Hi!. I would like to hear from anyone who was bitten by THing (treasure hunting). Although I'm sure it's probably been run thru before, I'm new and would like to hear about your experiances. I got my first White's detector in 1978 and the first coin I found was right in a field in my dad's back yard. It was a 1736 Dutch East Indies piece. It probably fell out of a hole in someones pocket i would guess. But there was, right next to the field, an old clay factory in the early years of The Township of New Marlborough in the Village of Clayton, where we lived. So there was quite a bit of activity in this area and was quite busy with all of the logging and grist mills on the river. Deforestation was rampant here in that time period right through the middle 1800's, up until the railroads came. I got my second detector, a Tesoro Golden Eagle about 12 years ago I think and it's a great machine. Nothing major in coins found yet but plenty of old farm equipment. This is fun to sand blast and hang in my gardens. What have been some of your experiances?
I have one, I have a small pile of coins that I have found in my backyard, in fact I went out spotting just yesterday after all the snow melted on the theory that the wet soil might give different pings or maybe coins moved around in the ground with all the muddiness etc. Yes, I have several hits marked off, but hesitate to dig them out yet until the soil is a bit less sloppy. I have a small pile of coins ranging from cents to quarters that I dug up last fall before the weather got lousy. The earliest so far is a 1917 I found under the elm tree in the backyard. My kids each have $15 detectors, they have NOT found coins, but my son did find a silver spoon in the backyard and lots of iron stuff, mostly from when our house was built back in the 1930's. I really intend to do a lot more THing this spring after the weather gets a bit better and all the snow is gone and the ground thawed.
I have a Garrett 1500 that I like a lot. I have found some pocket change and a couple wheaties. haven't gotten out a lot since I bought this a couple years ago. It is fun tho' as long as you have the patience for it.
I have the Ace 250 from Garrett, I never found anything worth wild but then again I only used it about 12 times on the beach… the only thing I could find was beaten down lobster traps. And maybe 75 cents in empty soda cans.
I bought a White's XLT 10 or 11 years ago. I never used it a lot but I have made some interesting finds. I have found Indian Head Cents, Wheat Cents, Liberty Nickels, Buffalo Nickels, Barber Dimes, Mercs, silver Rosies, silver Washingtons, and old Chinese coin with a square hole (found beside an old log cabin beside early railroad tracks - probably dropped by a Coolie) and lots and lots of modern clad coinage. Zinc cents are often found partially dissolved. I have found transit tokens, tax tokens and a very cool token from the Excelsior Shoe Company with the image of a man on a horse (somewhat like the Lafayette Dollar) and swastikas for good luck. Also keys, square nails, jewelry (only one valuable ring - a men's gold wedding ring), toy cast cars and on and on and on. And lots and lots and lots of pull tabs.
Got one for my birthday in June of 2008 and go out as often as I can. I have driven 6 hrs to go to a seeded hunt and a competition. These hunts have let me hook up with other detectors. I travel quite a bit for work and when the day is over and a hotel and TV is what is left for me I go hunting anywhere I can with some of the people I have met who detect. I dug my first silver quarter 1947 D a couple of weeks ago have dug more than 100 in clad lots of silver jewelry and even some gold rings. The detector is what got me back into coins and collecting. My wife gave me a red book for Christmas and I have been buying some coins but mostly looking at all the ones I already had. Ice
Hi Hobo, You live in a great state for any kind of relic hunting-dinosaurs,minerals and coins. I knew there was a reason I've dreamed of Colorado since I was a kid. maybe one day I will get to visit your great stae.
Been swinging the coil for 20+ years. I have a land machine and a water machine. I have found probably 40,000 coins over the years. The oldest is a roman coin from emperior Gallienus from AD 267. Several Chinese from the 1700's. 49 gold rings + numerous sterling silver items. The more ground you cover the better your chances are.
I've been detecting since 1989. Currently I use a White's DFX, great machine. As for finds, I have found quite a few Indian cents, Barbers: dimes & quarters, and one lone Barber $1/2. Plus two silver dollars. And the usual gold & silver jewelry. Great fun. It was finding the Barbers that got me back into coin collecting.
I once found a real treasure. It was 18" down and really set my detector off. I dug and dug and kept checking the hole to make sure it wasn't in the dirt I had piled up. My digger broke from the hard soil so I had to use my hands to remove any loose dirt from the hole. It took an hour but I finally found it. It was a two foot piece of railroad track someone had made into an anvil. :crying:
