Sept 17, 2016: Old gold signet ring, 2 silvers
pcgs69
Posts: 4,324 ✭✭✭✭
Took my buddy out today to Silver Beach. He took the TDI SL, and I was stuck with the paltry ol' CTX. It's been over 2 months since I used the CTX, plus I was worried that the TDI sniffed out everything in the CTX's range.
I moved to an area I hit hard with the TDI, and to my surprise, the first keeper was a 1927 Canadian cent. Ok, maybe there's something to this CTX machine. Then soon got a wheat cent. Now that's promising. Probably 20 minutes in, got a deep low tone, and figure it'd be a bathing suit buckle, or maybe even a nickel. Dug down and was highly surprised to see a nice gold signet ring staring back at me! Didn't expect that one bit. Took it over to my buddy and he was excited to see it.
I kept going and got a buffalo nickel (dateless), and a few more wheat cents. Also a bunch of clad.
As time moved on, I was worried no silver would come up because it has come up every other trip. Later in the hunt, finally got a silver - a 1964 dime. that was a relief.
Also got two junk rings, and a couple zip tabs.
My buddy managed some wheat cents, and even a buffalo nickel. I was hoping he'd find some silver, but he was happy with his haul. Low tide was terrible today and was low around 6am, so it wasn't ideal, but we worked with what we had.
Get home and clean the finds... break some crust off one of the coins, and I see all black, instead of copper. Turns out I had found a merc in the mud and didn't even notice. So two silvers today.
The ring is stamped 14k, and my guess is it dates anywhere from the teens to the 30s, but don't quote me on that. Weight is 3.5 grams.
So, all-in-all, the CTX was supremely stable in salt water. I think the issue before that I remember with some falsing was that I had the sensitivity too high. Kept it between 20 and 24 and it worked flawlessly.
Also wanted to compare deep signals between the two machines. Only did it once. It was on a deeper high tone in an area that I had gone over with the TDI several times. Was surprised it wouldn't have picked it up. So I called my buddy over, and without any difficulty the TDI SL picked it up. Simply missed it all those times prior.
So take those "this new detector is light years ahead of my old machine" stories with a grain of salt. You just can't tell unless you have both machines there to test. You may have simply missed the item before. Or, it really could be a better machine. Who knows!
HH all!
I moved to an area I hit hard with the TDI, and to my surprise, the first keeper was a 1927 Canadian cent. Ok, maybe there's something to this CTX machine. Then soon got a wheat cent. Now that's promising. Probably 20 minutes in, got a deep low tone, and figure it'd be a bathing suit buckle, or maybe even a nickel. Dug down and was highly surprised to see a nice gold signet ring staring back at me! Didn't expect that one bit. Took it over to my buddy and he was excited to see it.
I kept going and got a buffalo nickel (dateless), and a few more wheat cents. Also a bunch of clad.
As time moved on, I was worried no silver would come up because it has come up every other trip. Later in the hunt, finally got a silver - a 1964 dime. that was a relief.
Also got two junk rings, and a couple zip tabs.
My buddy managed some wheat cents, and even a buffalo nickel. I was hoping he'd find some silver, but he was happy with his haul. Low tide was terrible today and was low around 6am, so it wasn't ideal, but we worked with what we had.
Get home and clean the finds... break some crust off one of the coins, and I see all black, instead of copper. Turns out I had found a merc in the mud and didn't even notice. So two silvers today.
The ring is stamped 14k, and my guess is it dates anywhere from the teens to the 30s, but don't quote me on that. Weight is 3.5 grams.
So, all-in-all, the CTX was supremely stable in salt water. I think the issue before that I remember with some falsing was that I had the sensitivity too high. Kept it between 20 and 24 and it worked flawlessly.
Also wanted to compare deep signals between the two machines. Only did it once. It was on a deeper high tone in an area that I had gone over with the TDI several times. Was surprised it wouldn't have picked it up. So I called my buddy over, and without any difficulty the TDI SL picked it up. Simply missed it all those times prior.
So take those "this new detector is light years ahead of my old machine" stories with a grain of salt. You just can't tell unless you have both machines there to test. You may have simply missed the item before. Or, it really could be a better machine. Who knows!
HH all!
0
Comments
You've really been on a roll with these. Great stuff!
Digging here looks like a messy business, but at least it looks "diggable" to me.
I have a few sites with absolutely brutal grey clay that sticks to everything and is a nightmare to get out of the scoop unless you use dynamite.
You have to push it out through the holes of the scoop a bit at a time. Takes ages to do.
My observations about detectors and sensitivity settings are similar to yours. I've found it to be much more important to get the machine perfectly stable, even if it means bringing sensitivity way down.
However, actually going out detecting seems to be an even more important requirement for making good finds. Somehow my finds are always underwhelming when I haven't made it out in a while!
By the way, the triangle in the stamp looks like a British import mark (Birmingham)
So, I'm really curious. This beach is nothing but mud according to your posts....who the heck has been out there for decades losing stuff? Why would anyone go to a mud beach? Must be more to the story....so, what is the more? What is the land use history of the area?
I want to clarify a bit. The whole beach is not mud. Just the lower, low tide portion. There is a decent amount of sandy beach for people.
Now, for why people lost objects in the mud. I suspect a number of scenarios have happened to contribute to the finds:
1) brave souls walking in the mud during low tide
2) those wading up to their knees with tide partially out
3) people swimming during high tide. They can't touch the ground, so they don't know how muddy it is
4) boaters messing around decades ago.
5) large numbers of people here after WWII. The more people, the more stuff lost.
Old gold signet ring. Again? What sorcery is this?!
You've really been on a roll with these. Great stuff!
Digging here looks like a messy business, but at least it looks "diggable" to me.
I have a few sites with absolutely brutal grey clay that sticks to everything and is a nightmare to get out of the scoop unless you use dynamite.
You have to push it out through the holes of the scoop a bit at a time. Takes ages to do.
My observations about detectors and sensitivity settings are similar to yours. I've found it to be much more important to get the machine perfectly stable, even if it means bringing sensitivity way down.
However, actually going out detecting seems to be an even more important requirement for making good finds. Somehow my finds are always underwhelming when I haven't made it out in a while!
By the way, the triangle in the stamp looks like a British import mark (Birmingham)
I'm getting spoiled at this beach. At first I was content with silver. Now after finding gold, I want a piece each time. Almost a failure finding several silvers and no gold.
That grey clay is a monster pain to dig through. There is some in a few areas at the Silver beach and it sticks to the shovel. Have to use my foot to get it off. Sounds like it's a blast using a scoop in your neck of the woods. Not sure I'd be up for that task with a scoop!
I remember talking with member WhiteTornado about sensitivity a while ago. After chatting with him I turned it down from 29 or so (max is 30) to about 22. The area at 29 sensitivity had so much chatter it was crazy. After going to 22, it was stable, and got a great signal that turned into a King George II copper. So it seems to make more sense, as you noted, to get the machine stable, rather than blasting it up as high as the machine will go.
Have you gotten out much lately?
Lafayette Grading Set
Have you gotten out much lately?
A decent amount, yes. It's been a while since I posted anything though, and the reason for that is the obvious one I'm afraid. Some lousy outings!
I'm slowly accumulating stuff to show here..