🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2575@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> parnass@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) writes:
>
>   A year has elapsed since I posted questions and an  arti-
>   cle  about  metal  detecting.   At that time, a few other
>   metal detector owners responded with fascinating informa-
>   tion.

I'm not a treasure hunter... my dad is and has found a lot in the past
10 years.

>   I'm interested in hearing from detectorists  about  their
>   activities during the past year.

During the past two or three years my dad has been hunting Civil War
campgrounds.  Part of the excitement is just locating a campground.
It takes a fair amount of research and luck.  Local libraries (S.W. Missouri)
and the National Archives hold an incredible amount of useful information.
Letters from officers to their superiors often gave enough information
about the surrounding landscape that it is possible today to recognize
the areas where they camped.  Several times my dad has talked with people
living in those areas who could recall stories told to them by their
grandparents about the camps in the area.

His most exciting find at one of these camps was a $1 gold coin (1864 ?) in
mint condition.  He has also found a bullet mold, spurs, stirrups, buttons,
scabbard tips, other misc., and a couple thousand bullets.  Some of the 
bullets have been carved - e.g., a makeshift chess set, pencils, etc.
>
>   My wife and I started detecting a year ago and now use  a
>   White's  6000  Di  Pro Plus with 9.5 inch searchcoil.  We
>   searched at least one day a  week  last  summer.   Unfor-
>   tunately,  we've  been  out  only a half dozen times this
>   summer, during which time we found:
>
>
>        engagement ring
>        sterling silver ring
>        decorative gold ring (worth about $200)
>        several Mercury dimes
>        coins dating back to the turn of the century
>        a lot of modern coins
>        paper money, including a $20 bill,
>              found while "surface hunting"  :-)
>        dog tax license tag from 1923
>        Pearl Harbor memorial token
>        shotgun shells, bullets, pocket knife, US Army compass,
>              machete, toy cars, etc.
>
>   Have you any new insights since we  last  discussed  this
>   topic?   What  have  you  found  this year?  What kind of
>   detector(s) do you use?  How big is the searchcoil?   Did
>   you use a trowel, knife, or rod to recover found items?

Before hunting Civil War campgrounds, my dad did most of his hunting around
old churches - the oldest in Mo. was established in 1820.  Many of the sites
he has searched were located using old county maps.  In the 19th century
churches were a very popular place to hold social gatherings.  He has found
coins dating back to 1824 searching around old churches or where they once
stood.

Other places he has hunted have been old neighborhoods and areas where old
houses were being demolished.  About a year ago he and two other hunters
shared in a find of about 300 pre-WWII dollars and half-dollars that had
apparently been stashed under a fireplace, perhaps by a soldier who didn't
return.

Last spring he and a friend had good look searching a lake bottom.  The
lake level had been dropped about 20 feet so repairs could be done at the
spillways.  They searched in the popular swimming areas and found many
rings and bracelets.

I don't recall the make of the detector but it has about a 6-8 inch coil,
headphones, a meter, and several adjustments.  It's made by a guy in TN.
When it detects metal, it beeps and the meter moves left or right.  The
beeps all sound the same to me but my dad can guess what he had found and
approximately how deep just by the sound.  He uses a small gardeners type
hand shovel(trowel) or a camper's type folding spade.  He always covers
his digging - even in a cow pasture.
>
>-- 
>============================================================================
>Bob Parnass, AJ9S - AT&T Bell Laboratories - att!ihuxz!parnass (312)979-5414


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