I finally tamed the wild beast and corralled my first buffalo! I've been out of the hobby for the past 3 years (I bounce among hobbies) and just got back into it this week. On my first outing back I headed out to a local park that dates to the early 20's and found only a bit of clad and trash (my prior experience with this park and typical for me).
Well, today I headed out to that same park. Instead of hunting around the covered picnic shelter (built in the 30's by the WPA) I decided to try a different spot...I eyeballed what appeared to be the oldest picnic table in the park (old concrete rather than of modern construction) and hunted in its vicinity. I set the F2 to block only iron and started to swing. I immediately realized this was going to be slow and difficult....targets everywhere! I tried to focus on targets that seemed consistent, though next time I may switch to the 4" coil (I was using the 8").
My first hit was a zinc target...normally I might skip these but decided what the heck, maybe I'll get lucky and it's a gold ring or something :-). Turned out to be a 1989 cent in decent shape (had only just begun to get a few bumps on the front).
The next few targets were trash....quite a few old style pull tabs so I considered that a good sign. The old style tabs outnumbered the sta-tabs....probably because it was such an ugly table compared to the others that it hasn't been getting as much use of late.
As I was scanning I hit a target that was reading fairly consistent nickel, though it did jump around a bit, but the signal was nickel about 75% of the time with consistent VDI numbers so I decided to dig. About 3 to 4 inches down there it was....my first buffalo! At first I thought it was just an old Jefferson until I scrubbed it a bit with my glove and saw a leg...whoohoo!
It's also the oldest coin I've found to date, with my prior record being a 1920 cent from an old school yard. (The buffalo is a 1916 P in well worn condition...the date is just a ghost but readable). Ever hopeful, I decided to scan the hole again....there was still another target in there (forget what it was showing on the screen), but as luck would have it, there was a pull tab maybe an inch and a half away and around 2 inches deep adjacent to the nickel. I know others have worked the park, so that pull tab may just be what allowed that nickel to stay there until the F2 came along.
Sadly, the rest of the hunt only yielded quite a bit more trash, a couple more zinc cents and a clad dime, but that old buffalo made it worth all the while. Looking forward to hitting that area again...perhaps with the F70 (though I need practice with that one....haven' t yet become familiar with its sounds).
Well, today I headed out to that same park. Instead of hunting around the covered picnic shelter (built in the 30's by the WPA) I decided to try a different spot...I eyeballed what appeared to be the oldest picnic table in the park (old concrete rather than of modern construction) and hunted in its vicinity. I set the F2 to block only iron and started to swing. I immediately realized this was going to be slow and difficult....targets everywhere! I tried to focus on targets that seemed consistent, though next time I may switch to the 4" coil (I was using the 8").
My first hit was a zinc target...normally I might skip these but decided what the heck, maybe I'll get lucky and it's a gold ring or something :-). Turned out to be a 1989 cent in decent shape (had only just begun to get a few bumps on the front).
The next few targets were trash....quite a few old style pull tabs so I considered that a good sign. The old style tabs outnumbered the sta-tabs....probably because it was such an ugly table compared to the others that it hasn't been getting as much use of late.
As I was scanning I hit a target that was reading fairly consistent nickel, though it did jump around a bit, but the signal was nickel about 75% of the time with consistent VDI numbers so I decided to dig. About 3 to 4 inches down there it was....my first buffalo! At first I thought it was just an old Jefferson until I scrubbed it a bit with my glove and saw a leg...whoohoo!
It's also the oldest coin I've found to date, with my prior record being a 1920 cent from an old school yard. (The buffalo is a 1916 P in well worn condition...the date is just a ghost but readable). Ever hopeful, I decided to scan the hole again....there was still another target in there (forget what it was showing on the screen), but as luck would have it, there was a pull tab maybe an inch and a half away and around 2 inches deep adjacent to the nickel. I know others have worked the park, so that pull tab may just be what allowed that nickel to stay there until the F2 came along.
Sadly, the rest of the hunt only yielded quite a bit more trash, a couple more zinc cents and a clad dime, but that old buffalo made it worth all the while. Looking forward to hitting that area again...perhaps with the F70 (though I need practice with that one....haven' t yet become familiar with its sounds).
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