newbie and an 1881 home

[FlyingDirt]

I've been given permission to hunt an old home here in the middle of my town. The home was built in 1881...I went the other day and not having much time, I kinda just hit the high spots...Found an old printing plate and a few modern coins. I was wondering what would be the best setting to find old coins in a place like this? Surely, this place should give up SOMETHING...I am dying to find my first "Old" coin...any suggestions on how to do it? I have also secured permission to hunt the vacant lot next to it...I have an old town map from 1885 and it shows a house here as well as the outhouse locations. Shouldn't these be target-rich environments?

 

[alton]

Hi flyingdirt

I currently don't own a detector of this forum's namesake, but I'm looking to buy a C$. So I can't help you with your settings yet. It would help if you said which detector you are using and I'm sure some of the guys on here could point you in the right direction on that.

Yes, you should be in a target rich envirionment. However, more than likely this house has been detected before and some of the easier targets have been thinned out. Also, the older coins are going to be deeper and the sound that you hear will be faint and not so clear as the loud clear sounds that you hear from a shallow target. Good targets should still exist there, but perhaps not as abundantly as you are dreaming of.

My advice would be to grid you off a 10X10 spot near the front walkway and dig every target you hear. Especially those 6" deep or more. Detect it N-S, the E-W, and then diagonally from both directions.

Even this might not turn up a really old coin, but it will give you an idea of what is there and how old. After that you may know what to listen for and find more than you first thought.

Be sure to cover all the ground. I used to go behind my buddy and find things and he would say, "I was just there and I didn't heare anything". He didn't slow down and overlap his swing and then I would go to that deep target that he had missed. So slow down and make sure you have your coil over every possibility. There are things that are still there, you just have to work to find them.

Good luck!

 

[Mark in NC]

Hi FlyingDirt... I agree with alton. Take the slow, methodical approach. Chances are you aren't the first person to detect the spot. All the "easy" stuff may have already been scarfed up. Is there more there? I'd be willing to bet "YES". The fact you found the printing plate is a good sign. Depending on the sink rate, and if there's ever been any fill dirt, the goodies may be either real deep, or masked by other things. Try looking in the yard in the spots that don't look very obvious (ie: hard to get to) (under bushes, close to foundations, around stumps or depressions.) Just keep at it, and don't get frustrated. That old coin will happen when you least expect it! What a great hobby we have!

HH'n

Mark in NC

 

[FlyingDirt]

thanks for the help! I am using an ID Edge. Hopefully, I can have some pictures posted one of these days!!!

 

[Bill Ladd]

Unless the property had fill dirt added to the entire yard, there has to be older coins lurking. Just may take some digging effort to find them. Homes used for that long, obviously means you'll have to deal with over 100 years of activity. This means lots of trash. But, someone told me once if you dig 30 holes, your chances of a keeper in there are very high. You may have to dig up a bunch of clad pennies for example before being surprised with an Indian head when you least expect it.....So just keep diggin'. Also the more trash you pull out you increase your chances at goodies as well. (Maybe you read about my last adventure "The Chimney", where we pulled out like 100 bullet shells before we got to the silver coins?)
If you don't run the "OC" mode, you can run the Edge like many of us usually do....set the disc @ 00 (to cut out iron), and sensitivity say 6 or 7 and dig all your positive repeatable targets....
Good luck,
Bill

 

[FlyingDirt]

Thanks for the help, Bill! Going to try it out tomorrow and see what I can find! Hopefully, I'll have something to post by Monday!!!

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Sites like that have generally have a ton of iron in the ground. The best way I have found to hunt them is in cP mode with nothing notched out and the iron disc set around 19-21. You will hear lots of signals but after a while you get used to it. Let the amount of iron you hear determine the sensitivity setting. When hunting close to the buildings chances are there will be lots of nails from re-roofing ect. With the iron disc set where I mentioned it will often be almost solid iron tones within a few feet of the house. Turning the sensitivity down to the 5-6 range and hunting slow will let you pick out a few coins others would miss in those conditions. Copper pennies and dimes often read in the teens in heavy iron nails.

Tom

 

[Bavaria Mike]

No help from me with the Coinstrike other than it is a real good machine. I would dig those outhouses though, most produce a few nice relics and a few have produced a nice cache that I have read about. HH, Mike

 

[morelic1955]

I've hunted in the same "old" house that a friend of mine has. I go there to test new machines and it has been hunted to death. Just recently I pulled a 1892-0 Morgan out of the middle of the front yard. I probably walked over it at least 2 times before I found it,at 8 inches.