Park Hunt - Monday 3rd June 2013

Finally managed to get out for a quick park hunt on Queens Birthday Monday.
Again heaps of old pre decimals - did trousers in the 70 and 80s have holes purposely stitched into them allowing coins to fall out - in my first 3 months of detecting I have found over 2kgs of 1,2,5,10,20 and 50c pieces.

Amongst the finds this hunt turned up were a couple of silvers - my first George 6th Shilling (1943), which was in great condition, plus a 1934 George 5th Sixpence which someone way back in time had tried to use to tighten a screw with - one edge was slightly bent.

I have been trying to clean the silver coins with baking soda, but they are still a bit dull. I have heard that cloudy ammonia cleans them l - has anyone tried this or is there a better way - any comments would be appreciated.

Also found a ring!
But alas it was hand made out of copper , bulky and heavy - I think the owner must have had an hexagonal ring finger as the ring was anything but round.

One St Christopher medallion which was silver plated, some nickle copper shillings from the 60's plus a few old pennies and half pennies from the 50's and a pewter medallion with an embossed peacock on it made up the rest of the hunt.

Must try a few beach spots as it would be quite nice to get into a bit of the old gold stuff - might see some of you out around Auckland!

Cheers,

Kevin

Silver ring # 2 and another 1948 Florin !

Went for a hunt on a new bit of ground - a sports field near the road. Made it a short hunt as I felt uncomfortable with all the cars passing by and "rubber necking".

Had very few signals but one was this very small sterling silver ring - all 1.93 grams worth.
Was stamped "STG" inside.

Moved onto my old stamping ground and apart from heaps of old decimals and can bits turned up my second 1948 Florin - still trying hard to get one thats not nickle copper - namely silver, which I think has to be pre 1947.
They must be in there somewhere.

Also found a metal "House Captains" badge.

The ground is now very soft and ideal for detecting, easy to dig and fill holes afterwards,

Till next time,
Kevin

My best silver so far - 1933 King George V Half Crown.

Tonight I went for a short hunt in an area where I had previously turned up some old english pennies, the oldest being a 1907 King Edward VII.
Chris at Detect NZ said where you find old copper you will find silver, he was right!
Thanks for the advice - Metal Kiwi.
After finding old decimal coinage, the 1c and 2c that we all love!! plus a couple of 50c pieces and no old pennies I moved over to the other side of the park where after finding $2.30in spendables and some ring pulls I had a jumpy signal similar to an old decimal coin, and was tempted not to dig it.
Pleased I did tho' as out came what I feel is one of the most decorative NZ coins ever minted, a silver 1933 King George V Half Crown.
I could not believe it, as I had always thought I would never find one.
When I had it in my pouch, I packed up and went home, quite elated, any thing else would be an anti climax.
Whatever else is down there can wait a bit longer!!
This treasure hunting is great fun and good exercise too!

The result of the short park hunt.

I will be back!

My first silver ring - interesting short hunt in the dark!

Had a short hunt in two parks I had detected previously.

The silver ring came from the park where I found my one and only gold ring  - an 18ct vintage ring.
I had really worked this small piece of ground over during the dry summer period after finding the gold ring and found very little else.
Thought I would try the area again, now with wet ground, to see if it made difference.
It did - right in an area where I had found the gold ring, came a solid 34 signal, and out popped the ring - 5.53g solid silver. Moral of the story - keep going back, when ground conditions change you just never know!

Just to prove how big it is! 

Ring with the 1934 silver shilling found in the second park 

 The final haul - $1.20 spendable, $1.54 old decimals, 1956 and 1957 NZ pennies, 1934 George V silver shilling, aussie 2 cents? an odd brass 720 sign ( anyone know what this is?) an old craft knife and a heart shaped piece of lead.
A busy short hunt, the second park was full of chopped can bits and provided me lots of exercise digging plugs.
Was enjoyable though as you just never know what may turn up next!
Till next time - keep searching!
Cheers
Kevin

Beach hunt turns up a 1950 Florin - my first

Had a good east coast beach hunt this afternoon, very pleasant with light breeze and a cloudless sky! Was nice to have my wife with me too.

Found my first ever florin - 1950 - not silver - guess you have to start somewhere!
A pleasing find none the less, always good to unearth a bit of history.

The hunt was quite "junk" free, with just the odd pull tab.
Also found $4.50 spendable coins, a lead ball sinker, odd old decimals and an almost new adonised aluminum whistle which works a treat.
The whistle was buried under almost 7" of sand but the Xterra 705 picked it up very clearly.
Searched right at low tide for ages hoping for a gold ring, but had no signals at all. Still in this game you have to keep trying and not give up.

Great to be out in the sun again.

Here are my finds:

Till next time -
Cheers
Kevin

After the rain - a detect in the dark in the fields.

Went out for 1.1/2 hour hunt tonite after the rain stopped.

Finds were a number of old decimal coins - 2 x50 cent, 2 x 20 cent (stuck together!), 1 x 10 cent, 6 x 2 cents, 1 x 5 cent and 3 x 1 cents.
Plus:
One 1961 NZ halfpenny ( bent) and a 1956 sixpence - those nickle ones that look terrible after years in the ground. They should have kept them silver, like those from earlier years.
Plus:
One broken key, one wingnut and an interesting badge!

Photos below:-

Anyone know what this badge is?



Till next time,

Cheers

Kevin

Bad day in the country!

Last week tried a spot in the country which looked promising.
Hardly any targets, just turned up one old 20c coin and a 1cent plus an old .303 cartridge case.
Just goes to show looks don't count.
Think the area had been top soiled and had hidden all the good stuff.

However to make this blog a slightly more interesting I have added a link to my early sucess story which was published on the Minelab USA web site.

http://www.minelab.com/asia/consumer/success-stories/new-to-the-x-terra-705

When the stormy weather eases over Auckland I will be back out in earnest!

Cheers
Kevin

P.S
For those who want a good price for their gold try:
Regal Castings Ltd
7 Akahiro Street, Mt Eden
Auckland
Ph 09-6387378

April 27 th - what a great day, full of surprises.

Got out for a few hours and tried out a new area - which really turned up some good coins, apart from the old decimal ones of which there were about 45 - mostly 1, 2 and 5cent ones but had a number of 10, 20 and 50 cents as well. I now have quite a box full of these coins after detecting for approx 2 months. People must have had lots of holes in their pockets years ago!
Also found over $8.00 spendable which the grandchildren claimed!
Dug so much that the old wrists are aching quite a bit tonite, even tho' the soil is nice and soft after all the rain.  Must go to the gym to get them stronger.

Anyhow the good coin finds were as follows:-

1918 Siver Winged Mercury Dime

There is a small D on mine at the foot of the vine (as the Google Image below shows ) - it means it was minted in Denver.



1939 Silver 3d  

 1982 USA Liberty Quarter



1967 USA 1 Cent

Finding such an old 1918 silver coin from America was a real surprise, as was the 1939 silver 3d.
They were all found a long way apart, at about 5 inches depth.
I wonder what was happening on this site years ago?
Metal detecting is full of surprises.
Cheers
Kevin

25th April - an unusual find !

April 25th
Visited the school field today - found $4.00 spendable, 19 old decimal coins, moved onto French Bay, lots of false signals, two lead weights , a 2009 Fijian 20cent piece and an old NZ 20 cent coin. Left after about 30 minutes as it was quite hard going.

Went to a small park nearby and found two old brass objects, in separate target holes about 2 foot apart and 7 inches deep.
When they cleaned up they fitted together to form - a Pot pipe! I did not have a clue what it was but was informed that it could be one of those, and Google Images confirmed it. Was very well made tho'!

April 13th - quick hunt with Grandchildren

At the park again, for a short hunt. Had a great start , the first three of four targets were spendable - $2 coin, two $1.00 and then a Head Prefect badge, which still had the pin attached to the back.
Then came the ring pulls and scrap until I came to another area which yielded quite a few old decimal coins and a silver - a 1943 Sixpence.
I checked another area on my way back to the car and quickly found $3.90 in spendable.
This detecting lark is quite amazing, you just never know whats around the corner.

Total for the hour - $7.90 spendable, $1.38 in old decimal,a nice 1943 silver sixpence and a Head Prefect Badge! Plus a bag of old can scrap, ring pulls etc. The spendable pile in the photo is minus $4.00 - two of my grandchildren received $2.00 each.
The sixpence was in great condition, however the photo was not quite in focus, and does not do it justice.

Footnote:
Was approached by an interesting character who had done some gold panning in the South Island. Showed him how the Xterra 705 discrimated between iron and coins etc.
He said he was going to call in to see Chris at Detect NZ and check out the range of Minelab products.
Maybe another detectorist in the making?
Till next time:-

Cheers
Kevin

Auckland Park - 5th April 2013 - Minelab Xterra 705

Had a night hunt 7pm - 8.30pm.
Moral of this story - never give up!
Spent the first hour finding Pull tabs, bits of aluminium cans and the odd 1 and 2 cent coins.
Had a target signal very much like a bit of scrap, thought I would pass it over, but changed my mind and dug it..
Pleased I did as there was a 1933 silver shilling at about 5 ". I then placed the turf back, pressed it down and ran the machine over the area and had another signal. So up came the turf plug and down went the Pro-Pointer which immediatley indicated another target in the hole, in the side wall. Out came a 1939 silver 3d coin, wow two silvers in one hole!
In the next 20 mins I found a few old decimal 10 cent and 20 cent coins plus a $1.00 spendable coin, and no scrap. Had to leave at 8.30pm but will be back.

Thought I would post a couple of other items I found a few weeks before I started this blog.

First is a Silver Spoon (E.S.P.N), Stamped Martin.Hall & Co Ltd. The anchor indicates it was made in Birmingham , U.K. Think about about 1925. Found 5 inches down alongside a sports field. That's my reflection on the spoon bowl!

The second is an antique broach, which is still wearable. The photo does not do it justice, it looks very nice in natural light. It is about the size of a new 10 cent piece.

Till next time, enjoy your detecting,

Regards

Kevin

Auckland Park - Saturday March 30th 5pm to 7pm

Tried the Auckland Park again after finding a number of old pennys. As Chris (Metal Kiwi) said where there is copper, there will be silver.
He was right!

As well as finding quite a bit of scrap aluminium, copper wire and the dreaded pull tabs I also found NZ Pennys - 1 x 1950, 1 x 1960 a NZ Halfpenny 1963 and a 1963 sixpence which looked like copper?

Much to my delight the Xterra 705 also turned up two silvers:

1942 Silver Threepence (my first)

1933 Silver sixpence (my first)

Thanks Chris for your advice.

Auckland - Xterra 705 - 27th March 2103

Got out tonight for a 1 hour session at an Auckland park. Hit an area not previously detected and found a number of old pennys - no Silver tho'.

Total finds - NZ Penny 1941, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1959 - one of each.
                     UK Penny 1907 , 1920, 1952

                     UK halfpenny - 1917

Old decimals - 4 x 2c / 2 x 1c / 3 x 10c / 1 x 50c

Spendable - 1 x $2.00

Will try again - maybe Silver is just around the corner.