Finally got tired of finding clad

[maxxkatt]

Ok, for the past 2-3 years with my AT Pro I was mainly hunting modern parks all developed in the 1970-1980 here in North Atlanta so no silver at all to be found in these parks. But lots of clad in park, tot-lot, volley ball courts and some soccer fields. Switched to some old home sites, and same story. Mostly clad, maybe a few silver rings during the year. Did some lake beach hunting, more clad, junk jewelry and one good Tiffany's .925 bracelet.

So after a while it got boring. I was seriously considering giving up the hobby. Anyone else gotten bored with finding just clad? To me there is just no challenge digging clad.

If so what did you do to put the zest back into the metal detecting hobby for you?

Me personally, I spent about 6 months researching the civil war battle sites and staging areas around Atlanta and am now hunting some permissions.

 

[LovestheShiny!]

Hi Maxxkatt - Before moving to Western Montana, my main hobby was bottle digging. My wife and I moved a few years ago to a part of Montana where the soil is all glacial scrape (ancient Lake Missoula) - tons of various sized rocks, can't even get a probe in the ground to look for outhouse pits or dumps. Since I had done a bit of metal detecting back in the early 1980's, why not go back to doing some of that? Last year I bought an AT Pro and find it is a great machine for my type of detecting and soil conditions.

Just like you, at first I was checking out the local fairgrounds, parks, school yards, play equipment etc and finding tons of clad, but nary a silver coin or anything old. All the usual locations had been hammered for decades. And just like you, I like the older stuff and wanted to find silver. The AT Pro went much deeper than my old White's plus with different tones and a Target Number, I had hopes of finding old coins and relics.

My "ah ha" moment came last spring when I tried out the Pro at a grassy side area at a nearby ca 1914 school. Just learning my machine, I got a nice high tone and popped out a 1912 Barber Dime about 6" down. Later on that same hunt I pulled a 1901 "V" Nickel out, and I thought... man... there ARE still old coins to be found!

LOCATION is the absolute key on finding the older stuff. This year I have pulled out 212 silver coins, including a couple of Peace Dollars, plus almost 1,000 Wheaties, silver and gold rings, Montana trade tokens, odd relics, Fort Missoula military buttons and much more. I am saying this to ENCOURAGE you (and anyone else!), as where you detect (of course your ability too) is of prime consideration.

I detect parking/curb strips, and private yards with permission. Private yards are the very best... no one can give you any flak as you have the owner's OK! Any home 1940's and older has the potential for silver, wheaties, and the odd older surprises! I see you are in Georgia, waaaaay older than where I live, so there must be opportunities and locations where you can find early silver, large cents, Indian Heads, even Colonial coins. I would love to have a chance to detect where you live!

Learn how to read a home's architecture to get an approximate date of build, learn how to read whether a lawn is fresh turf brought in or original. Your local library may have Sanborn Fire Insurance maps which are super helpful in knowing when a structure was built. Don't be worried about asking permission at older private homes. Be confident, cleanly dressed, and stress respect for their private property and let the owners know that you will take excellent care of their lawn as you save history! I find with a great attitude and friendliness, I can get permission more than 90% of the time!

Good luck in your quest for older coins, they ARE there waiting for you to find them!

 

[Big Treble]

Quit digging shallow signals. Simple as that.

Look, we all love detecting just have many differences on targets. Your like me, I'd actually preferr to come home with as little clad as possible and a couple silvers. I have jars of change, I empty my pockets every day in jars, just dont care for it. I mainly attempt to hunt for silver, and get tired of wheat pennies too, just dont want to miss the deep smooth dime. You still may get some deeper clad but will be less painful.

Second option is to become a relic hunter and hit old home sites. Many places are very easy to get permission for and receive little or no hunting pressure. The finds will generally be worth less than a clad quarter, but im my book definitely more cool to look at.

Been hunting over eight years and love digging just as much today as I did when I started.

IF your still stuck with these feelings...,.well this hobby might not do it for you, and that's ok too.

 

[IDXMonster]

Quit digging shallow signals. Simple as that.

Look, we all love detecting just have many differences on targets. Your like me, I'd actually preferr to come home with as little clad as possible and a couple silvers. I have jars of change, I empty my pockets every day in jars, just dont care for it. I mainly attempt to hunt for silver, and get tired of wheat pennies too, just dont want to miss the deep smooth dime. You still may get some deeper clad but will be less painful.

Second option is to become a relic hunter and hit old home sites. Many places are very easy to get permission for and receive little or no hunting pressure. The finds will generally be worth less than a clad quarter, but im my book definitely more cool to look at.

Been hunting over eight years and love digging just as much today as I did when I started.

IF your still stuck with these feelings...,.well this hobby might not do it for you, and that's ok too.

I second everything said here,exact same boat with the exact same intentions. I want to find a specific type of target(silver) and I will do anything within reason to make it happen. Putting yourself in the correct spot to begin with is key. Then don’t dig shallow modern stuff. Sure,COULD it be silver?? Anything is POSSIBLE. You have to go with what’s PROBABLE. It will give you success over time.
Great post Big T!

 

[metaladdict]

Location is everything, permissions are a good bet.

 

[TommyJay]

I love finding clad. They add up over the year, they let my arm rest when I dig more, and they help me get to know my machines better.

Just dont get me started on zincolns I have thrown quite a few away.

I would follow Big Trebles advice for the goodies, and maybe tweak your machine for the high tones. Im sure there are plenty of vids on youtube from folks who will share their settings.

 

[allenknight555]

After detecting for about 2 an a half years Imstarting to feel the same way. Cleaned and rolled the clad to buy silver proof coins. Been going out in the woods and hunting camping sites but its a trade off . lots of 22 shells and brass. Im way out west so nothing older then 1850s. Ive found wheat's in new parks and rings at camp sites , so you never know modern people loose old stuff and people and money travel I've found euros, pesos, maples. You just never know what's in the next hole or at your next new site and that keeps me interested.

Sent from my LGUK410 using Tapatalk

 

[KS Plug Popper]

I like it all. Haha, just dumb eneough to enjoy it. Ill dig anything anywhere anytime. I stopped at a parking lot curb side last night for hour up till dark and pulled out 4 quarters, 5 dimes, 1 nickel, and a dozen pennies, nothing silver, but very close, nickel was 1964. All that was in an area about 4X4 feet. I dont know how much clad is there, but it was all inches apart and by the time i was done id pluged the whole little area, haha. Ill go back there again in the future, there has got to be a silver in that mess somewhere! I do agree with all the above statments though. Location, location, location.

 

[jack&jill]

Ok, for the past 2-3 years with my AT Pro I was mainly hunting modern parks all developed in the 1970-1980 here in North Atlanta so no silver at all to be found in these parks. But lots of clad in park, tot-lot, volley ball courts and some soccer fields. Switched to some old home sites, and same story. Mostly clad, maybe a few silver rings during the year. Did some lake beach hunting, more clad, junk jewelry and one good Tiffany's .925 bracelet.

So after a while it got boring. I was seriously considering giving up the hobby. Anyone else gotten bored with finding just clad? To me there is just no challenge digging clad.

If so what did you do to put the zest back into the metal detecting hobby for you?

Me personally, I spent about 6 months researching the civil war battle sites and staging areas around Atlanta and am now hunting some permissions.

Ya know Max, I never lost the want to dig clad but as I got deeper into the hobby and found some success digging Silver coins they just became the priority target. What change for me was the chose of sites. I started looking for older locations to apply my evolving talents. The only coins I shun are Zincolns (might explain why I dig so for Indians). Still dig clad but just not as much is available to me. Trapper

 

[NCtoad]

Digging clad is where I usually find rings. I always dig solid signals even if it's a low conductor. So, when digging clad keep and eye and ear out for other signals that may be gold.

 

[diggin4clad]

Been detecting for 36 years and I never tire of digging clad....it keeps the interest up and at year's end the pile of clad gets turned into silver and/or gold. To each their own however. Some like it, some don't.

 

[sandgroper]

If you're not finding silver coins, you can always use the clad you find to pay for silver/gold coins.

What I do is set myself goals. For example, this year I want to break the $2000 mark, since I'm reasonably close. So I've told myself to focus more on the modern stuff over the next two months, and then take it easy next year and focus more on the older stuff. I've never come this close to $2000, so I want to finish off the year on a high note.

 

[WildDigger]

Congratulations on the 925.

 

[IDXMonster]

If you're not finding silver coins, you can always use the clad you find to pay for silver/gold coins.

What I do is set myself goals. For example, this year I want to break the $2000 mark, since I'm reasonably close. So I've told myself to focus more on the modern stuff over the next two months, and then take it easy next year and focus more on the older stuff. I've never come this close to $2000, so I want to finish off the year on a high note.

Let me ask you something Groper....would you or would you not consider the Equinox over the CTX,and WHY?
I am privy to old deep silver coins which can be quite valuable here in the states,and accuracy is everything in my style of hunting. While I would like to test an EQ in my areas before I buy,that’s probably a pipe dream unless I can borrow one from one of my buddies who has one(hint hint Mike or Trapper)....
What about the CTX SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU the “go to” unit?
2k in clad would make a high note for sure,you have the ability to do it!

 

[moseng]

Metal detecting to me is like Christmas when I was a kid! At every field, forest, or wherever I hunt I see a bunch of presents. Some are garbage (literally), some I leave alone, and once in a while I'll open up that train set or bicycle I've been wanting. Unless I open (dig) them up to find out what's inside, I'll never really know. So, if I have to dig up can-slaw, pull tabs, or clad to get that gold ring or silver coin it's all just part of Christmas.

So, Merry Christmas and I hope you get the presents you want!

 

[LovestheShiny!]

Even though I chase the older coins, as I stated earlier in this thread, there are times it is fun to "embrace the clad" and just pull money out of the ground. Did that a few times this year when I detected a 1963 campground that was full of money, ditto with the local fairgrounds after the carnies left. I will tumble clean that clad and transmutate the steel and copper into silver at the end of the year.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Digging for clad has become a grind for me right now. If I don't find an older spot with silver coins or colonial relics soon, I will be taking a break from the hobby.

I've hunted out all my good spots and none of my new locations have panned out. Almost quit this hobby a few times over the last 5 years for the same reason. Bottom line, digging for clad every day is boring!

 

[sandgroper]

Let me ask you something Groper....would you or would you not consider the Equinox over the CTX,and WHY?
I am privy to old deep silver coins which can be quite valuable here in the states,and accuracy is everything in my style of hunting. While I would like to test an EQ in my areas before I buy,that’s probably a pipe dream unless I can borrow one from one of my buddies who has one(hint hint Mike or Trapper)....
What about the CTX SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU the “go to” unit?
2k in clad would make a high note for sure,you have the ability to do it!

The main reason why I upgraded from the xterra70 to the CTX is because the CTX is waterproof (the xterra isn't), and the xterra was having coil connection problems which was getting kinda annoying. And the CTX (second hand, but pretty much brand new), was advertised for $1800 AUD ($1276USD) so I couldn't resist such a good deal. Paid that off in just under a year.

I tried the Equinox a few months ago...but I wasn't too impressed by it. We did a test on it, and buried a silver coin at about 9in. It didn't hit it, and only at 5in did we get a clear signal (I wrote a post about this a few months back). We spent a fair amount of time messing around with the settings, adjusting modes, increasing sensitivity, ground balancing etc etc. I know for sure the CTX would've picked up the coin at 9in. Two weeks ago I had the chance to test another Equinox, and that one picked up coins at good depth, so maybe the first unit I tried was faulty , who knows

I get a lot of modern coins as 'by catch', when I'm out hunting for old coins (the ctx is very good at that ). I mainly listen out for the deeper signals, but I'll also dig the shallower tones. That's what I like about the CTX, it's a good machine for deep silver coins, and I can also expect to make a few $$$ as a go along looking for the old stuff. Over the next two months though I'll be hitting more schools/parks/playgrounds, and then next year I'll be slowing down and hitting more housesites. I also want to go more water hunting down by the river too once I get my license so I can bring more equipment with me.