Metal Detector Competition 2019 Deming NM

9 March 2019

     The day of the 1st Annual Deming Gem and Mineral Societys metal detector competition dawned clear blue.  The event had been planned for over a year and was being held in conjunction with The 54th Annual Rockhound Roundup at Deming New Mexico, a well known gem and mineral show which is really the launching point for many dealers as they head back east for their summer shows.  The prize table was out and loaded, while metal detectorists from around the desert Southwest began showing up.  Many sprayed jet trails started to fill the otherwise clear sky, and the dust particles being sprayed quickly became a full overhead canopy with high winds.  See the pictures.

    Lots of entrants for this metal detecting competition were from the Albuquerque NM Metal Detecting club, though there were also competitors from other places in New Mexico, and even Arizona and Texas.  Everybody was lined up and ready when the time came.  At 9 AM the hunt began with everyone spreading out pretty well, but occasionally zeroing in on a particularly interesting area.  Some of the detectorists moved around a lot, and one of the detectorists, Tom Cole from Albuquerque is legally blind, so some of his club members kept an eye on him.

     There were a lot of coins scattered, including Roman bronzes and 25 Mercury dimes, and there was also a lot of junk in the ground.  Besides those sets of targets there were 70 steel washers of varyious sizes with numbers etched on them, corresponding to prizes on the prize table. One of the first prize winners was Dar from Albuquerque, who claimed the gold coin and a few other items within an hour and half of starting.  She was just taking a rest though, and went back for more later.

     Jeannie from the Deming Public Library brought her grandson to detect and they were the early finishers with a packet of Roman coins as a prize, and also a rock tumbler from Kingsley North.  About half the field finished in around two hours, though the other half, and perhaps even the LARGEST half (Heh) stayed out the full four hours.  Keith Rickwartz from San Antonio Texas found the most washers, 16 in all, and though there were a good number of entrants who found multiple washers, Keith was by far the winner of the most prizes.   In spite of all that, there were still 20 washers which went unfound this year, and will be carried over to next years competition, if all goes well.

     Many thanks to Ernest Poe who donated nice GPAA prizes at the last minute, and congratulations to the winner of the metal detector, a young member of the DGMS club.  Joe Marone, Shop Foreman of DGMS, donated a nice gold nugget as a prize which he find himself in Arizona.  Thanks Joe!

     The meteorite packets went over well as prizes, and were valued around $4.00 per gram.  Some of the packets were over 4 grams each.  The Roman coins were all valued around $1.00 each on the market and everyone enjoyed finding the Mercury dimes.  For the record, the deity on the coinage is not Mercury, it is a representation of Liberty in human form, wearing a winged cap, meant to represent Liberty Of Thought.

Also won as prizes were 3 jars of Chrysocolla from the Apache Mine at Hachita NM.  Very odd stuff, it was found as a gravel on a defunct road, and is actually pseudomorphic in that it was once crystals of something, maybe moonstone (which is plentiful there) then replaced with copper based minerals.  Within many of those crystals are nice veins of gem silica.  They can be isolated with lapidary equipment to form some really bright gems. 

Some of the numismatic prizes included a very fine Billon Trachea from the time of the Byzantine Empire coincident to the very beginning of the Fourth Crusade (Thanks Danny!).

The idea behind having a metal detecting event at the Deming Annual Rockhound Roundup came from the realization that there are many cross-over attributes among the hobby/occupations of mining-metal detecting-gem hunting, which can and should be utilized better for our collective benefit.

Beneath the pictures is the program distributed for the event and the flyer created by Sherry Wilson, to whom I owe special thanks for her help during the entirety.

      The day began clear blue.

                                        The prize table.                                      

 

                 An unplanted find, a travel token from Miami FL.

Detecting under Odd Skies.

The Group of Entrants.

This entrant won several good prizes, and found the unplanted childs ring below.

Another unplanted find.  A childs prize from American Airlines, a ring from the 40s or 50s.

 Over 65 pounds of metallic trash recovered during this hunt!

Dar from Albuquerque and Keith Rickwartz from San Antonio, The #1 and #2 Prize Winners.

                  Bill Gallagher



Event Program distributed during event:

 Welcome to the 1st Annual Metal Detecting Competition at the Rockhound Roundup in Deming New Mexico, 2019.  Please remember this is a "Hunt At Your Own Risk" event, so always: SAFETY FIRST!  All the plants in the desert southwest, and many other lifeforms here possess the means to poke and sting, which no one likes because it is painful and unhealthy.  Wear gloves if you can, and heavy shoes, and always avoid breathing dust of any kind, anywhere you are.

This metal detector hunt is a four hour event, from 0900-1300 Saturday February 9th, although the site itself is open to hunting at the non-competitive level during daylight hours after the hunt itself.  Again, all metal detecting is at your own risk, of course and as usual.  There are many detectable prizes in the contest ground and fairly shallow, including some Roman coins (Which can be very difficult to discern by sight, so beware), 25 Mercury dimes, 75+ very nice wheat cents, and some mexican coins.  The prize tokens are fairly large steel washers, and the washers are numbered to correspond with the various prizes available.  The prizes can be reviewed at the sign-in table.

There are also two rolls of wheat cents being given as prizes for the most metal junk collected (By weight) and the second most amount of metal junk collected. Plastic refuse bags are available during sign-in.

This WW2 era building site probably has never been hunted with metal detectors, so there will be many other ferrous and non-ferrous artifacts of interest found by our detectorists, along with the donated prizes.

Please remember to cover any holes you dig, the ankles you save may be your own.

There was some roofing debris on the surface of this site, and there are nails, so remember to check your holes after target retrieval in case a nail or other non-ferrous metal was masking a good target like a coin.  Check and double check your diggings everywhere you go.  Sometimes Over-Digging a target, while strewing the diggings about the hole, will cause more and deeper targets to reveal themselves when you give the diggings a going over with the detector, fyi.  This makes filling in the hole a little more tedious, but is usually well worth the effort in any area with salvageable artifacts.

One trick I know concerning nails:  if you are getting nails often and can hear them well, then try crossing the target at 90 degrees, and from several directions.  If it is a nail the detectors signal will probably click and break up, where a good target usually sounds good no matter which way you pass the coil across it. 

A special thanks to Deming Gem and Mineral Society (DGMS) for the area to hunt in, and all proceeds from this hunt will go to finance club activities.  If you are interested in becoming a DGMS club member see the people at the DGMS table in building 2, they are all fun to visit with and the dues are just $15 a year for individuals, and $25 per couple.  The club lapidary shop is exceptional and accessible, making membership well worth anyones time.

If you would like to be included in any metal detector related mailings, either electronic or snail mail, see Bill Gallagher at the sign-in table for an address form.

Finally, other donated prizes are a new rock hammer and a new rock tumbler, both from Kingsley North, about 200 grams of meteorite from a well known Siberian fall which are packaged in 2-4 gram ziploc bags, 10 or 12 bags of pretty good Roman coins, some hand made leather cases for phones or detecting equipment, a discriminating metal detector, a gold nugget, a 1/10th oz gold coin, a nicely toned and valuable silver bullion round from the US mint, a number of plated replica coins sure to increase in value; several very fine ancient coins, including two rare medieval types, and more.

Thank you for attending this event, and Good Luck!  Pictures will be posted of this event at https://www.treasurehuntingwithbillgallagher.blogspot.com



Bill Gallagher
DGMS Club Secretary
Author, Lost Treasure Magazine, Western and Eastern Treasures Magazine, Lapidary Journal, Body Art Magazine
https://www.treasurehuntingwithbillgallagher.blogspot.com

Prize donors: Jim Hawkins, Mimbres River Gems, Donna George, Joe Marone, Daniel Lopacki, Jim Little, Tom Rodrigues, Deming Gem and Mineral Society, Kingsley North.  A special thanks to all our generous donors of prizes which made this event possible.

My Experience With Various Metal Detector Brands

I am a Whites man. Which is to say I love Whites metal detectors. They are the most powerful, discerning, and durable machines on the market. Whites has been making metal detectors a long long time, and they are very good at it. I got my first Whites Metal Detector, a 6000DB hip mount machine for 100 dollars back in 1982 or 1983, I believe it was. The unit still had some of the original accouterments unopened, in their plastic bags. Like so many other metal detectors, this one had been purchased by a man who had some money, and retired to Florida. After finding about 1000 flip tops, pennies, and bottle caps, with not a diamond ring in the bunch, he put the detector in the closet and forgot about it. Later, he mentioned it to me, and that's how I obtained my first Whites. I have used many of the coin masters since then, and several of the underwater machines, and I will say it again: I am a Whites man. Once I learned the intricacies of the Whites machines (it did take time and a good bit of effort) I was able to use any other detector I came across with ease, though I always went back to my own, and gladly. The best thing about Whites is how well they are made. They are durable, and powerful. I have had some issues, but none I could not address myself, and all the issues were attributable to the facts that A) I am hard on my equipment, and B) they were problems of a mechanical nature, versus electronic. The solid state circuitry and component quality in the Whites machines is top notch, and through normal use will nearly always work well. The mechanical problems that have occurred were because I use the heck out of my machines, a lot.

Fisher metal detectors are good machines too, or so I am told. I have never owned one, though I hear many good reports from many loyal users who would not trade their Fisher metal detectors for anything. I have used them occasionally to see how they work, and the underwater machines, especially, perform very well. Fisher was the first to successfully combine water and land detectors in one easy-to-use machine that worked as well in both arenas. Fisher was bought by Bounty Hunter detectors in Texas just recently, within the last two or three years, and I am told that they are not the same anymore. I know of one man who bought some related detection equipment from Fisher before they sold out, and he had little or no success in getting Bounty Hunter to honor the original warranties on said equipment. I have used Bounty Hunter detectors before a few times, and they are not one of my favorite brands, because the power is just not there.

I have owned two or three Garrett metal detectors in my life, and they are third on my list of machines as far as being user friendly and powerful. Some of the Garretts are fine machines, and the Sea Hunter was the first diving detector I ever saw. It was finding rings and coins underwater long before many other manufacturers had produced underwater detectors. The problem with the Sea Hunter, the earlier models I mean, was that it had a rechargeable battery system which leaked on occasion, and the unit had to go to the factory if the batteries had to be changed, as rechargeable batteries inevitably do. This has been taken care of now I think, but the machine had been expensive and cantankerous early on, and it disappointed some people badly. The two land machines I have had of Garret design both had electrical/electronic problems over the life of their use, and I do not like that. Otherwise though, the machines performed well, with power and good signature sounds for the round objects.

I did the initial field report for Minelabs competition machine called the Sterling (Western and Eastern Treasures magazine, January 1994 -- See below) and I am totally impressed with the technology of Minelab engineer Bruce Candy, because he sees things in different ways, and is not afraid to make that manifest in his metal detectors. Using Broad Band Spectrum technology, Full Band Spectrum Technology, Multi-period sensing, Dual Voltage Technology and more, Minelab has been capable of great miniaturization, while at the same time increasing power and sensitivity. Their underwater machine, the Excalibur, is powerful and smart, but I have heard of leak problems, (See my above statement on the necessity of using silicone grease on all O-Rings and underwater housings). For more information on Minelabs technology go here: http://www.minelab.com/consumer/knowledge-base/minelab-technologies

I have recently been able to use a Tesoro machine for the first time, and these lightweight and powerful machines made in Arizona are well spoken of by nugget shooters in the west. I myself did not get to do any real detecting with the machine, it was a repair I did for a bud in New Mexico, though do not take that to mean the machine broke, it was just missing a part which I replaced. Overall the signal was clear and bright, I don't think you would have any problem telling a good signal from bad with the Tesoro machines.

When everything is said and done, the above metal detectors all have distinct attributes, and their bad points boil down to how well they are made. This is my opinion of course. Another and very important determining factor in buying a metal detector is, of course, price. I buy and sell used equipment, so price is not as big a deal with me as with someone who is going about this for the first time.   I get good deals on all my detectors now, because I try, and I think good deals on all detectors can be found, one must be a super shopper is all.  When buying a detector one must also practice something that will definitely come in handy later, and that something is patience.  Kellyco Electronics in Florida is a good place to find deals on new metal detectors, while ebay is where to look for used equipment, because there is good buyer recourse, and usually the dealers at ebay are very concerned over their selling reputation, and will not mislead a buyer intentionally. The Whites machines are pricey but worth it, because they will last a long time in adverse conditions. You can find a lot and not miss much. Fisher and Bounty Hunter have become a non-issue to me, as things stand now. Garrett always seemed to be too expensive for what they do, and though the Tesoro is a good machine, the manufacturers are very proud of it and charge accordingly. The Minelab machines, in my experience, are very very high priced, but for some professional applications nothing else will work as well, like nugget shooting in the outback of Australia, or for finding other deep things in odd situations. For the casual user and beginner I would not recommend them, although Minelab does have something for everyone, but perhaps not for everyones pocketbook. The Minelab Sterling, and the types like it since, have been classed as competition or new-user machines, because they are ultra powerful, very lightweight, and easy to use.

All around the best deal in metal detecting is Whites Coinmaster line of detectors, with the Classics and newer lightweight, simple, yet powerful machines leading the way to greater depth and general flexibility in the field. For adjustable flexibility the older coinmaster machines as well as the Spectrum and Eagle type machines, are just fantastic tools and well worth the time it takes to learn them.