I hit a site last (Mar 19, 2014) that has produced old deep silver in the past, but not in over a year. I was using the CTX 3030 with the 17 inch coil, manual 32 sensitivity, gain 30, Ferrous Combined. In about 2 hours I hunted a straight line about 150 to 200 feet long. I was very focused and very meticulous on each beep out of the machine.
The first target I dug was a “Blue Bird” pin that hit at 6 inches and rang up in the 12-42 range. It was a little bouncy but had rust on the back where the attachment pin used to be. I will have to clean it up a bit better to see if it has any hallmarks on it or if it is junk.
The next target was an 8 inch memorial cent hitting in the 12-40 range.
The next was a 1939 Merc at about 7 inches, 12-42 and a nice silver tone.
About ten minutes later I got a “chirp”. I circled around it for at least 5 minutes. I just could not walk away. I keep getting the micro swings smaller and smaller as I rotated around the spot. I tried to pinpoint from all angle around the circle and it would not make a peep. It keep bouncing around on the readings but from one angle it would briefly hit at 12-45. I had to keep circling around it to determine where to dig the plug since it would not pinpoint. I have seen this before and they were most of the time 12+ inch dimes including 2 dimes at the 13 ½ inch depth last year.
Once I started to dig the plug I could only dig down about 8 inches before hitting something more or less solid. I knew then that there was an old parking lot under the surface dirt. Pulling out the plug confirmed it and I then started to dig through 4 or 5 inches of gravel. I kept trying the pin pointer but nothing. I pulled out a couple more inches of dirt and finally got a beep out of the pin pointer. With about 14 ½ inches of dirt out of the hole I keep working the digger gently and taking more and more dirt out of the hole. Finally the beep stopped and I check the last dirt slice out and there was a very black disk. The first thing I saw was the eagle that was so worn that it looked more like a buzzard. LOL I stuck the 11 1/2 inch digger back in the hole and it was over 4 inches from the top of the hole. (about 16 inches down) Since the Walker was in the last slice of dirt, I can conservatively say 15 inches and be really comfort saying it.
After detecting for 45 years and digging a lot of amazing things and watching my detecting partners dig amazing things I really don’t get very impressed anymore. Well folks, that half dollar and that depth impressed me. It impressed me a lot.
Conditions were perfect. The soil was moist all the way down, the grass was more or less not an issue as I was scrubbing the ground with the coil so there was no air between the coil and the ground. There was no EMI and very calm wind. I was swinging at a slow enough speed that I could hear the chirp and I recognized what the 3030 was telling me. It probably took me 15 to 20 minutes from chirp to tamping the plug back in the hole but was worth every second. I cannot really put into words the feeling of recognizing and recovering a well worn 1917 half dollar, from that kind of depth.
Folks, this coin is going on the top shelf. I have dug much, much better things over the years but never a coin in dirt at this depth. Again, this dig impressed me and impressed me a lot. It is my new standard. I have raised the bar for myself and may never hit the bar again but at least I know that on Mar 19, 2014, I dug a 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar at a depth of at least 15 inches with a maxed out Minelab CTX 3030 with a 17 inch coil in Pryor, Oklahoma.
PryorCreekJoe - Oklahoma, USA
.jpg)