Tips & Tricks 2
16-30

16. This may prove valuable to Coin, Cache, and Relic Hunters.....Make a list of your family members ( Uncles, Aunts, Grand Parents, Etc. ), that are say 60 yrs. old and up. Then add people you know with relatives that fall into this age bracket. The reason for this is simple.....

When they were kids, teen agers, and young adults...cities, towns, and surrounding areas were much different from what they are today. Houses, school yards, churches, encampments, cemeteries, parks, sports areas, swimming holes, as well as old roads, paths, drive ways, logging camp locations, battle sites, etc. In many cases were 50 to 100 years then. Do the math, these places are now 100 to 150 years old, possibly even much older.

There are many other ways to contact people in this age group. Family Reunions, Senior Citizens Groups, Bingo Halls, Stores and Gas Stations on the edge or outside city and town limits, etc. Maybe you know someone in a rest home. These people will talk with you for hours and be grateful for the company. Use your imagination and soon your information sources will become endless.

More often than not these places will exist someone's memory, not as a written record. Always have a map handy when talking with someone about locations from "days gone by." That way you can mark the general locations and then cross check this data with other people in that same area. If you don't have a map, then paper and pencil to draw one will do.

Farming areas..... It never hurts to stop at a farm house and ask directions ( even though you aren't lost ). You may even find yourself holding a cup of coffee, glass of ice water or tea and maybe a sandwich for your trouble. While you are there mention what your interest are, the response may surprise you. I have had offers to ride down the road and show me a spot just like what I was hopping to find when I started out that day. In some cases they even ask if I would like to hunt around their place. Maybe even look for a lost item.

Look close while you are there! I have seen cannon balls, insulators, and other items being used as door stops, or maybe just laying around the porch, at the end of a flower bed or hedge row, on the dirt floor or around the outside of an old abandoned shed, or barn. Sometimes, for a few dollars I would have a prize. Oh yes; don't forget to look up, not just down !

I have even offered to clean out and haul away all that old "JUNK" in order to clear the way for my metal detector. Regardless of what is left behind for the ShadowX2 to sniff out, I will already have some valuable "JUNK" in the back of my truck. Learn to SEE, not just LOOK !

Become a name dropper.....I have used this ice breaker many times over the years. Use the name of someone you've met in the same area. Also, it never hurts to take a minute and lend a helping hand to some in need of it. That person as a rule will be extremely grateful and tell you anything you want to know, or refer you to someone else that can put you on the right track. I have learned of enough new ( untouched ) locations to kept me busy a month or two just for helping to carry a little fire wood and stacking it on the back porch.

By the way.....pull tabs, gum wrappers, and other undesirable items, as a rule aren't a problem with these types of locations, which number into the millions in this country alone. That old saying....."One Person's Trash Is Another Person's Treasure" is more true today than ever before, and people will pay well for it too !

In closing just remember.....There are more valuable items yet to be found, than the sum total of everything found to date. The more creative you become the better your chances of finding your fair share.

Let us all practice good Metal Detecting & Treasure Hunting etiquette so that not only us, but those who come after us may enjoy the thrill of the find for many years to come.

17. I've yet to do this but thought it might work well: after gaining permission to hunt private property,search with 8" or 10" coils, mark all possible targets with popsicle sticks (but don't dig yet. Then switch over to the 4" to help pinpoint the actual target. Narrows down the size of the hole, which will keep the owner happy. One thing though, you'll have to do this all in a days time, so do it in a section at a time. Also, maybe after putting in to popsicle sticks show the owner them, see if any of them shouldn't be dug (at their request) perhaps "Fluffy" the cat is buried near one and best left alone.

18. Tips on hunting someone's property and/or getting permission to;
1. If you get a chance to hunt anywhere on a Main Street, (the one the most traffic is on) People will see you out and become familiar with you so when you show up at there door one day, they'll recognize you, and they'll already know how good of a "digger & filler" you are, lessening there fears of what their lawn will look like after you come through.
2. When hunting someone's property who is "picky" about what is left (visual marks) take along a plastic pail, with any clean empty cool whip or chip dip tub. Use the tub to clean out the deeper holes, putting the dirt into the pail, when done, pour it all back in the hole. Also doubles as a nice place to carry your digging tool as well, and won't make a mess(dirt traces) in their lawn.

3. Use 4" coil instead of 8" to help pinpoint better, and dig unless area.

4. Answer all questions from everyone that comes along while working a site, it may seem to be a bother but, sometimes they are interested enough to let you try their lawns, and maybe even turn them into MD'ers.

5. Find homes that are going through remodeling or repairs (die fixing a porch, re-siding, re-roofing) although there will probably be more nails than normal, remember this; the owners already have "Bob's Home Repairs" trucks driving across his nice lawn, so what better time to do some digging? Tell him that when the workers are done, so are you.

6. When asking permission, take along some coins (silvers work nice, polish them up), tell the owner that this is what you've found at houses like theirs, this usually will peak there interest, who wouldn't like to tell there friends that there are silver coins in their yards, die bragging rights?

7. Print business cards with your name on it & phone number, if you know some prominate business men or people in town (judges, policemen, attorneys, board members, etc.) ask if you can hunt there property as well as mention their names to prospects. In most towns we all buy goods by word of mouth, and when we know someone good (like LuckyDan) we always refer someone like that. Remember, an initial "NO" maybe changed later,if you give them the info. They can check you out for themselves.

8. Lastly, when digging, always take care to clean up best you can, I've MD'ed at a park across the street from a row of houses, And you'd be surprised how many people watch you (unknown to you while digging) that will see you in the store later and start asking questions (like # 4) the next thing you know, you've got an open invite for their lawns because they saw how well you treated a public place.

19. If you know someone interested in detecting or if you are trying to teach someone how a particular detector works, here is a very inexpensive way to do so. While trying to teach my wife about my xlt I purchased a Y-adapter plug at the local Radio Shack that would plug into the audio jack on my xlt and allow me to plug to sets of headphones in. This way I could show her just exactly what kind of responses different targets produced as I was detecting and still use headphones. One note- the battery life didn't seem to be affected too much at all. Good Luck--Rick

20. If you are wanting to hunt a piece of property, and the owner is hesitant, offer a spare detector for them to try out while you hunt. Take an extra if you have it, and you will have a response for them when they tell you you can't hunt it because they always wanted to buy one and do it themselves. This might help with those people that think there is a gold mine in their yard, and you may even turn someone on to the hobby. Good Luck, Mike(Iowa).

21. One overlooked place to find old coins is in old abandoned Cars and Trucks, money fell out of peoples pockets and slipped between the seats and under them, many of these vehicles were sold of just parked without ever looking for coins left in them, I have found some very good condition coins in these overlooked places. A tip from Jack

22. When my coins are finished tumbling, I separate them from the gravel an easy way. Using two small pails (I used the one's that mosquito repellent candles come in, but plastic "sand box" pails would do), just so one fits inside the other. Drill 3/8" holes in the bottom of one pail, put it inside the other. Dump the tumbler contents into it, and shake vigorously while rinsing. The gravel will fall thru the holes, leaving only your nice & shiny coins. Rinse the gravel & return it to your tumbler, ready for the next use.Happy Hunting!Frank (TX)

23. Something which has worked out really well for me in the past- I always make a point of going into the government office of whatever municipality I intend to hunt. I check on any restrictions on hunting, then I find out the name of the DPW chief. The Department of Public Works normally handles streets, sidewalks, etc...

I'll go to the persons office (usually in a garage) and introduce myself, saying Mary (or whomever) over in the city office said I should see you. I show them a nice coin, tell them this is what I am looking for, and ask them to please call me whenever there is going to be any street, sidewalk or building demolition, etc... I tell them I would be happy to share some of the coins I find with them and they usually fall over themselves accommodating me.

Of course, when the time comes that I do hit one of their recommended sites, I'll bring along a couple of coin shop coins that only cost a couple bucks and gladly turn them over when I'm through. We're both happy then and it leads to more introductions.

The key to recovery is sometimes being the first on the scene at a prospective site and this is a sure fire way to beat the competition.

24. Need a cheap & quick display board for some of your finds? Use a piece of Styrofoam about an inch thick...other dimensions to your needs....wrap it in a piece of felt (purple looks "royal") and keep it in place with straight pins or hot glue. Mount tokens or other finds with more pins at the edges to hold it in place. The pin heads are almost invisible, and arrangement of items is a snap. Fashion an easel or simply prop it up against something. Very impressive and rich looking display for your treasures.

25. If you are detecting and your detector starts to give false signals, try to adjust the sensitivity. If that doesn't work change out the batteries. This will usually fix the problem.

26. I've discovered that carrying a hand-held scoop is fine for the beaches but I often go into the water because I use the Fisher 1280 waterproof detector. This requires the long handled scoop for reaching down in deeper water.
My point is to use the long handled scoop even on the beach. The idea is to drag the scoop behind you in one hand as you cover the beach. Presto! you have marked exactly where you have gone and can go back and forth on the beach and actually overlap your coverage without missing any areas.

27. I am getting ready to dredge on my claim in some deep holes in the river. My idea was to use a Hummingbird Fish Finder to check the depth and all rock formations which may include crevices etc. now I understand the new models have a printed readout, which is perfect. So for detectorist who are working along streams or rivers for gold it would be very helpful for depth . I know you need a 12 volt battery. Maybe a motorcycle battery would work. Put in a backpack with digging tools and lunch for those hard to reach spots you can not drive too. I will be using this "tip" later in August as my small dredge does not have air and I want to know the configuration of the river before I go under the water. I also plan on taking my fishing pole too. Carolyn Carroll

28. Do not leave any car windows or doors open when treasure hunting. Reason: when in a remote area and your hunting not far from your car, you might consider leaving windows open on a hot day. Don't do it! it will give you a safe haven when you upset a wasp or bee nest.

29. It's no secret that aerial views are a great way to spot old homesteads within fields, but unfortunately it's not always easy to find someone willing to take you up at a reasonable price. You may want to try finding the place on terra server There you can view aerial photographs of much of the United States and many other places in the world. Granted only higher populated areas are shown, but they do cover a pretty good portion. Good luck.

30. This is a great way to gain permission to search private property without asking, and with very little effort. Go to your local police station and volunteer your detecting services to the community to help find lost jewelry, wedding rings, and such. You'd be surpassed how many people go to the police when they loose their valuable jewelry. Police will also be more friendly when they "see you" especially when you have offered to help them better serve the community. This may seem pointless, to find things for people, free of charge, but you'd be surpassed how generous someone can be, when you find something so personally valuable to them once lost forever. On many occasions, I have been offered rewards and given permission to search entire yards, in return for my small effort. And not only that, people are so grateful at your generosity that they more times than not, turn up more private property for you to search. All this for spending a little time searching for a wedding ring. What a bargain.