Metal detecting

Hey Legion, not all of are old men! No need to wait until then! Shoot, I'm not even middle age yet.


-Xander

fast14riot said:

Hey Legion, not all of are old men! No need to wait until then! Shoot, I'm not even middle age yet.


-Xander

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Yeah yeah. I keep telling myself that as well.

Am I the first one to post a pic of some junk, er, treasure? I got off work early today for Good Friday, and decided to scratch around in my yard for a couple of hours. Here are my best guesses on today's finds, from top left: two modern nails; two older nails; either an old valve handle, or an old metal wheel off a kid's toy; some sort of iron ring. Bottom left: 1993 US penny; a hammer off a toy gun; 1985 US penny; unknown metal flap off of who-knows-what. Some real valuable stuff here, it will be hard for anyone to beat.

You're first. That does look like a wheel off a toy car? It's been raining cats and dogs here in Atlanta. I hope to get out and dig tomorrow. I'm sure I can find some old nails and maybe a Coke Zero can if only it stops raining.

I finished my yard work early today, and hit my yard for another couple of hours. More junk. My yard is so full of trash, I'd need a bulldozer to clear it out.

Top: Assorted trash - nails, pulltabs, etc.

Bottom left: 1967 US Dime; a bitchin' screaming eagle to hang from the rear view mirror of a '76 El Camino; another hammer off a toy gun; and what I think was a handle from an old garden sprayer.

The eagle is literally, the coolest.

Poured down rain all day again so no go for me.

I let my kids (ages 9 an 11) sweep a freshly tilled field. The farmer was glad we detected some of these, especially the very heavy chain which he said would have messed up his tractor. I should have put something in for perspective. It's about four feet of chain.

That's a 1970 penny and a stainless steel knife. Nothing exciting.



The best find was an antique marble.

Just dug up a bunch of old car parts in the back yard including what looks like a hubcap cover.

I see you broke your coin drought - congrats!

I've pulled all of the easy coins out of my yard. I'm sure there are more, but they are sandwiched in with tons of iron and foil. To get all of the trash out would require me to completely destroy my lawn - don't know how much more I am going to detect here at home.
In a couple of weeks I am going to hit a relative's 100 year old home, and see if I can pull another handful of coins. In the meantime I am looking for more places to go.

This thread is fascinating with these photos of dug up stuffs!

I haven't found anywhere else to go that is close by, so I hit my yard again.

Top left: a brass garden hose nozzle that would probably still work if it were cleaned up (impressive, considering the darn thing was 6 inches underneath the surface); a 1990 US quarter; a 1979 US penny; a small toy car.

Bottom left: a very heavy short bolt that I think is steel (oil plug off an old tractor? something else? doesn't have a hex head for a wrench); a piece of mystery trash; another mystery item (half of a lawn mower gas cap?).

Nice. My yard is full of "mystery trash" - some of which is brass, bronze and copper. I can't wait to see what price this scrap brings when I haul it to the recycler.

Some neat finds! One of my favorite places to detect the is the grass strip between the sidewalk and curb. It is usually city property and the homeowners can't really run you off. Though it is in your best interest to dig neatly. If you ever find any sidewalks torn up, for construction, go detect those too.

I might go spend an hour or so tomorrow morning digging around.


-Xander

Thanks for the tip. Our sidewalks were just ripped up as new water lines went in. The police chief said there's no law against me detecting there.

It depends on where you are, regarding detecting on public land. Unfortunately, I live in a state (KY) that is decidedly unfriendly to metal detecting - there is a very vague and overbroad law on the books that makes it a felony to dig on public lands any "archaeological site or object of antiquity." This has apparently been used to threaten and harass detectorists on public land, even if they are only poking around for a few coins. Detectorists tried to amend the laws a couple of years ago to allow limited detecting in state parks, and the state archaeologists flipped their lids, testifying in front of the state legislature that detectorists were nothing more than grave robbers and environmental terrorists.

With this kind of atmosphere, I wouldn't dare detect on public land around here without written permission. And if I ask, I know what the easy answer will be. So I stay off public land and look for private land where I can get permission.

Absolutely, finding out your local laws is very important. That's terrible for hobbyists.

-X

This afternoon I searched a small portion of the tilled farmland across the street and found a Roy Rogers cap gun like the one I had, a broken Nichols 250 cap gun, a silver plated fork duck taped to a stick and a black rock that rings up as metal...also a lot of heavy iron junk.

Update: there are multiple listings for this Roy Rogers cap gun on ebay and one very similar is at a Buy Now for $65.

An Traein Dubh said:

This afternoon I searched a small portion of the tilled farmland across the street and found a Roy Rogers cap gun like the one I had, a broken Nichols 250 cap gun, a silver plated fork duck taped to a stick and a black rock that rings up as metal...also a lot of heavy iron junk.

Update: there are multiple listings for this Roy Rogers cap gun on ebay and one very similar is at a Buy Now for $65.

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That black rock may be a meteorite since the metal detector picks it up

I'm thinking meteor-wrong. It has a melted side to it and Swiss cheese air holes from escaping gasses. Verdict: slag.

Would have been nice though. Meteorite sells for $$$ and I have seen two of them burn up low over this field.

Bummer!