Posting of in situ pictures

[pepperj]

Ok I'm not saying one way or the other, but finds are posted up on a regular basis that begs me to ask the question, how do they do it?
From digging holes for 45+ yrs I have recovered enough finds to know the coin doesn't lay in the bottom of the hole all shiny and bright (talking silver here). So what I doing wrong? My coin recoveries are mostly from the plug, or the soils that come after digging the plug. I see them when after coming out the hole not laying in the hole unless they fall from the plug on recovery. Granted that some are still stuck in the ground on the side of the hole and might show the edge when digging for the target.

So do most folks dig a plug, then slowly wipe the soils away from the bottom of the hole exposing the whole silver then take the photo? Most of the shots show this, the silver sitting in the hole never in the plug soils broken apart on the ground. How can these silver get wiped off so nicely without getting scratched, because it seems when I even try to wipe a silver the tell tale signs of scuffing occurs. So I learnt to wash it off in a mud puddle, stream, lake, spit even to see enough to ensure it's not a key date coin.
But no I view endless pictures of these photos of the coin in the bottom of the hole, then out of the hole all pretty and nice and no scuffs showing. HOW DO THEY DO THIS?
What am I doing wrong? Being too impatient just digging the soils out and doing the recovery from the dug soils?

This just baffles me to no end.

 

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[Carolina Tom]

Occasionally (Maybe 1 in 5) I dig a silver coin, and it is positioned well for a picture, in a plug or still in the hole. I readily admit that I have and will "stage" in situ pics of the coin, if it does not present itself well. I try to make them look not staged. In situ pics make the TNet post better, IMO.

I assume that's what you mean, as opposed to pulling one out of my pocket and "pretending" to find it. Sadly, I have seen grown men, so starved for the admiration of their peers, that they "plant" things for themselves to find, so others can shower them with accolades. That's a sign of mental illness... I don't do that.

Best of luck to you sir!

 

[relic nut]

Tom is right. I also have laid a find back in the hole too get a good picture.
I've almost never taken a picture of a find laying the way I've found it, mostly because getting a picture of a great find is the last thing on my mind at the time. My first response is to get my hands on it.
You have to remember this is the internet, so you must take things with a grain of salt.
I don't think it happens often, but it does happen.
These type of people soon show their true colors.

HH, RN

 

[pepperj]

Occasionally (Maybe 1 in 5) I dig a silver coin, and it is positioned well for a picture, in a plug or still in the hole. I readily admit that I have and will "stage" in situ pics of the coin, if it does not present itself well. I try to make them look not staged. In situ pics make the TNet post better, IMO.

I assume that's what you mean, as opposed to pulling one out of my pocket and "pretending" to find it. Sadly, I have seen grown men, so starved for the admiration of their peers, that they "plant" things for themselves to find, so others can shower them with accolades. That's a sign of mental illness... I don't do that.
Best of luck to you sir!

I mean both ways I guess, I just wonder why that's all. You explained it well enough Tom. I agree with your last paragraph and it's sad that some have the need so badly.

 

[pepperj]

Tom is right. I also have laid a find back in the hole too get a good picture.
I've almost never taken a picture of a find laying the way I've found it, mostly because getting a picture of a great find is the last thing on my mind at the time. My first response is to get my hands on it.
You have to remember this is the internet, so you must take things with a grain of salt.
I don't think it happens often, but it does happen.
These type of people soon show their true colors.


HH, RN

I see your point in wanting to lay your hands on the find. I'm at the stage in life where if it's been there for a hundred or a thousand years it can wait a few more minutes till I take a photo.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I like to capture an in situ pic before I knock the dirt off, not shiny silver, but want to share that magic moment of uncovering a cool find. More than once I was convinced that I had an awesome big old silver, left it in the hole, took my gloves off, turned off my detector, took several enviro pics, then finally picked up the coin and it was a 1965 quarter or a big washer... Moments of silent embarrassment shared with the wildlife in the woods...

 

[smokeythecat]

I dug a small (broken) jar of old silvers this spring. We even video'd it. There was nothing shiny coming out of the ground sitting there all pretty, etc. It was in a damp area, and we got balls of broken glass, dirt and coins. Didn't know what we had until we washed it off. Fortunately, I was wearing gloves and didn't get cut on the glass.

I wonder about some of those "perfect" digs myself. However, I just don't know. Isn't a problem for me. I just move on. Now, AFTER the stuff is out of the ground, that's a different story. This spring I dug a huge dandy button, ca 1780, when I haphazardly threw the dirt out of the ground, it stood up on end and I could tell it was a button, we made jokes about it being a George Washington button, but it wasn't. It was kind of funny this 200 year old button on edge staring at me.

 

[fyrffytr1]

Soil conditions have a lot to do with it. We have very loose sandy soil here so almost all of our finds come out very clean. Here are two examples. Both came from the same site and were within 20 feet of each other. I take pictures of good finds as soon as I can see them but I will stage a picture to better show the item.

 

[Slingshot]

I'm not a trophy hunter and don't need the deer head hanging in the living room or pictures of old coins I dig, I eat my deer and spend or sell my detector finds. I do agree that most coins come out in the plug, a few are still beneath it. The silver around here comes out nice and shiny because there are oak trees everywhere and they deposit leaves and acorns full of water soluble tannic acid on the soil that keeps the silver as if it just came out of someone's pocket. I do carry a small water spray bottle to wash off possibly valuable coins to keep from scratching them with the dirt grinding compound they were found in. The downside to digging shiny silver is that the old copper and nickel coins are pretty much toast when they come out of the same ground, and zinkys are mere fragments of their former selves in a couple of years. Matthew Brady staged a lot of his Civil War pictures, dragging dead bodies into new positions and laying rifles across them also to add zest to his photographic horror show. It just goes to show that from Brady's time to present the desire to capture a special moment on film still remains along with the desire to present it in an enhanced way.

 

[4x4x4]

....FAKE NEWS !
(there , I said it)

 

[pepperj]

....FAKE NEWS !
(there , I said it)

That's original.

So FN works?

 

[pepperj]

Soil conditions have a lot to do with it. We have very loose sandy soil here so almost all of our finds come out very clean. Here are two examples. Both came from the same site and were within 20 feet of each other. I take pictures of good finds as soon as I can see them but I will stage a picture to better show the item.

I take a photo even if I see a rim, or any part of the find. Saw one the other day, great patina flat edge sticking out of the dirt. Thought this is going to be one of those nice keepers, removed it from the dirt and it turned out to be a shotgun shell.

 

[Kurios1]

Interesting topic. I try to dig generous size plugs on my coin targets. I can't say what percentage of coins I get in the plug versus down in the hole? As far as when I actually figure out where the target is and I am going to snap a few pics I try to keep it as "real" as I can. I am trying to convey the actual scenario of how and where I found the target to help others new to the sport. I certainly stage pics of items after recovery at the sight. I don't get many deep silver coins for my pics. Sad but, true. I reckon like other's have already mentioned and we all suspect some of these "recoveries" are fake. I guess some folks need to feel "validated" by producing bogus finds? Maybe this is an "illness"? I might be crazy like many of us trash digging maniacs but, have never felt the need to plant fake targets to gain "acceptance" or "cheers" from the forum folks. Sad commentary on a person who feels the need to do so I would say.

 

[coinman123]

I have only found a few silver coin ever, a barber dime, a war nickel, and two Spanish silvers. I don't take photos either until I get home or in the car/parking lot. I don't have the patience to wait and see what an item is until after I take a photo, though I normally leave the dirt on until I get home, so I don't damage any finds. I have gotten a couple very cool photos of coins before I cleaned them. As for being obsessed with trying to getting admiration from my peers, I am much too lazy to try to (I sometimes have a great hunt, and am too lazy to even post/take photos of my finds) .

 

[pepperj]

I have only found a few silver coin ever, a barber dime, a war nickel, and two Spanish silvers. I don't take photos either until I get home or in the car/parking lot. I don't have the patience to wait and see what an item is until after I take a photo, though I normally leave the dirt on until I get home, so I don't damage any finds. I have gotten a couple very cool photos of coins before I cleaned them. As for being obsessed with trying to getting admiration from my peers, I am much too lazy to try to (I sometimes have a great hunt, and am too lazy to even post/take photos of my finds) .



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I understand your logic and there's nothing wrong with any of it. Leaving the dirt on a find until you get home shows you have some huge patience!
I wouldn't be able to concentrate on hunting thinking what is it, old, newer, key date, rare, worn, token, and that's in the coppers. Silvers are even worse there's a need to know, so mud puddles, streams, bottle of water, spit has been used to figure what I have. I guess it just from a few times putting a dirt silver in the pouch or pocket, getting home or back to the truck and finding out that the soil has dried and worked like sand paper rubbing on surface.

"(I sometimes have a great hunt, and am too lazy to even post/take photos of my finds) ."

Oh I here you loud and clear on this one-it takes me longer to clean, photo, post, than what I had time to go hunting in the first place. So the hunt comes first and sometimes I try to post, and then I loose the post. Then life gets crazy and I forget until the best before date expires.

 

[pepperj]

Interesting topic. I try to dig generous size plugs on my coin targets. I can't say what percentage of coins I get in the plug versus down in the hole? As far as when I actually figure out where the target is and I am going to snap a few pics I try to keep it as "real" as I can. I am trying to convey the actual scenario of how and where I found the target to help others new to the sport. I certainly stage pics of items after recovery at the sight. I don't get many deep silver coins for my pics. Sad but, true. I reckon like other's have already mentioned and we all suspect some of these "recoveries" are fake. I guess some folks need to feel "validated" by producing bogus finds? Maybe this is an "illness"? I might be crazy like many of us trash digging maniacs but, have never felt the need to plant fake targets to gain "acceptance" or "cheers" from the forum folks. Sad commentary on a person who feels the need to do so I would say.

There's the ones that feel the need to post up coinage that has been of a non-dug nature. Most that have been around the forums for years can see the difference and the ol' comes out even though most don't say anything.

I guess what I was trying to convey was the photos that some do take, and then recover the coin up a bit after it's cleaned up. Why not just photo it dirty, and cleaned up and be done with it? The ones that take the photo shot of the coin, copper or silver laying where it was just exposed then one of it cleaned up a bit in the mitt/laying on the dirt pile are great. I feel there's no need to bury it in the bottom of the hole again, because simple logic tells me it came from the hole in the first place.

 

[coinman123]

I understand your logic and there's nothing wrong with any of it. Leaving the dirt on a find until you get home shows you have some huge patience!
I wouldn't be able to concentrate on hunting thinking what is it, old, newer, key date, rare, worn, token, and that's in the coppers. Silvers are even worse there's a need to know, so mud puddles, streams, bottle of water, spit has been used to figure what I have. I guess it just from a few times putting a dirt silver in the pouch or pocket, getting home or back to the truck and finding out that the soil has dried and worked like sand paper rubbing on surface.

I think that after finding my first Spanish silver (and my only one that isn't a flat disk), and seeing the pillars on the back, I spat on it and rubbed the date area. I was so excited I couldn't resist. As for coppers, I still always have a heart attack finding them, they are my favorite coins to find (right after old silver). I learned from my first two coppers that even if you rub the dirt off in the field, it still doesn't make it much easier to ID. Since then when I find them I do a happy dance, and put them in my pocket until I get home (where I spend nearly an hour carefully getting all the crud out, or learning it is toasted and being disappointed). I think if there was water nearby, and I found another Spanish silver, I would probably wash it off to see the date .

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Interesting topic for discussion Jim.

I know what you're saying here, that is why I personally take so many pics of my finds in-situe in the field.

There's nothing more disheartening then when someone makes a good find and yet it looks planted or staged to make the BANNER or to gain credibility with fellow detectorists.

It was great seeing you again on Tuesday in Kingston!

Dave

 

[Carolina Tom]

I went last weekend, and found a worn '39 quarter. The ground was hard and I was "pitching" the dirt out of the hole... no plugs here, the ground is like concrete! Hammer the digger in, pull back, and shear off a hunk of red dirt.

This pic was altered in no way. The quarter was shiny, like new and just sitting in the ejected dirt. More than half of the silver coins I dug come out looking like new.

I know what you gentlemen are getting at about fraud, people are a strange lot, you just never know what the other person is thinking. I have met a ton of great people on TNet, and a couple of heart breaking frauds. It is such a let down to find out your hero is a zero!

PS: Thanks for the thought provoking post PJ.

 

[pepperj]

Interesting topic for discussion Jim.

I know what you're saying here, that is why I personally take so many pics of my finds in-situe in the field.

There's nothing more disheartening then when someone makes a good find and yet it looks planted or staged to make the BANNER or to gain credibility with fellow detectorists.

It was great seeing you again on Tuesday in Kingston!

Dave

Thanks for the photos Dave, and getting out for a hunt with you I know that you've got something when the recovered target turns into a photo opt. Great meeting up even though it was a short hello, life is just too damn busy.