How do you catalog your finds?

[Monstarules]

Hiya everybody! So here is an interesting question: how do YOU catalog your finds? I like to use Excel to do it for me: https://imgur.com/a/oeNGo

That Excel template I am using is still a work in progress, but if people think it's neat I could make a public release of it for us here on TNet!

 

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[Truth]

I don’t catalog my finds a wish I did.


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[pepperj]

I don’t catalog my finds a wish I did.


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I have never kept a record as I do this out of pure pleasure, a way of unwinding the thoughts of the world. I hate paperwork and everything about it, so if I kept a log/spreadsheet/diary, it would be placing a millstone around my neck, and would take the pleasure away from what I love to do. Taking a picture, and doing the occasional posting of the hunt is enough for me. I commend others that have the resolve to record, document, log the hunts down electronically or on paper-my hat goes off to you all.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I do not catalog my finds, however I do keep a log of my hunts which give the date the site and I list my keeper coins and bucket list items found during the hunt as well as face value money totals. I take a pic of my finds for the day,

I have many coin folders and when a find fills an open slot, it is a win/win. Coins that do not have folders available, I use the cardboard coin flips.

I also have 4 printer drawers to display my best relics as well as a shelf in the garage (one printer drawer is used to display tootsie toys and other older toys I dug).

I have a 6 drawer jewelry box, a drawer for each season to hold the great looking junkers, silvers and gold. I will have 2 drawers left for the next 2 seasons.

I found a nice plastic case for 99 cents at the goodwill (assume it is for a beanie baby) where I filled it with cool relics and keep it in my office at work as a conversation piece.

I also look for deep display frames when I go to goodwill and pick them up cheap. One is used for CW tokens, another for copperhead coins from the CW and another for Love tokens.

I am very proud of my finds and love to display them even though I rarely get to show them off.

This coming season I have a CW hunt planned with some other Tnetters and will make a display for the finds I dug during that detecting vacation.

I keep my clad in coffee containers after they have been cleaned and roll them up throughout the season and will deposit them into my hobby bank account after I make my best of the year post. I do dump my pennies using a coinstar machine.

All mutilated coins are kept in a cloth bag and toast zincolns go in a jar after rejected by the coinstar machine.

shelf I hung in the garage


coffee containers for clad and other items
Q=quarters, D=dimes, N=nickels, P=pennies, J=junk jewely & buttons, R=relics, T=toys, I use one for keys & locks


4 views of the plastic case display in my office


I have about a foot locker worth of finds total stashed throughout the garage. I keep these just in case I want to make some collages and or mobiles with relics.

I also have a couple 5 gallon buckets for recycling. One for copper/brass and another for Lead.

 

[Tpmetal]

does this count?

 

[dsrtdwg1]

Good thread and it points out the differences in how everyone feels about their finds. I keep nothing but the "junk silver coins". If a coin has a numismatic value I sell it, if the relic or jewelery has any value I sell it, clad gets spent. There is no right or wrong to this, the pleasure seems to be in the find for me.....I do not need anymore stuff in my life.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

I keep an Excel list of each hunt, breaking out how many of each coin and any valuable jewelry along with the # of hours hunted and the site. I also lay out and take a pic of what was found on each hunt. All files are are labeled with YY.MM.DD and I set up the Excel to calculate totals for each month and year.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Trash and scrap get cataloged in the round file, most toys too. Clad gets cataloged into the bank, and all my silver and gold goes into my pirate chest.

The only things keep any form of records for are the historical ones, like ghost towns and stage stations. I geo-tag every find and load a field pic of it, then the actual finds go into bags or tubs for each location.

 

[Terry Soloman]

I break finds into five categories:

Garbage
Crap
Interesting Crap
Salable
$$$$

 

[Ammoman]

Catalog? That sounds like work! Display? Again, way too much work. If i ever find anything of real value it will be sold quick!

 

[Monstarules]

It's interesting to see all the inputs here! Keep discussing!

 

[villagenut]

I'm a bit obsessive about how I catalog my finds. I include insitu pics and maps, both old and new and my own drawn ones as I include them in a book form that tells the story of the connection between the artifact and the settlers who lived on the properties where the finds were made.As I find things I connect them to the folks who lived there during that time period that relate to the artifact. It takes a lot of research but the several blocks that I have concentrated on over decades was occupied by settlers that were well accounted for.So for me its more about the story of the historical connection between the artifact and the settler, who I know all by name. Maybe one day I will publish it....my wife wishes it was over with alreadyp.s. I do keep a written log too that is separate from the book.

 

[smokeythecat]

I put my finds in riker mounts which are labeled as to the site. New stuff goes in marked ziplock bags until I can properly clean them. Big iron gets an individual tag each. Junk gets tossed, good coins, which are few, go in flips and stuck in the safe deposit box. If I have a lot of sites with a lot of good iron, like Civil War, I put that batch in a tupperware tub with a lid. Old silver gets tossed in a jug. My 1870-1964 silver, with the exception of keys dates, is mainly face melt value. Earlier ones go in flips. I have very few of them. Clad and cents go in quart mason jars with the year on the top.

 

[Carson Coin Master]

I use my brain to remember stuff and throw everything in a big coffee can. :-)

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[RustyGold]

I take a photo.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Tnet

 

[MrBlueSkyNM]

This year I started using MS Excel to catalog my best finds. Not too hard to do since I mostly coin shoot. I have columns for date, type of hunt (Metal Detecting, Coin Star, etc.), pre 64 coins, gold and silver jewelry and miscellaneous coins such as foreign coins. It works for me and like your's it's a work in progress, being modified as needed. Actual finds are broken down into coffee cans for the calendar year. Pennies and junk go into one can, and higher denomination coins go into another. Coins are cashed in for detecting tools/gear at the end of the year! Going to get a new shovel this year!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

I'm e-challenged so i keep a paper & pen account of where, when and what, along with a photo of the days finds. I haven't gotten around to putting photos in the written record yet. This should be interesting.

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[DeepseekerADS]

I found a metal detecting database file on the Internet some years ago and log in my finds there. I have the databases separated by year - keep a blank one for the next year. It already has the categories laid out and keeps a running total of the coinage type, and has categories for gold & silver jewelry. I've sent copies of the blank sheet to a number of members here.

If anyone want's a copy of that database file, just PM me with your e-mail address. After each hunt I log in the finds. Lately I've been inputting the gram weights in the comments section of silver jewelry so I can keep track on that too. I take pictures of all good finds, seldom do the clad. Apparently the database file will import pictures, but I've not tried that feature yet.

 

[Dr. Witty]

I keep my silver coins and interesting non silver coins (Buffs, V Nicks, large cents) in a coin book i got on E-Bay. Good rings go in a separate case, and the cool non coin stuff (junk rings, dog tags, pot pipes and jackknives) I keep in a small plastic tool type box. I got no time for display cases or spreadsheets. I also found a water bong in the woods, which stays where i found it.