Inexperience

[NM5K]

I see some pretty old stuff in there... I never see coins
like that around here... Some of those buttons may
be valuable.. Buckle looks fairly old... I like that old toothbrush..
I've seen ones like that before from pix of privie digs...
Pretty good arrowheads and hatchet heads too.. I think you
have lots more to dig before you are going to be done.. I bet
you've just scratched the surface so far. You might keep an eye
out for any old privies. Those can be a gold mine. Almost sure
to be one or more at that old place. Often at a place that old,
they will have more than one, as they would fill one up, and
add on to it, or build another one close by.
MK

 

[Steve missouri]

Joesgirl73; You really seem to be doing well, so far, what you have found up to this point, clearly indicates that there is much more there to be found. All machines have a learning curve, some more than others. I have two machines that I have used for 7-8 years, I still learn new things about what they are telling me every year. With the size of project that you are working on,a Sun Ray in line probe will quickly pay for its self evan though they are not cheep, they will quickly check the dirt you have already dug (targets are frequently very small, and lost in the dirt you have taken from the hole) also they will locate targets in and to the sides of the hole, they add a small amt. of weight to the detector, but will quickly pay off in finds located and time saved. The other suggestions about gridding the yard, and Practice will pay out. It sounds also as if you may be hooked on Metal Detecting, all lof us that have answered you are, Detecting is very addictive HH Steve

 

[Uncle Willy]

Post away bud, we like to see it all.

Bill

 

[Maxwedge]

Wow

That's awesome. Dig everything. You're very lucky to have that place. Looks like you're a pro already.
Mark

 

[chinacash]

This is Dave in Japan, I have found a lot of old bronze coins here and just got home now with coins from about 300 years ago. Some are stuck together, Like the guys say, where you are and now that you got most of the service stuff out of the way! Dig everything! Try and make it reach as far as you can! If it is a good area, I would try and take about 2 inches off the surface.. Say a 6'x 6' area... See if you can get any deeper targets.
Take care Dave

 

[joesgirl73]

Hi Farnum,
I search whenever I can, but I really only spend an hour or so at a time, partly because its so heavy, and partly because having the house right there makes it too easy to quit when I get frustrated. Last summer when my husband and son worked at the other house, the only power was when they ran the genorater, there was a port-o-john, a cooler, and I couldn't leave till they were done. It forced me to stick with it even when I wanted to throw it across the yard.
As for my husband, he's a car guy (60's Chevys). Hes happy that I've found something I love to do while he plays with his toys. He did pick the MD up one time last summer, swung it a few times and handed it back and said "no thanks". My son loves it and understands the machine better than I do.

 

[Farnum]

Joesgirl,

As they say to each his own. I am hooked but I also have a hard time getting up the nerve to hunt some places like schools and fields because I feel that other will yell at me or worse. But to date people have all been good to me and normally just want to see what I am doing and see what I have found. Normally I have a few coins to show and some trash. If I am lucky I can find something before their eyes but more time tah not when I am watched I find nothing.

You have a great set of places to hunt and the time to hunt. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. I am happy when I even find a penny but the again I am new to this.

Be proud that you have not given up because your finds to date are amazing.

I am glad your son enjoys it. If he gets hooked then you will have a partner for life.

Good Hunting and my you find what you seek because so far you have found more than I could even dream about.

Farnum

 

[joesgirl73]

MK, Okay, I'll keep an eye out for privvies, but are there any places I should look or signs I'll recogognize when I find one? I'm afraid of the one that seems likely. The toothbrush is carved ivory I think...they had toothbrushes back then? I was thinking they just used sticks!

 

[NM5K]

Hummm. I think there is some info on that on one of
the sites that has articles. One of the guys that
writes those kinda leans to privie digging. I'd
have to reread it, but I think basically he looks
at the land for any changes in height of the soil,
discolorations of the soil, and bits of trash from
the privie that gets tossed around and mixed with
the dirt in that area. He uses long probes to probe
down to try to locate and ID the walls of the privie.
I've never seen one myself yet, but it kinda gives the
impression of digging for a small storm cellar of sorts,
except there is no door. Many times, the privies would
fill up, and they would expand them out using parts of
the original, or sometimes make a new one real close by.
In general, most will not be too far from the house.
I got on another browser and found that privie digger...
http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/tdmag.html
Start with issue #1, and look under "bottle digging"
by Tom in Ill... Lots of privie digging info.
Has multi chapters in #2, #3, etc... Yep, I have seen
pix of brushes like that before, and they were ID'ed
as toothbrushes. They looked just about like yours.
IE: long looking brush part, etc.. Pretty sure that's
what it is.. BTW, when you read the privie article,
look at all the fancy plates and dishes he dug out of
one...He glued many back together... I bet that was a
jig-saw adventure.. In one of those chapters, you will
see examples of other found toothbrushes. Lots of bottles
too..Privies can be a goldmine for old goodies.
MK

 

[joesgirl73]

Hey Farnum, Living in "America's hometown" you know the potential to find everything I've found and more, since it was all pretty shallow. Maybe its just me, but my father used to say "give that kid a roomfull of #*@! and she'll say, theres gotta be a pony in here somewhere!" I always think its around the corner.It keeps me swinging and digging. As far as people watching...we had newpaper guys, ch 56 news, and every resident in town at least twice stopping by and I would stop till they left. Then someone else would show up to tell us their history with the house. I finally realized if I was gonna wait till no one was watching, it wouldn't happen. With the headphones on loud I became oblivious to anyone around me and they ended up talking to my husband! Keep digging, its in there.

 

[au4greg]

No matter what detector... they can't magically ignore the trash and see through it for the goodies... you have to systematically clean out the area. You'll eventually start finding good targets masked by bad ones.

 

[Farnum]

Joesgirl,

I got out in the rain today for a short hunt near a dam and found a few coins. One may be a older penny because it came out of the ground green in color. I will try to see what I found later tonight.

I hope your hunting is going better for you and your hole are getting smaller with each find. Please post more photos when you can.

Farnum

 

[joesgirl73]

Hey Farnum.
I wish I could say my holes are smaller...not yet! I just posted some of what we found recently, some good, some bad, some really ugly.

Good for you, out in the rain. I tried today for 20 mins. but my machine was getting wet so I quit. I need to get the protector with the forecast showing rain and then for a change, more rain. But you know what they say...don't like New England weather, give it ten minutes. Happy digging!

Oh, and is anyone else out there DREAMING they are detecting...I swear when I wake up I heard a strong signal

 

[Farnum]

Joesgirl,

I spent about five to ten minutes wrapping up the detector before I started was it in the drizzle yesterday. Like you I wake up thinking about detecting one of these days I will get out for an one or two at one time.

Farnum