North East Metal Detecting Forum - Recent Topics

Inserting Photos and Video

ron — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 11:23:43 +0000

To insert a photo you can upload a file with the "attach file".

After uploading then hover over the attachment to get the link then copy url.

Than you can paste the direct url in post and the image will show up.

Same with videos, you can just paste the link and it will embed into post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW5PbyuBngI

Photos

Same with websites

https://studiodezines.com

from Diesel

Sea Hunter — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:42:16 +0000

The husband leans over and asks his wife, 'Do you remember the first time we had sex together over fifty years ago? We went behind the village tavern where you leaned against the back fence and I made love to you.' 'Yes', she says, 'I remember it well.' 'OK,' he says, 'How about taking a stroll around there again and we can do it for old time's sake?' 'Oh Jim, you old devil, that sounds like a crazy, but good idea!' A police officer sitting in the next booth heard their conversation and, having a chuckle to himself, he thinks to himself, I've got to see these two old-timers having sex against a fence. I'll just keep an eye on them so there's no trouble. So he follows them. The elderly couple walks haltingly along, leaning on each other for support aided by walking sticks.. Finally, they get to the back of the tavern and make their way to the fence. The old lady lifts her skirt and the old man drops his trousers. As she leans against the fence, the old man moves in..Then suddenly they erupt into the most furious sex that the policeman has ever seen. This goes on for about ten minutes while both are making loud noises and moaning and creaming. Finally, they both collapse, panting on the ground. The policeman is amazed. He thinks he has learned something about life and old age that he didn't know. After about half an hour of lying on the ground recovering, the old couple struggles to their feet and puts their clothes back on. The policeman, is still watching and thinks to himself, this is truly amazing, I've got to ask them what their secret is. So, as the couple passes, he says to them, 'Excuse me, but that was something else. You must've had a fantastic sex life together. Is there some sort of secret to this?' Shaking, the old man is barely able to reply, 'Fifty years ago that wasn't an electric fence.'

RIVER CROSSINGS by John Quist

Sea Hunter — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:40:56 +0000

River Crossings In the early colonial era in New England, and across the country, river crossings were the hubs of business and commerce. Where there is commerce there are coins and artifacts. The rivers (and canals) were the lifeblood of transportation in early colonial America. If you look at a map of any state the major cities and towns were founded as close to moving bodies of water as possible. Rivers provided drinking and irrigation, power for mills, and a means of transporting people and commerce. In New England, two rivers were dominant in economic terms, the Connecticut and the Merrimack. The Connecticut River runs from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in northern New Hampshire, bisects New Hampshire and Vermont before entering Massachusetts and Connecticut and finally emptying into Long Island Sound. All along the Connecticut are major cities, a state capitol, farms, mill towns, and various tributaries that bring goods from the surrounding areas. We are told that the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620, just three short years later, the Dutch moseyed up to present day Hartford and only 15 years puritan William Pynchon formed one of the early successful colonies in the Springfield-Holyoke area. Up and down river, the great early industrial towns of Bellows Falls, White River Junction, New Haven and New Britain dotted the river with wealth and commerce. The Merrimack River begins at the headwaters of the Pemigewasset and is fed by the Squam and Winnipesaukee, and also fed by the lower feeder rivers: Contoocook, Souhegan, Nashua, and Concord. This artery of commerce transported various goods from the heart of New Hampshire to Newburyport, Massachusetts. The great New England mill towns of Nashua and Manchester are legend in the early industrial age for their cloth, wool, furniture, and various commodities. The masts of the schooners that crossed the Atlantic were hewn from the enormous eastern white pine, felled and transported to the ocean on the vein of commerce known as the Merrimack. What’s the metal detecting point in all this history? Think about it...Before there were bridges there were ferry crossings near the slow moving parts of these great rivers. At these crossings, goods and people were transported, money was exchanged and dropped. The logging camps where the workers stopped to rest and camp have great possibilities of having artifacts and the coinage of the times. The early bridges were few and far between. Those that built them often charged a toll for the privilege of crossing. On either side of the river where these old bridges once were, camps were pitched, taverns and inns were built, and dances were held. The islands and sand bars were places where people relaxed and played. One of my best finds was an 1860 Seated Liberty Quarter that I found on an island in the middle of the Che mung River in Corning, NY. From researching places to hunt, I found a single sentence in a history book of the area that told of dances and parties that were held on a nondescript island that was a virtual sand bar. That sand bar was still there. When the water was low in the summer, I waded out there and voila! It wasn’t in great shape but it brought a good price during the silver boom of the 80’s both for its silver and intrinsic value. Often, many of these crossings and areas are covered with feet of cement but if you look deeper into the history of the area you are researching you will find and old abandoned crossing that has been unused for 100’s of years. In your home turf there is just that place, waiting for you to swing that electronic marvel over it and have something to brag about. By John Quist,

iffy signals by Doc Watson

Sea Hunter — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:38:48 +0000

Iffy Signals G M Doc Watson Metal detecting today differs very little from years ago. Some people hunt the beaches for Spanish silver or the rings of yesterdays’ swimmers; others look for coins in the local parks or the long gone fairgrounds. And others hunt the fields, forests and latest construction sites for relics of the early wars and the settlers who waged them. Some manage to do a little of it all. What has changed, however, is the equipment that we do it with. Starting in the early seventies with a Compass 66B, detecting was a simple process. The detector had an on-off/volume knob, ground balance knob, small green light and a switch to change the signal indication from sound, light or both. You turned it on, tuned the ground balance to neutralize the effects of ground mineralization, and dug every single waver to the threshold tone. A loud signal could be a bottle cap on the surface or a hub cap two feet deep; there was no discrimination and other than loudness/weakness, little change in the tone. I remember detecting a park that first year out, and digging two or three aluminum pull tabs in a row. The next signal was exactly the same and I would have bet money it was another tab. But I was surprised when I popped up my first silver dollar, together with a couple of mercury dimes. That told me that it all pretty much sounded the same so I’d have to dig it all. Over the years detectors have improved their performance and offered new capabilities. Listening to the subtle changes in tone one could hear a difference, to some degree. At least a bottle cap and hub cap no longer sounded the same. At a gold mining camp I could tell the difference between metal objects and the mineralized rocks that were in abundance on the site, by the quality of the signal tone. One produced a clear, crisp tone where the other signal experienced a slight delay, giving it a re verb effect. Though I’d dig the odd sound every so often as a way to double check and keep myself honest, this tonal discrimination allowed me to skip over 95% of the signals I was getting and to focus on the clearer metal signals. That first day yielded over an ounce and a half of small gold nuggets, including one that weighted a half ounce. On the next day the good signals were far and few between, as I was now covering the same area again. One signal sounded iffy, neither good nor bad, so I decided to check it out. I quickly located a hot rock responsible for (at least) part of the signal; there was still a weak tone there. This tone sounded more like the metal signals I had been digging and as I dug deeper and deeper, it grew louder and stronger. At a depth of two feet I located the source of the second signal, a palm sized hunk of gold that weighed over five ounces. Many years and detectors later, the same concept holds true. Between multiple tones, conductivity and ferrous vs. nonferrous indicators, my detector displays more information then ever. I just need to interpret it. Most sites I detect and dig most all metal, Continue next page though I will fore go small iron objects. One tone sounded like the target could be a bit of small iron, and the secondary screen information suggested the same. However, since there was not much “new trash” on this site, I dug the iffy signal and was rewarded with not one but two metal objects, a square iron nail, and an 1850 O dime. Another broken signal in the same area turned out to be a much worn 1803 half reale. It could be easy to let the technology overwhelm us when we first start out, or when we change to a new detector; partly because detectors are so much more accurate then before. Now when the screen says 10¢ clad, it most likely will be; but not always. If someone is working a heavily trashed area, relying on the detector to decide dig/not dig may be the only way the site is worth digging. But in areas where the finds could be very rewarding, and it is not carpeted with modern trash, digging the extra trash could well be worth the efforts of chasing the iffy signals. Another such time occurred a few years ago while covering the yard of a residential home lost to the construction of a highway by-pass. I

MINELAB EXCALIBUR II

Sea Hunter — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:36:37 +0000

Minelab Excalibur II Ultimate Gold Jewelry Shallow Water & Beach Metal Detector By Chris Valerio Folks, the title of this article pretty much says it all! The Minelab Excalibur II is the ultimate waterproof metal detector for finding lost gold, silver and platinum jewelry in shallow/deep waters or on the beach- Rain or shine! This is far more than just my opinion, because it's the truth and I'll explain why. For starters I'm a treasure hunter first and specialize in Searching for lost Caribbean jewelry in the sea. I've traveled so many times to the Caribbean in search of shallow water gold, that I've lost count of how many Caribbean treasure hunting vacations I've partaken in! Perhaps 30 or 40? I travel with a group of 4 to 6 friends everywhere in the Caribbean and as a group we share responsibilities and expenses, making these treasure hunting vacations both fun, affordable and sometimes very profitable! Gold is where you find it, so they say, but we always find gold! While there are no guarantees, believe me there's plenty of gold to be had in shallow waters! At the beach people love to flaunt their gold and think little of taking their jewelry in for a dip. What they do not realize is just how easy it is to lose their precious jewelry. Swimmers laugh when we tell them what we're searching for in the water, gold! Oh if they only knew better. But why is jewelry so easy to lose in the sea or lake/river? Well there are several reasons. Some jewelry like rings fit fingers poorly to start. Think about this at the beach where Sun Worshipers slather themselves up with slippery suntan lotions and sun block. That slippery stuff gets all over their fingers and under rings. Then they sweat in the sun or while playing beach sports, eventually seeking the cooler refreshing water as a welcome change. They may enter and leave the water several times during the course of their perfect day at the beach. Life is good! That's until sometime later they discover a missing ring! Only most have no idea where exactly it was lost? Even if they know the exact moment and place their ring slipped off, they'll most likely never find it because as soon as the ring hits bottom, the sand instantly sucks it right up and totally out of sight! So even a mask and snorkel won't be of any help in a desperate and futile retrieval attempt. Because gold and platinum weigh more than most other metals, the law of the Gravity aids in the loss. Furthermore fingers tend to shrink while submerged in water. Throw in frolicking, water sports, roughhousing, alcohol and yes lovemaking too into the picture and well one can see the loss potential. Gold chains can be ripped off during rough play, or if are long enough fall right off swimmers heads while diving into the water or showing off doing underwater handstands. This treasure deposited into the locker of Davy Jones and regularly! Yes these losses are terrible and sad, yet every day valuable jewelry is being constantly lost and replenished in shallow waters. We call it making deposits! Worse, even if found by someone else later, most pieces can never be returned to their rightful owners. Believe me one of the most fantastic feelings in the world is when one can return such a lost piece. I know so because I always return such found pieces whenever possible and have even returned a ring worth $75,000! My reward? A big hug and a sense of personal satisfaction! Oh and yes, they are many more valuable rings and such just waiting to be found and brought to daylight again! When rightful owners can't be located well, we all know the old saying about Finders, Keepers. OK so understand this. When you look out and over a beautiful and some not so beautiful beaches, it's not a question of if there's lost gold in the water, it's there is lost gold and searching for it with a metal detector makes for a great hobby and pastime. I can't begin to describe the feelings of seeing a recovered piece of gold jewelry just glistening in your scoop! Such a find can even set off a touch of "Gold Fever"! You just want to find more and most gold jewelry found looks as good as it did when first purchased in the store and even after years of being lost in the sea! Besides the obvious thrill of finding lost jewelry, it also can be rather profitable! A decent plain old wedding band of gold can fetch hundreds in scrap value alone. Expensive pieces found can be worth thousands, loaded with diamonds and such! So when searching for gold, platinum and silver jewelry one is quick to realize that this is a hobby that pays. I say that because in my mind there's no question that if you look for gold, you'll find it and as much gold as the effort put in! When I travel on a treasure hunting vacation I expect to find gold and on a good trip the finds will pay for the trip expenses in full. On some trips that will not always happen, yet on others finds far exceed that. My worst trips might be 5 pieces of gold and on my best more than 100 pieces! I know that 100 pieces might be difficult to swallow, but nonetheless is true. While finding gold, silver and platinum is exciting to say the least, it’s the adventure of finding that takes the cake! Treasure hunting is healthful time well spent with friends and creates fond memories to last a lifetime. The finding of gold is the icing on the cake and for obvious reasons while in pursuit of the shiny stuff, one wants to utilize the best metal detectors available for the task at hand. For the serious hobbyists such as myself it pretty much goes without saying, that I can just about use any metal detector I want and I've tried and used most. Also and for obvious reasons I would swing the best detector for finding gold and I do, the Minelab Excalibur II! Why if there were a better machine out there I would use it, right? But not only me, but also the group of fellow treasure hunters I hunt with. We, every last one of us use an Excalibur almost exclusively. Why? Because the Excalibur finds gold jewelry better than any other detector currently on the market- period! Why the Excalibur is nearly a gold magnet! While there are many good and decent metal detectors out there, I've found without a doubt that the Excalibur consistently finds the most gold in the least amount of time. This said for everyday and general detecting. By that I mean while there may be certain ground conditions where other machines excel, the Excalibur finds the most gold in most average conditions and will run circles around other machines most of the time. On our treasure hunting vacations the best way to be the one who finds the least gold, is to use some other brand detector and not an Excalibur! It is what it is and I challenge even the PRO hunters out there to join us on one of our trips and use any other machine and we'll see who finds the most! Yes while there are always exceptions such as plain luck, or finding an extremely deep piece, I'll put my money on the Excalibur every time! Suffice it to say if you want to find your share of gold, platinum and silver get an Excalibur and never look back- you will find the gold! The more time you spend hunting and becoming one with your machine, the more you'll find. So exactly why is this? Or better yet what makes the Excalibur so good? Well.. The Excalibur is manufactured by Minelab an Australian company and is what is called a VLF, very low frequency machine. Without getting too deep into all the details for the most part there are 2 types of metal detectors. VLF machines and pulse induction machines also called PIs and for the most part VLF detectors can discriminate out junk, while most pulse detectors can't, or at least not near as well. Pulse detectors shine in very bad ground conditions such as black sand and can detect targets very deep, but when using a pulse one has to dig nearly every target that responds, so as not to miss anything good. Usually a discriminating VLF machine is more efficient and one spends time digging targets more likely to be gold, rather than junk metals such as rusty iron. One problem with most VLF machines is that they do not work well in saltwater, because the salt is conductive and responds like a detected target. These VLF detectors lose ability to detect gold because they have to compensate for the salinity of saltwater/ground and in the process lose sensitivity. PI detectors do not suffer from this as they sort of pulse on and off and during that on and off cycle simply ignore the salt and other ground minerals. That's it in a nutshell. So while one might conclude that a pulse detector is better in saltwater, that's only partially true. Which sounds better, to have to dig every target that responds, including all the junk metals with a PI machine, or to dig the targets most likely to be gold, silver and platinum using a VLF? Believe me there are far more pieces of junk in the sand than gold and during a limited amount of time, such as when on vacation you'll simply find more gold using the correct VLF detector. The Minelab Excalibur is such a machine and utilizes BBS or Broad Band Spectrum technology. While most VLF detectors run on only one frequency, some have the ability to cancel out the negative effects of salt and poor ground conditions by operating on 2 or more frequencies simultaneously. With BBS technology the Minelab Excalibur runs on 25 frequencies simultaneously and while more isn't always better, in this case it is. With that many frequencies the Excalibur can cancel out the responsive effects of saltwater as well as poor ground conditions. Also the range of frequencies are better able to detect both small and larger targets at the same time. The science behind detectors is rather complex, so my explanations are basic at best. My point is that the use of multiple frequencies, is a reason why the Excalibur is so good even in saltwater and at finding valuable metals. For those who want to comprehend this better I would suggest researching the complex subject of metal detection frequencies. Otherwise know that BBS technology is very good for detecting gold, silver and platinum jewelry. Really the best. Because of all those frequencies the Excalibur can respond to various metals by tone. By this I mean while using an Excalibur most metals respond within a different tonal range. This makes the Excalibur primarily what I call a "Sound Machine" and it sure plays some beautiful music! Basically with an Excalibur the higher the conductivity of a particular metal, the higher the target response tone is and for the most part silver responds with a higher tone, gold and platinum respond within the medium range and lesser metals by low tones. Excalibur’s also utilize something called Iron Mask, which serves to block junk iron from responding like other metals, making iron responses easier to differentiate. Iron Mask also permits the detection of more valuable metals such as gold or platinum even when in the close proximity to iron. With lesser detectors junk iron can mask good targets nearby. Often and after several repeated passes of the coil, the Excalibur masks the iron response, letting the good metal response through. The Excalibur is an easy to use machine and that's very important when working in the water or a pounding surf. The fewer adjustments one has to make, the more time is spent searching for gold. As an example with and Excalibur one never has to worry about what is called ground balancing. Ground balancing which is basically canceling out the metallic ground mineral response, has to be done quite often with lesser machines to achieve the best target response capability. With an Excalibur ground balancing is not necessary as the Excalibur automatically compensates for ground and salt, another benefit of the BBS 25 frequencies. The Excalibur has 5 adjustment knobs and for the most part once they've been set, one forgets about them and hunts for treasure, making only slight adjustments as desired or needed. All Excalibur adjustments are fairly basic and well explained in the included operations manual and I mostly hunt with the same basic settings everywhere. So again an Excalibur is easy to use which sets you free to concentrate more on the hunt! The key to finding gold with your Excalibur is by using it often and at first to dig every target that responds. Soon your brain will relate the various tonal responses and quality with the actual targets recovered. It's kind of like learning to ride a bike and once you learn to, you never forget how. Eventually you will be able to accurately guess what a detected target actually is by response and a prior to recovery. You will learn the response of gold and there are times when I'm certain a piece of gold jewelry has been found by target response alone! I should mention the Excalibur detection coil is of the DD type, which sends a long and narrow knife blade like signal into the ground and performs sort of like a windshield wiper blade on your car. The DD coil design allows for wide ground coverage swipes the full length of the coil and the narrow ground signal pattern has less ground volume to process. Basically this coil design is good for better ground coverage and target separation. The Excalibur II 1000 comes with a 10 inch DD coil and the 800 model a slightly smaller than 8 inch DD coil. These 2 coils are hard wired to the Excalibur, so the coil size desired will have to be chosen at the time of purchase. So how does one select either the 1000 or 800 Excalibur? Well I use both and can report that neither size finds more or less gold than the other. Over the years I've discovered that I've pretty much found the same amount of gold, silver and platinum pieces using either an 800 or 1000. Both coil sizes have certain advantages, yet those advantages seem to cancel each other out and why they're pretty much a wash at finding the gold! Both the 1000 and 800 find gold, with the 1000 perhaps a bit better at ground coverage and the 800 perhaps better target separation and easier target pinpointing? So which to go with? Well for many years I've traveled with both an 800 and a 1000. Having 2 machines on a Caribbean treasure hunting vacation is a smart thing, as one can serve as a back-up machine in the unlikely event one quits working or forbid gets stolen! Neither of which thankfully has happened to me. The Excalibur II is built tough and all the bugs have been worked out. The machine borders near perfection! Anyway traveling with both an 800 and a 1000 did create a sort of daily dilemma- which machine to use? As it turned out no matter which I chose, I found gold and pretty much in equal quantities. So I can only conclude choosing either an 800 or a 1000 is a great choice! One just can't go wrong picking one over the other. With this said which machine should you choose? I suppose some might ponder this for quite some time and not to be able to come to a satisfactory conclusion. But really the choice is pretty simple. How will you use the machine? If you intend to mostly hunt in the water get an 800. The smaller coil has a bit less resistance/drag, so is a tad bit easier to swing underwater for hours at a time. Target recovery and pinpointing is also a bit easier with the 800 coil and that can help especially in murky waters. By no means is the 1000 coil difficult to swing in water, nor is pinpointing difficult. It's just in my opinion the 800 is more suited towards shallow water hunting and is a reason I may start traveling with 2 800 machines. But if you think you'll spend equal amounts of time detecting in the water as on land or wet sand beach, the 1000 is the way to go and will cover a bit more ground. So your intended use is how one chooses between the 800 and 1000 and really you can't make a wrong choice. With my treasure hunting group most used the 800 and just recently switched to the 1000. However several including myself will most likely go back to the 800. As to which goes deeper I've scooped some very deep gold rings with both and perhaps in the range of 18 inches! Keep in mind a BBS machine will not air test well compared to some other detector brands. The only thing that really matters is how a machine detects in the ground and BBS technology needs to see the ground for best performance. Thus the Excalibur can find stuff deeper than any air test! While I'm on the subject of depth, detection depth is not the most important aspect when searching for gold. Since gold and platinum are heavy metals, in many ground types they sink pretty deep and often beyond the detection range of any detector! Sorry that's just the way it can be. So when hunting for valuable gold, silver and platinum jewelry, it's far better to concentrate on the lost pieces one can find and that are within detection range. Yes there are detectors that may detect a bit deeper than an Excalibur, but I've found when struggling to hear the tiniest and deepest of signal responses, it becomes frustrating and more like work and I simply find less gold! As many things in life are some sort of compromise the Excalibur is no different. Yes the Excalibur can hit deep targets, but the fact that the Excalibur is the most efficient jewelry detector out there, is far more important than a machine with just raw depth! Casual detecting with an Excalibur is far more enjoyable and productive. I also find that when I cover more ground I find more. While most of us have or develop our own detecting style, none is wrong especially if it works for you! So when it comes to the Excalibur there really are no special secrets on its use. While there are some basic adjustments and techniques that improve your odds of finding, the Excalibur loves gold range targets so much, one still can find gold with it and even if one might be doing things wrong! That's how forgiving the Excalibur is. The more you read up on basic Excalibur techniques and especially the more you use the machine, the more you'll learn and find- it's that simple! The key is to stick with the machine and to be willing to learn with each outing. Eventually everything will start clicking and the Excalibur will become a natural extension of your body! That's when you begin to find one piece of gold after another and then start expecting that gold will be found! One very important thing I've found to be true and no matter how silly it may sound, is to hunt with a positive mental attitude and expect to find gold. When you do this it's almost as though you're lead to gold by some kind of mysterious force! Hunt with a negative attitude and think you just won't find anything of value and guess what? You find nothing! Your positive attitude has to start before you enter the field and before you arrive at and overlook a particular beach prior to the hunt. You just have to know that lost gold is there and waiting for you to find it! Please know that at just about every beach and especially those beaches where people gather or have gathered in the past, there is gold to be found. I've scooped gold even at beaches that you'd never expect to produce! The gold is there and most likely is constantly being replenished. It's in your best interest to know this and then go looking! Then find you will. The Excalibur is simply the best tool to meld along with positive thoughts and that's when the magic begins! Eventually I’ll write about and share more about my gold hunting techniques and will save that for another article or book. Every now and then things come together just so and I believe this to be the case with the Excalibur. When one considers the combination of BBS technology, Iron Mask, DD coils and simplicity of operation, these help to create the perfect combination to find gold. I guess another way to say this is the Excalibur clearly favors gold range targets like no other machine I've used! The Excalibur is a proven gold finder and for its intended use and purpose, is better than any other detector out there! The Excalibur has been around for some time now and to date nothing better has come along, except perhaps the newer Excalibur II model. The first Excalibur model is known as the Sword. It was very well made and had an 8 inch horseshoe shaped coil. The next model Excalibur was the blue one and referred to as Blue Tubes. The Blue Tubes have/had the best gold tone responses but are long out of production now. The newer lime green Excalibur II model is simply the best Excalibur ever. While the tonal responses of the Excalibur II are close to the earlier Blue Tubes, the Excalibur II is a vastly improved model. The Excalibur II has a better and thinner Tornado coils, detects deeper and runs more stable in the sea. The Excalibur II is my detector of choice! The Excalibur II is a precision made instrument that excels at finding lost gold, silver and platinum jewelry in the sea, lake or on the beach wet or dry! As such this is not an inexpensive machine. Currently an Excalibur II retails just under $1,500. While that's a good chunk of change, really it's not. Consider the price of gold now around $1,200 per ounce and the Excalibur easily has the potential to pay for itself in short order! In that light the Excalibur is a bargain at $1500 and it would not surprise me if the retail price of this detector jumps to $2,500 soon! Even at that high of a price the Excalibur would still be a very good investment, and keep in mind an Excalibur holds its value very well. While there are many outlets to buy an Excalibur II, I highly recommend to purchase yours from George Streeter. George owns Streeter Electronics located in Marlborough NH (www.streeter.org /603-876-4443) and has been metal detecting the Caribbean since the late Seventies! George is a Treasure Trove of knowledge and at his website you can read about his Caribbean exploits and finds in the travel section. But the best reason to buy from George is, when you purchase a new Excalibur from George you'll get a personal invitation to join him on a Caribbean treasure hunting vacation! No other metal detector dealer will make you such a fabulous offer! Should you choose to accept, you'll travel to a beautiful Caribbean Island in search of gold, silver and platinum at an affordable price or share portion. The trips are limited to 6 and you'll be privy to years of hunting experience and secret locations! These are not tours for profit, nor are they detecting classes. They are a great opportunity to join up with fellow treasure hunters in search of gold! The trip experience is worth far more than any gold you'll find and most likely you will find gold! Should you doubt that then consider on our last trip to a beautiful Caribbean Island, a new member on his first trip with us scooped a stunning heavy 18K gold bracelet in just inches of water! Why the scrap value of the gold alone pushed $1,000! He'll never forget that find and the moment and I'll never forget the look on his face! His detector of choice? An Excalibur II of course! Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have- cabochris@msn.com May the Clunker Gods be with you, Chris.

AND THEY CALL US OBSESSED

Sea Hunter — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:32:54 +0000

And they call us Obsessed? by Allyson Cohen Have you seen them? The knitters? Sitting around, day and night, mesmerized by the sight of yarn and the clicking of their knitting needles...knit one, pearl two...knit one pearl two... They bring their hobby with them wherever they go and can be spied at family functions, in waiting areas, and on public transportation, oblivious and just knitting away. Oh how crafty they are, with their "I Love Knitting" tote bags, and afghan covered sofas. Wait--did I say crafty? Dear me, I've misspoken, what I really meant was obsessed. Yup, knitters are obsessed with knitting, yet no one harasses them or accuses them of being obsessed with their hobby. So why then, does it seem everyone feels its perfectly okay to single out detectorist's with their assumptions and accusations of them being addicted or obsessed? I have a neighbor with the habit of running. Whether its 98 degrees or 22 degrees, he just has to run. He has special running shoes, subscriptions to every running magazine published, and a fridge full of Gatorade. He devotes entire weekends to 5 and 10k races, yet no one calls him obsessed, they call him healthy. Yeah, he may be healthy, but he's definitely obsessed. You’ve got the gamers, obsessed with video games. The gourmet's, obsessed with cooking, The scrapbooker's, obsessed with paper,The genealogist's, obsessed with dead people, Then there's the fishing enthusiast, the gun enthusiast, the dog enthusiast, the shopping enthusiast...the list is endless, the obsessions are many. And its interesting to note how recently the term hobby is actively being replaced with the term "enthusiast". Does calling themselves enthusiasts make their hobby more acceptable that ours? Why do we get singled out? What is it about metal detecting that folks think is so wrong? Truth be told, maybe at times we do get a little obsessive about our hobby, but it's a healthy hobby, and certainly not deserving of the attitudes we sometimes encounter. At least I don't bring my machine to family functions to seek out all the rusty nails in my relatives floorboards, or carry around an "I love Metal Detecting" tote bag full of rusty relics and digging tools. And just so the knitters and runners don't think I'm singling them out, take my brother, the sports fanatic, for example. He's a walking encyclopedia of player stats, a proud holder of season tickets to football games, and the owner of a television permanently tuned to the sports channel. Try to change the channel--I dare you! No one protests or accuses him of being obsessed with sports, but they have no problem publicly dismissing detecting as a legitimate interest or hobby. Totally unfair! I've patiently listened and engaged with my girlfriends as they drone on about their latest scrapbook page, and their hunt for the perfect embellishment or decorative piece of paper to go with their Aunt Agnes 89th birthday party photos. How much time was spent manipulating these items and a photo on a page in a book so they look just perfect? Okay, so it looks nice, and I appreciate and do scrapbook (and knit) on occasion myself. I even bake cookies, play video games, go shopping, and never miss a Super Bowl game; so I have a hard time understanding why they dismiss my weekend forays in farm fields searching for large cents, flat buttons, and Colonial shoe buckles as not worthy of discussion--or perhaps a decorative Continued from page 1 And they call us Obsessed? page in one of those scrapbooks? Why do my family and friends consider my hobby an obsession, and roll their eyes, yet my crafty friends, addicted to knitting or manipulating pieces of paper, along with my jogaholic neighbor and sports addicted brother get a pat on the back for their efforts? At what point did metal detecting get to the bottom of the hobby barrel, and what is it about it that people think is so wrong? We are just as enthusiastic as others when talking about our hobby, and why not--we find cool stuff! Most of us, due to the nature of our hobby also end up collecting old bottles, and just because they're there. No one thinks bottle collecting is stupid, and when you start talking about bottles everyone is right on board. Yeah, old bottles are cool, but so are old coins, relics and jewelry. I am just so darn tired of being put on the defensive! We are looked upon, and put in the category of the "creepy van guy", the one who hangs around tot lots making everyone suspicious--yet in reality we are the eyes and ears of many public areas, and while engaged in our hobby are actually keeping an eye on the "creepy van guy", in case he does something um...well...creepy. We are the unpaid cleaning crew of the local parks and beaches, as well as the untitled historians of our cities and towns. Most of the time being more educated about sites and relics than the schooled and titled historians themselves. We find lost items for people, and are happy to look without a promise of monetary gain or reward for our efforts, and not only are we helpful, we enjoy doing it. I asked a close and honest (non-detectorist) friend her opinion of why we are looked down upon, and her response was "I think it's because people think you are getting something over on them". I thought about her response, and decided it made sense of so much of the discrimination we encounter, especially from the archaeological community. Then I thought, well...those folks can purchase and learn to use a metal detector too, they aren't illegal. Its not like they are some super secret machine which is hard to come by, or bought from a seedy looking fellow in a back alley. Trust me, the "creepy van guy" is not a detector dealer. Hobby shops sell them, and a quick search of Google will attest to their easy availability. I've come to the conclusion that most people want instant gratification from a hobby. They don't want to take the time to learn or research something. They want to be immediately satisfied by the progress of their knitting or video game, or by seeing their favorite team win. Perhaps that's why they haven't taken the time to understand or appreciate what we do. Metal detecting takes patience, knowledge and a good hunting instinct to master, and anyone who has ever wanted to smash their machine against a tree during the first few weeks after acquiring it can vouch for the learning curve. Take if from a metal detecting "enthusiast" when I say that no one will call us obsessed when we come home with that treasure we've been searching for. Go figure!

BONE 24 APRIL 26 - 30, 2017

Sea Hunter — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:25:25 +0000

Professional Treasure Hunters Historical Society www.streeter.org BONE 24 Treasure Week in NH April 26 - 30, 2017 All BONE events except hobby show require advance cover charge. BONE 24 = 3 days of natural metal detector hunts (on settlement & nothing planted. $100 prize for best find of all hunts. Natural hunts are co sponsorship Streeters and; Wednesday is White's of New England free chili & hot dogs for lunch. Thursday is Garrett Day & Garrett door prizes, Friday is Minelab Americas Day & free Minelab door prizes to all. Thurs. night Chinese Dine Out & $25 advance Friday night “all you can eat Roast Pork banquet, MINELAB door prizes & $25 advance Saturday Hobby show, club, business booths including Minelab & Garrett $10 for show & workshops at door. Show has 40 tables of Find displays, ICMJ with prospector Craig gold panning contest, best find contest, workshops, Silent auction with a Minelab Excalibur II under water metal detector. additional worthy auction donations needed. Saturday night Prime Rib Awards Banquet & door prizes Sunday 10am to 1:p,m $6,000 seeded hunt with a $1,000 treasure chest drawing Following treasure chest drawing BONE Charity Raffle drawing 1st prize Minelab CTX 3030 or $1,500. 2nd prize a Minelab Pro Find 60 metal detector or $100 BONE cover charges for members Non members cover charges are 20% more then members. Natural Hunts $60 each, Thur & Fri meals $25 ea., Prime Rib Awards banquet $30 ea, Hobby Show & workshops $10 ea Sunday $6000 seeded hunt $125 or all events $300 to 12/31/16 1/1/17 to 4/1/17. all events $360.00 All information, sign up & raffle tickets via www.streeter.org or Streeters. 2017 Hall of Fame Nominations Anita & Butch Holcombe American Digger Magazine Debbie Smikoski , Tony Browning Joe Tessandori, David Bailey Curt Bruso, Norman Messier Robert & Norm Salter Raven Schwan-Noble Nick & Dale Rudy Ron Kiesewetter David Nolan Allyson Cohen Dominique Ivy da Silva Gary Douglas Award recipient receive 2 free passes to awards banquet for April 29, 2017. Note! Award recipients may purchase prior to March 1, 2017 5 day all Event pass for $300.00. -----------------------------------------------------

“Streeter's Store”

Selling Minelab, White's, Garrett, Fisher, Detector Pro metal detectors & Keene Prospecting supplies. A treasure hunter's & prospector's dream come true store & a fun place to visit. 50 years treasure hunting experience, with show cases of finds. Open 6 days a week 10 – 5 & Sunday afternoons.

Please visit and learn about treasure hunting & gold panning. We are located in Tax Free NH @ 307 Main St. (NH Rte 101) Marlborough, next to Cheshire Fence. Look for sign !

Bob Ellis shares

Sea Hunter — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 10:02:01 +0000

My White XLT meter read 78 “maybe a large cent,” I thought. Even though this house was late 1700’s, so far, this time, it had been stingy. A large cent was recovered a few months ago. The detectors depth meter read one inch & pin pointed it with my Garrett Pro pointer probe. From the small plug I could see a large copper object. After carefully removing the clinging dirt, all I could see was a large eagle. A little disappointed it wasn’t a large cent, I brought the object closer to my eyes to see if I could read what appeared to be lettering above the eagle. “WAR OF 1861,” the words rang through my head and a big smile appeared on my face followed by a vocal “WOW.” I knew I had in my hand a Civil War “Dog Tag,” I immediately turned it over hoping to read the soldiers name, hoping it would be a former owner of the property I was detecting on. I could see some lettering, however it would have to be cleaned more before I knew more. The quick ID of the object was possible because about 15 years earlier I had recovered my first Civil War “Dog Tag” followed by lots of internet research on the subject. A Civil War “Dog Tag” is an identification disc, many of which are about the size of a large cent with a pre-stamped image on the front with the words WAR OF 1861. On the back of the tag are usually the soldiers name, company, regiment, hometown and state. After cleaning my new found dog tag, the lettering on the back revealed the disc belonged to Jacob Irving Whittemore, Company E 15th regiment from Manchester, NH. It’s so cool to just find out that much. But with some internet research you can find out so much more. My guy was born Nov. 3, 1838 to Robert Parker Whittemore and Hannah J. Cheney. He enlisted Sept. 25, 1862 and was mustered in on Oct. 15, 1862 as a private. He was wounded in the foot on May 27, 1863 at Port Hudson, LA and was mustered out Aug. 13, 1863. There are even regimental histories on the internet that tell you when and where the soldier went. I detected the dog tag in East Windsor, CT so I plan on trying to find out if he ever lived in that area. Because of the information that the Civil War “Dog Tags” can lead you to, they are highly collectable with a dollar value from one hundred dollars to thousands depending on the condition and who the dog tag belonged to. I consider this Civil War “Dog Tag” as one of my top ten lifetime finds. I’m thankful that we have the internet to do the research to make it more meaningful. Happy Hunting Bob Ellis

Interesting from the Gazette

Sea Hunter — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 10:00:15 +0000

If I got a penny for everyone I've met who is as beautiful as you, I'd have all the money in the world. Why are they called "hemorrhoids". They should be called "asteroids"? When climbing the ladder of success, don't let boys look up your skirt! My job is secure. No one else wants it. Sometimes I wish life had subtitles! I'd rather be driving a golf ball. Amazing facts A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. A snail can sleep for three years. February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon. If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction. If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but mens noses and ears never stop growing. When Coca-Cola began to be sold in China, they used characters that would sound like "Coca-Cola" when spoken. Unfortunately, what they turned out to mean was "Bite the wax tadpole". It did not sell well. Tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance Women blink nearly twice as much as men. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself. Wise thoughts on everything 1. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway. 2. Life is sexually transmitted. 3. Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. 4. Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection make him a sandwich. 5. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks. 6. Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs... 7. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing... 8. Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. 9. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism. 10. Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?

The Un reale

Sea Hunter — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 09:58:19 +0000

The Un-Real Eight Reales By Julio “Jules” Razquin Most of my metal detecting outings would be preceded by some research, but this one was different: Back in March of 2009 I set out to meet with a friend with whom I’d had many a great detecting adventure, only this time it was not for metal detecting, but with the purpose of checking out a house he was working on that was for rent. You see, things in my life were not exactly going according to plan, and I found myself quite abruptly having to make some serious decisions about my marriage, and life in general. As anyone reading this knows, metal detecting can be quite therapeutic: there is a lot to be said for time spent alone, or with friends, searching for history in the great outdoors. Sometimes all one needs is some time out alone, doing what one enjoys best, to chew on things and get some perspective. So, as I am sure most everyone reading this does, I carry my metal detector with me in the car wherever I go. Well, most of the time, anyway. That Saturday morning, as I glanced at my watch while driving, I realized I was way too early for my meeting. I let my foot off the pedal as I drove up the dirt road that back in the 1700’s had been transited by the very first people to settle the town I live in. As I reached a crest, I saw to my left a field I’d already detected, along with a cellar hole which had not provided anything more than nails and the occasional shotgun shell. Having passed the field, something caught my eye on the right side of the road. The thick of the brush and trees could not hide from me the features that bore all the signs indicative to the presence of a cellar hole. For some of the folk reading this, the term “cellar hole” might only be familiar by way of reading magazines such as this one, or on online forums. Here in New England, much of the wilderness is dotted with these history-rich features, which are testament to the grit and courage of the settlers who helped found this nation. Basically, what you’ll find is a symmetrical manmade depression, sometimes up to six feet in depth, lined with field stone, or cut granite. One look at the handiwork of these people and you’re left in awe of not only the human effort, but the skills and knowledge necessary to construct the foundations of their homes. I’d not seen this one before, and given the fact that I’d not driven before that far up the road, I excused myself. I wondered if my friend had, and whether he’d detected there before. With about half an hour to spare, I fired up my machine, and clambered up the embankment, not at all bothered or dissuaded by the thick brush. Reaching the top, I now could see what undoubtedly had been the foundation to a home. I like to think that given my experience I can estimate the age of these by their current state, and the stonework. This one was old: the stones from the surrounding landscape had been put to good use, creating retaining walls on four sides, and a solid center structure meant to serve as the foundation to a hearth. Much of this particular cellar hole had succumbed to nature: the elements and flora had been at work for at least two hundred years, robbing it of its symmetry, toppling stones into what once had been a storage space beneath the home. And yet there it was still, as if the very spirit of those who’d dug and lined the hole were still present, defiantly whispering down the centuries to anyone who cared to see. Since 2005, I’ve used two brands of metal detectors: Garrett, and now Minelab. In my nine years metal detecting, I came to realize that it matters not what brand machine you use, but how well you know it. The only reason I am mentioning the Minelab SE Pro is context, and to simply get that fact out of the way. It’s the machine which has proved ultimately the best fit for the kind of detecting I perform, and where I do it: simple as that. No matter what machine you use, if you are going to indulge in detecting cellar holes, you are sure to encounter what most call “trash” (iron, iron, and some more iron), and for such occasions it is best to be equipped with a smaller search coil. So, in light of the fact that I expected not only limited swinging space (because of the dense vegetation), but also a vast amount of iron, I opted to use a smaller coil, the FBS 800. Typically, I perform a slow and meticulous scan of the immediate edge of the foundation, but this was proving to be quite the challenge. After convincing myself that there was nothing to be found there, I eventually opted for the wide and less densely grown area which I assessed to be the “driveway”, a level stretch of ground that lay between the foundation and what I recognized to be where a barn had once stood. After just a couple of minutes, the unmistakable tone rang through my headphones… With a bit of effort, I cut a square plug through the soil and myriad of small roots, releasing a smell which I have come to equate with time travel. The moist and musty scent I am talking about is one of the most exciting ever to me, as it always precedes an encounter with history. I knew for a fact that what most likely lay in wait was a coin. At no more than five inches’ depth, I spotted the verdigris edge of what I knew was a copper coin. Could it be a Large Cent, maybe? No… It was a King George II Halfpenny! As much as there was on the coin to identify it as such, I could not immediately discern a date, but it had to be mid-18th century, for sure. My little impromptu adventure had paid off! I scanned the hole again (just in case, because you never know), and then covered it up as I wondered if there were more such finds in store. Ten seconds later, and no more than a foot away, I had an answer. From the same depth as the King George coin, came a very deteriorated, yet identifiable Fugio Cent. “It’s a spill”, I muttered to myself. How else could these two coins from roughly the same period be so close together, at the same depth? And without missing a beat, I proceeded to scan much more slowly now the area. Sure enough, another good target! Digging now a little deeper than the previous two coins, and no more than a foot away from where these had been found, a larger circular shape came into view. The sheer size and weight of this coin immediately overwhelmed me with excitement and curiosity. The size was identical to a Morgan dollar I’d found the year before, but this one showed no silver. The green-brown and sticky patina was nothing like what I’d seen on any coin. I brushed it gently with a toothbrush, and watched as a bust starter to reveal itself. On the other side, a coat of arms began to appear. It was Spanish! Wait a minute! Could it be an Eight Reales!? Still tingling all over, I realized I was now late for my appointment with my friend. I hustled out of there, the coins tightly packed in a container full of dirt. My friend and I gently rinsed and brushed the coins: the two coppers were exactly what I’d guessed, albeit in the kind of shape you’d expect in such soil conditions after more than two hundred years. But the Eight Reales was cleaning up much better, as I expected silver should. Still, there was something slightly “off” about its appearance. As far as silver goes, I knew that old silver would sometimes surface with a dull gray and even black color. I was not about to push the boundaries by applying any more cleaning than I’d already done: the features were distinct and clear, and the date was a glaring 1775. And yet it remained a dull gray, which I wrote off as the effect of age and soil conditions. It was time for me to scan it, and report to Dr. Philip Mossman. I first came in contact with Dr. Mossman after stumbling onto a website in an effort to educate myself on Spanish silver coins that had circulated in the American colonies. He is a much revered figure in the realm of numismatics in America, and is an author: I highly recommend his book, Money of the American Colonies and Confederation. Via email, Dr. Mossman had asked me to report to him any coin finds predating 1900, and as I’d done before, I submitted to him images of my latest find, along with any other details he might find useful. He has been for years putting together a database consisting of Colonial coin finds in an effort to establish a census and patterns of distribution. Two days later, Dr. Mossman replied: “Congratulations on your find! You do realize that your coin is a counterfeit, right?”… I searched for images of Eight Reales on the internet, and sure enough, my coin was most definitely different. First off, the image of King Charles III seemed almost cartoonish in comparison to the busts on the images I found. Secondly, there were numerous discrepancies, such as “double strikes” of letters, and other details which further substantiated Dr. Mossman’s conclusion. I have to admit that the realization that my coin was a counterfeit robbed me of some of the excitement of its discovery. That was until a couple of days later, when he sent an email in which he asked if I wanted to be famous. It turned out that he had forwarded the images I’d sent to a gentleman by the name of Bob Gurney. Mr. Gurney, an expert on counterfeit Colonial coinage, had been for years doing something akin to what Dr. Mossman had been doing: collecting information on as many contemporary counterfeit Spanish silver coins as he could, as well as collecting specimens himself. Mr. Gurney was writing a book on the topic of counterfeit Reales, and he seemed quite keen to include my specimen in his book. And here’s what Bob Gurney had to say about my coin in an email: Hello Julio, After seeing the coin I recalled seeing it from an earlier note. It is definitely what I would call a Class 1 Contemporary Circulating Counterfeit - an absolutely spectacular find for a dug coin. Most dug examples are very poorly preserved. Can you tell me where you found it and if possible any history associated with the location? The 1775 date itself is a rare date. There is only one other 1775 Class 1 counterfeit known to exist. Yours is a different die pair. All dates before 1778 are rather scarce. All together we have assembled a nearly complete date set from 1771 to 1824 - with only 2 years missing 1774 and 1776. The 1774 and 1776 examples we have seen up to this point in time are all modern forgeries. Phil is editing the final draft of our book on Portrait Mexican Counterfeit coins which includes 538 different varieties in Class 1. Our book defines 4 Classes of Counterfeits. Class 1 are the oldest made before 1830 and meant to circulate as coins. (538 listed - which has grown to 550) Class 2 are the silver restrikes made for use in China between 1830 and 1930 - these coins at times look exactly like genuine coins. (27 varieties - 81 examples) Class 3 are counterfeits made to defraud collectors - they date from 1930 to the present. (177 varieties - unknown number total in the thousands) Class 4 are original coins that have been altered to turn them into more valuable coins - Frauds. (Over 1000 that I have reviewed in the past 10 years alone). If we do another edition with an addendum for recently discovered coins I would love to include your coin. It is unique. Unfortunately your coin was not early enough to make the book. I have a bunch ready to go in an Update or Addenda volume. So, needless to say, I was now not feeling at all disappointed in having found a counterfeit coin. As a matter of fact, I was feeling rather smug, and quite proud of the fact, but that’s not the only reason why I am writing this article. It was only through the interaction with such professionals as Dr. Mossman and Bob Gurney that I discovered an oft-forgotten chapter of coinage in American history, and the provenance of what otherwise would probably have gone down as just another great coin find in my journals. Counterfeit Colonial America coinage is something of an obscure, if not entirely unknown subject to many wielding a detector: once you start learning about it, you can’t help but be left in awe of the lengths people (and even governments) were willing to go to in order to produce such coins as the one I found. Our responsibilities, as “Relic Hunters”, or whatever other term you might prefer, is to educate ourselves, and educate others. In doing so, not only do we contribute to our community, but to dispelling the myths being woven and used against us. We owe it to each other, and to everyone, to act responsibly, and treat the items we discover with the care and respect they deserve so as to ensure their preservation and educational potentials. Oh, I almost forgot... Almost exactly a year later, no more than a quarter of a mile from where I’d found the counterfeit Eight Reales, I found a genuine one, bearing the same year! And after studying closer another item I’d found back in 2006, I discovered it was yet another counterfeit Eight Reales, only this one was pewter and had little to show of its former infamous self. Recommended reading: Money of the American Colonies and Confederation, By Dr. Philip Mossman Counterfeit Portrait Eight-Reales: The Un-Real Reales, by Bob Gurney