NEW SAFARI USER

[K7JSM]

So... I just purchased a new Safari and so far I love this detector. But I am really curious about
something. I have a very historical site not even three blocks from where I live. It was an old
fur trading outpost with multiple structures talked about. There is still a replica of the old 1800's
mission building there. And the best I can tell, there were multiple thousands of people who came
through the area. Back in the day, there were not many pine trees showing in the photos of the
area. It was flat and some brush. There were military people here, Indians, fur traders, miners,
and Catholic Missionaries.

After two weeks of hard core detecting, I have uncovered some junk, with the following cool stuff;
4 musket balls
three Catholic Medals from the 1800's
a few buttons

BUT, I HAVEN'T FOUND A COIN YET!!!

The area is now a deep dark forest with about 2-3" if loam on the ground in areas from the falling
leaves etc. I dug the musket-balls down to 8-11" each and heard them loud and clear. The Catholic
Medals were heard loud and clear at a target id of 32.

I'm running my Safari in cross saved metal/relic to All metal mode. I have only discriminated -10
through -3. Still no coins.

Anyone have experience enough in forests to help me understand why I'm not getting any clad or
older coins?

Thanks Much for your replies.

 

[thompy]

cannot help you out, sounds like a great spot, hoping to hit similar areas here this summer, what part of the country you at. i would imagine others have hit the area, so the finds may come slow, any silver or copper Indian pieces, keep us informed on your safari experience

 

[woodchiphustler]

You will dig coins. You just have to pass the loop over them.

 

[K7JSM]

Thanks fellows for the insight. I like the post of "Just pass the loop over them. That might be exactly the problem." Well said.

 

[backslyder]

Just a thought, but with that great a history of that place, I would think either it's been "picked over" before, or you may need to get a little "scientific" about it and try and think where the people might have hung out or possibly lost their coins, like near a tree, where someone might have sat or something to. Marc

 

[K7JSM]

Thanks for the input Marc. I have tried to do that. There are some dirty places which
show cans and trash which were probably the dumps for the locals. But the digging has
been like going to the dump. I believe your right though... If I'm finding buttons and coin
type targets, I don't believe I'm missing coins because I'm missing coins. I probably
just haven't gone over any. I did find a wheat penny this week. That was a good start.

My guess is like yours, this area has been picked over by other detectorists over the
years and now I'm cleaning up what was left. Have a good winter, be safe.

 

[backslyder]

Yea, I think, your doing all the right things, it may just be "picked over" or maybe for some crazy reason, people just didn't loset money there. You know, I've been thinking this money thing over lately, and when you really think about it, how in the world would your average person, even back then, lose money unless, and hear's my thoughts on it: They had a hole in their pocket. They laid down and somehow it fell out of their pants pockets, or they played on a swing tree, or something, where it might cause them to lose it out of their pockets, or they were gambeling somewhere. I know there may be other scenereos, but that's what I seem to come up with, so I'm starting to think, that we might not "ougtta" expect there to "always" be lost coins in a certain given area. That's just my take on it. Marc.

 

[thunderstorm]

hi,im a new user on here having just stumbled across the site....
similar to what you describe,i just got the safari,having gone for that over a soverign whom a friend in spain swears by.
Generaly,do you have any advice on the safari.I have used it once so far,in cold conditions.I live in a very historic roman,saxon city.
In an area were i know there are known finds in the vicinity straightaway i got constant signals in coin jewlery mode.The problem is that even allowing noise control the signals and beeps were constant.Twice showing rating 38 to 40 silver mostly 16 to 20 jewlery and alot of 3 to8 trash.To be honest i got frustrated at the constant beeping wondering if it was normal or am i reading the machine wrong.Will be going back to the site soon in better weather.Any advice and tips will be apreciated from other users.Should i dig or not?difficult to decide with so many signals.Previously i always dug regardless but nowhere near as many signals.Sure its a good machine but hoping it is not too complicated.Advice apreciated.Thanks.

 

[K7JSM]

Well, here's the deal... Since you live in a prime area and it's one I will never be able
to dig with you, I'll trade you for half of what you find for the little advice I give you here.
Just send all the real old cool stuff pre-paid postage to my home. heh.

Ok. You purchased a really nice machine and there is no substitute for spending
time with it. You can rush in and hope for the best, but like so many things in life,
experience is what it's all about. When I first got my machine, it might have been
a lawnmower. I have detected for years with older machines and this new one
threw me for a loop at first. Don't get discouraged. The new technology will come
to you soon enough.

I have learned a lot using this forum. There are many men and woman who
are much more proficient than I am at detecting here and are a great resource
for getting you all the help you need to get going. But no matter what you hear
from all of us, your success is going to come down to doing a few things right.

First of all, your new machine has got some really nice features built in but it
lacks in lots of settings which makes a person wonder if the machine is a good
one. It is.

You need to learn the four functions of the Safari to really get to know your new
friend.

Sound: This machine has the ability to either give you an audible sound for
ferrous metals or conductive metals. And what I mean by that is simply this;
If you want the tone to go higher with iron and rusty things, you can set the machine to do that.
If you want the tone to go higher with things that are conductive like coins, you
can set it to do that too.

Secondly, you can use the target id system to null out those types of metals
you don't want to hear audibly. This gives you a wide range of choices in how
you detect.

By the way, the coil which comes with the Safari is a D type coil. The reason
I'm telling you about this is because the pattern below the coil is different than a
round type coil. With the D type, the signal is sent down under the center arm
part of the coil. And the signal goes straight down the same from one end to the
other. With a round coil, the signal is sent down from the circle and the signal
strength diminishes in depth towards the outside. Hence, the depth of the round
coils is lacking over the new D type. And pinpointing is a little different
because of this design. Make sure you read your owners manual about pinpointing.
The manual does a good job of explaining it.

So... if you want to learn how to use your detector, go use your detector and
start digging. I made up a cheat sheet and taped it to the handle showing the
ranges of target ids I am looking for. That helped in the beginning. I don't use
it anymore as I dig almost everything now. I am in the process of training my
brain to discriminate the sounds now. And this just takes practice.

The other thing to learn about your detector is this. The safari offers a feature
that the book doesn't explain at all. And that is cross saving. This gives you
the ability to set the audio for either Ferrous or Conductive. If you need help
with this, reply to this post and I will explain it to you.

Very simply, the best advice I can give you is GO DETECT AND DIG. The less
amount of discrimination you use, the better chance you have at finding stuff
others walked over. And the easiest way to learn how stuff sounds it so find it,
note the target id and memorize it against the sound before you dig. After a
while you will start guessing what the target probably is before it comes out of
the hole. But don't be discouraged, even the seasoned people here still are
surprised by what the target id shows and what they end up digging.

My experience is you can get so good at anything that you get sloppy and miss
the good stuff. The pro's dig.

Have fun with the machine. By the way, I have found I go through batteries about
every third time out. I'm going to order the rechargeable pack i the spring.

Take care.

 

[Elton]

It's very possible coins were few and far between that were lost.Most likely tokens were were used, or script coins from a known store etc. etc.
But there may be a few coins. Just not reading what you think of as modern coins would read.

 

[kickback]

The fur trading post here in Montana gave up some trade tokens ,buttons and lead musket balls.I don't think there was much if any money exchanged there.Bill

 

[K7JSM]

That is good information. Thanks. I really feel if there were coins, I would have tripped
across at least one. I guess if I can find medallions and buttons, coins would be as easy,
if not easier.

How's the snow in Montana this winter?

 

[bckliter]

This is a Fort is it legal to metal detect most are federal and not legal to detect just wondering ?

 

[K7JSM]

No, the Fort which was in our area is no longer accessible.