For Scrap Copper Collectors.

Do you like to collect the bits of scrap you dig up out on your metal detecting hunts. I do. Those bits of lead, brass, bronze, copper etc, all add up and there will come a day when I will cash them in at a scrap yard. And why not, not only does it add a bit of fun to your hunts, it puts a bit of cash in your pocket and it also helps the environment. I just pile it up in buckets out the back in a shed, keeping the lead and copper separated from all the the other metals.
The main source of copper I find are those pre-decimal pennies, halfpennies, and farthings, older Georgian grots and a lot of unrecognizable coins that you know are copper. These coins have been coming thick and fast and I now have a pretty few in a box pictured above. I can't remember how many kilos there are now of these coins, but a few. My aim is to cash it all in for a little nest egg when I retire in 4 years time. How much will I get, who knows, but at the moment the scrap price of copper has rocketed. Long may it continue :).

My first kilo of pre-1992 decimal copper coins.

Now recently I read something on a Facebook site where I can speed up my collecting of copper coins, (Thank you Roger at D&C Metal Detecting Rallies). I expect some of you know this already.  How I never thought about this before I will never know, must be my age. But I've just learn't that our 1p and 2p coins that are pre-1992 were made of 97% copper, just like the pre-decimal copper coins. As it works out in today's market, the price of the copper in a pre-1992 coin gives that 1p a scrap value of 2.10p and the 2p a scrap value of 4.11p. So those pre-1992 decimal 1p and 2p coins in your piggy bank are worth just over twice as much in scrap value.
You can check those figures and also see today's values at www.wolframalpha.com/

The pre-decimal coins above can of course be scrapped and melted down for their copper content now as they are not in circulation anymore, so making it legal.
But the 1p and 2p decimal coins are still legal tender and because they are still in circulation it is against the law to deface or melt these coins. Collecting of the 1p and 2p coins therefore have to be gathered for a future cash in, The way things are going I reckon within a few years they will go out of circulation and then they can be scrapped for cash.

All in all a sound investment I think, As well as checking the coins I dig I'm also checking the change from shops etc looking for those pre-1992 copper coins.
A TIP... You don't have to screw up your eyes trying to read the date on them like I have to, just run a magnet over them, pre-1992 copper coins will NOT stick to the magnet, but post 1992 coins will.

Heads up on Forthcoming Rally - Devon/Cornwall.

Port Eliot Estate Metal Detecting Rally. 

If anyone fancies attending a metal detecting rally this month in Cornwall there is one coming up on the 24th January 2015 at the Port Eliot Estate. Its open to all and payment of £15 to be paid via paypal by the 22nd of January. Details can be found on the "MDF Metal Detecting Forum" or on the organizers Facebook page "Devon and Cornwall Metal Detecting Rally's".

As with most rallies, with this one you will need a NCMD or FID card to attend.

I attended the last one back last November and was lucky enough to find a couple of silver hammered coins: Port Eliot Rally - Two Silver Hammereds.

The site is so vast there must be plenty more to be found there. Because of the size of it I never got to detect half of it, and with the possibility of a couple more fields being available the scene is set for another good rally.

Monday 12 January 2015.

Wonder what we do miss with those little blips.

Reading our local club's forum this morning there was a very interesting conversation going on regarding a recent hoard of £1 coins that had just been found. There were 74 £1 coins in total, 34 loose and two bank sealed bags of 20. The conversation they were having certainly makes you think about what you may be leaving behind by ignoring those little bleeps the detector is giving off.

Here is the main part of their conversation:::

Detectorist 1.  Was really strange we think someone robbed the near bye pub, there were two complete bank sealed bags of golden nuggets all pre 2000 in date all confined to a 20 ft square area, 3 of us dug them out at a depth of 6 to 9 inches , it was a real test as some signals were the slightest blip and we only dug these really iffy ones because we knew they were there.
Even the complete 20 coin bags gave iffy signals...a good test in digging out a hoard even if they were just nuggets.

Detectorist 2. Beggars belief that the full bags still gave an iffy signal cos just a single GOLDEN nugget gives a cracking signal usually. Was the ground quite mineralised.

Detectorist 1. Not overly, it was more the depth, the bags were maybe a 10 or 12 inches deep individual coins were really hard, some were closer to surface and gave the normal 82, but as we cleared them we were left with little blips at 91 to 97.

Detectorist 2. Lesson to be learned there for the number watchers.

Detectorist 1. It was no different than digging any other hoard, the Roman one I was involved in a couple of years ago was very similar, once you know it's a hoard you have to dig just about any signal, it's then that you realise how much stuff we miss, as you remove the obvious signals it gets harder and harder, and you end up digging just blips, which you would normally not even notice.

The machine he was using was a Deus, same as I use. I've just got into the habit of digging 'iffy' sounding signals, now I will have to re-tune my ears for those 'blips' as well. 

Wednesday 7 January 2015.

Happy New Year.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Happy New Year All. Hope you had some great finds this last year and you have even better finds this new coming year. If you have been following my blog you will have seen I have not found a great deal of headline hitting finds, in fact most of my finds have just been run of the mill stuff which was the idea of this blog in the first place, just to show that's its not all gold and silver. My wish for this new year is to find an excellent detailed silver hammered coin and also a nice detailed roman coin. But as they say, you have to walk over it first.

So watch this space, you never know:).

Happy 2015 Hunting To You All.
Thursday 1 January 2015.

Detectorists: From outcasts to valued assets.

.......They have long been the nerdy outcasts of the world of history and archaeology – often unwanted, or labelled as damaging amateurs who know nothing except the beep of their machines.

....... But now metal detectorists have finally taken their valued place alongside archaeology experts and historians, with a new exhibition at one of the West’s most prestigious museums.

READ MORE HERE...

(source: westerndailypress.co.uk)

Armchair Archaeology.

Here's an interesting news article showing armchair archaeology at its best. I've often looked at google images myself, normally just before a planned dig when I have the info on the fields we are able to go on. Its always worth a scan to see if there are any signs of human inhabitation, building lines, footpaths/trackways, etc. Well this fellow Devonian struck lucky and discovered a Bronze Age settlement which has turned up 5,000 year old pottery and flint tools. 

I like the way he approached his research as he quoted, 'Night after night I looked at Google Earth asking myself the question, ‘if I was alive 3,000 years ago where would I live’. ‘I would need food, water, shelter, close to Dartmoor for minerals, close to a river to access the sea and trade routes.

‘After a few weeks I put an “X marks the spot” on the map - that was where I would live.

Read from source here...

(source:dailymail.co.uk)

Bronze Age Arrowhead

Just thought I would share with you this amazing 'eyes only' find made by a fellow club member out on our club dig yesterday. Early research suggests its a barbed and tanged arrowhead with the tip missing (most likely as it probably snapped off on impact having been launched at something or someone).Its also been suggested its definately early to middle Bronze Age; circa 2400-1000B....WOW, what an age.

The identifier of this arrowhead also went on to say,
,,,," If that has been found within a site, then there will undoubtably be more; many more. Hunting in the bronze age was undertaken as group activity, and strategy was important in surrounding and entrapping animals and game. Once caught (wether that was by arrow or not), butchery and or hide extraction would take place on site; with more tools like scrapers and blades".

You can bet the next time we have the opportunity  to hunt this site our eyes will be peeled firmally on the ground.

Monday 20 October 2014.

Metal Detectorists on TV....

Get your popcorn in, the long awaited TV comedy series ,'Detectorists' starts tomorrow night, Thursday 2nd October, 10pm on BBC 4. This article from The Express newspaper sums it up nicely.....

Detectorists: The treasure hunters digging up a fortune

..... Known as detectorists, their hobby is occasionally thrust into the spotlight when a valuable hoard is found, and is now the subject of a new BBC 4 comedy starring Mackenzie Crook.

......The programme has divided the metal detecting community. Some hope it will raise the profile of their hobby and encourage fresh blood.......

.....Others however, including the leader of its national organisation, fear the sitcom will expose them to ridicule......

..... But the new comedy hasn’t been greeted with universal warmth and the BBC was denied help when it sought the assistance of the National Council for Metal Detecting.

Read full article here....

I'm looking forward to watching it myself. So what if we do look a bit Geeky in the series. Other hobbies get the Micky Monkey taken out of them, this time its our turn. At the end of the day if you can't laugh at yourself, what can you laugh at.

Bring it on I say.

*UPDATE*
Watch the full episode here on YOUTUBE...

COUNTERFEIT METAL DETECTORS SEIZED.

Friday 5 September 2014.
Here is a news article I've just come across about seized counterfeit metal detectors.

Counterfeit metal detectors worth Dh4m seized, three arrested.

According to Major-General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police for Criminal Investigations, the gang rented a warehouse in Dubai to store duplicate devices of a well-known British brand of metal detectors. They then allegedly exported these devices as genuine.

The police seized 24,372 devices, including 495 counterfeit metal detectors, 8,550 batteries, 6,557 bases of metal detectors and 1,000 columns used in installing detectors....

.....READ FROM SOURCE HERE.....

 Be careful out there you just don't know what you may be buying.

My Ace 250 fitted with the 13" coil vs XP Deus test.

A lot of people will dismiss this test as rubbish as they say that air tests and buried coin tests don't give a true result. Maybe not for some results, but to me this way of testing, using the same coins, in the same soil, in the same environment, surely must give some sort of  indication what a metal detector can do. Take for example when I first bought the 13" Ultimate coil to replace the standard 9" coil on my Ace 250, this sort of testing did show that I was getting some more inches of depth which also showed out in the real conditions of a field. I was digging deeper and finding more. So I think this sort of testing does have a place, even if its only just to compare different coils and machines.

Based on the above and as I had nothing better to do this morning I tried a test that I have been wanting to try for a while now. As you see in the photos I filled a large 18" deep plastic planter with bought in soil from a garden center. For testing I used a 1936 copper penny and a 1921 silver shilling buried at different depths.
The two machines I used were my Garret Ace 250 fitted with my 13" Ultimate Coil and my XP Deus 3.2 fitted with the Standard 9" Coil.

Why did I bother doing this test, well,,,, like a lot of detectorists,  I wanted to justify to myself why am I now using a £1,200 machine,  when I started out detecting using a machine costing only £180.
Very briefly my story goes like this:

Bought Garret Ace 250. Came with the standard 9" coil. Cost £180.
Excellent start to metal detecting. Finding stuff and getting hooked on the hobby.

Upgraded the 9" coil to a 13" coil. Cost £120.
Excellent, digging more and deeper. I looked at it as I now had a machine costing £300.

Upgraded to a Garret AT Pro. Cost £595. Kept the Ace 250 for a back up machine.
Poor move. Found the Ace 250 with the 13" coil performed just as good if not a little better than the AT Pro. Sold the AT Pro and went back to the Ace 250.

Upgraded again to a Nokta Velox One. Cost £595. Still kept the Ace 250 for a back up machine.
Good move, I liked the Velox One. Though I didn't see any more depth than my Ace 250 with the 13" coil, I did like the way it sounded and I seemed to be able to tell different signals apart easier.
Had a problem with both my arms and found the Velox too heavy for me and sold it on.

Upgraded again to the XP Deus, which I am still using. Cost £1,200. Still have my Ace 250 as a back up machine.
For me and my arms an excellent move. Reason being its so light. Also love being cordless.
Depth wise, not much difference than my Ace 250 with 13" coil.

I will admit I'm obsessed with depth, I want to go as deep as possible so as to know I'm not missing anything. I used to think the more a machine cost, the deeper it will go, hence my upgrades. But when I look back I can easily see that's not the case. All I seemed to have got for more money is more bells and whistles, but not the depth I was after.
I now compare metal detectors to cars. A Fiesta is a simple car compared to say a Merc with all its bells and whistles., but they both drive you from A to B. It depends on what you want yourselves, myself, I like simple and depth.

So in a nutshell and back to my tests, I can only justify to myself I have paid an extra £900 for a machine that's friendly on my arms and being cordless. But I'd sooner have extra depth.

Filled an 18" deep plastic planter with top soil bought in from a garden center. I wanted good topsoil as I didn't want any small metal pieces contaminating it and plus the soil in my garden was contaminated and stoney. 

 As I said above, both coins were buried in same soil in the same environment. At 6", 8", 10" and 12".

At 6" with both machines set at Max Sensitivity and no Discrimination (Ace in all metal mode), (Deus tested in all factory programs with no tweeking), both coins were picked up easily with good clear signals.

At 8" with both machines set at Max Sensitivity and no Discrimination (Ace in all metal mode), (Deus tested in all factory programs with no tweeking), both coins were picked up easily with good clear signals.

 At 10" with both machines set at Max Sensitivity and no Discrimination (Ace in all metal mode), (Deus had to be tweeked), both coins were picked up but with weaker/poor signals. It was a case of should I dig or not. 

At 12" both machines indicated that there was a target there but very poor signals.

After 12" nothing.

Yes, a very simple un-exciteable test I know, but it convinced me you don't get anymore depth for your money, just more comfort. My next couple of metal detecting trips I am going to use my Ace 250 for a change, just for my own curiosity. I'm wondering with all the bells and whistles that they could be making me miss finds. Time will tell...

No metal detecting yet but a great week.

I've been off work all this week and not done any metal detecting yet, but I've been visiting some interesting places. Beginning of the week my wife and I visited our son in Oxfordshire. He's been working and living there for quite a while now and has found himself a flat and moved his partner up there. So we decided its about time for our first visit up to see them. They have a lovely place and both seem very happy. We slept on their lounge floor on a blow up mattress which was an experience. We arrived on the Sunday evening and came home the following Tuesday morning but in that short time saw a lot of the interesting history of the area.

He's living in a lovely village just outside of Wantage in Oxfordshire. The Sunday evening we arrived we had a walk about and I can tell you I was drooling over the fields there. On Monday my son drove us a little way to an ancient site called Wayland's Smithy, which is a Long Barrow used for burials 5.500 years ago. A fantastic place. A more in depth look at the site can be read on WIKIPEDIA at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland%27s_Smithy

The actual entrance which is blocked off a little way in but there are two chambers still visible just inside.

At the site we met a couple of New Age traveler types. Pleasant people. They told me they visit this site and others and light candles and leave offerings as a respect for the dead. The chap in the picture said he likes doing it because like this tomb, the dead are disturbed, the tombs trashed and the goods are robbed and end up in a museum somewhere, its our way of showing a little respect.

From here we followed an ancient trackway to Uffington Castle, an early iron age hill fort.
A more in depth look at the site can be read on WIKIPEDIA at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_Castle

The castle used to cover 32,000 square meters but all that remains of the castle today are two earth banks separated by a ditch. The view from up on the earth works looking out over the countryside was breathtaking.

 Just to the right of the castle is also another ancient landmark, the Uffington White Horse carved into the hillside. The pic shown shows it from the air on the English Heritage site.

We arrived back home from our sons early Tuesday morning and spent the rest of the day relaxing. On Wednesday we traveled to Bodmin in Cornwall for a day trip with our daughter. We visited Bodmin Jail which I had been meaning to for ages. It was well worth the visit as it was so interesting as well as harrowing. It was built in 1779 and closed in 1927.

Its been a great week so far and hope to get some detecting in at the weekend to finish it off.

NOKTA VELOX ONE LARGE SEARCH COIL FOR SALE.

 Tuesday 29 July 2014.

SOLD FOR  £84.00.

Just a heads up on my Nokta Velox One large search coil I am selling on the MDF auction site.

START BID £30.00

START TIME  MONDAY 28th JULY 2014

END TIME THURSDAY 7th AUGUST 2014

If interested and to view this auction listing please click this link:

http://www.metaldetectingauction.com/nokta-velox-one-large-seach-coil-39x45-155x177,name,103031,auction_id,auction_details

For auction sale, a Nokta Velox One Large Search Coil 39x45cm (15.5"x17.7").
Coil cover included.
I had a Nokta Velox One metal detector with the standard coil for 18 months, and part-exchanged it. Six months before I part-exchanged the Velox I got the large 39x45cm search coil for it brand new. During those six months I had the coil I only used it about 4-5 times.
The large coil has just been laying around at home here since I part-exchanged the Velox four months ago. So from new the coil is only 10 months old and as I say, only been used 4-5 times and its about time I sold it as its no good to me now.
I got the large coil from Evergreen Outdoors Metal Detectors which I believe has now gone out of business, so there is no warranty in force.
As the coil is of no use to me I'm starting the bidding at £30. 00 with no reserve, that includes postage and packing and sent Royal Mail Signed For. If it sells for £30.00, that's all you pay.
Any questions please contact me through the auction site.
Please Note: Payment is by PayPal only and will only post within the UK. Also I'd like to let this auction run its course, so no offers please.
Good luck if you decide to bid.
janner53.

An old pic I took showing the difference in sizes between the standard coil on the left and the 15"x17" on the right.

ALSO INCLUDED.... 
The leather battery pack holder which attaches the battery pack to the side of the Velox One's control box. Its well used and in good condition. I will be sending this holder free with the coil.

Military Dog Tags.

Friday 25 July 2014.

 A total of 37 Dog Tags. Some round and some oval shapes. All with surnames, initials, religion and service numbers. Found while renovating a back garden.

I've read many a time of Military Dog Tags being found by metal detectorists around the country, and some of those found Tags have been reunited with their owners or members of the owner's family. The feeling of a family being reunited with such a lost personal object must be immense. I have never found a Military Dog Tag myself but if I ever do I would do my utmost to try and return it to the family of the person who lost it.

Now what brings me to write this post is because of a conversation I had with a relative of mine just recently. About 30 years ago I wasn't into metal detecting or history of my city etc, not like I am now. So when these Dog tags were found while renovating their garden, I remember thinking 'interesting', but that was that, they were stored away at my relatives house all these years until recently.

The past couple of years my relative has developed an interest in the history of Plymouth and the area where we live. Her interest turned to these Dog Tags and with a bit of research, mainly facebook I believe,  she managed to trace the family of one of these Tags and has since returned it to them. The family concerned replied how overjoyed they were receiving the Tag and sent a photo showing the soldier concerned in his uniform with other details.
She intends to try and trace all of them and return as many as possible.

Now I thought these were all WWII Dog Tags, but their house was built on an old Colony for those servicemen suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis after the great War, and was closed down in 1934.
Maybe it was then used for WWII operations as I have found many WWII badges and buttons within half a mile of this site. Plenty more interesting research to be taken up I think.

If any of you have experienced doing a Military Dog Tag trace before we would appreciate any tips on how you went about it. Also, it would be a good reference if I or anyone reading this finds one.

GOOD LUCK ENGLAND.

 

GOOD LUCK ENGLAND

My New XP Deus Has Arrived.

I answered a knock on my door around lunchtime and there stood Mr Postman with my brand new Deus. I part-exchanged my Nokta Velox One with Crawfords Metal Detectors who gave me a good deal on the XP Deus. So thank you Crawfords for a super-fast transaction. I explained in a couple of posts back about how I injured my arms and that I needed a very lightweight machine. The Deus fits that bill perfectly so I can carry on enjoying my hobby of metal detecting without pain. Also, being cordless is an added bonus.

First thing I did as we all do with a new machine is quickly get it out of the box and see what we have. I'm still amazed how light it feels. I then had a quick look at the instruction book, wow, frightened the life out of me, I'm not at all tekky minded and thought this is going to be hard work. But my nephew, bless him, called round my house after he left work to show me the inns and outs of it. Now I have a basic understanding of it I feel a lot better and looking forward to reading the instructions now. We intend to go out for the day detecting tomorrow so I will be giving it its first run. Its been all charged up and I'm ready to roll, not sure what to expect but I will have my Nephew with me as a tutor. Tomorrow will be a test run for me, if I find anything I will look at it as a bonus, I just can't wait to see how it performs.
Right, I better spend the rest of the evening swotting up,,,,where's me glasses.




Before I go, I'd like to show you another purchase I recently made which arrived today. Its a  Metal Detectorists " Extreme " Multi Pocket Finds Pouch with multi Probe securing positions, Includes Security Attachment + Coiled Lanyard.  A very handy piece of kit from a well respected seller on the UK and European Metal Detecting Forum.
I'd like to think I will fill that pouch tomorrow and not with just junk....

Evolution Extreme Blade And Holster.

 I bought the actual Blade a little while ago and what an excellent tool it is. Made of stainless steel and very well made. The Leg holster I have just bought, came today, and after putting it on I'm glad I parted with my money. So comfy to wear and now my blade is in a very handy position to get at with ease.

Lead Palm Guards.

 

Next time your out metal detecting and you dig a large piece of lead, before you condemn it to the scrap bucket make sure you check it out as it could well be a Palm Guard like these four pictured.

 They are mainly circa 18th - 19th century and were used by leather workers. Normally they used to wrap the guard in a cloth, or held in a pouch and used to force needles through the tough material while protecting the users palm. Several impressions from needle-ends are evident.

I have dug these four shown from various pasture sites. They usually have one flat surface and a convex with two indentations.

Bullets and Musket Balls.

Its surprising when you have been metal detecting for a while what sort of collections you start to form. Even though we are mainly after those elusive silver hammered coins or a rare gold coin its the more commoner finds that soon build into collections and keeps us interested in the hobby. 

I've been rummaging through my finds bucket and picked out all the different bullets and musket/pistol balls I have found. They range in size and age and now I get excited when I find one I don't have. I must get around to dating them all, I should think the bullets should be quite easy to date but the musket/pistol balls which had been around for hundreds of years will be more difficult.

Box Iron Slugs.

I've dug four of these objects so far which I have shown in the picture. The first one I ever dug was found on a club dig and a fellow detectorist told me it was from an old iron for pressing clothes. Oh I thought, an artifact and so kept it. Since the other three have turned up in different sizes I started to wonder what these irons looked like so here is a bit of research I have done on them.

By the 19th century a type of iron had been developed called the box iron. The iron was made of iron and normally had a wooden handle. The box iron was hollow on the inside. The box iron was heated by a piece of hot iron known as a slug. The slug was heated up on the kitchen range and then placed inside the hollow box iron.

It was custom to keep two or more of these slugs heating on the range so as the iron in the box iron cooled down it could be quickly replaced by another hot one.

The box irons shown here have a sliding door at the back. The hot slug was put into the iron through this door. Some box irons have a top that can be lifted off instead.

Nokta Velox One Large Search Coil.

Just after I bought my Velox One I was out hunting a site I've visited a few times with my Ace 250 where I have found many copper and a few milled silver coins with the Ace. So thought I would go over it again with my new Nokta Velox One to see if I could winkle out some more. That day turned out to be my best metal detecting day so far. As well as finding a few coppers and two milled silvers, I found a gold/silver ring and a gold coin. That was on the 31st of May 2013 and I did a post of that day which you can *read here*.

I was so excited and buzzing about that day I submitted my story to the Nokta Website under the heading 'Success Stories'. The short story I submitted to the Nokta Website you can *read here*.

Now if Nokta chose your story and printed it on their Website you received a $500 gift voucher to spend on any Nokta products. I was lucky enough to have my story printed and received a $500 gift voucher which I spent on the large Velox search coil and a Nokta RS PinPointer with Evergreens Detectors UK.

My coil and pinpointer arrived today and now I can't wait to get out and use them. Hoping to get out at the weekend so will post about how I get on.

The big 15.3" x 17.7" looks a lot bigger in the flesh, wow its huge. Here is a pick of the standard coil and the large coil, some difference side by side. The Nokta pinpointer looks a sturdy bit of kit too.

I would like to say a big thank you to Nokta and Evergreens for their great communication and products and giving me a couple of early Christmas presents.