Metal Detecting?

I ordered some beginner gear today, gonna try my hand at metal detecting. I've always been interested in giving it a shot, and Lord knows I need the exercise. I have a Teknetics Eurotek Pro metal detector and a Vulcan pinpointer on the way from KellyCo, and a Lesche digger on the way from Amazon.

Anyone else interested in metal detecting? Any tips? I'm gonna be hunting mostly old home sites and yards, and expect to see lots of iron junk and pop cans. I'm mainly interested in coins and jewelry.

Great hobby! Found coins every time I went detecting. Enjoy it. My favorite is beach detecting.

Ray

Here's an old thread with useful info.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/374079-Metal-detecting?highlight=Metal+detecting

I got into it recently. I never find coins but I've found horse and mule shoes from the 1800's, civil war era buttons, an old pocket knife and a lot of copper, brass and bronze scrap that my wife uses for jewelry making. I have a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV.

At least I get out walking and the kids love digging for me.

I've found a good handful of clad coins so far, mostly looking in my own yard. Best find so far is a 1952 wheat penny. No silver coins yet.

I have permission to search around the remains of some old slave cabins, and plan to go this weekend. Maybe I'll find some relics too. Really enjoying this new hobby so far, just wish it was easier to get permission to hunt in some places. Unlike many of my hobbies, this one gives me a little exercise, which is a good thing.

auk1124 said:

I've found a good handful of clad coins so far, mostly looking in my own yard. Best find so far is a 1952 wheat penny. No silver coins yet.

I have permission to search around the remains of some old slave cabins, and plan to go this weekend. Maybe I'll find some relics too. Really enjoying this new hobby so far, just wish it was easier to get permission to hunt in some places. Unlike many of my hobbies, this one gives me a little exercise, which is a good thing.

Click to expand...

exciting! come back and share pics if you find anything!

I recently talked to a man who had an unusual gold coin around his neck. I asked him about it and he said he found it on the east coast of FL years ago when he was detecting. He said over the years the has found many gold coins. He said that a number of Spanish ships wrecked off the coast and these ships contained gold coins in them. He also claimed that over the years the coins washed ashore but due to their heavy weight they became buried in the sand. He said that that is how that portion of the coast got it's name. The wiki bears him out.

I got the GF one for Xmas. Still sitting in our closet.
Where we live is full of Civil War rementants, and her and her family are big into hunting for them.
WHY WON'T SHE USE THE DAMN METAL DETECTOR!

Toothpick said:

exciting! come back and share pics if you find anything!

Click to expand...

Well, no pics, didn't find much. Or rather, I found TOO much - the cabins are totally gone now (they were still standing when I was a kid), and the ground is totally saturated with crumbled bits of fence wire, old and modern nails, various iron junk. I managed to pull another wheat penny out of the ground, but this one is so cruddy and corroded I doubt I'll ever be able to read a date on it. But it is definitely 20th Century, as they started making wheat pennies in 1908.

This is a common problem in my area - old homesites, etc. are completely inundated with junk iron. To search the site of these slave cabins properly, I'd need 6 months of methodical gridding, searching, and digging. Still had fun though, which is all that matters. And got a bit of exercise. May hit the site again sometime.

Up next for me will be an old home (still standing) that is at least a hundred years old, according to the owner. Maybe this one will give me some silver coins.

Well it was fun and got to learn a litte more bout your equip. Put it to the test

They say the greatest treasures can be found where an outhouse once stood.

August West said:

They say the greatest treasures can be found where an outhouse once stood.

Click to expand...

How long ago, Tony?

mswofford said:

How long ago, Tony?

Click to expand...

There was an old eccentric metal detecting gent who opined he found his greatest treasures beneath the sites of old outhouses. Folks dropped all kinds of goodies down there.

^^^ Outhouses / privies are actually a great idea. The only problem is finding them. At the site I hunted today, I could have darn near marked the outlines of the old cabins in paint, based on the pattern of iron junk in the ground. It is kind of amazing, really, how clear the pattern of habitation is, once you start figuring out what is beneath the ground. But the site of the privies eludes me. Maybe I need to look for 150 year-old corncobs?

auk1124 said:

^^^ Outhouses / privies are actually a great idea. The only problem is finding them. At the site I hunted today, I could have darn near marked the outlines of the old cabins in paint, based on the pattern of iron junk in the ground. It is kind of amazing, really, how clear the pattern of habitation is, once you start figuring out what is beneath the ground. But the site of the privies eludes me. Maybe I need to look for 150 year-old corncobs?

Click to expand...

I had a detailed conversation with this gent many years ago and I oddly remember the details. He said he looks for them positioned downwind of a residence, roughly 100 feet from the homestead, in a location protected from winds(surrounded by trees) with topographical drainage features leading away from the homestead. The vegetation tends to be greener above them and slightly depressed. He drank half my whiskey and smoked my last cigarette.

August West said:

He drank half my whiskey and smoked my last cigarette.

Click to expand...

Well, he must have been telling the truth then. I'll heed his advice and aim for the outhouses next trip.

auk1124 said:

Well, he must have been telling the truth then. I'll heed his advice and aim for the outhouses next trip.

Click to expand...