Metal detector

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deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
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sounds like a plan on the burned houses. I'll have to look around. I really want to find old hinges and that kind of thing. Maybe old tool parts gears and stuff would be okay to.
 

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
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Aztlán, Arizona
I have always wanted to get into that. I had a metal detector or I should say a device that went beep, beep, beep.... it never detected anything. It was around $40 and a complete waste of money.

I have always wanted to go down some of the wagon trails around here and see what I could find. There is hundreds of miles of old wagon trails mostly formed during the gold rush to Cali. I am sure they tossed some interesting stuff to lighten the load.

I always figured if anything at least I am out and about and enjoying the great outdoors.

I know a guy who built a metal detector using PVC pipe and some other stuff that I do not remember. He mounted it on wheels to tow behind is ATV and goes out to the Wilcox dry lake and searches for meteoroids. I know some that he found went for BIG $$$$$.

He know uses a ultra light along with the ATV to look for the meteoroids, he said they are very easy to spot against the white dry lake ground.
Posted this five years ago and forgot about it. Past two years I have been metal detecting for fun. Mostly when I walk the dog I'll take my detector. Few times on the MB but not as much as walking the dog.

Have not found anything of real value but I have had some luck. two years ago (2013) I found a 1960 Pony express centennial medal.

2014 I found tons of pennies, most of them in so bad shape not even worth a penny anymore. But! I did find two Indian head penny's one from 1901 and 1908.

Also found a James Buchanan Old Buck coin, silver money clip with a greyhound on it. A few Mexico pesos from the 50's which is absolutely worthless.

Also have found A Tucson Airport Authority medallion 1948-1968

And a State of Oregon World War 1917-1918 Service medallion
 

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Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
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Britain's different, some of the biggest coin and archaeological hauls of recent years have been from metal detecting.
 

Ludwig II

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Jul 17, 2012
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In Cirencester, the current town is smaller than Roman times, so you can't even dig a pond in your own garden without risking archaeology turning up.
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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I dunno if I weighed in on this or not.
Metal detecting is nearly perfect to go along with MAB riding!

The best place to go for info is "treasurenetDOTcom" register and introduce yourself!
very nice, and helpful group of people.
rc
 

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
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Aztlán, Arizona
I've been using a Garrett Ace 150. Not the best one or most expensive but for a beginner like me I like it, very user friendly. If I ever find anything that can pay off this one maybe someday I'll get a better one.

I do wish it had volume control. I had to purchase a in line volume control for my headphones.
 

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2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
I was searching for information about a double-headed quarter my wife found and stumbled on this forum > http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/forum.php?
Seems to be guys like us using the V-Bulletin forum format. Lots of good stuff for metal detector and treasure hunters. Also coin collectors.

Oh, and the quarter we found...turns out it is a 'joke' sold in magic shops. They machine a quater into a pan and another one is reduced in diameter and is pressed into the pan. One side of ours is a 1981, the other side is a 1986. Washingtom's head on both sides.

Tom
 

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
11,199
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Aztlán, Arizona
Last night I rode over to a local park and hit the window at the little league snack bar.

My best find in one place...$2.45 lol. Man why can't I find that diamond ring? A rolex watch would be nice. Doesn't anybody lose anything anymore?
 

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rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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IMO, Dave, you're in a fine place to pick up maybe enough change to get you back home, a League button, or some candy-wrapper foil.

The hard packed dirt at the stand makes it easy for a kid to spot any quarter they might have dropped. Anything else, well, they'll just let it lay there.

A Rolex? Nah. Too EZ for anyone to spot.

Now, if you are able to get on the adult field in Brentwood or Belair, immediately after a celebrity charity game function, you might have a bit of a chance at those items you hope to find.

The 'ladies yellow metal ring with white stone' type things are more frequently discovered where those well manicured digits encounter cold water. It shrinks the well fed finger, and the ring slips off before it's noticed. You'll need a water detector, and wading out to the 4ft depth will be necessary for the best luck. Have a try at Malibu, or Venice Beach, especially after a fancy weight-loss clinic has a field trip or function over a weekend.

Anything with mano a mano hand contact on the sand, like tossing a volleyball around will cause swelling in the fingers, securing that ring quite tightly. But you could find bracelets, earrings, and medallions that were once held by a chain, or pin.

Back when, I enjoyed a ride to the baseball field, or park, with my detector strapped on my back... then a small group of young boys came over, as I arrived, expressed interest in the MAB, and joked, saying they would ride it off
when I got to the other side of the field...
So I joked back...
I told them I'm not going to chase you. In the old days you would just need to be faster than a bullet, and bet against my accuracy, which I'll tell you is still pretty fair. But today, all you gotta be is faster than my cell phone and whoever is on duty... I've already told you it doesn't have much power and you need to pedal up a hill.
Well, they just laughed. I smiled and began detecting the grassy field, asking them if they would help me carry home the ton of gold I hoped to find.
:)
rc

...and good luck to you!
usflg
 

Slogger

Member
Sep 8, 2014
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I had a nice one, all the trick diggers and a pin pointer to use.
I'm big, tall and getting old, and the squatting and crawling on the ground digging targets started to strain my back too much, I finally sold it off. (took me a minute to get up, and I thought, this ain't no fun.)
I never found anything but junk, but I never tried anywhere interesting.
If you're getting old or are big or have a touchy back, it may not be as fun as it sounds.
Silver sounds almost exactly like rusty iron. The ground is full of rusty iron and pull tabs.
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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Slogger, I feel your pain.

...yah, there's quite a bit on the down side of beeping, but that carrot on a stick is still there, inspiring me to go further, with hopes of that huge prize !

For the most part, my fortune has run as Dave's, but I've picked up a notable trinket here and there, over the years. Nothing in the Rolex class, though.

Perhaps one day!
(See? Still hoping for the big prize!)

:)
rc

usflg
 

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
11,199
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38
Aztlán, Arizona
I like my detector it tells me if its a pull tab visually and sound. When I hunt in places that I know there is lots of junk I make sure I turn off the iron. I only turn it on when I am out in the boonies of the desert.

What I get fooled with is bullets, I have a jar full of them.

I too when I first started was real frustrated and was finding nothing but junk.

What I finally did was buried some coins, pull tabs, gold, silver and copper ect. in my backyard. And practiced and listened to the tone. Did not take me very long to learn the tones and what they mean and made my hunting much more pleasurable.

Now Im picking up coins left and right and by the tone I can tell how deep they are. For me it was just a matter of learning what hits to dig for and which ones to ignore. But I still get fooled once in a while.

I like to go to the dunes and playas around town and hunt for meteorites. Thats the only time I use all modes of my detector and dig every hit when I am out in places where I know no junk should be.

The photo is just one of the dunes I go to that's suppose to be a meteorite hot spot, you can see my detector at the bottom of the photo. Have not found one yet but I will one day.

The next photo is a piece of copper I hunked off a mesa in the superstition mountains. Copper, Quartz, and iron in one spot...oh boy! you know what that means? Can't wait to go back and continue my hunt.
 

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Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
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See if you can get on old army bases, just on the off chance somebody buried a jeep because it was too much trouble to dispose of properly.
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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Looks like something I would discover, Dave.
Interesting, and would be a fine piece of yard art, but half an old differential housing is just too heavy for me to carry back to the truck !

IMO...
My experience with the Ace is that it is a tad slow at recovering, from one target to the next, while conducting a sweep at normal speed. I find the Tesoro machines to be much more responsive.

Also, IMO...
A ladies yellow metal ring w/white stone is indistinguishable from many pull tabs and also certain bits of foil. To hunt with any more than a very small amount of discrimination will limit my discovery of the best contemporary targets.

...I'd rather carry home a nice ring than a differential... the Jeep is all yours!
:)
rc

.duh.
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
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UK
Just musing. Some rivers have changed course, some have been diverted deliberately, or dried up as their water supply was diverted. There will have been approaches to landing places, and they're now dry land. Are they possible sites of interest?

The same thought applies to old motel/hotel sites, and in a larger context, towns which have died as traffic and work and money moved elsewhere.

What about old train stops too?
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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I thought the half axle looked like one of those free standing ashtrays.
That could be an option... I'd be pleased to set a birdbath upon it! :)
I like yard art !

News says the stern emblem from the Graf Spee has been recovered and there is talk that the government of Uruguay might put it up for auction... estimated about $15 million! Too controversial, at any price, for me !
But I wish I had been the one who discovered, and retrieved it.
....Lotta passes towing the side-scan sonar!
rc
cvlt1