Home Metal Detecting

MD help needed

I am in upstate NY near the vermont state line. I have gone out a couple of times, but have come up pretty much empty. Need a buddy to show me the ropes of MD and give some advice. I just recently blew off the dust and waved it around at my business, just a couple of nickels in the 2000's.

I am a discouraged. Hey I may get it out tomorrow, but would really like some guidance.

Comments

  • research ,research, research,....the blind squirel theory works once and a while but doing research and having a plan for your hunt is the key....nothing is more rewarding than doin the research, planning your attack, and finding something good....you're in some old dirt up there which means a good find is just around the corner if you're persistant enough....good luck.
    "see ya at the beach"
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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It does take persistence, and no matter how good you are, you'll have dry spells and discouraging times. As has been said before, if it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

    Maybe you just need to go until you get that one find that hooks you in. When I was in that early stage and unsure of whether or not I could find old coins and silver like other people, I really got discouraged at first. In fact, on one August afternoon in 1993, I was on my way to the car on what would have probably been my last outing ever, when I got a signal that produced a nice little 1899 Barber dime, which was not only silver but my first coin from the 1800s. That was all it took to "break the jinx", and within an hour or so I had an 1875 Indian cent and a 1941-D silver quarter. The rest is history.

    Of course, in order to find that Barber dime and Indian cent and silver quarter, I had to be in a place where I knew for a fact that people had once been, in the 1800s, where they would likely have lost old coins. Spanish pieces of eight or doubloons don't often turn up on modern baseball diamonds, or Seated Liberty quarters in the yards of new housing developments. Anything's possible, though- and pleasant surprises do happen if you stick with it long enough. Find out where things used to be, where money was spent or carried long ago. Ask yourself what you most want to find, and then ask yourself where it might be. Learning your detector well is half the battle. The other half is taking it to sites where it will produce those finds you want, and doing so consistently and persistently, since you won't be successful every time, no matter how good your skills or your sites are.

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    Get out there and put the coil to the soil! We wanna see your results, even if they aren't spectacular. It's easy too, to get discouraged when looking at amazing finds other people have made. Don't fall into that trap- the only one you're competing against in the long run is yourself- trying to top your personal best. Go for the first Wheat cent, then the first silver, the first 1800s coin, whatever. Each little milestone you can mark your progress with is a proud one, even if the finds are modest by other standards.

    For example, I could go out tomorrow and dig a crusty, common 1937-D Buffalo nickel, or say perhaps a well-worn 1938 quarter, and I'd be thrilled to death, even if the coins weren't that terrific in themselves. Why? Simple- because it would be a new landmark for me- a breakthrough. As of this typing, in all my years of detecting, I still don't have a mintmarked Buffalo nickel or a Washington from the 1930s. I still don't have a two cent piece, a three cent piece, or a half dollar older than 1894. You get the idea. Go out and make some of your own milestones. It's what treasure hunting is really about- the thrill of the hunt. The value of the finds (if any) is purely secondary: just icing on the cake.

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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    PS- upstate NY?

    Dude, you're in cellarhole heaven! Relic hunters up in your neck of the woods find all kinds of cool stuff from the colonial period!

    Start out a little closer to home, with the sidewalks and parks, maybe, to learn your machine. But if you know any local contacts who go relic hunting, go with 'em! Boy, there's nothing like diggin' a King George copper from the 1700s, or a Rev War era button...

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  • kevinstangkevinstang Posts: 1,517 ✭✭✭
    I am in upstate NY as well- Seaway valley. I can tell you the best spots to look for old finds are lands were the soil is rocky or firm. I think with all the frost, stuff sinks fast up here. My best finds are either at water sites (beaches/fishing holes - sand or gravel) or sites were the soil has recently been turned over (construction/demolition). I'm just starting to get back into myself and am trying to find spots as well. Local parks are ok- but I have had to dig 6 to 8 inches to pull up a 1980's quarter- forget about finding a silver. Spots along shorelines have been good for me-erosion at river banks. Read a story I think in local newspaper ( I think - or maybe online) of the finding of an old traders post from British era in your neck of the woods recently, it seems - as they said- locals had been treasure hunting the site for many years- finding bits and pieces here and there, but the real finds came when the topsoil was removed - about two feet of it, coins, pipes etc. . Similar to where I am from, there is a French/British fort site nearby, but the last test trenches dug showed everything from period was 3 to 4 feet down.
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