short :minelab: hunt- off the beaten path

[JimmyCT]

Tonight, I took a quick spin over to my local park for an hour and a half hunt. My original plan was to head for the sledding hill. After setting up my unit, I looked across the park road and noticed a little clearing at the edge of the woods. (approx L 20' x W 15') Hmmm -- change of plans and off the beaten path I go. After about 5 minutes I hit a loud / high pitch signal. So I am thinking recently lost penny or dime. Well it was a penny but a wheat cent. I was kind of shocked that it was only an inch or so deep. I re-scan the hole and sure enough there is still that nice high pitch sound. Dig down and out comes another wheat cent. I scan the area again and a couple inches away I hit another nice signal...this time I un-earth a nice merc dime from 1923! (dimeman continues his streak lol ) As I keep searching the immediate area I find three more wheat cents. I also found an old pocket knife and and few clad coins. It literally pays to go off the beaten path. I couldn't scan the whole area as someone parked their car up on this little lot. So I shall return...

wheat cents: 1940, 1942, 1944,1946 & 1950

Not bad for a short hunt and a park that has "nothing" left in it.( This is according to the guy that stopped me this evening - - I'll continue to let these people think what they want. - more for me ) Once again - the GT shows me this park is no wheres near cleaned out.

Setup: Iron mask on, tornado 800 coil & sensitivity set at 3pm.

Thanks for looking- HH - Jim aka dimeman

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Jim,nice hunt and point.Parks are my favorite because you can always find one area over looked.HH Ron

 

[GunnarMN]

Jim this is great , you find more silver in one hunt than i find all year, now listin to me young man, I think the reason you only find dimes may be most of the thing s for sale where 10cents or less candy barr 5 cents malt 10 cents who needed a quarter.. but wait until you find the 1916-D then you will not complane you must be closing in on a gold ring as well or 5 dallor gold coin can somone hear me , have i made myself clear ,

 

[JimmyCT]

Thanks Ron. Even though this guy that stopped me last night - I will continue to hunt this park. This guy was so "disgusted" with me (because I was, (according to him) wasting my time when I could be some place "more productive" ) he made a hand gesture (he didn't know I saw him and not the middle finger) to me with his disgust.Why would he be so disgusted? I am certainly not "wasting" his time. Although, he wasted mine by holding me up as the sun was going down lol. Sounds like to me I was in his park lol

There are so many little nooks and crannies in parks, and this park I hunt is a great example. I am certainly not pulling loads out, but it is still a productive park. Take care and happy hunting - Jim aka dimeman

Jim,nice hunt and point.Parks are my favorite because you can always find one area over looked.HH Ron

 

[JimmyCT]

Hi Gunnar,

I was talking to my uncle who grew up in the area. Back when he was a youngin' he said to swim in the city-run swimming pool, it was a dime. He also told me he could buy certain candies for a penny a piece near the pavillion in the park. So, this does explain the penny / dime situation that I encounter in this park. I am certainly not complaining about finding silver dimes, I just can't believe how many I have found in the worn out parks near my home. I'll take silver coins in any denomination A 1916-D in pristine condition would really be a nice find! lol you have certainly made yourself clear - dimeman

Jim this is great , you find more silver in one hunt than i find all year, now listin to me young man, I think the reason you only find dimes may be most of the thing s for sale where 10cents or less candy barr 5 cents malt 10 cents who needed a quarter.. but wait until you find the 1916-D then you will not complane you must be closing in on a gold ring as well or 5 dallor gold coin can somone hear me , have i made myself clear ,

 

[fwcrawford]

That is an amazing site you have there to hunt Jim.
I am amazed that you are getting silver and wheats everytime you go there.. there's bound to be a silver quarter in there somewhere waiting for your Sovereign to discover.
I sure wouldn't let anyone deter me from searching that site just because they say "you are wasting your time, it is hunted out".
You and your Sovereign are sure sniffing out those great finds..it is an amazing detector and fun to use when you can make finds like you have been doing.
As others have stated.. "the Sovereign makes old sites like new sites"!!
Keep at it and keep up the great finds!!
Felix

 

[GunnarMN]

I found the same thing digging at the commercial hotel site in Isainti MN dimes and nickles and pennys and a tokens 2 1/2 cents but i did find a 25cent token that was unusual,

 

[BeachBat]

This guy was so "disgusted" with me (because I was, (according to him) wasting my time when I could be some place "more productive" ) he made a hand gesture (he didn't know I saw him and not the middle finger) to me with his disgust.Why would he be so disgusted? I am certainly not "wasting" his time. Although, he wasted mine by holding me up as the sun was going down lol. Sounds like to me I was in his park lol

I have a similar situation...... but on the beach. He continually tells me he cleaned it out "the previous night" despite seeing me with a bulging coin bag..(the beach is 10 miles long!!)..... He gets very animated and jumpy and then out come his tall stories... This is what I do: Just to wind him up even more - if I pull any gold from hunting elsewhere I make sure to take it with me when I next hunt 'his beach' and tell him that I just found it on 'his' beach..... the pain that appears on his face is quite remarkable.

Nice finds.......... off the beaten path can certainly produce, what is off the beaten path now may have been well trodden area 90 years ago. You are now officially upgraded to "SUPER DIMEMAN"

HH

 

[Ism]

Nice finds EP. Thanks for reminding us about those disregarded areas.

 

[JimmyCT]

Hi Felix,
The best part of this 80 acre park - it is right around the corner from my home. So even if I only have an hour or two after work, it can all be spent hunting and not traveling. - and being that it has had public traffic on it since 1933, with ski hills, sledding hills, fishing / ice skating pond, playground / merry-go-rounds etc I feel there is more to be found. And a large percentage of time when I go here, I find a wheat cent or silver dime on my trip and always find clad. From what I find in this park, I will never be deterred. I know this is my own little "hidden" dynasty. HH - Jim

That is an amazing site you have there to hunt Jim.
I am amazed that you are getting silver and wheats everytime you go there.. there's bound to be a silver quarter in there somewhere waiting for your Sovereign to discover.
I sure wouldn't let anyone deter me from searching that site just because they say "you are wasting your time, it is hunted out".
You and your Sovereign are sure sniffing out those great finds..it is an amazing detector and fun to use when you can make finds like you have been doing.
As others have stated.. "the Sovereign makes old sites like new sites"!!
Keep at it and keep up the great finds!!
Felix

 

[JimmyCT]

Gunnar,

Do you have a pic of the 25 cent token?

I found the same thing digging at the commercial hotel site in Isainti MN dimes and nickles and pennys and a tokens 2 1/2 cents but i did find a 25cent token that was unusual,

 

[JimmyCT]

Hi Beachbat,

lol he covered all 10 miles of beach? That is funny what you do to crank him up lol You are definitely hitting an area of this beach that he likes very much. There is only one thing to do: hit the area even more HH - Jim

Thank you for my new dimeman status

This guy was so "disgusted" with me (because I was, (according to him) wasting my time when I could be some place "more productive" ) he made a hand gesture (he didn't know I saw him and not the middle finger) to me with his disgust.Why would he be so disgusted? I am certainly not "wasting" his time. Although, he wasted mine by holding me up as the sun was going down lol. Sounds like to me I was in his park lol

I have a similar situation...... but on the beach. He continually tells me he cleaned it out "the previous night" despite seeing me with a bulging coin bag..(the beach is 10 miles long!!)..... He gets very animated and jumpy and then out come his tall stories... This is what I do: Just to wind him up even more - if I pull any gold from hunting elsewhere I make sure to take it with me when I next hunt 'his beach' and tell him that I just found it on 'his' beach..... the pain that appears on his face is quite remarkable.

Nice finds.......... off the beaten path can certainly produce, what is off the beaten path now may have been well trodden area 90 years ago. You are now officially upgraded to "SUPER DIMEMAN"

HH

 

[JimmyCT]

A pic of the area where the coins came out of.

 

[Florida Keys Pirate]

I like finding things where you might not expect to find anything. Makes you wonder about the history behind the items. How they ended up there and what not. Nice finds .

 

[JimmyCT]

Thanks FKP,


In this particular park, it has been left for dead by others. I know it has been severely beaten over the years and I hit many of the same areas others have hit to the point of sometimes "bleeding" lol. I still believe there are goodies hidden in the park but they are going to be a little more difficult. They may still be at the original playground / swimming / ski hill area but may be just off to the side in a little strip of grass that now has small trees growing on it. (my latest pic that I posted) I now have to go with the thinking of " ok I arrived here at XYZ park where would I NOT ever think of detecting?" - then hit it. This will keep the finds coming for me in a well beaten park. I love researching history of my state / different towns and the events that took place and the who,what,when,where,why and how. HH - Jim

I like finding things where you might not expect to find anything. Makes you wonder about the history behind the items. How they ended up there and what not. Nice finds .

 

[Rick(ND)]

The more I read of your post to more I see you are learning your Sovereign well by the use of it and digging those iffy signals to see what it is, soon most of this will come natural and you will know which to dig and which not. There will always be those that you are sure is trash, but not 100% as something is different so you will dig them.
I think you will agree you learn something every time out with it and cant figure out how some of these coins have been missed by others as they are not deep and sound off good.
Myself i love those parks that are old and been told they are worked to death and i wont find anything cause the surface new targets are gone plus much of the trash as I can concentrate on the weaker deeper signal and those that are close to trash or many coins in the same hole. Once i learned the Sovereign and went to one of our oldest parks in Fargo, ND where I started detecting in 1973 and been hit so many times and everyone considered worked out as all you could find was new coins and trash. I used the Sovereign and first time got a seated dime that was over 10 inches deep which made me go back many times and most finds were IH pennies, V and buffalo nickles a few rings with one being gold and some barber dimes with a few merc, but most were late 1800 early 1900 and even did find a few wheaties. Was told it was not possible by others i seen until I showed them what the Sovereign could do and told them it not impossible when using a Sovereign and knowing it well. Did this to another old park in Fargo I was challenged to find one old coin in a area a guy worked every way possible and I had before years ago and considered worked out. I found out by accident by going super slow I just barely got a signal and many never even reached the right tone or numbers, but sure was trying to, remember 1 reading the best I could get was 135 and so weak, when dug was a merc dime at around 12 inches deep. Anyway after I seen how slow i had to go I dug over 70 old coins with only less than 10 new ones. Like I say I learned something new that day with going super slow in any area i feel may have older and deeper coins. This is not the type hunting you want to do a lot as it takes forever to get anywhere, but for those area around real old playground equipment or picnic spot as it took me over 3 hours to go around one merry go round one time, but got around 15-18 old coins with depth of 8-14 inches deep that were just tone changes.

Good luck Jim and i feel that park may surprise you with how many coins you will find and some of these Will be in odd places and some will be right out where you are sure it has been cleaned out as others thought the same way and missed it too.

Rick

 

[JimmyCT]

Thanks Rick for your kind words & wisdom. I am starting to use manual sensitivity more and I am also learning more how iron reacts compared to a coin object. Many of the wheat cents and silver dimes I found this year where relatively shallow (1 - 3 inches) and yes, it baffles me how they were missed knowing the amount of people with detectors that graced these public parks. This super slow method ( I call it xtra turtle slow lol ) you speak of is something I used at the 1893 carnival grounds. I only covered about a 12x12 area in 4 hours with the tornado 800 coil running sensitivity at 3pm. There was lots of iron junk but managed to find 3 silver (roosevelt) and 21 wheat pennies from the 1940's & 50's and a religious medal. I now realize that using a smaller coil, HAVING LOTS OF PATIENTS and really slowing sweep speed down in a trashy environment, one will pull out some good stuff. I like to cover lots of ground myself so this 4 hour hunt in this little area was a real challenge for me. However, after finding the coins that I did, I am now more apt to do it more often (in trashy environments) - knowing the payout might just be a good one. Like you mention I couldn't work this slow all the time either BUT the benefits are worth it. You found some really nice coins for a "worked out" park. Hopefully I can upgrade my super "dimeman" status to "quarterman" by finding my first silver quarter with my sovereign GT.

So this merc dime you found at 12 inches, it must of sounded like a piece of aluminum (low to mid-tone) at 135 on the meter correct? This is next on my list to learn - listening for DEEP coins / jewels and learning what you are explaining to me here. Thank you Rick as you have helped me out tremendously over these last 6 months. You should write a book on all the skills / tips / tricks / you have learned with sovereign detectors. Something to think about.... I will be your first customer. (as long as you sign the cover) Take care - Jim aka Super dimeman

The more I read of your post to more I see you are learning your Sovereign well by the use of it and digging those iffy signals to see what it is, soon most of this will come natural and you will know which to dig and which not. There will always be those that you are sure is trash, but not 100% as something is different so you will dig them.
I think you will agree you learn something every time out with it and cant figure out how some of these coins have been missed by others as they are not deep and sound off good.
Myself i love those parks that are old and been told they are worked to death and i wont find anything cause the surface new targets are gone plus much of the trash as I can concentrate on the weaker deeper signal and those that are close to trash or many coins in the same hole. Once i learned the Sovereign and went to one of our oldest parks in Fargo, ND where I started detecting in 1973 and been hit so many times and everyone considered worked out as all you could find was new coins and trash. I used the Sovereign and first time got a seated dime that was over 10 inches deep which made me go back many times and most finds were IH pennies, V and buffalo nickles a few rings with one being gold and some barber dimes with a few merc, but most were late 1800 early 1900 and even did find a few wheaties. Was told it was not possible by others i seen until I showed them what the Sovereign could do and told them it not impossible when using a Sovereign and knowing it well. Did this to another old park in Fargo I was challenged to find one old coin in a area a guy worked every way possible and I had before years ago and considered worked out. I found out by accident by going super slow I just barely got a signal and many never even reached the right tone or numbers, but sure was trying to, remember 1 reading the best I could get was 135 and so weak, when dug was a merc dime at around 12 inches deep. Anyway after I seen how slow i had to go I dug over 70 old coins with only less than 10 new ones. Like I say I learned something new that day with going super slow in any area i feel may have older and deeper coins. This is not the type hunting you want to do a lot as it takes forever to get anywhere, but for those area around real old playground equipment or picnic spot as it took me over 3 hours to go around one merry go round one time, but got around 15-18 old coins with depth of 8-14 inches deep that were just tone changes.

Good luck Jim and i feel that park may surprise you with how many coins you will find and some of these Will be in odd places and some will be right out where you are sure it has been cleaned out as others thought the same way and missed it too.

Rick