1942 Winged Silver Dime

Now upgraded to a Minelab Equinox 800 and just getting used to its performance.
Took it for a run on a small plot of land which had been heavily searched by a number of different detectors, including my old X-Terra.
Years ago the area had yielded up an 18k Gold ring, a silver ring and a number of old pennys to my old X-terra.
I did not expect to find anything else but thought that the Equinox might just go deeper.
After just 5 minutes I had a good solid deep signal and dug up this 1942 Winged Silver Dime in great condition. It was a good 10 inches down in thick clay soil and was a real surprise, as I had previously searched the exact same area with my old detector and drawn a blank.
Maybe American soldiers camped in the area during the war?
Also picked up some old copper coins from the late 40's to early 50's.
The Equinox 800 has renewed my interest again.
Looking forward to posting new finds as they come to hand.

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