Nickel Day at the woods pt. 2

[twistidd]

Hey guys,

I stopped by the camp for a couple hours today. I figured I'd rework the area TF and I had worked really hard (LowBatts-the area we were at when you stopped by last week). It seems one can always find something he missed previously at this place. TreasureFiend and I worked this area hard, going back and forth over each other's tracks several times. Undoubtedly, virtually all of the copper/silver coins are gone in this small area (which has been worked by many over the years), but if you know what to listen for, you can dig up some nice nickels. I found three silvers (1943 S, 1943 S, 1944 P), a no-date buffalo, and four clad Jeffersons (1956, 1964, 1964, 1969). Pushing into the woods a little bit, I picked up two wheats (1944 D, 1956 D).

One of the wheats (1944 D) came from the same exact spot I found the mercury dime coin spill. The reason I didn't find it then, is because as I swept over it today (to double-check), I got a broken-up high tone with a large iron overload when I turned my discrimination down. I dug it up and it ended up being a huge iron tent spike (we find tons of those here). After I swung the coil over the same spot following the removal of the spike, I got that nice high tone. Woo-hoo! Another mercury dime? Let's see. I dug down 5 or 6 inches, and pull out........a blasted Boy Scout slide. Argh. I put the dirt back in the hole, stood up, and swept the hole, and there was that nice signal again. Sigh. Re-dug that hole, and found the wheat cent. Guys, always re-check your holes! That penny/slide could have been a silver quarter. I didn't get a decent signal on them until I removed the spike.

The creepiness factor was high today. As I was digging a target (probably foil), I kept hearing the distant laughter of children. Now, I know that sound can travel in strange ways. But this just sounded too close to have been from anywhere but the woods somewhere. I kept standing up and removing my headphones, and time and time again, that Blair Witch-esque laughter. Where the hell was it coming from? I imagined looking up and seeing blood-thirsty rugrats with bloody knives staring me down, straight out of a Troma flick. Eventually, I noticed some young kids (7? 8?) about 300 yards down the treeline, playing. I didn't notice any adults. It was very odd. And within minutes of seeing them, they disappeared. No noise, no sticks breaking, nothing. For any of you reading this who have never been here before, it is definately not the type of area little kids play in, attended or unattended. It's kind of remote. Yikes. Ghosts of Boy Scouts long-gone perhaps? (Cue Twilight Zone theme song!)

Looking forward to the group hunt!

Joe

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[Lowbatts]

I know what you mean. Have an elementary school in the backyard. Those little things (kids) give me the creeps too sometimes. Especially when the Lil' Lowbatts' were there.

Is there a uniform response in your nickel finds? As I've said before, buffs often tend toward foil for my machine with a rare nickel indication while all other nickels come up very consistently in the nickel id range. The only time I get buffs that read consistent nickel are at extreme depth (8"+) or very shallow (under 2").

 

[twistidd]

Lowbatts,

For the most part, nickels in general ring up in the same range. Audibly, they ring up the same tone. But visually, there are exceptions, depending on depth, etc. My technique is to dig any signal that even hints at nickel. On the White's, nickels are typically 18-20 VDI. I'll dig anything 10-35 in the woods, and sometimes it is a nickel, mostly it is the large, tightly-packed clumps of foil that fool the M6 into thinking it is a nickel. Small bits of foil, or loose clumps ring up lower, in the 0-9 range, typically. I also get a lot of the older-style pulltabs, of course.

I never noticed a difference in standard Jefferson nickels and war nickels until today. I've read they ring up higher than clad nickels but I've found a bunch that rang up in the 18-22 range. Today, all of the war nickels rang up around 30-35. It was strange. I'm guessing the answer to this query has to do with environmental factors, or maybe I just don't know what the hell I'm doing. All I know is that I don't mind digging huge pocketfulls of foil and crap for a small palmful of nickels. If that's what it takes, so be it. I just don't want people reading this to think I'm easily digging all these nickels without the trash. Oh, I dig lots of it. Lots.

Joe

 

[Lowbatts]

Yeah maybe you don't know what you're doing but it sure sounds like you got it right with all the nickels you've been pulling. Gotta be a gold streak coming soon. A question for you TID number users also. Is there a wider variance in the number range for coinage than junk? Say a nickel gives a good 22 and locks on that number, one at angle maybe bounces 18-19. Does the junk bounce more than one or two digits or lock on?

I'm guessing that it only locks on if it's solid junk but the loose foil or thinly stranded can slaw may bounce a bit more. I know I can get a range hop on the weaker junk but usually even the small gold items will lock into a category unless it's a chain or co-located with a similar mass of any given metal.

 

[bomber]

,yer going to have a crowd of diggers following ya on sunday

 

[Goio]

Good hunting Joe you'r cleaning up the place