markinswpa
Well-known member
Being sidelined with frozen ground and freezing temps for most of Feb. it finally warmed up a bit. Yesterday I headed back to the old park that gives up very little these days however, the end of Jan. (my first hunt FTY ) I was able to dig my first silver of the year and a couple of wheats. As I had mentioned before with finds being so scarce I know a skunk is coming but it wasn't happening on this hunt. As I started swinging towards what I call the target area I hit a solid 25 that gave up a clad nickel. OK the skunk can be the punk today. In the target area I was digging alot of junk, then a 80-81 gave up an older clad dime from the 60s. I was happy just to know there are still coins to found. Enter Manticore magic, right in the area I had in mind I get a scratchy high tone in the 90s and dropping in to the 50s. With sensitivity at 25 I cranked it up to 31 and get a nice 94-95 then a drop to 52-54. Depth meter maxed. I said thats an Ihp. With a crater opened, every bit of 11 inches or more down I put the carrot in the hole and nothing. ??? Then I saw it, just on the edge of the hole in the last shovel full I pulled out. Wow, for the Manticore to see it, Id it, at that depth, anyone who hunts here in W. Pa. knows how insanely deep 11 inch coins are. And I'm being conservative, it may have been a little deeper. Wished I had took a pic. And keep in mind this is with the 9 in. coil. Behind a silver coin the Ihp is my favorite find so if I hadn't dug another coin all day it would've been worth the price of admission and the given circumstances made it a very memorable find.
As Bobby Maize used to say, But wait there's more !
I picked up another clad dime after that and more junk targets, the kind you expect in an old park. Started swinging over the edge of a trail thinking maybe some coins washed over through the years. A mid 70s signal got my attention, the thing I remember most about the tone, it sounded hollow, not smooth like a coin. Almost passed on it. It wasn't deep, maybe 3-4 inches down. When I saw it I thought oh, another clad dime. Rubbed the rim, dark, but definitely silver. The back was crusted so when I rubbed the front and saw it was a seated I let out a loud HELL YEAH ! I've dug a couple first year Barber's in this park but this is my first seated and only my third ever. I said my day is getting better.
I dug a junker bracelet with another clad dime, some more junk when I noticed I was down to one bar on my battery. Between the sunlight and the glare from the environmental cover I had raised the back light all the way up when setting up to hunt and didn't lower it. Also I remembered I hadn't topped it off after playing with the settings at home. Even in AT-LC after 5 hours or so it really ran the battery down.
Well the next and last area was the path where in my last post I found a deep wheat where I thought the area was pretty much cleaned out. I wasn't worried about the battery, didn't think I would be there long and wasn't expecting to find much. After all, this area, I'm talking maybe 12 foot in diameter between the path and the apron at the edge of the path, has been pounded by me and at least 3 other Md'rs and they are just the ones I've seen hunting there.
So not sure if this qualifies for Manticore magic, as the rest of the finds were in the 4 to 7 in. range but one thing is for sure, obviously they hadn't been seen before. But, and this is for the next 5 out of 6 targets. All I got was a quick mid-tone and a flash of a number.Then nothing. The first one like that was a 25 with a flash of an 86 then a 27. Dug it, out come a Buff, then a war nickel. I checked the hole several more times with the carrot, scanned it, filled it in, rescanned it, nothing. I said I know I saw an 86. More on that later.
Not a foot away I get a 71, pop a plug and see another nickel, another war nickel to boot. Now with a 71 I know there has to be another coin in there. Hello, a silver Rosie. I started digging every repeatable after that.
Now, I started thinking again about that 86. Raised recovery to 7 and went back over the first nickel spill area. Sure enough I get a nice signal in the 80s and Miss Mercury shows herself giving me my first dime trifecta since 2016.
About that time the battery takes a dump and the Manticore shuts down. Just prior to digging the Merc I had a quick 24 at the base of a bush but had that 86 signal on my mind. Well I figured I'm done but I might as well go back and dig that 24. Don't you know, another Buff. What a day !
A pair of Buffs, a pair of war nickels. a deep Ihp. A dime trifecta with a seated, .36 cents in clad and a bracelet, and of course a fair mount of junk.
Best hunt I've had in a long time and the saying rings true, never really hunted out. Thanks for checking in. Mark
As Bobby Maize used to say, But wait there's more !
I picked up another clad dime after that and more junk targets, the kind you expect in an old park. Started swinging over the edge of a trail thinking maybe some coins washed over through the years. A mid 70s signal got my attention, the thing I remember most about the tone, it sounded hollow, not smooth like a coin. Almost passed on it. It wasn't deep, maybe 3-4 inches down. When I saw it I thought oh, another clad dime. Rubbed the rim, dark, but definitely silver. The back was crusted so when I rubbed the front and saw it was a seated I let out a loud HELL YEAH ! I've dug a couple first year Barber's in this park but this is my first seated and only my third ever. I said my day is getting better.
I dug a junker bracelet with another clad dime, some more junk when I noticed I was down to one bar on my battery. Between the sunlight and the glare from the environmental cover I had raised the back light all the way up when setting up to hunt and didn't lower it. Also I remembered I hadn't topped it off after playing with the settings at home. Even in AT-LC after 5 hours or so it really ran the battery down.
Well the next and last area was the path where in my last post I found a deep wheat where I thought the area was pretty much cleaned out. I wasn't worried about the battery, didn't think I would be there long and wasn't expecting to find much. After all, this area, I'm talking maybe 12 foot in diameter between the path and the apron at the edge of the path, has been pounded by me and at least 3 other Md'rs and they are just the ones I've seen hunting there.
So not sure if this qualifies for Manticore magic, as the rest of the finds were in the 4 to 7 in. range but one thing is for sure, obviously they hadn't been seen before. But, and this is for the next 5 out of 6 targets. All I got was a quick mid-tone and a flash of a number.Then nothing. The first one like that was a 25 with a flash of an 86 then a 27. Dug it, out come a Buff, then a war nickel. I checked the hole several more times with the carrot, scanned it, filled it in, rescanned it, nothing. I said I know I saw an 86. More on that later.
Not a foot away I get a 71, pop a plug and see another nickel, another war nickel to boot. Now with a 71 I know there has to be another coin in there. Hello, a silver Rosie. I started digging every repeatable after that.
Now, I started thinking again about that 86. Raised recovery to 7 and went back over the first nickel spill area. Sure enough I get a nice signal in the 80s and Miss Mercury shows herself giving me my first dime trifecta since 2016.
About that time the battery takes a dump and the Manticore shuts down. Just prior to digging the Merc I had a quick 24 at the base of a bush but had that 86 signal on my mind. Well I figured I'm done but I might as well go back and dig that 24. Don't you know, another Buff. What a day !
A pair of Buffs, a pair of war nickels. a deep Ihp. A dime trifecta with a seated, .36 cents in clad and a bracelet, and of course a fair mount of junk.
Best hunt I've had in a long time and the saying rings true, never really hunted out. Thanks for checking in. Mark
