I use a tesoro golden umax with the 15" clean sweep coil and can hit the coin on the first try most days....
I have fouund a few rings but they arent usually worried about a scratch...

 

[airscapes]

Craftsman 3/16 flat blade has worked well so far. First year I snapped it (don't makem like they used to) and just exchanged it for another.. Should pick up a second as the ground is getting very hard and dry, would not want to break it when I can 't get to the hardware store to exchange it.. I have scratched more clad digging plugs before learning to pop than I have with the screw driver.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

these guys have got this topic covered pretty well,i agree with everything mentioned...my srewdriver is the exact same modle as muds is...6 inch stanlely...i also rely totally on my detectors built in pinpoint... the only thing i might add is that once you get use doing it this way you will be amazed how sensetive your hands get to the feel of what you are poking... coins,glass,aluminum,and stones all have a different feel to them...and the other great thing is if you happen to hit what you suspect is an aluminum can just poke the screwdriver right thru it..its obviously an aluminum can so leave it right where it is and move on without wasting time digging and patching the soil... i have found a few rings this way ,some even gold and yes it will get scratched but for the time it saves its probably a target i wouldnt ever had gotten to that day... only thing is after a few hours my fingers get a little blistered and cramped..but its the best way to go for shear quanity...it dont work very good though if you have alot of stones in the area...