Geologyhound
Well-known member
I was able to make a couple short afternoon hunts at a site where I found an Indian head penny at the end of the day right before a big snowstorm. The next time I made it out, I found 11 Indian head pennies with seven in one hole all in the same small area. I documented those trips in two previous posts. While this site is producing I’m going to keep milking it.
The next afternoon hunt produced an 1881 and an 1898 IHP along with a 1914 wheat all out of the same patch. I also found a green rock money clip (with green dye leached out around the perimeter), along with some sort of floral and sun ray pin. It is brass with a silver or nickel-silver plate. There was some sort of clear finish with possible coloration under it. But the clear finish is rotting away.
For the next afternoon hunt, I started working off a little to the side and found two more IHPs within 6 inches of each other. Those were both obvious IHP/zincoln signals, but the pinpoint function suggested they were not shallow, which of course increased the odds that they were IHPs. About a foot and a half from those two, I got a pulltab range signal (74 to 76 on my Deus 2). That’s a little outside the typical IHP range, but being so close to the other two, and with the plethora of iron targets in the area, I was digging it anyway. I was rewarded with a third IHP from this separate “patch“ along with some closely located iron which probably down-averaged the signal. The interesting thing is all prior IHP’s at this site were generally in the 1880s to 1890s. All three of these were between 1900 and 1904.
The next afternoon hunt, I picked up another good signal about 50 feet the other direction from the original patch, and found yet another IHP! A close hunt of that vicinity turned up an old wheat (I have noticed the really old wheats are green like IHP’s, but the newer wheats tend to be more brown) within a few feet. I switched from a grid to a circular pattern around that point, and I am glad I did. Perhaps 10 feet further out I hit an iffy signal. Within about a 20° arc on either side, I was getting a scratchy IHP signal interspersed with some iron tones. I was using the 11x13 coil and the Tekkna program on the D2 since this area has abundant nails. As I turned, I lost the signal and at 90° (parallel with my original line of travel) it was nothing but solid iron. At 180° around the turn, I picked the signal back up again within the same 20° arc each way. A lot of times this kind of signal seems to result in an iron bolt/nut/large nail. But with verified good targets in the area I dug it anyway. The more I dug, the better the signal got. That was my second IHP for the day! The way I had my grid oriented, I would’ve completely missed this target. But because I switched to a circle, I ended up catching it at 90° from my original pattern. Yes I plan to go back over this area 90° opposed, but I’m covering more area first before I do. Also in the same area, I ended up with some sort of gold plated brass badge (?) with a threaded back (I cannot make out all the letters on the front), a cufflink in two pieces, a couple of dog license tags, some melted brass or copper bits, abundant pieces of a cap gun, and a toy submarine with wheels in multiple parts. I am guessing it’s a World War I sub.
This made five trips in a row recovering at least one IHP from this area of this site, so of course I headed back again in the hopes I could prolong my streak. With all fairness to the streak, this time I didn’t have much time. I started warming up my detector on the way back. The front of the site tends to have more newer stuff and more interference. So a lot of times I have just headed straight back and then warmed up my detector when I got close. Well, this time I had my detector up and ready when I was still probably a good hundred or more feet from the patch. I loaded up the Techna program to be ready for the nails. I decided to take a couple swings on the way just in case there was something there and make sure it was all functioning and on a clear frequency band. I headed through an area I have probably walked over (and skimmed the detector over) 20 times or more on my way to and from the car. On my first swing I get a ghost of a high tone which stopped me in my tracks. Tekkna kept suggesting there might be something there. I switch to a neighboring deep high conductivity program and got a better signal. I switched back to Tekkna and dropped the reactivity from 3 to 2, and that firmed it up. The target ID was not really consistent, but there were also a lot of nails in this area. I was getting a signal in the low 90s up to 99 depending on the program from one direction. However if I turned 90°, the signal most definitely dropped into the mid 80s. Whether it was 80s or 90s, I figured it was worth the dig. I pinpointed it with the coil and started digging. When I got down a good 6-8 inches, the MI-6 indicated a target might be off to the side from the original pinpoint location. Several inches off to that side of the hole, out popped a 1907 barber dime!
I can’t believe how many times I have walked right over that! Suffice it to say, I never made it back to the penny patch this trip. I spent the rest of my time this day (perhaps 15 minutes) right here. I intended to spend longer, but life happens…. That was my only coin for the day, and no IHPs, but I am not complaining! More to come….
The next afternoon hunt produced an 1881 and an 1898 IHP along with a 1914 wheat all out of the same patch. I also found a green rock money clip (with green dye leached out around the perimeter), along with some sort of floral and sun ray pin. It is brass with a silver or nickel-silver plate. There was some sort of clear finish with possible coloration under it. But the clear finish is rotting away.
For the next afternoon hunt, I started working off a little to the side and found two more IHPs within 6 inches of each other. Those were both obvious IHP/zincoln signals, but the pinpoint function suggested they were not shallow, which of course increased the odds that they were IHPs. About a foot and a half from those two, I got a pulltab range signal (74 to 76 on my Deus 2). That’s a little outside the typical IHP range, but being so close to the other two, and with the plethora of iron targets in the area, I was digging it anyway. I was rewarded with a third IHP from this separate “patch“ along with some closely located iron which probably down-averaged the signal. The interesting thing is all prior IHP’s at this site were generally in the 1880s to 1890s. All three of these were between 1900 and 1904.
The next afternoon hunt, I picked up another good signal about 50 feet the other direction from the original patch, and found yet another IHP! A close hunt of that vicinity turned up an old wheat (I have noticed the really old wheats are green like IHP’s, but the newer wheats tend to be more brown) within a few feet. I switched from a grid to a circular pattern around that point, and I am glad I did. Perhaps 10 feet further out I hit an iffy signal. Within about a 20° arc on either side, I was getting a scratchy IHP signal interspersed with some iron tones. I was using the 11x13 coil and the Tekkna program on the D2 since this area has abundant nails. As I turned, I lost the signal and at 90° (parallel with my original line of travel) it was nothing but solid iron. At 180° around the turn, I picked the signal back up again within the same 20° arc each way. A lot of times this kind of signal seems to result in an iron bolt/nut/large nail. But with verified good targets in the area I dug it anyway. The more I dug, the better the signal got. That was my second IHP for the day! The way I had my grid oriented, I would’ve completely missed this target. But because I switched to a circle, I ended up catching it at 90° from my original pattern. Yes I plan to go back over this area 90° opposed, but I’m covering more area first before I do. Also in the same area, I ended up with some sort of gold plated brass badge (?) with a threaded back (I cannot make out all the letters on the front), a cufflink in two pieces, a couple of dog license tags, some melted brass or copper bits, abundant pieces of a cap gun, and a toy submarine with wheels in multiple parts. I am guessing it’s a World War I sub.
This made five trips in a row recovering at least one IHP from this area of this site, so of course I headed back again in the hopes I could prolong my streak. With all fairness to the streak, this time I didn’t have much time. I started warming up my detector on the way back. The front of the site tends to have more newer stuff and more interference. So a lot of times I have just headed straight back and then warmed up my detector when I got close. Well, this time I had my detector up and ready when I was still probably a good hundred or more feet from the patch. I loaded up the Techna program to be ready for the nails. I decided to take a couple swings on the way just in case there was something there and make sure it was all functioning and on a clear frequency band. I headed through an area I have probably walked over (and skimmed the detector over) 20 times or more on my way to and from the car. On my first swing I get a ghost of a high tone which stopped me in my tracks. Tekkna kept suggesting there might be something there. I switch to a neighboring deep high conductivity program and got a better signal. I switched back to Tekkna and dropped the reactivity from 3 to 2, and that firmed it up. The target ID was not really consistent, but there were also a lot of nails in this area. I was getting a signal in the low 90s up to 99 depending on the program from one direction. However if I turned 90°, the signal most definitely dropped into the mid 80s. Whether it was 80s or 90s, I figured it was worth the dig. I pinpointed it with the coil and started digging. When I got down a good 6-8 inches, the MI-6 indicated a target might be off to the side from the original pinpoint location. Several inches off to that side of the hole, out popped a 1907 barber dime!
I can’t believe how many times I have walked right over that! Suffice it to say, I never made it back to the penny patch this trip. I spent the rest of my time this day (perhaps 15 minutes) right here. I intended to spend longer, but life happens…. That was my only coin for the day, and no IHPs, but I am not complaining! More to come….
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