Deus & Racer 2 finds for 2016

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The MP3 player is well beyond repair, looks like it has been driven over at some stage. The large "ring", probably off nearby playground equipment, not performance enhancing equipment. :D

Yes there are big differences between the Deus and Etrac on crown cap ID's, though this is not isolated to just the Deus as most VLF's will give a cap ID in the high conductivity range. When cherry picking shallow goldies, the trick is to look for steady ID's. As mentioned in the previous post, pull the coil off the ground if not sure, and the cap signals will promptly diminish, whilst the coins should still be audibly strong, and the ID's will drop off at a lot lesser rate.

Other useful methods include using your pinpoint mode to test the width of target. Coins will generally pinpoint as small defined targets, whereas you will find caps can give a broader signal in the ground - same deal when using a handheld pinpointer.

Here's some air-test comparisons from a couple of caps found last night, though do realise that the cap ID's can drop lower when in the ground by a few digits.

Crown cap no.1 (new Corona cap)
Deus: 91-93
Etrac: 01:18

Crown cap no.2 (rusted Coopers)
Deus: 89-90
Etrac: 01:12

Crown cap no.3 (rusted, indistinguishable)
Deus: 90-92
Etrac: 01:14

$1 coin
Deus: 87
Etrac: 12:39

$2 coin
Deus: 86
Etrac: 12:37

Aluminium screw cap (reading will vary depending on type/condition of screw cap)
Deus: 90
Etrac: 12:37

So the Etrac does have an obvious advantage in offering crown cap ID's miles off from where your typical $1 & $2 coins sit on a vlf, plus the ability to discriminate them out completely. Though a different case for aluminium screw caps which can sit smack bang in the goldy range on the Etrac. :)
 
If I had a dollar (or 2) for every aluminum screw cap.......

Those flat ones cap side up, I defy anyone to tell the difference.
Just have to dig because a $1 or $2 sitting like "l postion" or "/ position" will take an id point off being very near the screw tops.
 
A quick couple of hours tonight with a .925 St Christopher medallion being the best find of the night. Pre-decimals include a 1908 Edward VII hp, 1883 Victoria hp, and 1944, 1950 pennies.

Oddball item include a "genuine pewter" fist/skull bikie ring, and a japanese pistol pencil sharpener that looks very similar to the German ones made in the early 1900's. The White Horse Distillers bottle cap is also reasonably old, I quite like the design on it. :)

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What a great little hunt Gp, turning up some real aussie time teamer items there,... that ring and sharpener are really something hey ! :p :D
And some nice silver religeonalia to boot. ;)
 
Brilliant explanation GP...thanks.

And umm, yes...I was having a mental episode. I was thinking about aliminium screw tops, even though I was blabbing about crown seals!!

On the up side it's nice to know the etrac has one advantage over the deus... ;)
 
Yet another mixed bag if finds this evening, nothing real exciting, trying a few different areas with not much success (ton of junk) - need to get out of town to greener pastures.

Just one lonely 1957 penny, what looks to be a mower chopped part silver ring, couple of toy cars, and a 1950's English Barclay cigarette lighter. The lighter was an absolute screamer, though unfortunately not silver.

Starting new job tomorrow after a year of bumming around, so looks like my night detects might be well and truly scaled back. Off to a club detect on the weekend, so hopefully something good might turn up. :)

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I had a very eventful detector today with the Deus. The morning club hunt was a bust with only a few decimal coins making a showing, though the afternoon was a much a more satisfying affair.

Later in the day, I was invited by a couple of club members to go in search of long lost church ruins dating back the the early 1800's. We had a rough idea of the location, but required some detective work searching evidence of the ruins. Needless to say, we didn't find any ruins as such, though whilst wandering along the track, I picked up the first tangible evidence of occupation, an 1860's Victorian penny.

Spurred on by that find, we scoured the area with Deus, AT Pro and Minelab 705 in hand, and started to come across a lot of iron junk in the ground, yet another good sign. From then on the finds started to flow, various buttons and harmonic reeds were spread around the area, along with various other non-ferrous relics.

Detecting off the track, I picked up a target in the low 60's, and to my astonishment, it was a small Chinese coin - a first for me. Working around that coin find, I picked up yet another Chinese coin, an 1872 Victorian half penny, and various buttons including one labelled I.Flett - Mount Gambier. Another couple of good conductors proved to be a pocket watch lid (silver plated), and a part of a cricket buckle labelled "The Model - Cricket Belt". Other items found included an axe head, knife, buckets and other assorted gear.

The Chinese coins are date from between 1821-1850, under the rein of Emperor Hsuan Tsung, and were most likely left by Chinese prospectors entering SA to travel across to the Victorian goldfields to avoid entry taxes.

So far we have only touched the surface on possible finds at the location, so I'm positive there is plenty more to be found. Happy days. :)

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GP were those coins at around the same depth? There is an old Chinese tradition of burying coins in a certain pattern on property they owned, two coins is a very good sign of this practice.
 
They were reasonably shallow, and may have been exposed in overturned soil by machinery. Could they maybe related to a death/funeral?
 
The traditional practice was to insert coins around the perimeter lines in an orderly fashion to ward off evil spirits/bring luck. There are many variations on the ritual but in everything I've read about it they were evenly spaced when laid out, like exactly even distance. Often on temporary camps this ritual was also observed. They often went out of their way to get the coins from the same era, hence two coins replicated may indeed point to this practice.

Have a bit of a read up but you might get lucky on this ground, a couple of older detectorists from different regions have confirmed finds of this nature and pattern, the migrant Chinese clung to their native practices very firmly.

I find it interesting you mention a church, back in those times it was not uncommon for cast aways and outcasts to be housed under the church's protection.
 
Sounds interesting Goldtarget, personally I don't know a hell of a lot about the location, though it may have existed pre-settlement of the regional towns in our area, and up to the late 1800's going by the coinage. The abundant harmonica reeds and buttons may well indicate people camping around the church grounds. Might have to visit the local historical society to see if they have any literature on the establishment of regional churches within that period.
 

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