Revisiting a "hunted out site"
Zot
Posts: 825 ✭✭✭
A new day - a new detecting opportunity!
Today, the rain was not as bad as yesterday, so I thought I could pull off a land hunt and try to fish out some silver....
I'd heard good things about Minelab Explorers, so I got myself an Explorer SE last autumn. The sounds it makes take a while getting used to after having used the MXT quite extensively, so I've alternated between the two detectors for the last couple of weeks.
Today, I thought I'd give the Explorer a challenge by taking it to a site that's produced several silvers for me in the past, but which I've "pounded to death" with the MXT. I got completely skunked (zero coins) the last time I was there.
OK - here we go. Let's see what this thing can do!
I haven't figured out any good discrimination settings yet, so I just set it on a bit of iron mask and started detecting my old hotspots.
I was getting all sorts of signals. Beep....hummmmmm...boop...hummm....flute sound... boop...
I'm still a complete rookie with this machine, and had no clue what I should do about these signals....
Wait a minute..... signals?!. This site is supposed to be completely empty!
HUM! (this time from Zot, not the detector)
I re-located one signal that sounded a bit higher in pitch than the others, and pinpointed it as best I could (I'm getting reasonably accurate at pointing with this machine now, but it still takes me a lot longer than making an accurate pinpoint with the MXT)
I'm also instinctively reaching for the pinpoint trigger, which of course doesn't exist on this machine...
The signal was strong, so I figured about 5 inches should be enough. The detector insisted the target was still in the hole.
I was almost sure that I'd missed the pinpoint somehow, and tried poking around the edges of the hole with my handheld pinpointer.
Nothing.
Deeper we dig...
At around 7 inches, my pinpointer finally vibrated at the bottom of the hole, and out came an 1800's copper coin.
Now, I've dug a lot of targets beyond this depth with the MXT as well - but I was shocked that this one was so deep as the signal was very loud and clear.
Also, this was a target that wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. I'm supposed to have been over this spot several times before - and extremely slowly and carefully to boot.
I was starting to really believe that this machine kicks butt!
I continued digging targets and getting coins. Good grief! This is impossible!
It was almost comical, as I felt extremely shaky with the detector - having no idea what I was doing - but still finding coins from this "hunted out site". Many of the targets were not even deep at all, and I can't believe how I've missed them.
No silver yet, but I figured it would just be a matter of time.....
Then, a high pitch signal - not very repeatable, but good enough for me.
The coin was in the plug, and I could see that I'd broken my silver duck with this machine - a finnish silver 50 penniä.
Can you see it there?.... (I put the coil on the plug to prevent it from flipping back into the hole - some roots wanted to pull it back down...)
It's an 1872. This is a tough date too, with 200,000 pieces minted. It's the second example of this date and type I've dug.
Finnish 50 penniä 1872
It was now getting dark, but of course I couldn't stop now. On came the headlamp.
It didn't take long before I got another interesting signal (I say "interesting" rather than "good" as I really don't know yet what's good and what isn't....)
Ha! Another silver coin! Here it is, in the light of the pinpointer.
I was pretty sure this was a foreign coin, as it was very small, even smaller than a Finnish silver 25 penniä. I didn't try to figure it out, but just packed it up and continued detecting.
It indeed turned out to be a foreign coin. Here it is:
Netherlands 10 cents, 1939 (0.640 silver)
Really shiny for being a dug coin.
Almost immediately afterwards, I got another signal.
This time I got it out of the hole straight away, and had to pinpoint it on the plastic I had put the soil on.
A third silver, a Finnish one this time! This was getting ridiculous!
I had pounded all these areas to death earlier in the year.
Silver coin shining in the pinpointer's light...... It was pitch black outside at this point
Finnish 25 penniä 1913
I continued for a while longer, finding a few additional coins - including a Swedish 25 öre 1949 (0.400 silver). I don't count those as silver coin finds, but they're nice to find nevertheless.
Here's what came out from this "hunted out site"... I'm sure there's still a lot more to be had, once I learn this machine a bit better...
Time to call it a day...
Happy hunting!
-Z, Minelab-mafioso...
Minelab: GPX 5000, Excalibur II, Explorer SE. White's: MXT, PI Pro
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Comments
Great story and pics! My Minelab has made a believer out of me as well.
Though I have been toying with the idea of getting a Fisher F75 as of late.
I keep hearing it is like having a Whites DFX on steroids!
I went for a nice walk in the snow today!
It's about time we got some more Zot silver shots!
I like the night action pix, too... that one of the 1913 25-penniä coming out looks like a full moon rising.
ARRROOoooooo!
[/werewolf howl]
Very exciting! Thanks, and congratulations!
(Or should I say, COINgratulations!)
I might hit the beach tomorrow AM, more for pictures than with the anticipation of any finds. I wanted a beach shot to contrast against your icy one. Mine might turn out to be foggy.
<< <i>a Swedish 25 öre 1949 (0.400 silver). I don't count those as silver coin finds, but they're nice to find nevertheless. >>
I disagree with your stance on this. We count the US wartime nickels of 1942-45 as silver coins, and they're only .350 fine, so your Swedish 25-öre pieces definitely count as silvers!
<< <i>
<< <i>a Swedish 25 öre 1949 (0.400 silver). I don't count those as silver coin finds, but they're nice to find nevertheless. >>
I disagree with your stance on this. We count the US wartime nickels of 1942-45 as silver coins, and they're only .350 fine, so your Swedish 25-öre pieces definitely count as silvers! >>
I know.
I'm mainly leaving out the billon stuff to not have it mess with my numbers for the "good stuff". I've found quite a number of Swedish billon coins of 10, 25 and 50 öre and 1 Krona (maybe around 20 in total), as well as Finnish 0.350 silver markkas from the 60's, which I'm not counting either.
By the way, most Swedish billon coins I find are late 40's - 60's, but here's a slightly earlier one (earlier type) that I found some time ago:
Absolutely awesome finds and the pics are great. I've heard good things about Minelabs, but I've also heard that they can tend to be heavy and it takes awhile to learn the machine. It seems like you are certainly getting the hang of it.
G.
Am I surprised?
Oh boy, a silver monster is now on the prowl... just wait until he gets a program dialed in!
Congrats Z-man
P.S. I struck first blood in the gold ring cat. last week... I'll submit a quick post
(but you're gonna kill me in the silver cat. this year, and it won't surprise me if you do in the gold ring cat. too!)
That's WITH the flash.
I will certainly use this machine for the most part in the future, so you'll hear how it goes.
Now I just hope that the weather stays like this - at any time it could freeze up again and I could be shut out for quite a while...
I must be one of the most frequent visitors of a website providing local weather forecasts..
Riccar: HMMMPH! - and congrats, on the gold! I have a feeling that I'll be in trouble, but we'll see!
speer: You're right about the weight - this machine is a bit heavier than the MXT at least. I felt it a bit in my arm after the first hunt, but haven't really noticed it after that --> not a dramatic difference. It can be a factor to consider though, if weight is an important criteria (e.g. for a kid or if one has arm/back issues)
LM the werewolf:
I was debating with myself if (and to what extent) I should clean it. It's nearly impossible to clean a coin like that without making it look obviously cleaned.
Eventually I decided that it was just too ugly as is...
I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. I know it's debatable whether this is an improvement or not - but, here it is now:
Todd