Winter Games 2010, V3 vs. Etrac: V3 gets the Gold!

[Neil in West Jersey]

Well, finally the weather broke this week and most of the snow is gone. I was originally supposed to hook up with some fellas about an hour drive from home, but some domestic issues put the kibosh on it.

I was, however to get out with my buddy Dale close to home for a few hours. He just got an Etrac and was anxious to give it a go vs. my V3.

We hit a spot that I last detected back last summer with my DFX so this was a good comparison to see how the V3 performed. Certainly no complaints on the V3!!!

My first find of the day was another toasted colonial copper, my first for 2010. Then I found some nice deep small buttons, also toasted. I know I have said it before: The V3 is very sensitive to small deep targets.

A while later I got a deep signal that seemed like iron, but occasionally bounced up into the low end of the coin range. I was thinking it would be another rusty old square nail that tend to be scattered about the site. Before I dug, I called over Dale to see what the Etrac said, and he said it was bouncing all over. "Shotgun shell", he said. I said six inches was too deep at this site for shotgun shells, so I dug a nice plug and still in the hole a bit deeper than 8 inches came the most beautiful thing a metal detecting enthusiast can imagine....Gold! The dirt just fell away from the thick solid coin-like button. At first I though it was a gold coin, but when I looked closer I saw the design. When I flipped it over I saw the inscription "Jh B", or "Hr B". It must have been mounted to a piece of jewelry at one time. The corrosion on the back is from contact with the impure metals used to mount it.

Judging from the dates of my other coins found at the site I would have to date this from the 1760's when the site was first settled to about 1840, which is the date of the most modern coin found at the site.

Any help with the ID on these types of tokens is appreciated. Someone mentioned Love Token, but I am not so sure it even fits the time period of the site.

My buddy is new to the etrac, so I am sure experience comes into play, but this round definitely went to the V3!

Happy Hunting!
Neil

 

[Rob (IL)]

Super Neil. How big and thick was the gold, dime size nickel? Where was it in the coin range. It's good to hear you did well. Rob

 

[Larry (IL)]

You did good Neil, congratulations.

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Super Neil. How big and thick was the gold, dime size nickel? Where was it in the coin range. It's good to hear you did well. Rob

It measures 19.8 mm , slightly smaller, but a bit thicker than a US nickel and weighs 3.94 Grams. This came up in the all metal channel only, with a slight chirp that gave a VDI in the high 40's-tow 50's. I will say that the analyze screen was useful, it had a nice thin, smooth hump with 22.5 being the dominant hump.

Once the token was flat on the surface the VDI was 51.

 

[Ray-Mo.]

Nice relics for sure Now I have to ask a question.Do you or your buddy not dig targets that you think are shotgun shells?Just wondering as I dig a lot of them as they are very similar signals to many types of Buttons in my soil here in southern MO,Ray.

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Nice relics for sure Now I have to ask a question.Do you or your buddy not dig targets that you think are shotgun shells?Just wondering as I dig a lot of them as they are very similar signals to many types of Buttons in my soil here in southern MO,Ray.

I agree with you. They do seem similar, but I can tell them apart 80% of the time. I do dig shotgun shells, but I must admit that I will sometimes skip the shallow ones when they are in abundance. Almost all of my colonial finds are more than 4 inches deep. Shotgun shells are usually less than 2.

I should also add that while the Etrac did give a jumpy, yet positive signal, the V3 only gave a threshold change in the all metal channel, with an occasional chirp in the positive numbers. Needless to say, at a depth of nearly 7 inches any response should always be dug whether in discriminate or all metal.

The funny thing is that when I dug the gold, my friend said "I will be back. I need to go back and dig some things that I passed up", and he walked away!

 

[butch]

Hi Neil,
Really nice find! They are known in the collector world as "Love tokens".Usually made from gold or silver coins and done by a jeweler at the time to the customers wishes.Very neat!
Butch in Newfoundland

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Hi Neil,
Really nice find! They are known in the collector world as "Love tokens".Usually made from gold or silver coins and done by a jeweler at the time to the customers wishes.Very neat!
Butch in Newfoundland

Hi Butch. Love tokens were popular from the post Civil War period to around 1890. All of my finds at this site date from the mid 1700's to about 1840. The style also indicates much earlier than the Victorian era. The cornucopia is a symbol of abundance, not of affection, so it also does not fit in with the love token theory. Lastly, most love tokens were made out of silver coins, although I have seen a few carved out of gold coins as well.

Thanks for your input!
Neil

 

[EladSwerdna]

Hello all,

I was the guy with the E-Trac. That day i didn't even think of it as a competition... but I guess I was wrong.

Yes Neil has many years of experience on his side, and truthfully that day I felt unfullfilled and dissapointed in myself, so...

I went back a few days later for about 70 minutes and got 2 buttons. Didn't finda gold one like Neil but they are still worthy of mentioning.

I just wanted to add that I think both machines are amazing and I would never bash "the competition".

HH

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

It was all in good fun!

 

[Larry (IL)]

Welcome to our forum Dale, you are right that both machines are top notch and I didn't take Neils post as a bash at all. (A little bragging? Yea) If I thought he was bashing, his post would would have been deleted, we don't tolerate brand bashing on the Findmall forums. Congratulations on the buttons.

 

[butch]

Hi Neil,
Interesting piece whatever it is. I don't see the "horn of plenty" there.A basket with fruit,but no horn.
It looks like it has lathe worked background,something that you would see from a jewelers lathe.Are you sure it's gold? Maybe a very good quality brass?

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Hi Neil,
Interesting piece whatever it is. I don't see the "horn of plenty" there.A basket with fruit,but no horn.
It looks like it has lathe worked background,something that you would see from a jewelers lathe.Are you sure it's gold? Maybe a very good quality brass?

I stand corrected. It is a bowl of fruit. As far as being gold? I think anyone with experience digging relics (especially from farm fields) knows what it is like to find gold. What you see in the picture is what I saw 7 inches down in the hole. Dirt just falls away from the gold. There is nothing else like it. I only had to rinse off the few loose grains sand to avoid any scratching. Take a look at the buttons and the copper coin found nearby for a clue on what other metals look like when they have been buried for any extended length of time.

There is no doubt about this one.

I have been knocking myself out trying to get an approximate date on this. Some people have said Victorian, but I have many reasons to believe it is much older. The style of the initials in the engraving are characteristic of a much earlier period.

The closest I could find is a brooch/watch fob dated circa 1860 with the same type of pin that must have existed:

 

[butch]

No matter what the age,or the metal,even though you are most likely correct,it's still a sweet find! Gold does usually come up as it went down,with no oxidation,corrosion and like you said,it just rinses off.I once dug up a $2 gold piece while doing a bottle dig,never even owned a metal detector back then,it was like it was dropped that very day,it was dated 1882.