CZconnoisseur
Active member
Last night I decided to head to one of the old parks in the area and hunt deep targets. I had assumed that since this area doesn't receive as much rain the older items wouldn't be as deep, but this turned out to be a wrong assumption!
Started off in 4 khz Reactivity 1 Silencer 0 Disc 0 and Notch 00, and of course Full Tones. Right away it was evident that there were simply too many targets for these settings to work, so I ended up changing the Notch to 00-20 and 95-99, staying in 4 khz. First target was a shallow zincoln, but the next target was a non-VDI hit that sounded pretty consistent in both directions. Digging through some fairly tough ground I finally got an indication around 7" with the propointer, and out came a crusty 1910 Wheat. Right on! Only 10 minutes into the hunt and have already broken the 100-year old coin mark!
About 6-7 targets later I got a soft high tone, and found the digging a little easier. Around 8" deep I saw a small silver coin, which was a nice 1924 Merc with some details remaining. I was onto something here - both deep coins recovered so far were just pips but they repeated in both directions.
It became apparent that this place has many of these tiny, faint targets, and you had to go low and slow to "catch one". Once the software locked onto the signal, many times it seemed to come in a little better. Couldn't get around the tiny surface foil targets as I remember digging a few deep holes only to see a small piece of foil just a little offset laying in the grass roots. Didn't want to increase the notch since this hurts sensitivity, so I just relegated myself to dig everything that sounded off in both directions.
I started getting lightheaded about 90 minutes into the hunt and remembered that lunch was 8 hours prior! I'm not quite used to the higher elevations here and it is vital to keep hydrated and fed in order to keep focus on these whisper targets. I was having fun, and had already scored silver - so even if nothing else turned up I would have called it a good day.
Got back to the area after dinner and almost immediately got another soft high toned hit, this one being a 6" deep zincoln. Oh well, it spends at the very least! Walked a few yards closer to where the Merc was recovered, and got a moderate hit, and from about 7" down out came a sharp 1919 D Wheat! Alright, back on track I remember thinking....
Hunted for another hour pulling up deep bits of iron - found about 4 roofing nails at 10" down, and kept looking for the masked coin, but at this depth iron targets will fool the software - this is just the way it is. Next target sounded GOOD, but was a long nail at 10-11", again, no masked coin. Took a few steps away and saw an uneaten bagel...inches away from this bagel I got another whisper target; dug down about 8" to pull the oldest coin of the night, an 1895 Indian cent! Woohoo! A couple steps further produced a mint-condition 1943 Merc which was co-located with an iron whatsit. This target actually gave a VDI of 89-91 in 4 khz, which is almost always a bottlecap. Not this time!
Found another 1919 D Wheat soon after that, and then right around midnight I was started to get tired, and knew I had to work the next day. I decided to dig one more coin, however long that would take....
Next signal was a little choppy and very faint, fainter than the rest of the coins so far. I switched to 12 khz Reac 1 and it came in a little stronger but about the same tone. At 5" down there was no indication from the PP, so I started looking for the bit of foil...nothing. Dug a little deeper, down to 7" or so and got a hit, then pulled a small brass bracket. Passed it in front of the coil which gave a nickel-ish indication, and almost filled the hole at that point. The PP was getting a weak signal at the bottom of the hole still, and anything below 8" is starting to get challenging to reach with the Lesche without digging a large hole, which I wasn't interested in doing no matter what the target might be. Finally got the PP to go "solid", and from about 10" down in a scoop of dirt I saw two coins stacked on top of each other.
"No way!" I remembered thinking. Passed them in front of the coil and got a solid nickel tone - it was 2 stacked V nickels dated 1899 and 1902 - you can see the protected surfaces in the photos and the 1899 nickel has full "liberty" in the headband! Those two coins have probably been together for over 100 years and at that depth it's surprising they stayed together!
I'm going back tonight and again until I sell my setup, which will be posted on Monday night. Need to sell to help with moving expenses and the hunting season is about finished here anyway. When the new coil and software come out, I will be a buyer! May not be able to dig in the frozen ground come Dec/Jan but it should be readily apparent if it's going to be an improvement over the current setup!
Started off in 4 khz Reactivity 1 Silencer 0 Disc 0 and Notch 00, and of course Full Tones. Right away it was evident that there were simply too many targets for these settings to work, so I ended up changing the Notch to 00-20 and 95-99, staying in 4 khz. First target was a shallow zincoln, but the next target was a non-VDI hit that sounded pretty consistent in both directions. Digging through some fairly tough ground I finally got an indication around 7" with the propointer, and out came a crusty 1910 Wheat. Right on! Only 10 minutes into the hunt and have already broken the 100-year old coin mark!
About 6-7 targets later I got a soft high tone, and found the digging a little easier. Around 8" deep I saw a small silver coin, which was a nice 1924 Merc with some details remaining. I was onto something here - both deep coins recovered so far were just pips but they repeated in both directions.
It became apparent that this place has many of these tiny, faint targets, and you had to go low and slow to "catch one". Once the software locked onto the signal, many times it seemed to come in a little better. Couldn't get around the tiny surface foil targets as I remember digging a few deep holes only to see a small piece of foil just a little offset laying in the grass roots. Didn't want to increase the notch since this hurts sensitivity, so I just relegated myself to dig everything that sounded off in both directions.
I started getting lightheaded about 90 minutes into the hunt and remembered that lunch was 8 hours prior! I'm not quite used to the higher elevations here and it is vital to keep hydrated and fed in order to keep focus on these whisper targets. I was having fun, and had already scored silver - so even if nothing else turned up I would have called it a good day.
Got back to the area after dinner and almost immediately got another soft high toned hit, this one being a 6" deep zincoln. Oh well, it spends at the very least! Walked a few yards closer to where the Merc was recovered, and got a moderate hit, and from about 7" down out came a sharp 1919 D Wheat! Alright, back on track I remember thinking....
Hunted for another hour pulling up deep bits of iron - found about 4 roofing nails at 10" down, and kept looking for the masked coin, but at this depth iron targets will fool the software - this is just the way it is. Next target sounded GOOD, but was a long nail at 10-11", again, no masked coin. Took a few steps away and saw an uneaten bagel...inches away from this bagel I got another whisper target; dug down about 8" to pull the oldest coin of the night, an 1895 Indian cent! Woohoo! A couple steps further produced a mint-condition 1943 Merc which was co-located with an iron whatsit. This target actually gave a VDI of 89-91 in 4 khz, which is almost always a bottlecap. Not this time!
Found another 1919 D Wheat soon after that, and then right around midnight I was started to get tired, and knew I had to work the next day. I decided to dig one more coin, however long that would take....
Next signal was a little choppy and very faint, fainter than the rest of the coins so far. I switched to 12 khz Reac 1 and it came in a little stronger but about the same tone. At 5" down there was no indication from the PP, so I started looking for the bit of foil...nothing. Dug a little deeper, down to 7" or so and got a hit, then pulled a small brass bracket. Passed it in front of the coil which gave a nickel-ish indication, and almost filled the hole at that point. The PP was getting a weak signal at the bottom of the hole still, and anything below 8" is starting to get challenging to reach with the Lesche without digging a large hole, which I wasn't interested in doing no matter what the target might be. Finally got the PP to go "solid", and from about 10" down in a scoop of dirt I saw two coins stacked on top of each other.
"No way!" I remembered thinking. Passed them in front of the coil and got a solid nickel tone - it was 2 stacked V nickels dated 1899 and 1902 - you can see the protected surfaces in the photos and the 1899 nickel has full "liberty" in the headband! Those two coins have probably been together for over 100 years and at that depth it's surprising they stayed together!
I'm going back tonight and again until I sell my setup, which will be posted on Monday night. Need to sell to help with moving expenses and the hunting season is about finished here anyway. When the new coil and software come out, I will be a buyer! May not be able to dig in the frozen ground come Dec/Jan but it should be readily apparent if it's going to be an improvement over the current setup!
