CZconnoisseur
Active member
Took 10 days off beginning last week for some well-earned vacation - we made a trip back to the Memphis area to visit with friends and family. The weather was calling for rain on Monday and Thursday, but it ended up being nearly perfect for the entire week! We left on Saturday and didn't get home to Colorado until last yesterday - wasn't interested in driving through in one trip!
There's a corner lot in an older section of Memphis that I hunted in 2014 but obtained permission from the wrong person. As luck would have it, I drove by the house on Monday morning and spotted the owner mowing the grass. I about took the turn on two wheels before passing the turnoff! I told him my story, and offered to help him move some of the larger furniture to the curb as he was getting it ready to rent. That was the key - he let me have full access at this point! I was so excited that I pulled out the detector and hunted for about an hour before I had to run an errand. Pulled two Indians and a V nickel, as well as two Wheats from where the walkway used to be....this is the link to the hunt wrap-up in 2014:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?83,2105606,2105606#msg-2105606
I remembered what I'd found previously, and this time the grass was freshly mowed
Started in a 4kHz program not too different from the usual park settings. The Indians IDed in the 60s and were 5-6" deep. The V nickel was in the same area at the same depth. All three older coins were IDed more accurately than last hunt at the same location, v4 is definitely improved on that front!
The next day Dad and I returned to the same spot - the potential of this place I wasn't yet aware of...
We spent maybe 2 hours in the open grass, and he and I both found a newer Wheat along with a few trinkets and the usual trash. We moved on a couple of blocks to another corner lot that was being renovated, and I turned on the charm to get permission from the owner who just happened to be there! It started out a little slow, but eventually got over a silver earring that rang up in the low 50s - this house had much more trash but we diligently dug most targets - the owner was grateful for us removing the trash as well. At one point I got over a 82-83 indication, but it sounded a little trashy in the audio. From about 7" down out pops a gorgeous 1917 D Standing Liberty quarter! I was in shock for a couple of minutes - but kept wondering what else may be out there.
We got permission to hunt the house next to the corner lot, but sadly the only thing dug in this yard was a handful of clad - this yard may have been heavily sodded and the older coins may have been just out of reach.
On Wedensday I visited a hunting partner of mine and we visited the corner lot again - this time we concentrated on a different area of the front yard. He and I both had an Indian apiece in the first hour, then it slacked off for a while. We hunted altogether for about 3 hours, and near the end of the hunt I decided to try my luck at the steep incline that ran the length of the property down to the road. Pulled a 1925 Merc along with a Buffalo nickel from 4-5" and this got me excited. Slowly worked down the entire length of the incline, and one signal I remember was bouncing from 76-83 and sounded unmistakeably like silver. Pulled a sharp 1901 Barber dime from 5" and then went on to get another Indian and several older Wheats working the incline.
Thursday night I returned to the productive corner lot and had it in my head to work that incline into oblivion - starting at the far end. First signal was a zinc cent, but not a foot away I got a high-toned hit that would be the first of two 1909 Plain Wheats dug on the same hunt. About twenty feet away I got another soft high toned hit - this one returned a VDI of 65-66 - and would be a nice 1899 Indian from 8" deep. The soil was so silty and soft that you could dug with the ends of your fingers and FEEL the coin come out. Two inches away the pinpointer was sounding off, and a sharp 1901 Indian cent would emerge. I miss that soil's consistency when there's been enough rain recently - Colorado soil is jagged, rocky, and unpredictable comparatively.
Kept plugging away at the incline, and kept pulling old coins, mainly Wheat cents from the 1940s-1950s. The frequent old coins keep spirits high - and then I'd find my second coin spill of the night. It indicated a solid 64 - which is almost perfect for an Indian cent in 4kHz. Got down to 6" and saw a silver rim, and out would come a 1941 Merc! The pinpointer was still going nuts at the bottom, and looked to see a red nickel dated 1942, regular strike. By this point I was 2/3 finished with the incline, but many more coins would get dug. A little while later a dateless Buffalo nickel would come from 8" and maybe 3" from that there was a 1928 Wheat cent - another memorable dig was two stacked Wheats at 6" deep - these were out of the 1940s I believe. Finally got through with the incline, and had a bulging pocket of coins, trash, and relics - and it was 2:00am!
I wanted to get together with several others for hunting but simply ran out of time this go-around. As a family we've discussed making a Memphis trip every year, and now that I have more PTO this is looking like a good long-term possibility. It seems that v4.0 works a little better in milder soil vs 3.2 - there's no question it's a step or two up in more mineralized ground with the 11" coil!
There's a corner lot in an older section of Memphis that I hunted in 2014 but obtained permission from the wrong person. As luck would have it, I drove by the house on Monday morning and spotted the owner mowing the grass. I about took the turn on two wheels before passing the turnoff! I told him my story, and offered to help him move some of the larger furniture to the curb as he was getting it ready to rent. That was the key - he let me have full access at this point! I was so excited that I pulled out the detector and hunted for about an hour before I had to run an errand. Pulled two Indians and a V nickel, as well as two Wheats from where the walkway used to be....this is the link to the hunt wrap-up in 2014:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?83,2105606,2105606#msg-2105606
I remembered what I'd found previously, and this time the grass was freshly mowed
Started in a 4kHz program not too different from the usual park settings. The Indians IDed in the 60s and were 5-6" deep. The V nickel was in the same area at the same depth. All three older coins were IDed more accurately than last hunt at the same location, v4 is definitely improved on that front! The next day Dad and I returned to the same spot - the potential of this place I wasn't yet aware of...
We spent maybe 2 hours in the open grass, and he and I both found a newer Wheat along with a few trinkets and the usual trash. We moved on a couple of blocks to another corner lot that was being renovated, and I turned on the charm to get permission from the owner who just happened to be there! It started out a little slow, but eventually got over a silver earring that rang up in the low 50s - this house had much more trash but we diligently dug most targets - the owner was grateful for us removing the trash as well. At one point I got over a 82-83 indication, but it sounded a little trashy in the audio. From about 7" down out pops a gorgeous 1917 D Standing Liberty quarter! I was in shock for a couple of minutes - but kept wondering what else may be out there.
We got permission to hunt the house next to the corner lot, but sadly the only thing dug in this yard was a handful of clad - this yard may have been heavily sodded and the older coins may have been just out of reach.
On Wedensday I visited a hunting partner of mine and we visited the corner lot again - this time we concentrated on a different area of the front yard. He and I both had an Indian apiece in the first hour, then it slacked off for a while. We hunted altogether for about 3 hours, and near the end of the hunt I decided to try my luck at the steep incline that ran the length of the property down to the road. Pulled a 1925 Merc along with a Buffalo nickel from 4-5" and this got me excited. Slowly worked down the entire length of the incline, and one signal I remember was bouncing from 76-83 and sounded unmistakeably like silver. Pulled a sharp 1901 Barber dime from 5" and then went on to get another Indian and several older Wheats working the incline.
Thursday night I returned to the productive corner lot and had it in my head to work that incline into oblivion - starting at the far end. First signal was a zinc cent, but not a foot away I got a high-toned hit that would be the first of two 1909 Plain Wheats dug on the same hunt. About twenty feet away I got another soft high toned hit - this one returned a VDI of 65-66 - and would be a nice 1899 Indian from 8" deep. The soil was so silty and soft that you could dug with the ends of your fingers and FEEL the coin come out. Two inches away the pinpointer was sounding off, and a sharp 1901 Indian cent would emerge. I miss that soil's consistency when there's been enough rain recently - Colorado soil is jagged, rocky, and unpredictable comparatively.
Kept plugging away at the incline, and kept pulling old coins, mainly Wheat cents from the 1940s-1950s. The frequent old coins keep spirits high - and then I'd find my second coin spill of the night. It indicated a solid 64 - which is almost perfect for an Indian cent in 4kHz. Got down to 6" and saw a silver rim, and out would come a 1941 Merc! The pinpointer was still going nuts at the bottom, and looked to see a red nickel dated 1942, regular strike. By this point I was 2/3 finished with the incline, but many more coins would get dug. A little while later a dateless Buffalo nickel would come from 8" and maybe 3" from that there was a 1928 Wheat cent - another memorable dig was two stacked Wheats at 6" deep - these were out of the 1940s I believe. Finally got through with the incline, and had a bulging pocket of coins, trash, and relics - and it was 2:00am!
I wanted to get together with several others for hunting but simply ran out of time this go-around. As a family we've discussed making a Memphis trip every year, and now that I have more PTO this is looking like a good long-term possibility. It seems that v4.0 works a little better in milder soil vs 3.2 - there's no question it's a step or two up in more mineralized ground with the 11" coil!
