Got the itch again,,,

Last time I got a 99 dollar special and took it out to the farm and spent the day digging up square nails, old plow parts, old gears to very old farm equipment of days gone by, plenty of barbed wire and fencing steeples, and scrap rusted metal. The area has been inhabited by farmers/settlers since the late 1700's and early 1800's,, plenty of indian artificats in the dirt also. Anyway, after a day of digging up old junk (although neat, not treasure), the itch went away for around 4 lunar years...

I went to a site (http://www.kellycodetectors.com/detectors.htm) and checked out all the detectors from all purpose to commercial grade.

1 - can all purpose detect precious mineral deposits in the soil ?
2 - Does anyone use the commercial stuff for thier recreational hunts... stuff looks neat and says it can see 80ft. into the ground, but cost 2-5k for openers ?,,, but hey, if I'm gonna bury a bunch of treasure, it's going in at least 6 ft deep.
3 - Do all purpose detectors see 6 ft deep ?
4 - How far, or what's the common range, of all purpose detectors..... they have a marketing habit of saying 'x' brand sees 30% deeper, but they don't provide actual depth specs.. marketing bastards
5 - What's the difference between a multiple frequency detector and a single frequency detector... both bad mouth the other saying that if you use one, or the other, you'll pass over "buried treasure".
6 - All purpose generally open at around 99 bucks and go up to around 1.5k.... What are the practical differences to look for.
7 - I like the one's that have discriminating graphical user interfaces,, letting you know what the heck that beep is before you start digging. How accurate is this interface,, does it often call a half dollar a nail, or a nail a silver dollar?
8 - The one that caught my attention was around 1.1k,, saw 30% deeper (than what?),, gui displayed size of object, probably metal content, and depth... and it had not only a 12.5 inch disk, but also could be configured with 2 square like disks on both ends (what the heck does this configuration do,, it looks like to elements on each end with neither really configured to sweep over the ground,, on is perpendicular on one end and the other is horizontal on the other end). I think it was the Garret2500Gt (sounds like a car, huh).

Going for buried confederate gold man !! What do ya'll ol' detectin' smiths recommend?

I'v only been sweeping search coils for 3 years, but go with a garret. Not only is he a designer, but a auther.

I've never use any of the heavy duty stuff. You need to take your questions to one of the detecting boards.
The two best are probably.....

www.mytreasurespot.com
&

www.thetreasuredepot.com

And here I was hoping you would elaborate on what machine you are using to find your treasures

I have a Garrett Ace 300 and a Tesoro DeLeon. Each has its strong points and I use them depending on where I'm hunting.

What about my questions ?

I can't find a detecting forum on this site, is there one?

Over the years there have been several threads about detecting on CP but we have no dedicated forum.
You should take your questions to a detecting forum like the two I posted above.

Not sure on USA sites or discussion forums, but here is one in the UK that I myself follow because of the coin finds and research that pertain to my British interests:

UK Finds Database and Forum

My kids each got $17.99 detectors last year and played with them through the summer, they dug up several tools etc. apparently from the period when our house was built ca. 1933. They never found any coins on our property, but did in a couple of playgrounds near the playground equipment. Nothing exciting, usually modern quarters etc. So these cheapy detectors will work under the right conditions.

But... It is an area that I have a passive interest in myself, seeing our Niagara member here posting his finds from time to time kind of piques the interests. I think if I could find a good machine, that I might take up more of an interest in such endeavours.

I do more relic hunting than coin hunting.

I'm right with Numismatic Nut on this one, although I would love to find coins, I am more of a relic hunter. I love placing old corroded copper in my artwork, I am in the middle of making several "found object" bracelets out of scrap metal covered in 24 gauge sterling silver where it will touch your body. (I got the idea from an artist working with ancient roman bracelets, but I wanted to use the US version of ancient trash....basically scrap metal or utilitarian items left to rot) I have a Garret Ace 150, and it works pretty well, didn't cost a rediculous amount either.

Bang for buck I like the Garret also. Just don't get the opportunity to use it enough. The ace 250 has pinpoint, eliminate, several preset searches, discriminate, sensitivity. Shows up to 8 foot, but personally I only go for shallow items. (I.E. under 2 foot max.) Don't think I would spend all day digging a hole 8 foot deep. As to accuracy of what it shows? Mixed deal there. I have had stuff show up on the money. (Pun intended.) Some items turn up the same signature as others. Jewelry will turn up anywhere on the scale since you really can't tell the size or composition of it. (Silver, gold, size etc.) Picked up a small silver bracelet "charm" what showed up as a dime. It was pretty close to the same size weight. A chunk of copper I found turned up as a dollar. I really need to get better on listening to the tone.

The chunk of copper is probably worth more than a dollar now anyway.

I've seen separate forums on metal detecting somewhere but just can't remember where. Pretty sure it was a coin forum web site called Coin Community Forums. There was a separate sub forum there for just metal detecting.

Maybe it's because I'm a "noob" at detecting, but I'd love to search a promising ping at 8 feet deep. I live in the heart of Virginia and, if there really is lost treasure from the Civil War, it's probably a little deeper than 2 feet!

Really now, if you got a signal at 8 feet, you would be diging all day. Also do you know how many people would rush over when they saw a huge dirt pile. How would you pin point a target that deep? Also I would worry about diging up live explosives.

You would've thought that I've had some luck with metal detecting here in England but nay, seems like I've just been looking in the wrong fields...

See if you can find any old maps online of areas around your house, entire villages can dissapear without a trace over 200 years.

If i get a ping at 8 ft deep i guess it would depend on what the detector said it was,,, but even if it said steel, I'd still probably dig it up,, especially since I'd be in the middle of old farmland w./no buried cables, etc.... The stuff at 2 ft and up are probably all 'dropped' and 'lost' stuff from people,, and 'broke off' and 'busted' farm equipment
(ie - ACCIDENTAL or DISPOSAL stuff)
Now the stuff at 3+ft,,, that's the stuff I'm after... stuff that was mostly INTENTIONALLY put in the ground, or buried/hidden. Again, if I'm hiding or burying treasure or valuables,, I'd put it a heck of a lot deeper than 2 ft.

If your gonna be a Bear... be a GRIZZLY !!

I say all of this having not done it yet... so if I dig up 2 or 3 consecutive hunks of buried soup cans from the 50's,, my opinion may change.

Brings to mind another potentially interesting question -

What's the deepest find any of you detecting smiths have ever dug... and what was it ?

The thing is Vfox, I live on a golf course so have to go elsewhere!

Many thanks for the tips though!

Clive.

No worries. There are already plenty of holes on the golf course. What's another worth?

Thing about digging that deep you have to make it at least as wide as deep. Probably wider with slopped edges so it won't cave in. Then most places you would have to return the dirt to at least original condition. That means setting aside the grass on plastic, digging, refilling tamping down and re sodding. I watched a show on metal detecting civil war items most were less then 2 foot. Because the were just dropped not buried.

As to buried items. A long time back I got interested in the "Twin Sisters" We lived by the bayou. Some rumors put it around some property owned by the Milbys. Which may put them near some railroad tracks along the bayou and close to or on Milby park. Picked up some zeroxed maps at the library from the 1800's to see if the railroad right of way had changed.. Right now the old Milby Mansion property is the place I would love to get access to. I remember as a kid walking thru it at nite. The front porch had a drive thru for carriages. When you went inside there was a massive front room with staircases going upstairs, rooms upstairs around that, a large dining hall to the right. Just a wonderful place for a kid to sneak into and get all spooked. Right now the houses have been torn down and long time back part of the property was turned in to a park, the other part is a sewage plant now. I would still love to go there and dig, but doubt unless you had connections with the museum any thing like that would ever be done.

About 1 foot for my copper. Beaches detecting for me is shallow stuff. Less then a foot and most of the time just below the surface looking for things lost during the day. Easiest place in the world to get started. Mainly shallow, easy digging, and the sand just washes off. That too and it gives you a place to get used to the metal detector.

I hate to say this, but my current project is a dump dig. Shure the detectors will be fired up, but I will be after more glass then metal.

Very witty George but, as any golfer here probably knows, digging on Wentworth might not be a great idea...

I've never found anything deeper than 3 feet.....at least without being on an excavation site from the old fort 'round here. We dug down 4ft and about 350 years ago. My best find wasn't the pottery or the arrowheads it was the "dark soil" left over from posts in the ground marking the edge of an old dwelling at the edge of the fort boundry. All told together we found about 12 posts and a fire pit from the dwelling, along with a bucket of pottery, beads, and arrowheads. Good times, too bad we had to close the site for the winter, bleh.

The ground freezes in Wisconsin, so nature closes the sight fir you!

Same reason ours was closed.

I havn't done any major diging that I would have to cover the hole to protect it. I just fill in my holes for ethical reasons.

Just a suggestion but regardless of where you search with a metal detector, you may want to check with local authorities first. It's not the detecting but the attempt to dig up something that maybe you just shouldn't want to dig up. Of course in some areas there may not be anyone to give permission. but in any large industrial area or city there could be things down there dangerous to touch with a shovel. Many people have hit gas, water, sewer pipes or even things that could explode. Around me they always stress to contact an organization even if your planning on planting a tree or bush. Then in some areas there are direct buried cables such as fiber optics, phone lines, other communication wires. And example of this is in Illinois ComEd has installed a fiber optic system in the ground to communicate with all of their sites. Many other states also have those systems.
Be carefull out there.

I do most my huntig on land that is loging land. I think the burryed lines in the city would be a problem, but in a relic hunting sutiation, It would be less of an issue.