mdakin
01-10-2012, 10:05 AM
So, one of my last posts I was hunting in the bitter cold in a farm field, below is a link to that post.
http://www.americandetectorist.com/forum/index.php?topic=8493.0
As I mentioned in that post, the year was winding down and I was focused on a club sponsored scavenger hunt. It has four levels to it, each level has items harder to find than the one before it. There are 13 items each level, and you need to find 12 of 13 items to complete the level. Each level earns you a reward in the form of a silver coin. If you complete level 4, you get a silver half dollar. If you complete all 4 levels, you get a silver dollar.
As luck would have it after 3 bitterly cold sessions in a farm field I managed to find a copper thimble which was one of the items left I needed for level 4.
So that was December 29th, leaving me a couple days left in the year, and only needing one more item to complete the 4th level. (the hunt resets at the 1st of the year) The 30th was a family day, no opportunity to go out, that left me the 31st.
I called up a friend and discussed with him a strategy to provide me with the best chance of finding one of the items left. I needed either a cross/crucifix, a piece of platinum jewelry, or a piece of gold jewelry with stones of 2 or more colors. None of those are your every day finds of course!
Should I even bother going out I thought out loud? I decided I would regret it more not trying, than going out and being disappointed.
We quickly decided that beach detecting would be my best bet. However, I was a bit hesitant to take the hour and a half drive to the nearest salt water beach for an outing I all but expected to be disappointing. The chances of finding one of those items was very slim. He understood that and pointed me to a park nearby me, that also had a beach. Ironically, I had stopped by this park within the last week to check it out and had intended to go back one day. I had not yet noticed the beach which was in the far end.
I figured driving 30 minutes was better than the 3 hour round trip, this at least would satisfy my gotta give it a try mentality.
So I headed out that morning and arrived around 10:30AM and made my way to the beach. WOW, it was a pretty big one at that, around the size of a football field. I wasn't expecting that.
I started gridding the beach, sweeping in horizontal lines across, about 10 or so feet apart.
Several hours later, and 8 “grids” across the field, I had found 2 silver rosies, and a couple wheaties, and of course some clad coins. I thought to myself, by every normal definition, this has been a successful hunt.
Of course this was not a normal hunt, so I continued on gridding the beach until I got to this one section close to the shore. Rain water had washed out a large triangular section of the beach a good foot or more to where it was more dirt and gravel. (rather than the beach sand the town brings in)
I started to get a lot of falsing/crown cap signals. However there was something different about these signals. They were just a little bit too strong, and a little bit too repeatable. They were still signals I normally wouldn't dig. However, knowing the age of the beach, and that this was a washed out area, I started digging them all.
Soon, I was pulling out coin after coin from this small washed out area. They were all very deep, upwards of 8-12”. It turns out the falsing/crown cap signals were more to do with depth and of course the mineralization of the beach. I also pulled out nine 45 caliber slugs and a 22 slug. All of the coins had a nice green crusty coating on them. It wasn't until after I went home and cleaned them that I found out I had found 5 more wheaties and some older nickels.
Around 40 minutes into this frenzy of finds I get a strong signal that was reading like a nickel. I dig up the sand and rocks and pull out my X-1 to pin point. I locate the target and wipe the sand with my hand to see if I can uncover it. There, almost perfectly inlayed into the sand, staring back at me is a CROSS!!!!!!!! :omg: Lucky for me it was winter and the beach had no other visitors, as I was screaming like a little girl!!! I was almost in shock as I really did not expect to find the last item. I had not even found one piece of junk jewelry before this.
I call up my friend on my cell phone, I'm sure I was screaming in his ear as my excitement had not yet died down. I told him I thought I had found a cross. My friend is also the person running the scavenger hunt and his say is the final word on whether an item qualifies. Specifically the item must be a cross or crucifix. I had found a religious medal in the shape of a cross earlier in the year and that did not count.
Well this item was U shaped so that it could slip over ones collar. The cross would show on one side, but on the other side was that oval shaped dreadful religious medal, so I wasn't totally sure. I finished up detecting and headed over to his house to have him review. Thankfully he was in agreement that both the cross and the religious medal were separate and that this did indeed counted for the level 4 item!!!
What a day, it was 2:16PM on December 31st and I had just completed Level 4!!! Talk about coming down to the wire!!
So, today as I head to my monthly club meeting, I will be presented with a silver half dollar for completing level 4, and a silver dollar for completing all four levels!!!
I still can't believe my fortune. It takes a lot to complete all four of these levels, most importantly good friends!!! I honestly can say that without my detecting buddies I never would complete it.
Thanks for looking.
http://www.americandetectorist.com/forum/index.php?topic=8493.0
As I mentioned in that post, the year was winding down and I was focused on a club sponsored scavenger hunt. It has four levels to it, each level has items harder to find than the one before it. There are 13 items each level, and you need to find 12 of 13 items to complete the level. Each level earns you a reward in the form of a silver coin. If you complete level 4, you get a silver half dollar. If you complete all 4 levels, you get a silver dollar.
As luck would have it after 3 bitterly cold sessions in a farm field I managed to find a copper thimble which was one of the items left I needed for level 4.
So that was December 29th, leaving me a couple days left in the year, and only needing one more item to complete the 4th level. (the hunt resets at the 1st of the year) The 30th was a family day, no opportunity to go out, that left me the 31st.
I called up a friend and discussed with him a strategy to provide me with the best chance of finding one of the items left. I needed either a cross/crucifix, a piece of platinum jewelry, or a piece of gold jewelry with stones of 2 or more colors. None of those are your every day finds of course!
Should I even bother going out I thought out loud? I decided I would regret it more not trying, than going out and being disappointed.
We quickly decided that beach detecting would be my best bet. However, I was a bit hesitant to take the hour and a half drive to the nearest salt water beach for an outing I all but expected to be disappointing. The chances of finding one of those items was very slim. He understood that and pointed me to a park nearby me, that also had a beach. Ironically, I had stopped by this park within the last week to check it out and had intended to go back one day. I had not yet noticed the beach which was in the far end.
I figured driving 30 minutes was better than the 3 hour round trip, this at least would satisfy my gotta give it a try mentality.
So I headed out that morning and arrived around 10:30AM and made my way to the beach. WOW, it was a pretty big one at that, around the size of a football field. I wasn't expecting that.
I started gridding the beach, sweeping in horizontal lines across, about 10 or so feet apart.
Several hours later, and 8 “grids” across the field, I had found 2 silver rosies, and a couple wheaties, and of course some clad coins. I thought to myself, by every normal definition, this has been a successful hunt.
Of course this was not a normal hunt, so I continued on gridding the beach until I got to this one section close to the shore. Rain water had washed out a large triangular section of the beach a good foot or more to where it was more dirt and gravel. (rather than the beach sand the town brings in)
I started to get a lot of falsing/crown cap signals. However there was something different about these signals. They were just a little bit too strong, and a little bit too repeatable. They were still signals I normally wouldn't dig. However, knowing the age of the beach, and that this was a washed out area, I started digging them all.
Soon, I was pulling out coin after coin from this small washed out area. They were all very deep, upwards of 8-12”. It turns out the falsing/crown cap signals were more to do with depth and of course the mineralization of the beach. I also pulled out nine 45 caliber slugs and a 22 slug. All of the coins had a nice green crusty coating on them. It wasn't until after I went home and cleaned them that I found out I had found 5 more wheaties and some older nickels.
Around 40 minutes into this frenzy of finds I get a strong signal that was reading like a nickel. I dig up the sand and rocks and pull out my X-1 to pin point. I locate the target and wipe the sand with my hand to see if I can uncover it. There, almost perfectly inlayed into the sand, staring back at me is a CROSS!!!!!!!! :omg: Lucky for me it was winter and the beach had no other visitors, as I was screaming like a little girl!!! I was almost in shock as I really did not expect to find the last item. I had not even found one piece of junk jewelry before this.
I call up my friend on my cell phone, I'm sure I was screaming in his ear as my excitement had not yet died down. I told him I thought I had found a cross. My friend is also the person running the scavenger hunt and his say is the final word on whether an item qualifies. Specifically the item must be a cross or crucifix. I had found a religious medal in the shape of a cross earlier in the year and that did not count.
Well this item was U shaped so that it could slip over ones collar. The cross would show on one side, but on the other side was that oval shaped dreadful religious medal, so I wasn't totally sure. I finished up detecting and headed over to his house to have him review. Thankfully he was in agreement that both the cross and the religious medal were separate and that this did indeed counted for the level 4 item!!!
What a day, it was 2:16PM on December 31st and I had just completed Level 4!!! Talk about coming down to the wire!!
So, today as I head to my monthly club meeting, I will be presented with a silver half dollar for completing level 4, and a silver dollar for completing all four levels!!!
I still can't believe my fortune. It takes a lot to complete all four of these levels, most importantly good friends!!! I honestly can say that without my detecting buddies I never would complete it.
Thanks for looking.