Trying to work with a probe. No digging

[TnT2000]

Today I spent about an hour at a very old park I have been driving past, decided to try my hand at using my probe to find and pull the coins, it seemed to work OK for the shallow ones but the deeper ones were hard to locate (a lot of rocks). It took a lot of time to do it this way, Any suggestions?

anyway got small amount of clad and one keeper...1956 D...

 

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[Plugger]

grats on the finds, did you clean the wheat and if so with what? looks like the olive oil method. I have this coin or token i cant read well that i want to use somthing on that wont ruin the item. thanks

Plugger

 

[trk5capt]

My Hunting Buddy Art, is the Coin Man in our Group, But I don't Think He Has Ever Tried This Method. Of Course He Is Pushing Middle Age And it May Be Too Much for His Poor Old Back.? trk5capt...

 

[goldencoin]

Hello, I also use a probe and I find it much more efficient to dig first then probe the hole/ pug. I hope you find some more good stuff.

 

[Monty]

I never had much luck trying to probe a coin out! Same here, too many rocks. Now if the ever came up with a probe that would light up on the end when you hit metal, that might work. What most people call a probe now really isn't. you try to pry with an electronic "probe" and you'll break it. Monty

 

[Jeffro]

Probes are fine for surface finds, but there is no way around digging for deeper hits. Cut a plug, dig it out, remove coin, put the dirt and plug back in and step on it. If you do it right, no one will even be able to tell that there was a hole there. With the recent rains here, the soil is soft and loose. I can do it in 30 seconds or less if the coin is willing.....

 

[hoosierfinds]

I've had my XLT for two years. Last Summer I tried using a worn-out rounded flat head screw driver to probe for coins. It has a four-inch long blade and a three-inch plastic handle. I was surprised by how well it worked if I had carefully centered my target's location. I run it straight into the ground repeatedly at the location of the target, with one finger on the blade just below the handle. It gives a good "thunk" when it hits the coin. If the coin is within 3 inches of the surface I can pry it up fairly well without all the digging. I don't recall scratching any coins yet. If the soil has many rocks it is a problem and I quit the screwdriver probe.
If the depth reading is more than three or four inches, I dig instead.
Steve

 

[TnT2000]

hey all Thanks for all the great advice...I will definitely use it...

Plugger: I did not clean the wheat just washed the mud off it, It was in very nice shape...
I did read in one of the forums about putting it into a potato. Sounds crazy but it might work..

 

[rvbvetter]

I use a long slim shanked screw driver for probing and a heavy shanked one for prying or popping. Just from probing over the years, I can tell by the feel if it's a coin or rock. It wasn't something I knew would or thought about happening. It's just a feel that came to be over time on it's own.
To this day I still probe and pop. But now with longer screw drivers. And it's not so much as popping now because of the depth we're getting. But more of a tumbling or stirring that gets the coin to come to the top.
I can do this at 10 inches, and not take but a couple of minutes if that. 10 inches is not often, but because of my soil here, more often than any place else I've hunted.
The ability I've developed to do this I guess is like anything else. If you do it long enough, you get very profficient at it.
This may sound like I'm stretching it here, but my screw drivers are the only thing thats been stretched. HH

 

[johny mc.]

TNT- you need to be very careful using a probe because of the "nick factor". I suspect you can get pretty good with the probe (but unless I'm missing something here).. you would still be working around the coin then pulling the plug to get to the coin. Even just probing to find the coin could still mark it up and the bigger the coin the more surface area to hit.
I've intentionally cut 6-8 inches (with my digger) further around than l need to -so as not to mark a good target and have still nicked em'.
Go get yourself a Lesche...you can pry a boulder up with the thing and it cuts roots, you name it...does a great job on a wegmans 17 inch hoagie....aloha
HH

 

[rvbvetter]

I put the probe at a 45 degree above and beyond the coin and work the shaft left and right to create an opening. But instead of a straight line, it's a dish shaped or smile pattern if you will. Which allows leeway front and back and left and right to work the coin up. What I'm really tumbling is the soil or clod that contains the coin.
But with this method it is very easy to scratch a coin. I have a safety deposit box full of old coins from my early years with scratches on many of them. I just thought it was destined for me to be the one that found all the scratched coins.
I can see how it could be much easier to use a digger. But just speaking for myself, I like the ability to go back to a sight days later, and see no brown spots or any evidence I had ever been there.
This is not to say everyone should do it this way. It's just my personal preference.
HH

 

[Jeffro]

I scratched one silver coin - that was enough for me. Now I dig 'em all, except in well groomed grass. Here in Oregon we are lucky (?) that it rains all the time. You will never see a brown spot from me, lol..... If you have to, only dig when the conditions are right. Late fall through early spring are best, if you can stand the cold.

Of course, if it's a loud clad signal I will use my dulled down screwdriver, and I do use it quite a bit. Just the older, deeper coins I never probe. I will make a mental note and get back to them when the conditions are right, if I have to.