Dig those Crappy signals or risk loosing the good stuff!

Ammoman

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Oct 12, 2015
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All Treasure Hunting
Today i took a trip to my standing permission and once again walked away with a couple keepers.
Considering i have pounded this permission hard, my plan was simple...dig all signals that ring up mid tone and higher.
So, when i dug my first hole, I was not disappointed to see a large stainless flat washer pop out of the hole.
Two hours later i picked up a V nickel and called it quits.

Back at the car i dumped my finds pouch to separate my trash from coins and the washer caught my eye.
Go figure...that smooth washer turned out to be a well worn Barber HALF! I guess i need to be a bit more observant in the future!
Here is a picture of all my finds for the day.

IMG_0334.jpg

IMG_0339.jpg IMG_0340.jpg

Turns out the Half dollar is an 1896-S. Funny thing is...this is my second Barber half and it is the same year as my first.
My first being an 1896-O in way better condition found 38 years ago!

Anyhow...the V nickel turned out to be a 1911
Here are the two coins together.
IMG_0345.jpg

HH everyone and remember...Dig all those crappy signals or risk loosing the good stuff!
 

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Upvote 54
Oh, I wouldn't be too quick to admonish about it being a "washer".

One that I dug once I commented, "Just another aluminum knock out."

Until I looked a lil closer.
Turned out to be one of my best finds ever! An 1812 Half Dollar in actually great condition!

Nice!

By the by...any chance it's counterfeit? :icon_scratch:
 

I'm the worst cherry picker around. I pass all kinds of iffy signals after a few end up being trash. I fight it everytime I go out. I know I'm missing stuff but I like to cover a lot of ground.

To each their own :laughing7:
 

Very Nice!!!!! Congrats!!!!! I keep a pair of readers close by, if not in My pocket:)
 

Congrats on the semi key date Barber. Good thing you didn't throw it away, thinking it was a washer.
 

Dang sweet find now you need to washer and get her clean that's a great day in my book
 

I hunt in all metal and try and dig it all - Ive been in hobby since 1975 and can tell you a ton of stories on land and in the water where guys cherry picked
signals trying to go for only the good stuff and they passed up goodies that went off bad or weird and they dismissed
Ive gotten many white god rings that guys said went off as pulltabs on their machines and they passed up - I went to a farm field with a group of guys
where we parked - everyone and their brother parked and it was a popular drinking spot - you could see whole cans and and slaw all over at the fields edge
this spot goes back to the 1600s and the guys i was with - had been hitting here for 3-4 yrs sucessfully - it was my first time - when we took a break
for lunch - i was swinging around our vehicles and getting 3-5 blast with each swing - all kinds of aluminum. I commented that there had to be
some good stuff in there under all the garbage - i was in all metal but would click over on certain targets to check. I got a hit and it said silver dollar on my screen
The guys laughed and said you got a can ...i told them the cans were reading off lower than that and decided to dig - we were all shocked when I pulled out a
silver spoon from the 1800s...when i got home and weighed it - it came in about the same weight as a silver dollar - those guys had walked over that spot for yrs
guys have passed up small cut coins trying to detect "by the numbers" and have passed up broken gold cause it didnt go off right
cant tell you how much gold & silver ive gotten with iron in the same hole
- I like to leave an area thinking i pulled out everything I could - at least everything i went over :icon_thumright:

Ditto.

Even though I do not run detectors with "numbers".

I will say... there is no detector on the market that "knows it all" simply by passing over an item.

In my case... When using only sound to dictate what my coil is passing over I can and am fooled just about every time with an item that has hit in at something I think I know... then turns out to be right OR wrong.

Personally I think there really is no "shortcut" to some items.

All metal... pinpoint... Full strength.... full steam ahead... whatever...

Dig it all.

PS...

I ill take depth... strength and power over "capabilities"... any day.

I like my tools raw and tough. :)
 

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Nice Barber congrats.

Yes the deeper they get and with iron etc in the ground you can find some great stuff coming in at a wisper or crackle.

Pulled a sheied nickle last hunt reading like that. Small silver will come in like that at times also.

Jer
 

Congrats on the semi key date Barber. Good thing you didn't throw it away, thinking it was a washer.

Lol The coin would not have got by me when sorting my trash. I always look close at my trash. My only regret is assuming it was a washer and tossing it in my bag allowing all the trash to pile on top of it. I noticed a gouge on the back that likely came from a heavy piece of iron. Or maybe I hit it with my digger.
 

Spot on! We rarely look at the ID numbers anymore.....if it beeps......it gets dug!!!! Nice job on the oldies! :icon_thumright:
 

That is pretty cool. I will keep that lesson in mind 👍
 

Nicely done! Haha. Good encouragement that there are probably still goodies hiding at our tried and true sites too.
 

We hear "Dig it all " all the time and it just won't register. Guess I'll try it one more time. Congratulations. Great finds
 

I found a new spot on an old permission this Fall. After digging 7 large cents ranging from 1816-1836, I went back started digging all the bad signals. I got a terrible deep signal and pulled a draped bust large cent at 10 inches. Got a similar deep signal a little bit later and got a liberty cap large cent. I took a buddy there and he had a high tone squeaker and got a 1832 capped bust half dime. Another day I went back, got a terrible signal and at 6 inches was 1/4 of a half reale.
So, yes, you have to dig those horrible signals too.
 

Truer words were never spoken, can't count the number of times an iffy signal turned out to be something worthwhile. Nice score bro!
 

This isnt directed AT you cheffer, but your post brought up some thoughts.....

Truer words were never spoken, can't count the number of times an iffy signal turned out to be something worthwhile. Nice score bro!

True, but people need to understand that "iffy" is a far cry from the much too often repeated "dig it all". Also, "iffy" is highly subjective. I have seen people post about digging a great target from from an "iffy", but when they post a video of the target, its not iffy at all. Its a perfect example of how a deep target sounds with that model of detector.
 

This isnt directed AT you cheffer, but your post brought up some thoughts.....



True, but people need to understand that "iffy" is a far cry from the much too often repeated "dig it all". Also, "iffy" is highly subjective. I have seen people post about digging a great target from from an "iffy", but when they post a video of the target, its not iffy at all. Its a perfect example of how a deep target sounds with that model of detector.



For this target, the sound was broken with a hint of low tones mixed with mid and high tones, kinda like a crackle. Not smooth and not rounded but instead (crappy) I have found lots of partial pieces of zink pennies with the same sound as well as junk jewelry and coin spills where different denominations of coins were stacked on top of one another and mixed with trash. These are signals that i pass on when time is a factor but i always come back too when the cherry picking is over and time permits.
 

Listen... I know that digging pop tops and nails etc can be a pain...
But an old saying continues to ring true... No pain no gain.

IF you were in an area that was infested with trash... guess what...
Start clearing it and you may be surprised what you might find...
KNOW why >?... cuz people give up or skim it... especially of your are "running out" of spots.

Some of the best left areas ARE under the trash. heh

WE ALL want a detector that only finds the good stuff... or gives "the edge"... BUT...
it doesn't exist... only detectors that "generalize" a signal exist...
the bells and whistles can help in many cases... but nothing beats it all.
 

the moral of this story is to double check really good your "trash pile" because stranger things have happened. and yes, to dig is the only way to know for sure what something is. awesome find!
 

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