Went for a lovely Wednesday Walk with the Metal Detector, and made a couple finds. An old, handmade horseshoe, some kind of metal circle and an old shovel.
This was originally upright on it's edge, with barely a tip of it sticking up next to a rock. Here is just after pulled out of the earth.
I was hoping that walking the crest of this hill next to the stream would pay off. Many rocks were along this edge, seemingly placed there long ago.
Definitely custom made for a specific horse. One side markedly higher than the other. Could have been as far back as the 1800's when this area was settled. It's said that found horseshoes bring good luck. This one will definitely be going up over the door!
Not sure what the metal ring is/was. It was found a couple hundred yards away on the path to the field.
Here was an old broken shovel left next to a tree. I've walked past it within 5 or 6 feet dozens of times before and never noticed it before. It looks like part of the very old handle there next to it.
Here is the Metal Detector used, a Garrett AT Max.
It has multiple modes, including one that ignores iron, nails, etc. and only alerts on coins and silver. I often change modes depending on where I'm searching and what I'm searching for. While old coins are my primary target, I also love finding these old artifacts. In remote areas like this, I typically use a custom mode that ignores pull tabs, but still detects on iron. The Detector gives different tones and sounds to help identify what it may be, a low sound for iron, and a higher pitch for coins or silver. It is capable of finding a coin over 12 inches deep, although most of my finds have been under 6 inches.
Another key tool is this Pin-Pointer. This saves so much time when going through dirt in pin pointing the object. It allows to dig, and spill a shovel of dirt to the side then quickly determine if the object is in the shovel full removed, or still in the hole. It can then go right to the small object which are often hard to find when they are covered in dirt!
It's waterproof and I've seen many folks actually use them when snorkeling or on beaches, or areas even without a full size metal detector. I even saw one video of a person dragging one behind them on a string while walking through the woods. It can find objects within several inches of the sensor tip. It is definitely a worthwhile addition!
I'll leave you with the last part of my walk, the apple trees are getting apples! About the size of a large marble, not quite golf ball size yet. The trees look pretty full of them already this year, so hoping for a good crop!
My next trip will be a coin search near some very old stone walls and settlement from the 1800's. I know there will be lots of scrap metal in the area, so we will start with a coin search first, then go back over it later for other artifacts.
Enjoy your walking!
