AirmetTango
Forum Supporter
So, literally just yesterday I was admiring Stiffwrist's Merc dime that he posted, and wistfully hoping for one of my own...imagine my disbelief today, barely 16 hours later, when my own Merc finally popped out of a plug!
I went back to a public spot with some history that has been good to me over the past few months - it's been my "go to" site when time is short, or I don't feel like bothering with a door knock/permission. There are some spots on the site that I haven't gotten to yet, but today I decided to re-work an area that I had hit not long after I had gotten the detector. I figured that the last time I covered that spot, it was dry - height of summer. Plus I was new then - I was curious to see if I might find stuff that my inexperienced self missed!
Not 10 minutes into the hunt, while working along a sidewalk edge, I caught a jumpy high tone signal, and as "faint" as you can call a tone on a bell-tone machine. Tough to describe - the bell-tone was a little hard to isolate, and sounded more like a copper Lincoln than anything else. Pinpoint mode was where the "faintness" came in - I got a definitive pinpoint, but even at it's maximum, the tone was weak. The depth was interesting though, indicating 6-8", which is where this site produces it's interesting stuff. Dug down, and was rewarded with my very first Merc:
Maybe it was the wetter soil (we've had quite a bit of rain lately), maybe it was more savvy, experienced hunting - or some combination thereof - but I know I was over that very spot last time, because I definitely ran along the sidewalk!
Here's some shots of the Merc cleaned up with running water and a little dish soap:
I also managed to dig up some other neat artifacts, including some that were probably associated with the old electric trolley line that ran through the site:
The wheel bearing race and large washer may have been from the trolley line in some fashion. The large bolt and screw looking item at the top is stamped "Joslyn 4 SOL" - Joslyn was a manufacturer of high voltage overhead power line equipment, so it seems likely it was part of the trolley line equipment. Same with the old Kearny Corp fuse link end:
I went back to a public spot with some history that has been good to me over the past few months - it's been my "go to" site when time is short, or I don't feel like bothering with a door knock/permission. There are some spots on the site that I haven't gotten to yet, but today I decided to re-work an area that I had hit not long after I had gotten the detector. I figured that the last time I covered that spot, it was dry - height of summer. Plus I was new then - I was curious to see if I might find stuff that my inexperienced self missed!
Not 10 minutes into the hunt, while working along a sidewalk edge, I caught a jumpy high tone signal, and as "faint" as you can call a tone on a bell-tone machine. Tough to describe - the bell-tone was a little hard to isolate, and sounded more like a copper Lincoln than anything else. Pinpoint mode was where the "faintness" came in - I got a definitive pinpoint, but even at it's maximum, the tone was weak. The depth was interesting though, indicating 6-8", which is where this site produces it's interesting stuff. Dug down, and was rewarded with my very first Merc:
Maybe it was the wetter soil (we've had quite a bit of rain lately), maybe it was more savvy, experienced hunting - or some combination thereof - but I know I was over that very spot last time, because I definitely ran along the sidewalk!
Here's some shots of the Merc cleaned up with running water and a little dish soap:
I also managed to dig up some other neat artifacts, including some that were probably associated with the old electric trolley line that ran through the site:
The wheel bearing race and large washer may have been from the trolley line in some fashion. The large bolt and screw looking item at the top is stamped "Joslyn 4 SOL" - Joslyn was a manufacturer of high voltage overhead power line equipment, so it seems likely it was part of the trolley line equipment. Same with the old Kearny Corp fuse link end:
