Skippy SH13
Bronze Member
- Feb 18, 2015
- 1,131
- 2,376
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Finding things is SO much fun... Even when they're not worth that much!
Friday, I was out MDing with my son. We showed up at a local school I've scouted and found was pretty good. As we get out of the car, he informs me, "Oh, I guess I forgot my metal detector!" We had a good laugh (he had his bag, with digger and Garrett Pro-Pointer, though!). He said, "I'll just dig up what you find." Ummm... not ideal, but works for me!
We got started in the back field where families sit and watch sports practices. Took a bit of searching to find "the strip" where people sit. The give-away was the Spitz sunflower seeds covering a couple spots (those are great indicators, eh?) Dug a few quarters, some pennies and a few pop tabs. I was telling my son, "This is what a ring sounds like compared to a pop tab." and tossed my own ring down on the ground. He could see on the ACE350, the sound is just a hair longer than the "beep" of a pop-tab... more of a "Beeep." He noted the difference, and I let him know that even with a longer beep, it's not a guarantee, as it could just be a larger piece of aluminum. About 5 minutes later in a strip, I had him knuckle down and dig another long signal. I told him I thought it was a ring, but wasn't sure. He said, "Should I even dig it?" Of course! Got him to work and continued swinging.
About a minute later, I hear a shriek of delight. He dug up a nice little gold ring. Just a plain band with a cheap weld, but very much looks like gold. No halmark, but all the heft of gold and ZERO corrosion, except at the weld. I've seen this before on another ring. I suspect it's 9-12K, but will eventually get it checked out. That's gold ring #5 for the year.
About 5 minutes later, I ran across another signal I KNEW was just kid jewelry. It's the only thing that ever rings up in that range! My son dug up a nice little bow ring. Worthless, but fun.
But that's not the "best" fun part of the day (my standards are weird if the gold ring isn't the highlight...I know, LOL). As we were approaching the end of our session (we only had 45 minutes to hunt), I was just doing the grid and ran across a really solid copper/foil signal (just below penny). I knelt down, and saw a big chunk of coin laying under the thatch. I pried it up with my fingers, and THIS popped out:
A 1965 British Crown! Of all the dang things to find in a schoolyard in Idaho, USA. Clearly, some kid dropped it, and probably brought it for show and tell. I might have taken it into the school, but it's closed for the summer already. It looked solid silver, but the ring up was wrong. Some research shows that it's just copper-nickel (as expected), and worth... ONE CROWN... that still didn't mean anything to me, so I looked it up here: http://british-coin-price-guide.homelinux.com/Crown-Coin-Price-Guide.htm Turns out, pretty much just commemorative stuff. The 1965 crown is worth only about $1.50. I'll get more out of it keeping it and enjoying it, than selling it!
Still BIG coin, and VERY fun find! It's quick hunts like that that keep me SO excited for the next one. Heading back out to that school this afternoon/evening. Hope we'll find more fun stuff! This time, though, we should cover more land, as my son will likely have his MD with him!
Cheers!
Skippy
Friday, I was out MDing with my son. We showed up at a local school I've scouted and found was pretty good. As we get out of the car, he informs me, "Oh, I guess I forgot my metal detector!" We had a good laugh (he had his bag, with digger and Garrett Pro-Pointer, though!). He said, "I'll just dig up what you find." Ummm... not ideal, but works for me!
We got started in the back field where families sit and watch sports practices. Took a bit of searching to find "the strip" where people sit. The give-away was the Spitz sunflower seeds covering a couple spots (those are great indicators, eh?) Dug a few quarters, some pennies and a few pop tabs. I was telling my son, "This is what a ring sounds like compared to a pop tab." and tossed my own ring down on the ground. He could see on the ACE350, the sound is just a hair longer than the "beep" of a pop-tab... more of a "Beeep." He noted the difference, and I let him know that even with a longer beep, it's not a guarantee, as it could just be a larger piece of aluminum. About 5 minutes later in a strip, I had him knuckle down and dig another long signal. I told him I thought it was a ring, but wasn't sure. He said, "Should I even dig it?" Of course! Got him to work and continued swinging.
About a minute later, I hear a shriek of delight. He dug up a nice little gold ring. Just a plain band with a cheap weld, but very much looks like gold. No halmark, but all the heft of gold and ZERO corrosion, except at the weld. I've seen this before on another ring. I suspect it's 9-12K, but will eventually get it checked out. That's gold ring #5 for the year.
About 5 minutes later, I ran across another signal I KNEW was just kid jewelry. It's the only thing that ever rings up in that range! My son dug up a nice little bow ring. Worthless, but fun.
But that's not the "best" fun part of the day (my standards are weird if the gold ring isn't the highlight...I know, LOL). As we were approaching the end of our session (we only had 45 minutes to hunt), I was just doing the grid and ran across a really solid copper/foil signal (just below penny). I knelt down, and saw a big chunk of coin laying under the thatch. I pried it up with my fingers, and THIS popped out:
A 1965 British Crown! Of all the dang things to find in a schoolyard in Idaho, USA. Clearly, some kid dropped it, and probably brought it for show and tell. I might have taken it into the school, but it's closed for the summer already. It looked solid silver, but the ring up was wrong. Some research shows that it's just copper-nickel (as expected), and worth... ONE CROWN... that still didn't mean anything to me, so I looked it up here: http://british-coin-price-guide.homelinux.com/Crown-Coin-Price-Guide.htm Turns out, pretty much just commemorative stuff. The 1965 crown is worth only about $1.50. I'll get more out of it keeping it and enjoying it, than selling it!
Still BIG coin, and VERY fun find! It's quick hunts like that that keep me SO excited for the next one. Heading back out to that school this afternoon/evening. Hope we'll find more fun stuff! This time, though, we should cover more land, as my son will likely have his MD with him!
Cheers!
Skippy
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