Yesterday's (6/15/12) Hunt...

[Critterhunter]

So yesterday my friend and I headed to that lot I hit a few days ago, and the same lot where I got the standing liberty quarter. This is of course the same place that this friend and another had gridded with flagship detectors.

Anyway, we both choice a patch of grass and decided to each grid our chosen areas slowly, digging all signals above iron. He had the same game plan I did, to only dig signals below a zinc penny that were not real iffy in the hopes of a gold ring or some other good find, but to also dig ANY coin signals, no matter how bad or iffy those were. Reason being that there isn't much trash in this house lot that would cause a funky bad coin signal, so any super junky coin signal, no matter if it was well below our usual "worth giving a try" standards, could potentially be a badly masked or on edge coin. While, in terms of everything from foil (just above iron) on up to just below zinc penny, we wanted to avoid any small bits of oddly shaped junk and other trash by only digging good signals that didn't bounce or sound super sick. For me, that meant any targets from foil on up to just below zinc penny that didn't bounce in ID by more than 2 or perhaps 3 digits. Really, even if they changed by 3 digits, I would dig them if the sound wasn't sick, but my usual standards for things like ring hunting or other targets below zinc, is that if they changed by 1 or 2 digits I would dig, but not if by 3 or more. But, I wanted to losen that standard up a hair at this place due to not too much trash, so 3 digits or less and it was dug, along with ANY and ALL coin signals, no matter how bad those were though.

So, I ended up with 5 wheats. My friend got 3. I also got 3 quarters, two of which were 1965. Missed silver by one year! And they were deep and old enough to have probably been dropped that year. I also got 3 or 4 copper memorials, a few zincs, and of course an apron full of pulltabs and other junk.

Ooopps....Got to get off the computer for a bit. Will continue story later...

 

[Critterhunter]

OK, so anyway. I also got several clad dimes, along with the 3 quarters, several copper memorials, a few zincs, and the 5 wheats. And, as said, my friend got 3 wheats, but no other coins other than several pennies he said. I worked the Sovereign nice and slow and gridded and that's why I think I was able to find all these coins that they had missed when they gridded with their flagship machines, just like the standing liberty quarter and the other coins (more numerous in total from those last two hunts than yesterday) that I got in total on my last prior two hunts there.

A few things that are worth mentioning. First, I had two heart stoppers yesterday. One was when I dug a great coin signal and saw the edge of something large and copper, and thought for sure it was a large cent. It's been a few years since I've dug one and they are among my favorite coins. But, it turned out to be a copper disc with two small holes in the middle. Really had me going on that one until I pulled it out of the hole.

The other heart stopper was when I dug a pull tab signal and on the side of the hole I saw what looked like the shank of a gold ring! I seem to have better luck with finding rings in yards, so I wasn't too surprised when I saw that. I called my friend over to witness me remove it from the hole. I took my digger and sliced off the side of the hole, and then picked up the clump of dirt and flipped it up so we both could get a good look at what it was. Sure enough, starting right at it, and we both thought it sure was the shank (or the bottom of a ring) sticking out of the dirt. I crumbled the dirt away and was let down big time. Turns out it was the edge rim of a beer can, where they have that thick "rim" type thing on the edge of the can at the top that is sometimes colored gold like this one was. Man, I thought it was for sure my first gold ring in a while, as I don't honestly spend as much time as I should digging lower conductors looking for gold rings, as I mainly have been old coin hunting over the last few years.

But anyway, I also wanted to relate about some of the coins I dug yesterday. Man, I've got to lower my "iffy" coin signal standards even more than they are now! Because believe me I'm trying to make it a habit to dig those iffy/junky/scratchy coin signals these days at my hunted out sites more than I normaly do, because those are pretty much the only potential old coins left at some of my sites...Simply because at some of my sites the silver only has sunk to say about 7 or MAYBE 8", and for that reason most of those silvers have already been found by any cheap machine....Well, at least the ones up to about 7", because in my soil beyond 7" it takes a Minelab to push the depths further due to the mild to heavy minerals at some of my sites. The only sites I continue to look for deep(er) coin signals at now are ones where I know the soil allows for deeper coins, well beyond the rich of most machines but the Sovereign.

So, back to the point about needing to lower my iffy/junky coin signal standards even more, because some of these coins I dug (like say probably 3 of the wheats, one of the clad quarters, and a few other coins) were SO BAD and iffy, and scratchy, and such, that I normaly would have never taken a chance on them. And that's comparing things to my even low standards already, where I'll even dig a semi-good coin signal even if it nulls all the rest of the way around it. But, some of the ways bad coin signals act, such as being ghostly (usually that's a sign of a false iron hit), or so scratchy and warbly that you just know it's a rusty bottlecap, are the exact and even worse ways that some of these coins hit like yesterday! Makes me scratch my head and say that, as low as my standards are for digging junky coin signals, there are still other even worse ways they act and such that I normaly pass on because I think I know what they are. Nope, not no more!

About the only ones I *might* still pass on here and there are the ghostly ones that act a certain way that most of us know are probably going to be iron. Even a few of those yesterday turned out to be coins, so I might just have start digging any and all signals that even remotely say "coin", at least until I learn so much more by experience that I can bet money which ones are really iron or other junk. But, from what I experienced yesterday, I can assure you that at least some of those "fake" coin signals you are sure are iron or maybe junk really ARE coins. After all, at least at some sites the worst of the worst in terms of bad coin signals are the only ones that are left, so we might as well start digging those at those dead sites, by lowering our standards even more on the scale in terms of how good that bad signal has to be, because what I saw yesterday tells me there are even more coins out there waiting for us then we'd think, that simply can only slightly muster a 180 signal in just the right spot, or even can only give a hint of a high coin tone and nothing else. Dig, learn, and then you'll (and I) be better equiped and educated on just what ones we can pretty reasonably be OK to pass up, because as low as my standards were in certain respects, I know they need to be much lower.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Critter,I'm adapting to dig lower than normal or more iffy targets and have been rewarded with interesting finds.My last hunt yesterday I pulled up a ear ring stud with a short gold chain attached.Finding clad in your search area also means older coins can still be found.You and your hunting partner have a good system to find missed targets. Thanks for sharing.HH Ron