The Adventure Continues......

In late 2009 another Houston local forum sprung up on the net, Coinshooting Online run by TwistedVintage from the Spring, Texas area. My younger brother Qkslvr told me about it and I looked it over and joined in February 2010. As it grew quickly from members of DirtJournal, more online friends were made and some small group hunts were organized. There were more locals joining the forum and getting out on the group hunts and it was nice to meet and see all the new detecting friends.

　

Garrett AT Pro

I still had my 2 Whites detectors and was doing very well with them, finding silver coins, other older coins , silver rings and more plated rings. In early 2011 one of the locals who was selling detectors as a sideline to his regular job was at a small group hunt. He had brought the Garrett AT Pro which had been a fairly newly released detector. I had my Whites M6 and was scanning around a tree base, and I got a signal of a junk item. I asked him if I could borrow the AT Pro to test it for awhile. As I scanned around the same tree I had been at, the Garrett signalled a quarter and a junk target very close to the coin. I dug and a clad quarter was recovered and also in the hole was a rusty nail. The M6 didn't see the quarter and the Garrett did. Within a month I had bought a Garrett AT Pro ( #13) and started to learn it. After 23 years with Whites, I saw that there were other detectors that could get the coins in the trash filled locations I was hunting.

　

Fisher F5

As I started hunting park areas and schools I had searched many times with my Whites detectors I began finding more clad and some older coins in the same exact spots that the Whites detectors missed. I even got a wheat cent in a spot of ground in my yard that I had searched with every one of my detectors I have bought. The M6 was sold and I started to research other detectors for a replacement for the Whites IDX. I settled on a Fisher F5 (#14) bought it, and began learning that one also. I had contributed some of my detecting video links and a few stories of some of my finds, and they were posted on Stout Standards, metal detecting author Dick Stouts webpage. He suggested I do a review of the Garrett AT Pro, so over a period of weeks I submitted sections of my review of the detector. Learning the Garrett and Fisher was a little challenging, because of 2 new brand detectors, going from a one brand and 6 detectors of that particular brand. I sent in a few sections of reviewing the Fisher F5 to Stout Standards also and he graciously put them on his website. The Whites IDX and all the coils I had for the M6 and IDX were ebayed and now gone.

　

Coinshooting Online was growing very well and more and more locals were getting into the hobby and going on group hunts. I was finding more clad in parks and schools I had thought were pretty clean, due to the 2 newer and better detectors. Dick Stout convinced me to write a story of my past detecting experiences and my 1st article was published in the February 2011 issue of Western and Eastern Treasures magazine. I since have had 3 other stories published, and written a book about metal detecting also. Find More Silver Coinshooting Parks and Schools ( Dimeman's Detecting Tips) by Robbie Morin is available on Amazon.com.

　

Detecting is a continuing learning process as new detectors come along every few years and they are better at target identification and detecting coins at a depth that seemed impossible 25-40 years ago. New tricks and tips from others also help in finding those older coins.

　

The Dimeman Adventures continue.....................

　

My Favorite Outings part 2

In early 2007 after reading the finds locals were digging at The Camp Logan area on the forum, DirtJournal.com ( now defunct) I remembered an article I had clipped from the newspaper years before. I searched for and found the article in my closet and read it again. It told of a water tank on top of a small brick structure that was believed to be from the camp (circa 1917-1919). The newspaper writer even had a few historical experts look at the building and it was undecided if it was made before, during or after the camp. The bricks used in the structure were those used from the early 1900's-1920's. It was located on a bend along the bayou in an unused section of a park.

From the article

Along the trail

I told a few forum members about the tank and where it was located and they went in search for it. I finally got a day off and went to see if I could locate the water tank.The area was in an out of the way section of the park and very heavily wooded along a bayou. As I looked around a bit I noticed an old path going along the edge of the bayou. It was hard to see but it was defineitly a footpath. I took it with my Whites M6 detector in hand, scanning along the old footpath. The path went up and down along the bayous sloped edge close enough to where the water was within a few feet at times and 15-30 feet at others. I noticed some railroad ties and old boards along the path made to where the path was level to walk on. After going about 500 feet along the trail, it started to go up to a rise of ground. I was scanning around a few large oak tree bases and got a overload signal on my detector. I raised my loop about 6 inches and scanned again to see if it was a very large target close to the surface. The M6 told me it was a half dollar. Still thinking it was a large item I moved the thick layer of leaves from around the target area. I saw something round, picked it up and couldn't beleive my eyes. It was a very worn 1875 Seated Liberty Half Dollar !!!! Since this was in the Camp Logan area I wondered if one of the soldiers stopped under the tree sat down and lost the coin from his pocket, back when the soldiers were training in the woods.

I was so excited I almost ran back to the car, up and down the footpath along the edge of the bayou. As I got to my car I was out of breath and had to rest in the car with the air conditioning on full blast. This was the oldest silver coin I had ever found while detecting !!!! ( At that time)

It was then I remembered I didn't find the water tank. I decided to return another day to try and find it.

I didn't know it at the time but if I would have continued up along the path along the slope of the bayou about 100 more feet, I would have arrived to where the water tank was located.

My Detecting Story--part 5

Over the years my younger brother had borrowed my detector a few times to look for a specific lost item or to try out metal detecting. In the fall of 2006 he was interested in getting his own, and started to research detectors. He told me of a local based detecting forum ( DirtJournal.com) and after reading posts of some of the finds local guys were making, it got me interested again. I joined the forum, and as I had 2 old detectors I dusted them off and put new batteries in them and started to refamiliar my self with them. My younger brother went with me on a few searches, and then he had decided on which detector he wanted, and bought a slightly used one. It made me want a newer model, so I researched and in January 2007, I bought a Whites M6 (#11) and some accessories.


Whites M6

 I tested it in my yard and dug up some silver coins and a few wheats. I had thought my yard was all hunted out !!!

I liked the M6 so much, I researched more detectors and located a used Whites IDX (#12) on ebay and bought it. It was very similar to the older Coinmaster Classic III, as it had all the same controls but also had a target ID screen. Within a few months the old Whites 3900 and the Classic III were sold on ebay and I used that money to get a few more accessories for my new detectors. I even dug a silver quarter in my yard with the IDX. With the newer detectors detecting was fun again !!!!


Whites IDX



The local forum was begining to grow a little bit, with more local and non-local members joining up. Some group hunts were organized, and detecting with new friends was very nice. With the 2 more modern detectors, I began finding older coins that I thought were long gone. Searching my old hunting areas produced coins a bit deeper in the ground and in the totlots in parks and schools I began finding lots of gold plated rings. Within 2 years time I had dug many plated rings, and the other locals on the forum and that I hunted with, started calling plated junk rings "Robbie Rings".


Well-------If something is going to be named after you--- it might as well be something gold....even if it is gold plated.

Some of my favorite outings-

One of my favorite detecting outings, years ago in the late 1980's, was with the Whites dealer who owned the small Trading Store in the old Chuck Wagon burger building. On a Sunday morning, his wife, him and I went over to the library close by, and started detecting the ground. I had been learning my Whites 3900DX Pro for a few months, while he brought a Whites 4900, his wife had a Whites 2500, beginners model. The library was built in 1961 and I don't think it had ever been detected before.

There were loads of wheat pennies, Buffalo and Jefferson nickels and only a few silver dimes and a few silver quarters. Since this library was used after school by the 3 schools( elementary, Jr. High, and Sr. High) each less than a mile away, there were also handfuls of clad coins ...some just laying just under the grass on top of the dirt. His wife was lucky and found a small silver ring along a sidewalk and I dug a man sized silver ring in the middle of the grass area. I think we were there, between 3 and 4 hours before we all got tired of digging so many targets. It was almost constant the whole time and only a few trash items were dug.

It was very fun to find lots of older coins and compare with the other detectorists, what we had dug up.