Three days of shanks' mare.

[2ndoldman]

For the last three days my car had been sitting in the repair shop.
So I had been hoofing it to a local school and several nearby parks.
Not wanting to tote the large 17" coil around I switched to the 5 X 10" coil.
And tried to concentrated on those elusive crappy Canadian clad coins.
Since Minelab detectors and the CTX in particular are notorious for not hitting on steel clad coins I think that I did OK.
There were a few highlights and some disappointments over the last three days.
The local school yard has produced some gold for me before so when this came out I was excited. At least for a moment. This is the oldest coin that I have pulled from this particular school.
I think this 30.06 should go into the don't do this at home category.
Or in a school yard with other kids standing around.
Friday was a little better in the keeper department but it also produced the most trash.
I will get to that part in a moment.
I started out the day hoping to hit one of my favorite nearby parks for the day.
But I had not counted on the lack of drainage and the field was totally saturated from the resent rains.
Before I left I did manage two finds though.
The first I have no clue what it was originally because there are no markings on it.

[2ndoldman]

The second one was a 1901 British penny.


After leaving and in the middle of hiking to a different spot I spotted Jamie standing on hobo hill.
Needles to say I trotted across the road and joined him for the remainder of the day.
I only made one decent find on the hill.
It came as a total surprise. I got a near surface penny signal.
And when I popped the plug the little nickle was at the bottom and the penny was at the top.


Now back to that trash.
By the end of the day on Friday my pouch was so full it was actually spilling over.
Jamie took pity on me and not only carried out the large wine bottle but he also gave me a lift home. Jamie.


And of course the is always the recyclables to add to the totals.

[gregszybala]

Good day Bruce, you keep digging up all that chump change you can pay for the car repairs!

[2ndoldman]

It will take a while if I only get chump change but it certainly helps.

[OBION]

Thanks Bruce, Ive had the itch to hunt all day but life prevailed. Your post allowed me to go on one just now! I don't always comment or say thank you but enjoy all your post and pictures.

[2ndoldman]

And I thank you. Your comment means more than you realize.

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Bruce, Good hunt you can take it to the bank. After seeing that shell casing I thought you would find gun parts.

[2ndoldman]

Ron I used to set off rounds by firing a pellet gun at them and I have a feeling that something similar happened to this one.

[willjo]

Always enjoy looking at your finds, ever once in a while I get inspired to get the detector out.

[2ndoldman]

I hope that you make some finds and post them all up.

[toccopola]

hi. i like reading your post and seeing what you have uncovered. years ago my mom got me a metal detector for a gift and i really enjoyed using it. i found a link from a tiny gold chain once and it took me over an hour to go over a shovel pan of soil to find it. i found a few coins around a school playground and a couple truck loads of nails and such. the little town where i live has been here forever, if i'm not to far off it's been a city back to 1734 and a trading post even longer. we have records that tell of Spanish, French and a lot of other folks that at one time or another tried to call my home town home. the little town is small and everyone knows everyone or at least they they did at one time. in less than a few city blocks we had banks, stores, lots of shops and a big school and just a few hundred yards up the street was the first women collage in the country. the very first court case was held here that gave a women the power to own property. i know i'm sitting on a goldmine of finds that has never been dug. if i live a few more years i am going to retire and i know that i will need to find something to keep me busy and out of the creeks looking for arrowheads. i would like to invest in a good metal detector, but have no ideal what to buy. i have looked at a bunch but the prices have always made me change my mind. if i'm going to spend a lot of money i would like to do it only once and get a good choice. what kind of advice could you give me on making a buy. thanks toccopola

[2ndoldman]

Thank you for the comment. Your area does sound like a gold mine of possible finds.
There are so many different types of detectors out there it is hard to make an absolute recommendation. And your budget will come into play for sure.
On the low end I would personally not go any lower than the Garrett ACE 400. They have made a few improvements in this line of detectors. http://md-hunter.com/garrett-ace-400-new-2016/ Garrett also has their flagship detector the AT PRO. http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbb...o_main_en.aspx
Having a waterproof detector will allow you not only to hit the creaks and streams with it but you don't have to worry about damaging the electronics if you get stuck out in the field during a rain storm. Garrett detectors unfortunately do not have back lights so seeing the screen in low light conditions is next to impossible. Chase is a fan of Whites detectors and they have just come out with a waterproof detector in the mid price range. These ones do have a back light. http://md-hunter.com/whites-mx-sport-new-2016/
An absolute must have in my opinion is a good quality pinpointer. Remember this?" it took me over an hour to go over a shovel pan of soil to find it."
With a pinpointer it would have taken less than one minute to locate that. http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbb...t_main_en.aspx
No mater what detector you get a decent set of headphones will enhance the experience.
Please never hit an public park/playground/school with a shovel in hand. Yes I know that you see YouTube videos of people doing it all of the time but it is just not kosher. I carry two diggers on my belt at all times. I have the Model 31C for digging nice deep plugs. http://www.predatortools.com/products/model-31-c-raptor and the Treasure Wise 3 in 1 for shallow holes. http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Detec.../dp/B00CEAWXIG
A decent pouch will top off the list of must haves. I personally use the Relic Elite. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Relic-Elite-M...-/331547365802 it is a little pricey but it serves me well.

[toccopola]

thanks for getting back with me on this, no i won't be digging holes in any school yard or play ground. i have been watchen some youtube videos and seen right quick that i would need the pinpointer. my hometown is just about ghost town nowdays. the school that was here died in the 50's and now its a parking lot and a little fire station. the spot where the women collage stood is a grown up cow pasture. there are 100's of old house sights i can hunt and the play ground where the school was is grown up in hedge bushes so a person could dig and no one would even care. right down the road from me is a very old home place that is woods now, the man that lived there was a boot legger way back in the 20's his daughter told me that daddy would only take silver money for booze so he could bury it. she always told me he had a fortune buried on that place somewhere. i would like to get a rig that i could take to the creek with me, one of my best arrowhead hunting creeks has been channeled out around 30 years ago but before it was the local swimming hole i have found about $3. in silver coins just raking in the gravel piles, most are from the 1940's and i find a couple old pocket knives every time i go. the garret was one of the detectors i was looking at but didn't know anything about it. thanks again toccopola

[chase]

ND, like always those are just crazy insane of what you come up with!
Great advice you gave out! Whites is good for what I do, but it is not the end all or be all of metal detectors. Garrett puts out a great product. and Head phones are a must for any metal detector. Pin Pointer will defiantly cut down on the location time.
The only advice I can add is do not skimp on price of you can. The old adage you get what you pay for is very true in metal detectors.

[2ndoldman]

Chase you are so right about not skimping on the price if at all possible. However like you and I both know there are times when the budget is really tight.
Speaking of which I do wish that you could have made the trip Chase.

[p kurt]

You keep piling up the finds and keep the forum fresh. Bruce i cant help but wonder with all the things you find what is your holy grail find? What is in your wishing minds eye while you are swinging your magic stick? I am always waiting to see a fluted cumberland laying edge ways half exposed, see it in my minds eye. Surely u have something pictured in your minds eye.

[2ndoldman]

WOW I had to think about that one for a couple of moments. Considering what I have already found and where I am I have to be realistic with my wish list.
Since Victoria started out as a Hudson's Bay trade post this would be right at the top of my list of finds that I have not made yet. https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/h...ade_tokens.pdf
As far as the wish list goes I guess that you would have to add a seated half dime and a silver 3 cent piece.

[chase]

You keep piling up the finds and keep the forum fresh. Bruce i cant help but wonder with all the things you find what is your holy grail find? What is in your wishing minds eye while you are swinging your magic stick? I am always waiting to see a fluted cumberland laying edge ways half exposed, see it in my minds eye. Surely u have something pictured in your minds eye.

Gawd you are not asking for much are you p kurt! Ok need a new topic can you start it what is a wish list find and how you in vision it.