8/13/19 Report - How Well Do You Know Your Metal Detector? Steel Cents and One Previuosly Unidentified Coin. Sorcerer's Treasure Trove.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com.

1943 Steel Penny Finds.

If you've been with me very long, you know that my preference is to detect everything and dig everything.  I know there are good reasons and times to use discrimination, but generally speaking, I'm more interesting in finding things than skipping things, and using discrimination will increase the chances of missing something good.  Good things are made of different materials and come in all different forms and combinations.  In short, discrimination is not perfect, even though it can be helpful when used properly.  There are times when you will need it.

I've started to explore the Minelab Equinox metal detector.  I'm not far along in that process.  I believe in really getting to know a detector, and that means a lot of testing and experimenting.  You'll never know everything about a detector, and you might not want to.

Anyhow, I want to know how my detectors respond to various objects under various circumstances.  I want to know what they will miss as well as what they will find.

Different metal detectors have different strengths and weaknesses.  As a result, one detector will be the best choice of one job, and another the best choice for another job.  But you have to know enough about them to choose the right one, and to know what you are gaining and giving up.

I found the object shown below.  I've had it for a while and thought it might be either a corroded steel penny or a German coin.  I decided to test the conductivity of it with the Equinox along with some other steel pennies (shown above).

Unidentified Coin.

I don't really know the Equinox very well yet.  I've spent less than an hour with it so far.  So I took the steel pennies out in the yard along with the unidentified coin or whatever.

I was originally thinking of doing some more extensive testing, but decided to quickly test the steel pennies first thing this morning before I did anything else.

What I found out is that in the main detector modes, none of the steel pennies produced ANY signal.  That might make you happy if you want to miss small steel objects, but you aren't going to find steel pennies unless you know how to make some adjustments that I don't yet know about.,

I did switch to pin-point mode, and the Equinox did what some of the detectors I used heavily years ago did - it nulled over the steel penny.   By nulling, I mean that when the coil was moved over the steel penny there was a signal on each side but when the coil was directly over the penny, the signal went silent.

Those other detectors were always in an all-metals mode and nulled over iron.  I didn't have to pay attention to iron, but knew it was there because of the nulling.

I wanted to find out if the unidentified coin might be a corroded steel penny so I wanted to see if the conductivity was the same as my other steel pennies.  Well, I didn't get a conductivity reading for either my known steel pennies or the unidentified object.

Now here is the funny part.  After taking the magnified photo of the object for this post, I noticed the letters just left of the six o'clock position near the rim of the object.   I assume that is part of IN GOD WE TRUST.  If  I'd seen that before, I probably wouldn't have done the test this morning, but in doing the test I learned that the default modes on the Equinox are not going to detect steel pennies or other similar objects.  Maybe there are some settings other than pinpoint mode that will do it, but I haven't found that out yet.

I've always said that if you haven't found certain types of objects and wondered why, it MIGHT have something to do with your detector and how you detect.  That is why you should thoroughly get to know your detector.  And, as I've said before, the best way to do that is with systematic extensive testing and experimentation.

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Archaeologists found a box full of what they called a "sorcerer's treasure trove."

The trove was found in what remained of a wooden box. The wood itself had decomposed and only the bronze hinges remained, preserved by the volcanic material which hardened over it.

In it were crystals, ceramic, amethysts and amber. Scarabs (beetle-shaped amulets) from the Middle East were identified, along with various gems, including a carnelian with a craftsman figure and a glass bead engraved with the head of Dionysus, the Roman god of wine, fertility and ritual madness... 

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49325627?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment&link_location=live-reporting-story

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After I mentioned yesterday that I've been doing this blog for over ten years, one person commented on how fast that time went. Very true! Time flies. And in that time a lot has happened. We've lost some fine folks, but a lot of you are still with us. I've lost some family members.

The blog has evolved too. I'm better informed.  All of the submissions have been a big part of that.

And I think we've raised the level of the hobby.  I think we have inserted a lot of information into the discussion and raised the general level of understanding.  You don't always have to be right to do that.  

I've noticed that more people are now doing what I might call binge reading. When people newly discover the blog, they have tons of posts to go through, and people are going through a bunch of old posts at one sitting.  When we are getting storms, erosion and changing beach conditions, people don't want to miss a single day, but the beach conditions haven't been changing much lately.

I just got an email from one person (Paul M.) who evidently just discovered the blog and said, best treasure site on the internet. i am so so glad i found it Blessings paul

Thanks Paul! Glad you found it useful.  I get a lot of help and information from others.

I'll give you all another day to provide your thoughts on the two unidentified items I posted on 8/11.  I'd like to give everybody a chance to give me their ideas on those objects.  All thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

There is no significant change in weather conditions.  Expect more calm surf for the next few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net