Irons ongoing MD finds thread

[andial]

Any metals found should be returned to its rightful owner IMHO. Or given to the State.

[Irons]

Any metals found should be returned to its rightful owner IMHO. Or given to the State.

I'll get right on that brother Andial. .

Has somebody recently hit you with a silly stick?

[Unsustainable]

Thanks! Just try not to think about all the gold that has been lost in your area since your hunting days and is just waiting for you to pick it up! ~

I like to look at an area on flash earth, check how long it has been used and estimate how much gold is probably there for me to find.

The place I'm working when it thaws out enough has been the crown jewel of it's county park system since the 1950's. I estimate there is around 2 oz of lost gold there if not more. Until it opens in April it's all mine.

*(Pssst. I can't wait to MD the beaches we hang out on while boating.)

My career is for huge municipal park system and last year was promoted to (after 20 years now top-o-grade) Parks Supervisor, providing oversight to thousands of acres of previously developed (old farms etc) land but now reverted to Natural Areas and cultural historic sites and bought by the County for environmental and cultural preservation. At this moment I'm hiking miles of back woods abandoned roads learning the properties and features and mossy foundations; not a lot going on these places as they are overgrown and one day opened up for organized passive recreation, hikes as well as resource management assessments under my charge. Last week we sealed an abandoned well head on a previous homestead now owned by the County, the old house demolished. Next project is a remote well head on a ridge surrounded by hundreds of acres of protected woodland...we can only access w/materials by ATV...original foundations still evident and most of these sites were active in the 1877 Atlas. A new gov't purchase over the last 6 months, last remaining farm on a tidal river penninsula. Now abandoned w/house still there and outbuildings...everything high end developed around it, the acreage to be preserved for parkland and interpretation one day and pretty much virgin territory. Six past properties and grounds I've managed are on the Register of Historic Places, including my new office headquarters where we've started doing renovations. This building used to be a home/country store/stop on a local past passenger electric rail line...I still have the pile of rails out back and the grassed over ROW outside my office window.

Is your heart pounding a little faster?

This is JUST scratching the surface today. I spent my younger days around old foundations in the water supply reservoir watershed...the 1877 Atlas showed original roads and farms before the valley was flooded. Whats not under water (and exposed during drawdowns or drought) still sits in the woods waiting for intrepid history hounds and (coin) geeks in general like me, and you.

These are the places gold and old hoards are discovered; stuff you read in the papers happening to the lucky few. The trick is hitting them before others, or behind them with better equipment, and more skill and perseverance...and respect for the property and local laws and regs.

So yes Irons...I know EXACTLY what makes your MD tick. Oh, and I didn't even mention the couple local beaches under my watch; I seldom see people out there with MD...they gravitate toward the big state park waterfronts and resorts...driving right past small potential hot spots woefully overlooked.

Must...avoid...temptation....look...other......... .......way.
Huge.............................................. sucking........................................... ........................sound.

[Irons]

I found a silver belly chain!!! ~ ~

[andial]

You're finding Silver too? I have to get me one of those set ups, and get the hell away from this keyboard!

[Irons]

Cold out there but still it was sunny so that was very nice. I hiked the couple miles back into the party cove hoping I could at least dig in the sand.

The majority of it was like chipping a brick but the first 10 yards or so where the shore usually is when the water is up was diggable. Tons of junk by the shore, I cleared a good grid but have a lot more to do when it thaws.

I found lots of coins which I thought was odd because this is usually well under water, a belly chain and some other jewelry or keychain type thing. I'll post pull tab and can slaw pic's in a day or so, I'm friggin beat.


Pretty out here, I felt like Jack London after hiking back here through the snow.



Waters way down for winter, its like a friggin MD'ers dream!



If you remember the summer pic I posted of this place from the air all this is covered with boats rafted together.
When I can dig out away from the shore where more people swim and climb in and out of thier boats hunting will get good.

[Hystckndle]

Cool pics, Irons.

[Fiat Metaler]

I found a silver belly chain!!! ~ ~

you need to add that to your "salt" pile so you have a conversation starter this summer.

[Irons]

This handy chart should help everybody identify what they dig up 90% of the time out there. ~

[Hystckndle]

Now THAT is something I have always, always wanted....
A pop top tab Eye Dee chart.
That is indeed incredible.
( had no idea there was such a thing )

[Irons]

Here's the photo's of the stuff I found on Sunday the 19th. All of this stuff came from the first 10 yards of water so the busiest area on a really, really busy beach.

Look at that stuff folks, hundreds of people and kids splashing and jumping off boats onto this. ~

Found a lot of dimes that day.

By the time us MD folks find gold and silver we have earned it. The bottle caps and pull tabs are expected but the rest of this stuff is tetnus city.

Anyway the belly ring is silver and abalone and thats pretty cool, the other thing looks like once silver plated copper. Too heavy to be a necklace, It rang in high on the copper range on my AT Pro.

Pretty cool,from the looks of it and it was around 9 inches deep some chica probably lost it in the late 1970's, I wonder if she was hot and what her story from that day is.
I can't wait to get back to that beach! ~

Holy can slaw Batman!!



Cool stuff, there's more waiting for me.



Lets get a closer look at this trash.



Sheyit, they ought to pay our stupid asses to pick this stuff up.

[Gcubed]

Package it up as a "Beach Treasure" secret grab bag on EBay. Some idiot will surely bite!

$20 Buy It Now!! FREE SHIPPING!!



Edit: maybe toss in a Merc dime, IF ya gots one.

[andial]

This is what my life has come to, staring at bent nails and rusted metal photos on an internet site.

[Sampson]

Your thread has gotten me excited to try my detector around my valley here. I have found a couple old cabin or homestead sites that just have a few barely remaining rotten logs or foundation stones left so they are probably around 100 years old or so. It is snowing hard here again and will probably be quite a while before it thaws out enough to go searching but i am interested in what types of metal artifacts i will find at these long forgotten locations. Keep up the good posts of your finds, they are helping me get through the winter.

Most of my detecting this summer will be tailings piles from my mining operations so hopefully i find some bigger nuggets i can share too.

[Gcubed]

This is what my life has come to, staring at bent nails and rusted metal photos on an internet site.

Barak will fix it, honest.

You wont be able to afford internet soon.

[Irons]

This is what my life has come to, staring at bent nails and rusted metal photos on an internet site.

The funny part is you look forward to it!! ~ .


Post of the year material rhat there brother Andial!

[Lawrence]

Edit: maybe toss in a Merc dime, IF ya gots one.

Vials of gold flakes!

[newmisty]

The funny part is you look forward to it!! ~ .


Post of the year material rhat there brother Andial!

We are the true metal heads.

[Irons]

Your thread has gotten me excited to try my detector around my valley here. I have found a couple old cabin or homestead sites that just have a few barely remaining rotten logs or foundation stones left so they are probably around 100 years old or so. It is snowing hard here again and will probably be quite a while before it thaws out enough to go searching but i am interested in what types of metal artifacts i will find at these long forgotten locations. Keep up the good posts of your finds, they are helping me get through the winter.

Most of my detecting this summer will be tailings piles from my mining operations so hopefully i find some bigger nuggets i can share too.

That will be cool as heck Sampson, using a MD for prospecting is another world compared to what I'll ever do here.

Detecting the old homesites is going to be fun too, I'm still trying to get my head around how to approach places like that around here. I read find where the outhouse was and go around that and the paths leading to it and the out buildings.
Also if it was a homestead and not just a cabin find the water source, be it a filled in well or creek and go over that really well and try to find where the women did the laundry. It would be downwind of the house look for the firepit and possibly old trees they hung it on to dry.

One thing I found out in a hurry is without a plan going in I tend to wander around and not cover anything thoroughly.

I've been using yellow plastic tent stakes to grid off areas on the beach and going over the entire thing before moving on. That helps a lot.

There is going to be lots of iron masking good targets in all of those old places, the good thing is there won't be much aluminum or foil mimicking gold alloy jewelry. I will dig anything from the top of the iron range and up.

Meh I'm rambling, hang in there Dude and post some hunting pics!

Think spring and as Mel Fisher used to say "Today's the Day!" ~

[Argentium]

There's big money to be had in meteorite detecting, if you know where to search.
http://www.meteoritesusa.com/how-to-find-meteorites.htm

[Unsustainable]

How well do the "discriminator" settings work for todays better MD's?

Can a bunch of that "trash" be voided-out?

[Irons]

How well do the "discriminator" settings work for todays better MD's?

Can a bunch of that "trash" be voided-out?

Sure most of it can be eliminated from detection on my MD but you will miss all the gold if you do.

Here's an example of the ranges on a Garrett AT Pro.

Ferrus metals like iron are 1 to 40 on the numerical readout.

Foil is from 40 to 60, depends on if its in a wad or laid out flat

Nickels are 48-53

Aluminum from 45-65

Brass, lead and zinc 55-75

Copper 75-85

Modern clad and silver 80 and up.

Most gold jewelry is going to hit in the 40-60 range, gold chains may hit in the iron range if at all.

Fine gold or silver chains like women favor are almost never found, your MD sees them as 100 individual pieces and won't sound off at all unless you get lucky and it hits a charm or a clasp.

Same reason a MD won't find placer gold, just nuggets.

If I'm going to just look for coins with my garrett I would notch out everything under 70 and it will ignore everything in the lower ranges.

I'll be doing this at my cabin where I have been flinging brass rifle and pistol shells all freakin over for the last 20 years. Oops.

If I only wanted to find nickels I'd notch out everything above 53 and below 48.

Soil conditions like mineralization, clay and salt will change those numbers a bit but you get the gist of it.

[Irons]

We are the true metal heads.

..................

[ME Co.]

..................

If you tie a string to a railroad spike and drag it behind you it will leave some semblance of a trail and help you grid where you been. Or not. HH Mark

[TomD]

If you tie a string to a railroad spike and drag it behind you it will leave some semblance of a trail and help you grid where you been. Or not. HH Mark

If you make it something a little bigger like an old V8 engine block, it will be easier to see the trail.

[ME Co.]

If you make it something a little bigger like an old V8 engine block, it will be easier to see the trail.

Or maybe just an Iron.

[Irons]

If you tie a string to a railroad spike and drag it behind you it will leave some semblance of a trail and help you grid where you been. Or not. HH Mark

Funny you mention that, I read lots of folks drag thier beach scoop behind them for that very reason, and to keep it away from the coil.

[ME Co.]

Funny you mention that, I read lots of folks drag thier beach scoop behind them for that very reason, and to keep it away from the coil.

Just trying to help- I gots friends in the business. HH Mark

[Mr. Shiny]

.....
Anyway the belly ring is silver and abalone and thats pretty cool, the other thing looks like once silver plated copper. Too heavy to be a necklace, It rang in high on the copper range on my AT Pro.

Pretty cool,from the looks of it and it was around 9 inches deep some chica probably lost it in the late 1970's, I wonder if she was hot and what her story from that day is.
.....

It actually is a modern necklace.


http://fashionfinder.asos.com/womens...ecklace-245934

[Irons]

It actually is a modern necklace.

Holy cow you found it! Thats really cool!! ~

I wonder how long they have been around? The one I found is obviously pretty degraded and was under around 9 inches of sand on the gravel layer in what would be 6 feet of water.
Thats why I figured it had been down there many years. There was no chain around it but thats no suprise.

[<===Foolsgold]

Here's the photo's of the stuff I found on Sunday the 19th. All of this stuff came from the first 10 yards of water so the busiest area on a really, really busy beach.

Look at that stuff folks, hundreds of people and kids splashing and jumping off boats onto this. ~

Found a lot of dimes that day.

By the time us MD folks find gold and silver we have earned it. The bottle caps and pull tabs are expected but the rest of this stuff is tetnus city.

Anyway the belly ring is silver and abalone and thats pretty cool, the other thing looks like once silver plated copper. Too heavy to be a necklace, It rang in high on the copper range on my AT Pro.

Pretty cool,from the looks of it and it was around 9 inches deep some chica probably lost it in the late 1970's, I wonder if she was hot and what her story from that day is.
I can't wait to get back to that beach! ~

Holy can slaw Batman!!



Cool stuff, there's more waiting for me.



Lets get a closer look at this trash.



Sheyit, they ought to pay our stupid asses to pick this stuff up.

You're like an unpaid sanitation worker.

But I appreciate you posting the unvarnished truth about the hobby.

[Irons]

You're like an unpaid sanitation worker.

But I appreciate you posting the unvarnished truth about the hobby.

Thanks! Like anything in the real world it takes work, dedication and skill to get the rewards.

I find it exciting and a challenge, most try it once and give up.

[<===Foolsgold]

Thanks! Like anything in the real world it takes work, dedication and skill to get the rewards.

I find it exciting and a challenge, most try it once and give up.

You really are an inspiration.....really.

[Ronnie Mexico]

www.treasurenet.com <<< awesome webpage for metal detecting

[Irons]

WHOO-HOO SILVER!!!!! ~


I hit an old park in my small town that has a flowing sweet water well where people have been coming to get drinking water for generations. People still come there every day to get water, especially when the power is out.

Ground was thawed just enough for digging and I got signals right away. Clad, canslaw and obviously overlooked old coins. Got my two oldest coins and my first 90% silver.

I love that buffalo, 1936 Baby!!! I have covered a small corner of the park so far, its going to be a great summer!!

[andial]

Nice!.....

[Gcubed]

Meh...
"Gold Hoor" going to the Dark Side!!

[ME Co.]

Meh...
"Gold Hoor" going to the Dark Side!!

Yea and he worked hard for $5, sorry couldn't resist. Congrats on the silva, Mark

[Irons]

Yea and he worked hard for $5, sorry couldn't resist. Congrats on the silva, Mark

We'll see what my pile of silver looks like at the end of the season. I'm thrilled to have found an area untouched by modern metal detecters!
Ant and grasshopper approach is being applied here. ~


EDIT: This Garrett AT Pro is freaking amazing, that buff nickel was way down there past the dirt and into the layer of clay.

My MD told me it was there and I kept digging. Bottom line is know and trust your equipment.

[TomD]

EDIT: This Garrett AT Pro is freaking amazing, that buff nickel was way down there past the dirt and into the layer of clay.

My MD told me it was there and I kept digging. Bottom line is know and trust your equipment.

I admire your persistence, on my 250, pop tops and nickels show in the same range and apparently pop tops outnumber nickels by 1,000,000:1

[Irons]

I admire your persistence, on my 250, pop tops and nickels show in the same range and apparently pop tops outnumber nickels by 1,000,000:1

I'm getting better at ID'ing nickels, they ring a solid 53 on the VDI unless they are really deep.

Really deep coins give a solid mid or high range repeatable tone but no number on the display.

I dig everything over 40 anyway. I'm nuts. ~

[Gcubed]

I'm getting better at ID'ing nickels, they ring a solid 53 on the VDI unless they are really deep.

Really deep coins give a solid mid or high range repeatable tone but no number on the display.

I dig everything over 40 anyway. I'm nuts. ~

What does a Sovereign ring? We KNOW you've done the experiment by now.

[Irons]

What does a Sovereign ring? We KNOW you've done the experiment by now.

Can I borrow one of yours to try it out? Ya gotta remember everything is frozen here and I can only MD the few sunny spots that partially thaw out!

Actually I haven't buried any gold coins yet but I did bury my 10k wedding ring at the beach.

It rang in as a scratchy piece of foil with VDI numbers jumping between 38 and 49, which is a foil-pulltab junk signal.

I'll bury some gold this spring and check it out, I'll have to buy some first.

[Irons]

Snowing sideways here so I decided to do some assbound research. A nice old gentleman neighbor of mine was born and raised around here and he has been telling me about places that were busy long ago.

He told me about a bridge over a small local river that was a wagon crossing before it was a bridge and he thought there was still some signs of it there if I could find it.

I found it! ~ Getting back there is another story but traces of the old road exist so I'll find it. This is why I have a KLR 650.

He said this was a gathering place, swimming hole, camp area and farmers market/trade location for decades.

Sigh, come on spring!


Do you see what I see? The old roads are pretty faint.




Yeah baby, I'll find it.

[CiscoKid]

Snowing sideways here so I decided to do some assbound research. A nice old gentleman neighbor of mine was born and raised around here and he has been telling me about places that were busy long ago.

He told me about a bridge over a small local river that was a wagon crossing before it was a bridge and he thought there was still some signs of it there if I could find it.

I found it! ~ Getting back there is another story but traces of the old road exist so I'll find it. This is why I have a KLR 650.

He said this was a gathering place, swimming hole, camp area and farmers market/trade location for decades.

Sigh, come on spring!

That's pretty cool you finding an old-timer who knew the area's history. Hope this tip pans out nicely for you.

[Irons]

That's pretty cool you finding an old-timer who knew the area's history. Hope this tip pans out nicely for you.

Thanks, it should! If you look downstream (north in the pic) from the old bridge rails the sandy spot was the swimming hole.

[Fiat Metaler]

[QUOTE=Irons;343446]Snowing sideways here so I decided to do some assbound research. A nice old gentleman neighbor of mine was born and raised around here and he has been telling me about places that were busy long ago.

He told me about a bridge over a small local river that was a wagon crossing before it was a bridge and he thought there was still some signs of it there if I could find it.

I found it! ~ Getting back there is another story but traces of the old road exist so I'll find it. This is why I have a KLR 650.

He said this was a gathering place, swimming hole, camp area and farmers market/trade location for decades.

Sigh, come on spring!


Do you see what I see? The old roads are pretty faint.




Yeah baby, I'll find it.

lower right hand corner looks like a crop field . . . looks like my field. hey, that's my land. you'd better cut me in for half.

[Irons]

Just another day looking for gold at the beach. Its OK to be jelous. ~

[Fiat Metaler]

Just another day looking for gold at the beach. Its OK to be jelous. ~

hey buddy, as a former floridian, i'll give you a tip. don't wear socks (or shoes for that matter) to the beach. Your white northern skin is already a giveaway but socks at the beach just screams "I'm from up north!"

[Irons]

hey buddy, as a former floridian, i'll give you a tip. don't wear socks (or shoes for that matter) to the beach. Your white northern skin is already a giveaway but socks at the beach just screams "I'm from up north!"

LOL!! That ain't me I was just having fun.

Besides if I want warm weather Florida is waaay down the list of places I would go.