Myers Depot Metal Detectors

6 gallons of junk

Gimmie The Loot

Gimmie The Loot

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
1,452
Location
Driftwood, TX
To the noobies out there wondering if they are the only ones being fooled by junk metal... A big rusty nail when the target ID made you think it was a silver dime... A smashed Schlitz can when you were hoping for a silver half dollar...

A few years worth of detecting in these pictures. Many sites with plenty of potential. Many outings with no keepers to show. Many thoughts that I should just give up and find another hobby.

But I can't quit. I remember each good find like it was yesterday. I remember the people that I've met. The permissions that I've been granted. The feeling of being alone in the woods and finding an old coin someone dropped over 100 years ago. Why were they there and what were they doing back then?

I don't want to say I love this hobby but I really do enjoy it.

Hopefully these pictures do the justice of showing the ratio of my good finds to bad. Not pictured are the clad and wheat pennies. In my area I don't find much clad, and wheats are probably about 100.
 

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IMHO : The trick to finding good old-stuff, is not "dig junk till your arms fall off". And to need to necessarily put-up-with horrible trash ratios.

Instead, the trick to finding good old-stuff is: Location location location.

I can think of locations where we got seateds, reales, etc..... Yet never dug a single clad or single piece of aluminum. In fact, thinking of one spot, it was *quite unusual* to find a rogue tab, or a rogue modern bullet shell, or a rogue silver roosie. The reason ? Location location location.
 
Looking at your trash to treasure ratio your persistence needs commended. Also might add it makes me think mine ain't all that bad. Man thats a lot of junk. I dig my share and it adds up I guess but I pitch everything but the scrap copper and brass and have just about a 5 gal. bucket full. Congrats on the shiny you have saved and I love the snake buckle. Good luck, Mark
 
Nice work, I have couple ice cream pails just from my yard, where I have a 3 trash rule, I usually quit after 3 junk items. I guess that's what makes a penny fun to find.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
IMHO : The trick to finding good old-stuff, is not "dig junk till your arms fall off". And to need to necessarily put-up-with horrible trash ratios.

Instead, the trick to finding good old-stuff is: Location location location.

I can think of locations where we got seateds, reales, etc..... Yet never dug a single clad or single piece of aluminum. In fact, thinking of one spot, it was *quite unusual* to find a rogue tab, or a rogue modern bullet shell, or a rogue silver roosie. The reason ? Location location location.
Click to expand...

I am definitely not the dig it all type... I do my fair share of cherry picking... I never hunt parks though, this is all from private permissions, mostly from mid 1800s until 1950. I've learned early Texans never had much of value hence not losing much to be found. I think my experience here can be echoed throughout the early Southern states. There are certainly exceptions but they are just few and far between and folks around here don't really appreciate people wanting to metal detect on their ranch.

Out of probably 2 dozen old sites, those coins represent probably 6 of them, with only 2 of those giving up multiple oldies.

HH and appreciate the comments.
 
Junkbucket said:
Nice work, I have couple ice cream pails just from my yard, where I have a 3 trash rule, I usually quit after 3 junk items. I guess that's what makes a penny fun to find.
Click to expand...

Three junk rule is a pretty good way to do it. Helps you dig just enough trash to get an age range of the place. And then start phasing that tone out if your digging too much.

Love your name. I refer to my "Junk Bucket" often and many people don't get it.
 
Tom when you live in an area like me... location location location is hard to come by without a long drive which i just cant do for many reasons just to hunt. this area is trashed out bad. so we dig thru it remove it and go underneath it to find things. many places that are 1820s when this area was settled is now under urban ghetto slum. i have hunted it with success, but the trash has to be removed period. cherry pick is the key.

my sweet spot where i found the gold pendant the other day had to have yesteryears trash, early pulltabs and crown bottle caps removed over the years. and the finds get good.

congrats on the finds and kudos on the clean up.
 
Gimmie The Loot said:
I am definitely not the dig it all type... I do my fair share of cherry picking... ....
Click to expand...

gimmie-loot: Great dialogue. Let me clarify something here : When I said "location location location", I was not at all cross-implying any sort of discussion of cherry-pick vs dig-it-all relic mindset.

In the locations where we dig no modern trash (yet get seateds and reales), we ARE INDEED in the dig-all-conductors relic-mindset. And are NOT cherry picking. They are simply locations where all modern human influence ended by some certain date (1870s , or turn-of-century, or whatever).
 
dixiedigger57 said:
Tom when you live in an area like me... location location location is hard to come by without a long drive which i just cant do for many reasons just to hunt. this area is trashed out bad. so we dig thru it remove it and go underneath it to find things. ....
Click to expand...

Seeing as how you're in GA, I would have assumed that there's got to be some cellar hole type spots, where all human influence might have stopped 100+ yrs ago ?

But in any event : Yes, I too have my share of junky spots here in CA, where there's simply no option other than to grow a thick skin, grow patience, and , yes, play the Las Vegas odds of ratios.

We've got one such spot that we're working on, that has history from the early to mid 1800s. However, sadly, there's also modern picnic usage. So in order to get the oldies (seateds , reales, buttons, etc...) we have utterly no choice than to put up with clad and junk ratios. We've even got it figured out that the ratio is about 100 to 1. So in order to get a seated, you tend to need to dig 50 clad and 50 aluminum, for example. But the digging is fast and rapid action (no shortage of signals to choose from). So it's a tolerable task.

I confess that there are hunts at this spot, where I'll be at 70 clad and a handful of tabs and think "What the h*ll am I doing here ?", and then BAM : A reale or large cent or whatever.

Still though, even in the example I give, this is STILL a function of "location location location". Because I guarantee you that there are other parks where you can dig for a year, and NEVER get a reale or seated. So it's still a function of location-location-location.
 
yea Tom i agree location. but in this part of Georgia we did not have the cellar holes to dig, they would be root cellars in the north Ga mountains, mostly state park land and forbidden by law, God help you dont get caught with a unit in hand. all state parks forbidden under law in writing passed by legislature. what little actual beach we have on the coast is mostly National Seashore and stopped - clearly posted with USC code and penalty. so it covers being out in the water too. .

not had much luck on farmlands. usually poor folks from the past... but trying.

parks in big towns in urban areas around here what few they are.. Mid State are dicey. Atlanta parks most are historic and posted too, hefty finds if you live thru it. know places.. cant do for several reasons.

i dont complain too much it is what it is. wish i had the places you go.

HH PS-- operator also important on the machine. know how to use it.
 
dixiedigger57 said:
.... but in this part of Georgia ....
Click to expand...

All I know is this : If I were in GA , I would have no shortage of places to be trying and doing.

All that you're saying, if someone looked long enough and hard enough (for "dire sounding wording") can probably be said of Calif. too. Yet .... when we're out in the middle of forests, deserts, and it's "middle of nowhere", then ... uh ... you get the picture :roll:
 
Nice photos to show the best and worst, thanks.

Spent an hour at the beach today and it was mostly foil balls from chewing gum and one shiny nickel.

But hope springs eternal. Heading up to northern Michigan for some new to me beaches next week. And an old ghost town on the Lake Michigan shore where some old foundations are supposed to be visible.

The big target is my friend's 100 year old house in the historic district of Petoskey.
 
John Madill said:
Nice photos to show the best and worst, thanks.

Spent an hour at the beach today and it was mostly foil balls from chewing gum and one shiny nickel.

But hope springs eternal. Heading up to northern Michigan for some new to me beaches next week. And an old ghost town on the Lake Michigan shore where some old foundations are supposed to be visible.

The big target is my friend's 100 year old house in the historic district of Petoskey.
Click to expand...


That should be a fun adventure. I've read up on Petoskey randomly. Looks like a fun town to visit. Farthest North I've been on your side of lake Michigan is Traverse City. A lot of plenty old towns on the LP. Hope you have fun.
 
Wow.......nice finds. Congrats!!!! I'm shocked that you saved a couple years worth of junk...my wife starts getting on me before I can fill 1 5gal bucket...

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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