Metal Detecting a 100 Year Old Australian Stone House
Beautiful Turn of the Century Australian Stone House
A few days ago I got permission off a local farmer and his wife to go metal detecting at an old stonehouse on their property, no doubt one of the most beautiful stone houses in the district.
I took a beautiful photo of this house a few months ago, and knew that I’d have to return one day to do some metal detecting for old coins and relics.
So finally I had a day off and eagerly drove out to the house with my E-Trac Metal Detector, Garrett Pro Pin Pointer, my trusty shovel and my sifter and plenty of water, as it was a bloody hot day!
One of my most favourite things to find while metal detecting is old dog licence tags, usually made out of brass.
I have found around 20 of these Dog Licence tags so far, since I started metal detecting, and I hoped to find one today.
These Dog Licence Tags are issued to dog owners, so that if the Dog is found it can be returned to the owner, even today the same thing happens, except the dog licence tags these days are made out of a crappy plastic, not like the good old days when things were made to last.
Well My luck was running high, and just near a old stone shearing shed, I found one with my detector, one of the best ones I have found so far.
1930 - 1931 Dumbleyung Road Board Dog Licence Tag
If you click on the image to the right, you’ll see a bigger and better photo.
This is the first of these tags I have found with a clover leaf design, usually most of the tags I find are in a triangular shape.
I also found a another dog tag just the other day, this one was also really nice, another unique design, and this tag originating from Wagin, some 40km away from Dumbleyung.
I spent around 4 hours at the old house, it was a really good day, nice and peaceful, just how I like it.
I found some really nice coins, and found my first English Farthing, dated 1926.
I also found some pennys, a couple of six pence coins, some nice buckles and other interesting things.
As well as that, I also found a really nice old bottle dump, basically a big pile of dirt, but plenty of signs of really old Marble Bottles, Codds, and other rare bottles… I just wish I had a bobcat or a dingo, if I had one of those, I could get underneath the soil to get the good bottles.
I am actually thinking about hiring one from a local bloke for the day, $250 a day he charges.
Feel free to watch the YouTube Video I made of the day below.
Metal Detecting Perth’s Swan River
18 CT Ladies Gold and Diamond Ring - Swan River Metal Detecting Find
Recently I have not had much time to do any metal detecting, as my partner and I have just bought a Post Office and News Agency in my rural town in the Great Southern of Western Australia, Dumbleyung. We have been very busy doing some training courses in Perth.
Swan River Metal Detecting Finds
But last week I found the time whilst I was in Perth to head down to the Swan River for a few hours to do a bit of treasure hunting on the sandy banks of the Swan River.
Mens Silver Ring as I found it
I decided to find a new metal detecting spot, so I had a look through my Street Directory and I found a nice little spot where there would be a good chance to find some rings, relics and coins, an area which has been well used by people for the last 100 years or more.
I have uploaded photos of what I found that day and evening, and also before and after photos after I have cleaned my finds, such as the Silver Ring above and below.
Mens Silver Ring - after Electrolsys Cleaning
The place when I went metal detecting, was Clarkson Reserve on the Maylands Foreshore.
When I was there, I met a curious lady who asked me what I was doing. Her name was Jenny Seaton, a media, radio and television personality who currently has her own program on Curtin FM a radio station broadcasting in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia.
Beautiful Art Deco Broach
So today she is going to interview me on the radio, so thats a bit exciting and a first for me.
I told Jenny I would post photos of the items I found that night for her listeners to look at.
I found some great items, especially the Ladies 18ct Gold and Diamond Ring, which I found in about 3 foot of water. And also the Mens Silver Wave Ring which was in about the same depth.
So here is what I found on the evening I met Jenny on the Swan.
If your interested in seeing what I have recently found, please go to my other website Metal Detecting Photos or just click on the links below.
Favourite Finds
- 18 CT Ladies Gold and Diamond Ring
- Mens Silver Wave Ring
- Gold Chain
- Silver Chain with Silver Love Heart Pendant
- Ladies Hair or Chest Broach
- Beautiful Silver Hair Broach – Found buried under Grass
- Beautiful Brass Art Deco Broach – Found under Paperbark Tree
- WW2 Anti Aircraft Bullet Shell Base Marking – FA 41 – Very Unusual Find on the Swan River
Other Finds
- 1945 Australian Penny
- 1945 Australian Penny
- Corroded Australian Penny (Date Unknown)
- Corroded Australian Penny (Date Unknown)
- 1927 Silver Three Pence
- 1910 Silver Three Pence
- 1953 Silver Three Pence
- 1956 Silver Three Pence
- Silver Six Pence – Date Unknown
- Around $20 in Australian Coins
- Heaps of Fishing Sinkers
- Very Old Toy Car – 1940’s
Have you lost your Ring or any Gold, Silver Item of Value?
If you have lost any Jewellery or Rings recently at any Perth Beaches, Swan River, Parks, Playgrounds or at your home in the garden, please get in quick and book me to hopefully find your Lost Jewellery
If I can’t help you, I’ll find someone who can, I have some good metal detecting contacts who have helped me in the past.
How much do I charge?
I charge nothing at all to search for your lost item, but my services is based on a reward only if found basis that is, if I find your lost ring, jewellery etc, then it is up to you what you’d like to give me as a reward.
A small fuel surcharge may be required depending on the distance I need to travel.
If I don’t find your lost item, then I don’t expect anything.
I do not hire out my metal detectors.
Hidden Treasures Under a House
Under House Metal Detecting Finds
Well not exactly hidden treasure, but I found some nice stuff yesterday at an old house which has no floorboards (eaten away by termites)
I spent around 6 hours detecting yesterday, I went for a long drive as I usually do and love to do, looking for places to go metal detecting and I went to a few old homesteads around the district.
The first one I went to was just basically a very old iron shack, I had no luck there, and did not hang around for long, because the ground was like concrete and impossible to get the shovel in, usually I carry a geologist pick ax, but I keep on forgetting to take with me, as I do with my metal detecting pouch, so at the end of the day my pockets are full of sand.
The Australian Iron Shack
After leaving the old iron shack, I headed East of town to a place where I have been previously hunting for old Australian bottles, feeling alot more confident and excited.
This old place had two old abandoned houses, the first place was very old for Australian standards, probably late 19th Century, it is a mud brick home, very weathered and very damaged by termites and the elements of weather.
The Australian Mud Brick House
Once again that old place had ground like concrete, so I did not really try much detecting, but around 200 metres away was the next old house…. this is the house which gave up some of its hidden treasures.
The house looked pretty good on the outside, but on the inside it was just ball walls, no floorboards due to termites, and as soon as I noticed it had no floorboards, thats when I started feeling a little excited, knowing that there was a good chance to find things that had either been buried under the floorboards, or to find things that may have fallen between the floorboards.
No Floorboards - Treasure Hunters Dream
Mystery Coin in the Sift
So I started detecting and it did not take long to get a strong signal, the soil was beautiful and soft so I had no trouble digging soil into my sift. What I found was a coin of some type which I had never found before, because it was bigger than all the previous Australian Pre-Decimal Coins I had found before, but there was no way I could identify it because it had a big shell of corrosion surrounding it.
I thought the coin would be well and truly damaged from the corrosion, that is only if it was a copper coin, but was it copper?
I leave that surprise to a post tomorrow, because I am still impatiently cleaning this unknown find… so please come back tomorrow and you’ll see my surprise find … (nothing special, but I have never seen one before)
The Mystery Coin Found Under Floorboards
The Mystery Coin above will be revealed on the site soon!
Anyhow, besides that item, this is what I found under the floorboards and around the house:
- 1912 Australian Half Penny
- 1922 Australian Half Penny
- 1925 Australian Half Penny
- 1939 Australian Six Pence
- 1942 Australian Three Pence
The Third House
I did find some other coins, six pence and three pence, but due to my carelessness, I had them in my top pocket and they must have fallen out when I was digging or bending over, but will find them on my return hopefully!
I found other stuff at the house as follows:
- Silver Tea Spoon
- 2 Silver Bangles / Bracelets
- Buttons
- Some Bottles and Jars
- Plenty of Junk!
Will be heading back to that place in the very near future!
Then finally on the way home, I past another old house, and thought, bugger it, I will test my luck there as well!
And I found some more coins.
- 1948 Australian Shilling
- 1950 Australian Shilling
- 1951 Australian Three Pence
- numerous 1 and 2 cent coins
The Last House for the Day!
Today’s Old Church Finds using my E-Trac Metal Detector
Todays E-Trac Metal Detecting Finds from a Churchyard
Click on the above image to see a bigger photo
I went shopping today at a town around 100 kilometres from my hometown and also went to visit my Mum who is currently residing at a nursing home.
On the way back, I decided that I would go and visit this old Church which located in the middle of nowhere, it is just a Church around 20 kilometres from my town.
I have been there before Metal Detecting, but I had no luck, also because there were a lot of mosquitos and I took my girlfriend and Mum at the time and they just did not want to hang around, so it was a bit of a rush job.
Anyhow, today I was by myself, so I had plenty of time, at least an hour or two before it got dark. So I detected in the same areas as before, and this time I had some great luck.
Using my Minelab E-Trac Metal Detector, I found 4 Silver Three Pence Coins, one of which I dropped and will have to go back at a later date to find again. Thats the most silver coins I have found in a day, so I am really happy about that.
I also found an Australian Penny, which looks to be damaged from the highly salinity affected soil (Soil Salinity is a major problem in Western Australia)
I also found a couple of 10 Cent Coins, which had been in the ground for quite a while, but finding modern day coins is nothing to show off about, unless you find a hidden stash of them.
And I also found the usual junk.
I am glad I went back to the church for another try, gives me some confidence to go back there again in the near future to try my luck again.
I know of plenty of other Churches around the district which are in the middle of nowhere, so I can’t wait to test my luck on them as well.
Finding the silver coins also gives me the opportunity to give them a clean using my Coin Cleaning Electrolysis Method
Metal Detecting Withdrawal Symptoms Fixed! Silver Ring Found!
Rusty Ring? No - It is Silver and Silver does not Rust! Before after Photos Coming Soon!
Over the last week I have not had any time to go out Metal Detecting, due to the Easter Holidays and spending time with my family, so yesterday it was time for me to go out bush to go and find some stuff before I went crazy as I was seriously having withdrawal symptoms!
Winter is not too far away and the days are getting shorter, so I left around 4pm with a couple of hours to spare until darkness, I decided that I would go out to my towns local Lake, Lake Dumbleyung and to some hunting for possible lost rings!
Anyhow I arrived there, covered myself in some insect repellant, because the flies are really bad out there and off I went.
A friend of mine Tony from Sydney Metal Detector Services gave me a few metal detecting tips for when searching in salt water and very mineralized conditions. I have a Minelab Etrac Metal Detector and I set the detector into the settings he gave me and off I went.
The section of the Lake I went to is the old Water Ski Club, at the moment the Lake is near on dry, but very muddy around 50 metres from the shoreline. I just basically detected around the ski boat ramp area and where people would swim when the Lake is full of water. I found the usual lot of pull tabs, and then a old silver coin, I think it is an Australian Six Pence, so obviously that coin had been sitting in the water for over 40 years.
Then I got my self I nice tone, and dug around, the soil was like brick hard clay, and after around 10 minutes of digging around, I found myself a ring!
I have attached the photos of the Ring, I think it is a Silver Ring, as you can see, the ring is very tarnished, which is to be expected with a Silver Ring laying in Salty conditions for a long period of time. And the same goes with the Silver Six Pence I found.
I also went for a bit of a walk on the salty flats, I was amazed to find a beautiful old glass coca cola bottle just laying half buried on the Lake, so I presume that bottle had been there for at least 25 to 30 years or more, it is obviously a bit weather worn, but other wise in excellent condition, no cracks no chips.
I love finding Old Bottles, that is another hobbie of mine. See my Old Bottle Collection
The Old Australian Glass Coca Cola Bottle I found on the Lake bed
As I mentioned above and you can see in the photos I have attached, both the Silver Ring and the Silver Six Pence are very tarnished, so much so, that you would not know they are silver.
So I have decided to do another Coin Cleaning and Silver Ring Cleaning experiment.
Currently I have both the coin and the ring, soaking in an ice cream container, which I covered the bottom with some foil, placed the ring and the coin on top of the foil, then put around 4 big table spoons of Bicarbonate Soda on top of the ring and the coin. Then I covered the ring and the coin in about 2 litres of boiling hot water.
I will let that soak for 24 hours, then I am going to clean them up in my Lortone Tumbler using some very fine tumbling grit and watch the tumbling very closely so I do not do any damage to the ring and especially the coin, which could be of value.
My Lortone Coin - Rock and Jewellery Tumblers
So I will keep you up to date and post some before and after cleaning photos of the Silver Coin and Silver Ring.
Anyhow, It was great to get out for a couple of hours yesterday, there is nothing better that going metal detecting, it always clears the mind and makes you feel great.
Tarnished Silver Sixpence - You can just see King Edward VII's head! Before - After Cleaning Pics coming soon!
Metal Detecting is good for your Physical and Mental Health!
If you suffer from any form of depression, mental health issues or just need some good decent exersise, why don’t you consider taking up metal detecting.
For me it has been one of the best hobbies I have ever taken up, it makes you feel great, especially when you start find old treasures of value or even stuff what is not worth anything.
You also have the ability to find alot of money, rings and jewellery like I do on a regular basis, especially down at the beach, in picnic areas, rivers and much more. If your lucky you may even find something worth a fortune, or some real buried treasure!
Today I felt a bit depressed and anxious, and I just needed to get out for a few hours to do some metal detecting, because I knew that it would make me feel better and take my mind off things, so I headed out bush for a couple of hours to breath some fresh air, hear some birds and to find some old coins.
I did not find much, just a 1945 Australian Copper Half Penny and a 1948 Australian Silver
1948 Silver Australian Six Pence
Six Pence, a couple bullets and some brass belt buckles.
Found plenty of other junk, melted lead, pull tabs, but nothing worth of value.
But I alway love finding old coins, more coins to add to my growing collection.
No Gold or Rings today!
Here are some photos, sorry the quality is not the best!
1945 Australian Half Penny
Old Bullets and Shotgun Cartridge Remants
Old Belt Buckles
Cleaning Silver Coins and Silver Ring – Before and After Photos
.925 Stamped Sterling Silver Ring - Before and After Cleaning
If your a reader of this blog, the other day I wrote a post on finding some Coins and a Silver Ring in a Western Australian Lake (Lake Dumbleyung) which has extreme salinty, so salty that it is more saltier than the Dead Sea.
The coins were totally encrusted with mud, salt, tiny stones, shells and grit, so much so that it was basically like concrete. The Silver Ring was not so bad, but was badly tarnished, basically it was totally black from being in the salty water and black mud for many years.
So I put myself to task to attempt to clean the coins and the ring.
I knew that if the coins were also silver then they would be basically still okay, but if the coins were copper Australian Pennys then they would be basically beyond repair.
I tried a few cleaning techniques, the first cleaning method I used was soaking the coins in Distilled water for a couple of days, but I lost my patience with that as I knew it would just take too long, so then I used the good old Electrolysis Coin Cleaning method and that worked a treat.
When I originally found the coins in the Lake, I didn’t have a clue about what type of coins they were. All up there was around 10 coins I found.
The electrolysis helped me identify what the coins were as follows:
1 x $2 coin
1 x $1 coin
1 x 20 cent coin
3 x Australian Copper Pennys
3 x Silver Shillings and
1 x Silver Sixpence
As predicted apart from the Silver Coins, the other non silver coins were basically ruined from corrosion. The Australian pennys were basically paper thin, eaten away by corrosion and other chemical reactions and only one of the pennys was just barely identifiable as you can see in the photo below … the Queens head!
But amazingly the Silver Shillings and the Silver Sixpence came out in excellent condition, and what strikes me as being so amazing is that the four silver coins I found, had been buried in the black salty mud for at least 50 YEARS! Yes there was some mild deterioration of the silver, but nothing like the other coins.
Once I could make out the dates of the coins, I went to a good Australian Coin Values website to see if I had hit the lucky jackpot and found myself a coin of value, but unfortunately there only worth a few bucks at most.
After I finished with the Electrolysis cleaning, I cleaned up the Silver Coins with some Goddards Silver Cleaning Cream and a soft cloth , and they came out pretty good, as did the Silver Ring I found also which is stamped .925, which means it is Sterling Silver 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper.
Here are the before and after pics. Click on the photos to get a better view.
Australian Silver Shillings - Cleaning Before and After
Australian Silver Sixpence - Before and After Cleaning
Australian Copper Pennys - Before and After Cleaning
Coins & Silver Ring Found in Salt Laden Mud
I went back out to the local Lake yesterday with the aim of possibly finding another Ring or two. This time I carried out a proper Metal Detecting grid search of a small area where there was likely a lot of human activity when the Lake had water in it, water skiing, swimming, sunbathing etc
The area I searched was not the same area where I did a quick 15 minute search and found the Lost Gold Wedding Ring five days ago, so I decided I would try my luck in a different area, and come back to the “Gold Ring Area” another time.
I came a bit more prepared this time, I brought with me some insect repellent, to stave off the annoying flys that bite, it only helped a little, and these flys are the worse I have encounted, they would even bite through my BeautUtes.com Chesty Bonds Singlet, they must have mosquito like fangs! I ended up rubbing insect repellent all over my singlet and decided next time I will come even more prepared … with a long sleeve shirt!
Anyhow I knew I would find myself some coins, obviously lost out of swimmers pockets, I also knew that the coins I would find would be severely covered in corrosion from the salty environment the coins had been laying in for anywhere up from 5 years to up to 50 years or more.
So I ended up finding around 10 coins, and I have not got a clue what the coins exactly are, such as Pre-Decimal Australian Coins (Pennys, Shillings, Six Pence ) (Prior 1965) or Post-Decimal Australian Coins (5, 10, 20, 50 Cent Coins) (Post 1966) because as you can see in the photos below the coins a surrounded by a shell of corrosion, and no doubt are damaged beyond repair.
I was also happy when I found a nice Silver Ring, possibly another Lost male or female wedding ring, not really that sure, but nethertheless another nice ring to add to my collection of Western Australian lost and found rings to write about on this Metal Detecting Blog!
So after finding this stuff with my metal detector I have decided to do some experimental “Coin Cleaning, and I found this great coin cleaning link and I currently have the coins soaking in Distilled Water as per instructions below:
Distilled Water Coin Cleaning
Technique:
One of the gentlest methods of cleaning coins is using distilled water (DW) soaks. This requires that you soak the coin for 24 hours remove the coin and gently scrub the coin with a soft toothbrush. Change the water and then repeat until the coin is clean.Theory:
Distilled water contains almost no dissolved minerals. When you put a coin in DW the minerals on the coin transfer to the water until the DW is saturated with minerals.
Good Candidates
See other Coin Cleaning Methods
It will be interesting to see what the results are, I will keep you all updated on this.
As I say, it is highly likely that none of the coins will be unidentifiable due to the corrosion.
The 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins are made of cupro-nickel (75 per cent copper and 25 per cent nickel). The one and two dollar coins are made of aluminium bronze (92 per cent copper, 6 per cent aluminium and 2 per cent nickel). These coins will corrode slowly in a salt laden environment such as the lake I found them in or in the Ocean.
The Australian Pre-Decimal Penny and Half-Penny is made out of copper and will corrode very quickly in salty enviroments.
The Australian Six Pence, Three Pence, and Shilling are made out of pure silver.
A commonly asked question: Does Silver rust?
Silver will react to salty soil and water and can suffer from sulphide related tarnish. 80% of the lost silver rings I have recovered from the ocean have suffered from tarnish, but a bit of silvo or silver polish will bring the ring back to it’s former glory.
I once found two Australian Silver Six Pence coins in the ocean, those coins were in a shell of rust, and when I cracked open the shell, inside the silver coins were like brand knew.
Read more on Australias’ Salinity Crisis
Stay tuned for before and after photos of the coins and the silver ring!
Here are the photos of the coins and the ring I found yesterday
Billy - Toto - Ginger - Metal Detecting at Lake Dumbleyung Western Australia
Coin suffering from Corrosion - Australian Pre-Decimal Penny?
Australian Coin with major Corrosion
The Silver Ring Found in Salt Lake - Major Tarnish - Nil Corrosion
Australian Silver Sixpence
I found 1 of these Australian Silver Sixpence coins at Scarborough Beach (1961) and the other one with my Shermanator Sifter … I was pretty impressed to find the Six Pence at the Beach, it was practically enclosed in a shell of corrosion, until I pick away at it and revealled a nice shiny old coin.
The 1923 Silver Sixpence is worth a bit of money… according to the Australian Coin Catalogue
Silver Australian Six Pence
G’day from Western Australia
Hi there,
My name is Billy and I am a full time Metal Detectorist, whether it be on Dry Land, Beach, or Under Water.
I have decided to start this website so I can catalogue all of my finds on the internet for myself, friends, and visitors to see what I find on my adventures through out parts of Western Australia on my Treasure Hunting trips.
I am not exactly a professional Treasure Hunter, I am just an amateur detectorist, and in my opinion the defination of Treasure is basically anything worth money, something shiny, old, it can be a 1 cent coin or an old silver six pence coin, a beautiful diamond encrusted ring, gold, silver trinkets, ear rings, number plates, anything really that I can admire.
At the moment I use two types of Metal Detectors.
The first one is the Minelab E-Trac
E-Trac is Minelab’s most technologically advanced detector, incorporating unique Full Band Spectrum (FBS) Technology. Its sleek, sturdy design, innovative control panel, intuitive menus, clear LCD, robust lightweight coil and comprehensive targeting options set E-Trac apart from any other detector available today. More info here
The second is a Minelab Excallibur ll
Minelab’s unique BBS 17 Frequency and Ground Rejecting Technology makes the Excalibur II the ideal machine. This amphibious detector can move from land, beach, wet sand conditions to underwater depths up to 200ft (66m) seamlessly. More Info here
I have a lot of luck with both detectors, finding Gold and Silver Rings and plenty of old Coins on nearly all occasions I have used them.
Billy - Beach Detecting - Minelab Excallibur ll Underwater Detector
Bottle Dump Sifting - Coins - Jewellery - Old Bottles
Here are some coins I found from just one days beach detecting
One Days Beach Hunting!
Well, thats me and this is what this website is all about, enjoy your stay and please keep visiting, and you’ll see what Lost treasure I find!
Cheers
Billy
