School Yard Produces During March Break

The kids are out of school for the week, and the school yards are sitting empty. Better still, the temperatures have been soaring - up over 15C most days for the past week. Sunday was no exception, with my dashboard thermometer reading 18C as I headed to the neighborhood school.

The recent rains had turned the middle of the back field muddy, so I concentrated on the top end of the field. Found the usual pulltabs and crushed cans that plague these older schools, but I also managed to sneak a few interesting and aged tidbits from this well-hunted ground.




First I dug up that brass/bronze tack hammer. At least thats what I think it is? It is a solid piece of metal. Crushed pennies are always fun finds, and this one declares "I BROKE THE BANK IN LAS VEGAS" so I guess I struck it rich on this hunt afterall.

I also found my first rings of the year. The junk ring has a pretty blue stone, and certainly caught my attention as it was pulled from the dirt plug ... but the jewel of the day is certainly the little silver ring.

A Bell Telephone Sterling Silver ladies ring from 1943. My first dated ring, and it isn't even a school ring.

You never know what these school yards are going to yield.

1st of March = 1st Silver of the Year

Had time for a short hunt this afternoon. With the lack of wind, the temperature of 3C was bearable. Found a handful of clad, for a total of $1.63.

Before I finished off, I decided to detect along the old boulevard area that led into the park. Only one signal, but it was a nice one.

My first silver USA quarter, and my first silver of 2012.

Bring on spring!

Weather Beginning to Look Like Spring

Well, just checked out the weather forcast for the next week. Looks like it might be spring like, with a good chance of some detecting. Stay tuned for the coming season of metal detecting adventures.

Summary of Technical Goodies used Detecting in England

Figured I'd start with a summary of the technical goodies I took with me and used in the field in England.


Metal Detector: Tesoro Cortes

- Many will tell you that this is not the best machine for this type of hunting, but my experience with it helped to solidify it as my primary machine. Targets over 12" deep were dug routinely, and the finds were as good as those found by others using "better" and more expensive machinery. I ran it with the discrimination set right at the IRON reading that allowed some of the iron to be eliminated, but not affect the hammered silver coins. I dug every repeatable signal, and some of the less solid tones as well. The first two hammered silver coins I found both registered as a 95 on the scale (coin) and the third one registered in the 70s, but still a solid repeatable signal. Buttons typically came in between 30 and 80, and the gold coin read 44.

Pin Pointer: Garrett ProPointer


- A must have for this type of detecting. It allowed me to find the small stuff quickly and easily within the dirt that was turned over. The ProPointer can find even the smallest of targets from sounds from 2-3 inches away to allow you to zero in on the finds.


Headphones: Rattlers from Grey Ghost

- These one ear headphones were a perfect fit for me. I have been accustomed to keeping one ear askew to hear what was going on around me, and this is therefore a natural fit. However, if the weather had been cold, I would probably have found the open ear to be an inconvenience. The headphones sounded clear for signals, and allowed me to hear everything the detector was telling me.


Pouch: Nail Pouch, and Shotgun Shell Pouch

- Neither were the best choice for the hunt, but both served their purpose well. The Shotgun Shell pouch worked wonderfully for holding large and heavy pieces, specifically pieces of larger iron, while the nail pouch had two divided pouches for "good" and "better" finds and just enough life to last the week. I'm going to look at creating a heavy duty version of the nail pouch for future use.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more.

This past week I had a chance to detect abroad for the first time. It was an amazing week, I spent over 70 hours swinging the detector on the fields around Colchester, England in search of the "old stuff." Colchester has a history of over 2000 years and the finds tha come out fo the area are incredible.




I found a bunch of stuff, and will highlight some of it on these pages over the next few posts, as well as a review the equipment that I took with me for the adventure, but I will start today with a little teaser.





This is a picture of me with my trusty Tesoro Cortes Detector, and decked out in my Tilley T3 outdoors hat on the fields of Colchester. This picture was taken just after I dug every detectorist's dream find -- a Gold Coin!









Stay tuned for more!

Metal Detecting Jeff

Hi Everybody,

This blogspot will showcase my Metal Detecting Adventures, Show-Off my finds, and Provide Reviews of items that I find useful and helpful in the field.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jeff