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When 2003 came to an end I looked back at all the finds of that year and was very satisfied.
This was my first full year with my White's XLT. I purchased my first metal detector in late
Fall of 2002 after my wife urged me to get out from behind my computer and get some sun. After
reading the manual a few times I got out and gave it a try. I live in So. CA so I can hunt
mostly year round. Southern California's modern history only goes back about 120 years so I
knew the real old coins and relics were out of reach. Also, most everything old has been torn
down or paved over. So, I concentrated on clad and jewelry at parks, schools and beaches. My
first silver coin was a 1913 Barber dime in very poor shape. But, at least it was old and
silver.
With such a large population, schools and parks are everywhere. I borrowed my wife's heavy map book of Los Angeles and Orange Counties and got busy. I tried to get out at least once or twice a week, on weekends only, and it paid off well, for a newbe. I still have a hard time believing what people will lose. Around the beginning of summer I felt pretty confident with my machine and decided to fiddle with the adjustments on the standard COIN/JEWELRY program. That is when I discovered TONE ID and VCO. I don't know why more fuss isn't made about them. With TONE ID on, every coin denomination has a different tone. I am sure some engineer at White's has a sense of humor, because the larger the piece of silver the higher and sweeter is the tone's pitch, but when you pass your coil over foil junk you get the "raspberry." I also found out that VCO really helps with pinpointing. Just pull back on the trigger and lock onto your target. Move the coil in an X pattern and when the pitch is at it's highest you are centered on your target. Then just check your depth on the screen and dig. I can now decide to dig, or not to dig, faster. That gives me more actual hunting time and that gives me more finds. (My Bullseye probe is another story, I never leave home without it. My battery died once and I just went home. No use hunting if I have to spend five minutes in each hole looking for camaflouged coins.) Here is my count for my first full year with an XLT. My clad coin count 3099 coins: 6 - dollar coins 3 - halves 356 - quarters 606 - dimes 186 - nickels 1942 - pennies 10 pieces of gold jewelry 26 of silver jewelry dozens of junk jewelry, some of which is pretty nice. Thank You, Dan |
XLT turns up Colonial shoe buckle!
  Dear White's, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm only 38 years old but have 2 herniated disks in my lower back. I was given the detector to help me get out more. Today I'm doing active things with my children that were considered impossible 2 years ago. I truly believe this hobby has saved my life. Sorry the message is so long but this is only part of what I'd like to tell you. White's has made my life magical!!! This was my first year detecting. I got my detector, a White's XLT, in April and only detected local parks until July 23rd, when I moved into a 230 year old house. Then the cool finds started happening. In the summer I got my first silver dollar hit with the detector. I was all excited and dug but instead of getting a silver dollar I found something much better, a Silver Colonial shoe buckle. Here is what I know about the buckle at this time. "Dear John, In reference to your colonial shoe buckle. It was made by Christopher Hughes, Baltimore Md. ca. 1771, partnered with John Corman in 1774, Married a Peggy Sanderson in 1779, and if you can find it, he had a portrait of himself painted by a Charles Wilson Peale, you can see the face of the guy who made your buckle. Nice Find. He was a pretty important guy and I found a single spoon made by him going at almost $1,200 bucks, a buckle would more than likely fetch much more. I also received a message from a Pennsylvania museum curator that stated "Your shoe buckle is a significant historic find....." John, PA |
XLT and the 80 coin weekend!
   Hi gang!, Well I thought I would tell you my little story of my Thanksgiving trip. My family and I went to Tillamook for a few days for Thanksgiving and after the big feast, I decided to go walk around for a bit and work off some of the turkey. First off I started to use my XLT out in front of the old house that my relatives owned (built in 1920's) and found a 1920 merk dime! I also found a bunch of wheat pennies scattered all over the front 10'x15' lawn. (2-3"deep) I was so amazed just how much "coinage" came out of just a small little lawn. I then started to detect towards the local YMCA building and right out in front of the YMCA sign I plucked out a 1941 standing liberty half-dollar!! (My first ever!) I then went back to playing around the family house once again and was detecting around another portion of the lawn and pulled up two watch faubs. One was dated 1934 and had a picture of a fish on it along with the words "Astoria, Oregon". The other one had the name of Weinhards beers on the front and on the back it read" Souviner to visiting Elks- Weinhards Brewery, 1912! It also had a picture of an elk head on it too. When the weekend was overI found almost 80 coins and most of them were wheat pennies dating from 1919 to 1958. I am really excited about my new hobby of detecting and I have been getting a really good system together in finding these coins. I am really shocked just how well the White's works with a 8" loop. I plan on making another trip back to the town very soon and see what else I can pull up. Hope you all had a good turkey day (like me)! Take Care, Nathan, OR |