MXT finds gold...

[Phil]

A co-worker lost his wedding band at a local ballfield last saturday and after hunting long and hard for it asked me if I would try. I made a quick trip to the ballfield with my MXT and mini-shooter coil but after an hour of checking every shallow positive signal left for home. I told Terry I would try again but I wanted to check my other gold bands and see what VDI range I should concentrate on. This morning I went back with the 6x10DD and hunted area(between the bleachers and snackbar and very trashy) discing out targets below nickel. It took a while but I found it. As you can see it is a large ring and the nickel fits inside it easily.

I gave Terry a call and drove to his home. He asked me how much I wanted for finding it and I told him all I wanted was a photo and maybe help getting permission to hunt any old homes of people he knew. He was a happy man.

 

[MDMac]

I would have at least gotten a "cold one" out of it. Congrats and another positive story for us "wacko" Metal Detectorists!

 

[Rob (IL)]

Good story. Goes to show how easy it is to miss a target. You didn't say but the ring couldn't have been deep enough for the small coil to miss. Sounds like the 6x10 just gave you better coverage. By the way were did the ring VDI? it was probably pretty high. HH Rob

 

[Phil]

The mini-shooter would have easily found it. I used the bigger coil so I could hunt faster. It really helped when I could disc out everything below nickel and just concentrate on very shallow signals with a 20-50 VDI. The ring gave a VDI about 35 I think which is right in the range of the other rings I tried at home. 14kt mans wedding bands hit 24 and up and 10kt large and wide masonic band hit 40. I just tried those because I knew the approximate size and the gold purity of the ring I was hunting. Gold rings hit over so large a VDI range that I don't normally hunt for them unless asked to. You just have to dig too much trash in most places. Now an old home sites that is a different story, those places I dig pretty much all non iron signals by the time I'm done.

 

[Rob (IL)]

At most of my sites rings are treasures I hunt for. I'm not lucky to have many old sites so my silver count is not as high as other peoples finds. I know rings cover a large range the gold ring that is my avatar was large enough to VDI at 56. HH Rob

 

[Phil]

I would never have the patience to hunt for gold rings all the time. Of course a few rings like the one you have pictured might change my mind. The bigger the piece of gold the higher it hits, this piece hits about like a zinc penny if I remember right(no I didn't dig it). Don't ask about the electrical tape it was part of a joke on a friend and his XLT.

 

[Nancy-IL]

Phil, People like you make this hobby worthwhile. You're the man!!! A big pat on the back for you and it's always great to hear stories like this. I know your finds will come to you many times over. Thank you so much for sharing it. HH to all, Nancy

 

[Phil]

my best ring find was a wedding band that I found for a farmer. I had to hunt for the ring in a semi-trailer full of shelled corn. The farmer lost his wedding band while putting a tarp over the trailer of corn. It took me a couple of days to get all the shelled corn out of my shoes.LOL This farmer and his family have several farms and so far have given me permission to hunt any of it I asked about. They just bought more land this year with an old mansion on it and this was the first coin I found hunting there. Who needs a cash reward when you can get to hunt sites with these kinds of coins.

 

[Nancy-IL]

Boy is that ever a beautiful coin Phil. I would bet that there's a few more oldies in that ground. Maybe a few dozen, if not more. Please keep us posted on any more of the finds from the old mansion yard. WOW, what a great return on a good deed. It's been close to 90 here the past few days and to be that for the next week. I don't like the heat and the heat don't like me. Maybe we'll be able to get out for a short hunt. HH to all, Nancy