The second is about the military using new technology toys to help combat IED's in Afghanistan. The picture above shows a soldier with a government issued MD.
Read more HERE.
Image credit to David Gilkey/NPR
After that I still had two hours before it was time to meet up in Portsmouth with Hollis (foreverRich on FMDF), so I swung by McDonald's for the first time in forever to eat breakfast. By the time I was finished I headed out to the Portsmouth Rec Center (used to be the old Cradock High School) and was now an hour early for the meet, but decided to start a bit early.
By the time Hollis showed up at 930am I was already a dollar deep in clad. I was pretty hopeful when my first coin hit was a 5" deep quarter... a '65, so close. After exchanging a few words for a few minutes we both went on our way, staying relatively near the football field. I worked all the way around the near side by the tot lot towards the road, then down next to the sidewalk on the street (George Washington Hwy). I dug my fair share of trash, and by the time I was leaving around 11am I hand wrangled up 36 coins @ $3.32.
I left and headed home to clean up a bit, get some dry gloves, and grab a bite to eat. Hollis stayed behind and ended up scoring a '51-S Rosie... good for him!
After brewing up a pot of coffee to take a cup for the road, I made it out to Lakewood Park in Norfolk. From what I had heard from some old timers I was pretty sure this was one of the bigger parks that gets hammered by hobbyists. I was meeting dfxing virginia from FMDF here shortly, and as usual, started a bit early while he was in route.
In the trees above I scored a wheat, my only "old" coin for the day. I was all over this park. Recent silver finds from this location include various silver dimes and even a 1700s 1/2 Reale! I was really hoping to land something good. My last bit of hunting at the park, I managed to swing the coil a bit through the wooded trails in the rear of the park, and then down at the small "beach" which is accessible through the treeline. Actually scored a few state quarters in those spots.
My buddy was hitting coins few and far between until he managed to nail a '50-D Rosie not far from where where he landed a few other silvers in the past.
We spent the last hour and half hitting randomly in a street median and behind a school, not amounting to much. Before we left the park we saw another guy just suiting up to swing for a bit before dark... wonder if he found anything? But it was a nice day of hunting, be it chilly and wet all day. Ended this half of the day with 49 more coins @ $3.49 and a Chuck-E-Cheese token.
Verdict at the Little Big Horn
Metal detectors are used to find personal items as well as artifacts relating to the battle and it's combatants.
Read more HERE.
Metal detecting group reunite precious bracelet with owner
UK MD club finds a heirloom lost shortly before owner dies, meant to be handed down to the youngest boy in a family.
Read more HERE.
Divers Search Swan Lake On UConn Campus
In the wake of the death of UCONN football player, Jasper Howard, police divers use metal detectors to search lake in an attempt to find evidence.
Read more HERE.
Mystery surrounds gold ring find
UK hobbyist finds a 17th century signet ring with an unidentified crest on it, but maker's mark matches one in museum.
Read more HERE.
Man punched during attempted robbery on beach
Hobbyist assaulted while hunting beach in South Carolina.
Read more HERE.
I did some quick research and made a list of 7 places in Norfolk to hit up when I have some free time, and decided to head out to one. My location was the small neighborhood park at the corner of Leigh and Westover in Ghent. On the way I texted "dfxing virginia" to see if he could meet there when he got out of work... which he would.
After about 30 minutes of hunting, and scoring a little bit of clad I found my first wheat. I proceeded to text my buddy the play by play, as I pulled 2 more wheats in the next few minutes. Then in the grassy area between the sidewalk and street I scored a 3" +81 I would have sworn was a clad dime, but nope... saw the glint in the hole... a '47 rosie! Sent him a pic to gloat :) One note about the wheats, one of them was a 1919, which is now my oldest dug US coin, beating out my '20 wheatie last year.
It was a very overcast day and there was a slight drizzle when my hunting partner showed up. We chatted for a min and got back to the task at hand. As I was covering the middle of the park, an older woman and her dog came by. She asked if we were filling the holes, as lots of children play here. We were of course. She then told me that a lady had been here a week or so and had not found much... that confirmed my assumption the place had been hit before. It was nearing dark and we decided to head a few blocks down the street to a school.
Here we found ourselves at what I learned was Taylor Elementary School. Surely been hunted, but it has lots of play areas for kids and a decent field that goodies would surely show up in, old or not. We hunted for maybe just under an hour before it got too dark to be efficient without a flashlight (both mine were dead). But for my last signal of the night I swept over a target that bounced from a +89 to +91 and only read about 1.5" deep. Figuring it was either a soda can, or maybe a couple quarters, I dug. I couldn't find the target at first, but eventually wrestled it out of the ground and was shocked to in my hand my first half-dollar coin. I walked over towards my buddy with a smile on my face and said, "Guess what I found?" He had that look on his face that said, "If it's a Walker I'm taking it and running!" I plopped it down in his hand and said, "It's a half, a Kennedy."
And so ended the evenings hunt. Headed back to his place to chill over coffee and chat about MD'ing, met his wife. Great time. Total pull for the few hours was 24 coins @ $2.02 and lots of trash... as usual.
That being said, I was up at 630am getting stuff ready to head out and meet a member of FMDF, "dfxing virginia" out in Larchmont for an early AM hunt. When I got in last night I noticed I had a message from him reminding me about it, and I'm glad he did because I totally forgot. So I was in the truck and at the park by 730am.
The target for the day was Larchmont Park at the corner of Hampton Blvd. and Bolling Ave. in Norfolk. The spot has some good history as you can by picture, but I was betting money it had already been pillaged years before. But we were hopeful there'd be something left.
Well... there wasn't. We hunted around for just less than three hours and didn't leave with much more than a few bucks in clad and a pouch full of trash. My total haul for the day was 34 coins @ $3.60, and a "looks like" silver dolphin earring. These 34 coins put me at the 1,000 coin mark for the year, yay!
I had to leave around 11am to head back home and get some snack ready for gameday. A friend of mine was coming over, so I spent the rest of the day in front of the TV. In the following pictures you can see the goodies. I made hot wings, fried pickles, and then a little something I like to call "Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites". Bet you wish you got to have some!
I started in the back, towards their picnic and tot lot area. All around the play area the dimes just kept hitting one after the other... but then it just dried up. Surely the area has been hit before, but we can always dream. I did happen to find a bullet under a tree root, gave a nice hit on the XLT.
I decided to head around up front and the signals started coming back, a quarter here and there, some memorials, but nothing special. Here's the take with 17 coins @ $1.52.
I hung out for a few hours chatting with Grandma about any and everything new in life. My Aunt showed up as well so it was a good visit. After, I went out in the front yard of my Uncle's house to do what I really came over for... swing and dig. The neighborhood was built in the 60's sometime, so I knew it would be iffy to find any silver, but I gave it a shot. I stayed about an hour and was teased by a '66 Quarter... and then a '50 Wheat penny. I had a few hours til 3 when i needed to pick up kitty and head home, so I ran some other errands and then ended up at a church built in the 50's along Sparrow Rd. in Chesapeake. I dug there for 45 minutes or so, landing another wheatie, this time a '46-D... not much else.
A decent hunts worth, 26 coins @ $1.58.
I had high hopes of going to see the Rockies in the playoffs against the Phillies, or even the Broncos hosting the Patriots, but both fell through. But I had many other adventures on the trip so it was all good. Below are images of said adventures. As far as nature goes, I made it out to Red Rocks, and also Estes Park, which is an entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park is also where the hotel from the movie, The Shining is located. I also HAD to visit Casa Bonita, a huge, themed Mexican restaurant that I first heard of from watching South Park, and couldn't believe it was real. I saved a token from here.
On my last full day there I made it out to Gold-N-Detectors, a sweet prospecting and MD shop in downtown Golden that is a must visit if you are ever in the area. It's run by a fun gentleman by the name of Bill. He has all sorts of cache finds displayed, and many machines to play around with in the store, or across the street at Cleer Creek History Park. Bill gave me a token on my way out after purchasing two books for my XLT.
Enjoy the pics!
Anyway, for pennies, I reach into our community change jar in the living room. I dumped it all out and was quite surprised to see some pretty shiny, new looking pennies in there. Now I haven't received any of the 4 styles of 2009 Lincoln cents in change anywhere in VA, so I was curious. I did get 3 of the 2nd design released at the Charlotte, NC airport a few months back though.
So anyway, I check them, and most of them are the 3rd design, known as the "Professional Life in Illinois" strike. So now I have 50% of the 2009 designs... I hope I can complete the set.
In lieu of the recent economic duress in the nation, he has taken it upon himself to mint a variety of copper and silver coins (roughly 1250 in total) that he says are loosely based on the Hard Times Tokens that were abundant pre-Civil War in the US.
In the image above you can see an example of the coins. One depicts a potato entwined with a ribbon that reads, "Pomme de Terre", which is French for well... you guessed it, potato. I think literally it means "Apple of the Ground." The other, similarly designed coin is of an apple entwined with a ribbon that reads, "Pomme en l'Air", or "Apple in The Air."
If you're up in the Northeast and come across one of these, if not more, please drop me a note, I'd love to own one!
8 to 9 Battery Modification
A member of FMDF, Rob Olszta has posted a great way to turn your 8 battery unit into a 9 battery unit. He's not the first to do this, and there are many mentions of it all over the net, but at least he has a half decent write-up. It basically involves relocating the contacts and cutting out the plastic ribs near the top of the pack... thus making room for a 9th battery. You can see the finished product in the image above. For the full writeup, visit Rob's website, HERE.
Rechargeable AA Modification
Another great modification, that I know a few folks who have done successfully, is to turn your battery pack, into a rechargeable AA pack. With this mod you just attach the contacts to a plug in coaxial port and you can use the Quick/Overnight charger that comes with the White's optional battery pack. Again, there are a few half-assed write-ups on this across the net, but THIS ONE at Have Detector, Will Travel seems to be the best. You can see the completed project in the above image.
Another decent write-up with pics and even a parts list can be found at John Burrows website, HERE.
On the streets neighboring the school (like the above scene just off of Rockwood Pkwy), apparently you can still find buried, or perhaps partially buried Livens Projectors in the brush. These very basic tubes where designed by William Howard Livens, and made for launching a 8" projectile that could carry things like napalm or in many cases, a chemical agent like nerve gas or tear gas. In the following image is a vial of mustard gas agent that was found in the area in August.
Since the early 1990's, military officials have been searching for and cleaning up all of the UXO in the area ranging from the University, all the way to the Dalecarlia Reservoir as concerns about the chemicals leaking into the public water supply have been raised.
In the image above I made a color chart showing the range of common projectiles fired from this area. In the green area were just your common short range ammunition, the yellow was about where you could expect to find 4" Mortars... and in the orange is the range of the Livens projectiles.
To check out the article from the Washington Post, click HERE.
For a related story from the Post from 2 years back, click HERE.
For more info on Bill Livens, click HERE.
For more info on the Livens Projectile, click HERE.
Quotes update on refresh :)
