Hello My Friends!
The first month of my 2016 detecting year became a continuation of the way my 2015 year ended. In January, I had a wicked, super silver extravaganza of hunts (turf and surf), with a little old gold thrown in for good measure! The beaches I hunted last month produced a decent amount of silver coins (including 2 Franklin Halfs), along with a 1955 Class ring (10K, 9.77 grams), a 14K gold band (4.57 grms), a 14K melted piece of gold (1.8 grams), a few pieces of sterling jewelry, a pile of wheat pennies, some early nickels, brass jewelry, and a lead toy soldier.
Turf hunting was equally productive last month. I decided to re-visit an old park I hadn't hunted in the past few years because my buddies and I thought we had pillaged the park (since 2007) to the point of it not being worth finding a few wheats and possibly a silver if we went back there again. Well, one of my buddies and I were in the vicinity of this park, and decided to go check it out. One word, "WOW"! In about 5-6 hunts at this park, we dug about 50 silver coins (including a 1902 Barber Quarter), over 150 wheats, a few pieces of sterling,and a few older nickels. Most of the oldies were from one specific area of the park. Low/dormant grass, along with moist soil conditions made a huge difference. Most of the coins were really deep: 7-10+ inches, and produced very faint, high toned signals. You had to be swinging your coil at snail pace to have a chance at hearing these targets. We zig-zagged over this zone countless times, picking up deep coinage that we had missed on previous hunts. I ended up finding 36 silver coins from this park last month. Notice in my pic that I found two pieces of the same cut Rosie. I found them 5 days apart and within around 30ft from each other. Both pieces sounded like 6" wheat signals. With the weather we're having right now here in So Cal, the grasses are growing back, which means it's going to be tougher to get that extra inch of depth we need to find these elusive deeper targets. It sure was a lot of fun while it lasted...the park was a true eye-opener, in the fact that it had produced so well last month, when in prior years' hunts, you couldn't even buy a deeper, high toned signal there....obviously, the grasses were higher at the park in those years than they were last month.
Last month will probably be my best month of this year with regards to old coin production. I don't foresee the old finds coming as frequent as they did for me last year, and as a result, I won't be posting as often as I did last year either. I know more than a few of you already stated that the oldies in your area are going to be harder to find this year also, unless you hunt more virgin spots like private properties. I wish you all the best on your outings! Most of all, just enjoy your hunts, and dig a few iffy signals from time to time. You may be surprised at what you end up finding!
Thanks for looking!
Keep the Passion High!
HH,
Raphis
Dan
The first month of my 2016 detecting year became a continuation of the way my 2015 year ended. In January, I had a wicked, super silver extravaganza of hunts (turf and surf), with a little old gold thrown in for good measure! The beaches I hunted last month produced a decent amount of silver coins (including 2 Franklin Halfs), along with a 1955 Class ring (10K, 9.77 grams), a 14K gold band (4.57 grms), a 14K melted piece of gold (1.8 grams), a few pieces of sterling jewelry, a pile of wheat pennies, some early nickels, brass jewelry, and a lead toy soldier.
Turf hunting was equally productive last month. I decided to re-visit an old park I hadn't hunted in the past few years because my buddies and I thought we had pillaged the park (since 2007) to the point of it not being worth finding a few wheats and possibly a silver if we went back there again. Well, one of my buddies and I were in the vicinity of this park, and decided to go check it out. One word, "WOW"! In about 5-6 hunts at this park, we dug about 50 silver coins (including a 1902 Barber Quarter), over 150 wheats, a few pieces of sterling,and a few older nickels. Most of the oldies were from one specific area of the park. Low/dormant grass, along with moist soil conditions made a huge difference. Most of the coins were really deep: 7-10+ inches, and produced very faint, high toned signals. You had to be swinging your coil at snail pace to have a chance at hearing these targets. We zig-zagged over this zone countless times, picking up deep coinage that we had missed on previous hunts. I ended up finding 36 silver coins from this park last month. Notice in my pic that I found two pieces of the same cut Rosie. I found them 5 days apart and within around 30ft from each other. Both pieces sounded like 6" wheat signals. With the weather we're having right now here in So Cal, the grasses are growing back, which means it's going to be tougher to get that extra inch of depth we need to find these elusive deeper targets. It sure was a lot of fun while it lasted...the park was a true eye-opener, in the fact that it had produced so well last month, when in prior years' hunts, you couldn't even buy a deeper, high toned signal there....obviously, the grasses were higher at the park in those years than they were last month.
Last month will probably be my best month of this year with regards to old coin production. I don't foresee the old finds coming as frequent as they did for me last year, and as a result, I won't be posting as often as I did last year either. I know more than a few of you already stated that the oldies in your area are going to be harder to find this year also, unless you hunt more virgin spots like private properties. I wish you all the best on your outings! Most of all, just enjoy your hunts, and dig a few iffy signals from time to time. You may be surprised at what you end up finding!
Thanks for looking!
Keep the Passion High!
HH,
Raphis
Dan