High amount of shallow trash, deep goodies

[Skrimpy]

Thanks for all the ideas. I think we are going to have to get out the elbow grease for this one and excavate small areas, sift the displaced leaf mold and detect at the hardpan.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[cosmic]

How about using a steel garden rake and some Neodymium Disc Magnets..
Drill hloes not quite all the way through each tine as close to the ends as possible, and epoxy the magnet in the holes.. Then rake away getting a few inches off depth at a time to pull the nails out.. By the way, they used to burn down cabins and shanties way back when so they could recover the nails and use them again..

 

[Shortstack]

Thanks for all the ideas. I think we are going to have to get out the elbow grease for this one and excavate small areas, sift the displaced leaf mold and detect at the hardpan.

That's the technique some CW relic hunters use. I think it's called 'trenching'. If you have no time limit on your access to the sight, do a section a day or a weekend. That way you can be thorough and not work your b*** off.

 

[lawman0210]

As everyone knows I am very new here but I had a thought. How large is the nail field? Can you map off the area of debris? As pointed out by another member early day structure were usually pretty tightly fitted. So I would guess that not much valubles will be located where most of the nail field is. I would then also guess that the valuables would be within some feet of the nail field most likely in the vicinty of likely paths to other attractions such as a stream or resting spots. I would have to factor in movement of the nails over the years so maybe come in a few feet from the outter limits of the nail field and detect there. The nails would be less populated so less digging at these areas. Just a thought.

 

[Skrimpy]

My guess is that it was a pavillion of some kind, and I am venturinng a guess it was not indoors either, but I could be wrong

 

[BuckleBoy]

...there may have been convenient access but the grade of the stream really isn't conducive to swimming. It's steep, shallow, and rough water. It seems to be more of a scenic site that would be a nice place to hike to, sit down, visit, eat, take pictures, but not really a playground or park.

Water was essential, and not just for swimming purposes. People drank from streams, wet handkerchiefs to place on their necks, watered horses, even splashed it on themselves to cool down on hot days. And you're probably dealing with horse travel, unless those folks walked from a nearby church or similar community structure nearby... Personally I'd try nearer to the creek, as well as on the overlook. Natural scenic views (even though you said the trees were smaller there) were a BIG draw. Even Civil War soldiers on holidays went to the natural caves, springs, groves, and lookouts in the areas they camped. Is it possible that the photo was taken from the lookout where the picnic site was (the same view that it made it attractive to locals)? You said that the trees were quite small there. This doesn't mean big trees weren't there at the turn of the century.

I will also advance this idea, and I've been guilty of it before: Perhaps the first coin you chanced upon, the single Indian Head Cent, is clouding your judgement right now; leading you to believe that the area with the nails is the best place on the site to hunt. Perhaps this was an isolated loss by the people who appear in the old photo, or others. It might also keep you from finding a sweet spot on the site until after you have expended a lot of energy without much payoff. It nevertheless is a good sign. Keep in mind that people walked everywhere and explored. As the Victorians started to live a life of considerably more comfort than their ancestors had ever had, they had to find new things to do with their time, including exploration of their natural surroundings. I have read accounts of local attractions that received a good deal of renown in their day but which we would hardly bat an eye at.

Personally I would go to the other areas and see if I could find more there first. Then if I've looked everywhere else and come up empty handed I'd come back to the place where I found the lone coin and focus there. If it will put your mind at ease, try the "X" first (as others have suggested), but if you don't reap any rewards you should regroup and rethink your approach. I like the idea of moving away from the nail-filled area and seeing what you happen upon. By the way, you'll definitely want to have a friend there--hunting a site like this is not much fun alone. 2 detectors = 2x the ground covered and 2x the likelihood of hitting a hot spot. Don't neglect the area around the creek or hill though, and hunt these just as thoroughly as the place where you have found the single coin. Remember, that single coin may be the end of the story for the spot you're currently frustrated with, and you may have to live with that after you have gone through all the other options. On the other hand, you may walk away from there and find three or four old coins by the creek or up on the hill. Just make sure you give other areas an equal chance.

Regards,

Buckleboy

 

[Skrimpy]

We've hit the surrounding area pretty good but I suppose we could try it again.

 

[Danimal]

Skrimpy-
Is the spot where the lone IH was found also nail-infested? having hunted areas at the Iceberg with Mirage where we literally had to strip layers and layers of soil away before ANY coins were found because of the huge volume of ferrous detritus in the ground, we even were thinking of sifting because we KNEW coins were there. Bob couldn't believe his ML Explorer couldn't find a coin that was only 5" deep until we stripped an inch or two off and BANG...coin.
It might be worth your while to pull every stinking target from about a 10x10ft area near where the IH was found. If the soil is loamy as you say it is, dense silver coins may be very deep and indeed masked. I would strip that 10x10 area down till you hit the clay layer (go down a foot at least if there's still no clay/rock) Work in 1-2" strip-offs and also remember to detect the tailings after you rake it away for unmasked targets. If you strip this 10x10 plot down and get nada, I don't know how much more time I would spend there. I would prob. keep moving (although all the nails ARE a sign you're in the right area)
GL

 

[Skrimpy]

Skrimpy-
Is the spot where the lone IH was found also nail-infested? GL

Oh yes. The spot the indian was found is the ONLY flat spot (that could have been an open area at the time this place was a picnic area), amongst a sea of very steep hills, very old trees and rocky streamside...and that flat spot has tons and tons of wire nails. I would say more than 3-5/square foot.
Newspaper articles and pictures tell us that we are in the right area, and the lay of the land, trees, stream, nails, and a small slab of concrete (could be a pillar) tell us that we are in a spot that held a structure...my guess is a pavilion. I buried a quarter at 6-8 inches and couldn't hit it with the DFX. Even though there weren't any nails in the same spot as the quarter, I think there may be so many in the area that they maybe effecting the detectors. As soon as the ground thaws here we're going to go hit a 10x10 area with shovels and detect the excavated area. I am thinking that instead of sifting we may break the excavated dirt up and then drag a strong magnet through it to see if we can pull the nails out and then detect it. After reading the density article my thought was the same as yours, most of the silver (if it's there), is going to be sitting pretty close to the junction between the top soil and hardpan and all the nails complicate the hell out of getting the DFX to pick them up. I've seen the DFX pick up large coins at more than a foot in demos so it shouldn't have had any problem picking up that quarter...makes me think we could be missing stuff.

 

[richg]

didnt get to read the whole thing but and it may have been mentioned but using no discrimination at all should work. You will not get the null as you should hear everything but you may be able to pluck a coin out here and there if you do not feel like digging it all. I will try to get into this more later when I am at home but right now I am at work. Good Luck!!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Any update on this site, Skrimpy?

 

[Skrimpy]

Any update on this site, Skrimpy?

Nope. Ground is still frozen here in NY. I am not in the mood to dig through a foot of frost like those digging the Berg out in Ohio. They are hard core. I will just wait til the digging is easy.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Yeah, I forgot that fact. It has already warmed up considerably here. Keep us in the loop. I'm curious as to which of the techniques mentioned above work for your site.

Regards,

Buckleboy

 

[gallileo60]

Well what has happened since the last update??

 

[Skrimpy]

Well what has happened since the last update??

Unfortuneately, I have had zero time to detect since last fall. Don't worry, when I lots of whatzits, I'll post em.

 

[SMS88]

Hey, I've got a simliar problem with one of my sites. There's a lot of shallow trash, but there also was a lot of shallow and moderately deep coins. Only difference was that this site was on a rocky cliff. Maybe we can help each other out

 

[Skrimpy]

You're not too far from me, your not hunting the same site I am are you?

 

[bavarianminister]

I have heard that Minelab detectors somehow see around the trash and down to the good stuff. However, this is a little hard to believe. If that were true - then wouldn't all manufacturers be in great jeopardy? Minelab would certainly own the market -wouldn't they?

Bavarianminister

 

[barber]

I had a similar area, had been a auto junk yard, I took some large round magnets out of an old phonograph player, tied a string on them and pulled them thru", and picked up most of the nails and bolts etc, It had some big magnets in it (the player) about 6 or 8 inches across.

 

[Skrimpy]

I had a similar area, had been a auto junk yard, I took some large round magnets out of an old phonograph player, tied a string on them and pulled them thru", and picked up most of the nails and bolts etc, It had some big magnets in it (the player) about 6 or 8 inches across.

So did you make any finds after you pulled the iron?