Last Month's Detecting Finds - Central Texas

[Texas Jay]

These are my metal detecting "keeper" finds from June 5th to July 3rd, 2018. I found them all using my little Garrett Ace 250. I also found a lot of scrap brass and copper items which are not shown and pounds of metal trash which I disposed of properly. The top of the old bottle is included because I found it in the same hole as a metal target I was digging and it gives me an idea of the time period of the site I was working at. I found 3 rings last month, including a small sterling (925) Avery rope ring, an aluminum junk ring, and a ring that I sure thought was white and yellow gold with a large diamond but it turned out to be neither. I also found a copper bracelet like were popular in the 1970s. Underneath the toy cars is my favorite find of the month - a brass American Legion key fob with the words "1938, El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de La Reina de Los Angeles" that has a Conestoga Wagon and some buildings on it. Next to it is an old "Jesus face" lead printing plate. I also found several bullets and old shotgun head stamps.
~Texas Jay

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Cool finds...

 

[JimmyCT]

Great assortment of finds!

 

[Tony in kc]

great finds with the garrett..

 

[Texas Jay]

Thank you, everyone. My luck wasn't running too good this evening. It was over 100 degrees when I started detecting so I was melting after the first 15 minutes but I pushed on through for a full two hours until sundown. I spent too much time digging deep "iffy" targets that in most cases, turned out to be metal trash so I only found a dime, a 1953 nickel, and a few crusty zinc pennies. I was still running on adrenaline from yesterday evening when I dug a complete, large, brass Sergeant Major of the Army hat pin and a complete brass harmonica reed (which I love finding) at the same location. That site has some very old stuff in it but it's tough going because there's so much metal trash and it seems there's usually two or three rusty nails and an old piece or two of broken glass in the hole with every good item I dig.
~Texas Jay

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Nice finds Texas Jay! It's always a highlight of a hunt to dig a James Avery piece. Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[Texas Jay]

Thank you, Blind Squirrel. It's been my goal this year to find as much gold, jewelry and/or coins, as I can. That's the reason I dig so many deep and "trashy" targets but I love finding silver or even nice junk rings too. I think that's the first Avery ring I've found in 2 or 3 years.
~Texas Jay

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Texas Jay, digging those deep, trashy signals is one of the keys to success in this hobby! The majority of my James Avery jewelry finds were made in school yard sandboxes. When I'm short on time, the sand boxes are easy hunting and often profitable. Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[Texas Jay]

I agree with that, Blind Squirrel. In fact, the James Avery ring and the other 3 pieces of jewelry I found last month came from tot lots, on the same day, during a 2-hour hunt at a small town's city park. This summer, I'm regularly detecting tot lots in all of our town's city parks and am even going to smaller neighboring towns and hunting theirs too. I've noticed there's a lot of competition in our sand and wood-chip playgrounds in Brownwood but that doesn't seem to be the case in the nearby smaller towns. I plan on making my first trip to a small town's park next Monday and seeing what I can find there in the allotted two hours. It's about a 40-minute drive but I have a very good feeling that it's going to be a successful outing.
So far, the only gold ring I've found this year has been a 1935 20k gold and sterling lady's class ring that I found back in March with the Ace 250. It was 7" deep and I found it in a very old house lot. The house was demolished in the 1970s but, surprisingly, it was apparently virgin ground as I and my hunting buddy found several silver coins and a lot of old collectible items. After we thought we had covered it thoroughly, we turned it over to another Central Texas Treasure Club member to hunt because he had asked us if we'd let him hunt it when we were finished and we had a lot more promising sites on our schedule. That guy is still making great finds on that and the two adjacent lots! He found a 1922 English penny, a Franklin half dollar, and several other great items that we'd missed because we couldn't dig all the "iffy" signals.
~Texas Jay

 

[doc holiday232]

Fake news---Only the NOX can find jewelry----so rumor has it.

Great assortment of finds---Congrats.

 

[Texas Jay]

Thanks, Doc. Ha. You'd sure think that by all the hoopla about the Nox but my detecting buddy bought an 800 earlier this year but he hasn't had much luck with jewelry with it. I'm taking my Ace 250 to a sand volleyball court this evening and give it another shot. I usually find a handful of coins there and, earlier this year, I found a sterling heart pendant and an earring on that court. I've been detecting it once a month this year and am just waiting for a gold ring to slip off of someone's fingers while playing there. It's bound to happen. I just hope I'm the first one there after it does.
~Texas Jay

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Nice ring Texas Jay! You have the right idea - to hunt vacant lots (where there was once a house) or abandoned homes. Sights like that have been very productive for me. Old "oil camps" - the modern day Texas Ghost Towns have also put a lot of silver etc. in my pouch. At the oil camps though we just have to keep our eyes and ears open for those rattle snakes! Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel