i recently bought a metal detector but haven't found any old coins at all , its actually pretty hard to find old coins even with a metal detector , you pretty much have to get lucky to find one
I just picked one up at a rummage sale for 60, i did take it down there but lol all i get is the pop caps barbwire fence, ya know the usual junk. almost like you got to have a sifter or something...
i just have a cheap entry level detector, but it has a discriminator and a "tone" (makes a happy sound for good stuff and a sad sound for pop cans/rusted metal) and it works pretty well for coins- the settings really help tell what's what. We found an 1857 penny in the dump i dig, and i guess we thought salt water/vinegar was good for cleaning it. Now it remains a penny only in our memories...
hmmmm...sifter eh? That would be nice...oh, and nice quarter eh
nice quarter. 10 bucks no matter what shape it's in...500ish if in "great" shape.
if you're MD has a discrimination setting, but no markers like iron/foil/nickel/tab etc... just plop a hunk of iron on the ground (where there's no metal) and scan over it, adjust your disc until the signal breaks up and then slowly nudge it until it disappears. Dig only solid signals that give a nonbroken up tone in all directions and dig. dig everything. You'll be surprised at what you'll find. That's how to adjust most entry level (and some upper level. aka Tesoros) detectors.
I've been stuck in a nail collecting rut lately. handfuls of them the past few days. Clearing the junk out of the yard to make way for the good stuff i guess.
Cleaning old coins can be a pain. Especially if it's corroded or dirty and you can't tell it's an old coin. One trick is to bring a normal size pill bottle along with you. Fill the bottom 1/3 with paper towel, fill bottle with water, stuff paper towel into top 1/3. Find coin, stick in there, shake until you can tell what it is. This will keep you from scratching it up from rubbing the dirt and grit off of it. At home, soak in olive oil for up to a couple of weeks.
That's for coins that are old and have value. with clad I just toss it into a bowl and add Dawn and scrub.
Digger: you get a chance to go plate hunting today? I was busy with dr appointment stuff and phone calls all day.
thank you for the info, i did what you said and I am getting a better "feel" for using my md. i have found 5 spoons since that all have the silver maker marks and also found a whiskey token.