July Wrapped Up: Gold, Hammered Silver, and Holiday Metal Detecting
What an absolute whirlwind of a month it has been. July has been an incredible time for detecting, but this final week completely blew the doors off. I am still pinching myself over what came out of the ground.
Not only am I sharing the best finds of the week, but one specific recovery easily took the crown for my official Find of the Month for July. The dry soil conditions made us work hard for every single target, but pushing through those scratchy signals paid off in a massive way.
Holiday Metal Detecting & Equipment Used
For my holiday detecting sessions this month, I really wanted a gear setup that could handle the tough conditions while giving me maximum depth and separation. Here is the exact equipment I used to secure these amazing finds:
- Metal Detector: Minelab Manticore
- Coils: A mixture of the M15 (15-inch) coil, but I used the M9 (9-inch) coil for most of the time to navigate the terrain.
- Pinpointer: Garrett AT Pro Pointer
- Land Digging Tool: CKG Root Slayer
- Beach Digging Tool: EmiteR 200x scoop
- CMD FINDS BAG and Field Cleaning kit.
Tuning the Manticore for Dry Soil
The Manticore performed absolutely awesomely, but to counter that bone-dry soil, I made a few key tweaks to open the machine up to its full capacity:
- Sensitivity: Upped it a little higher than normal, running it right at 28.
- Horese shoe: Switched it into All Metal Mode.
- Iron Bias: Turned the iron bias volume down to ensure I wasn't missing masked targets.
A Quick Trip to Newport Beach
During the holiday, I also managed a trip down to Newport Beach in West Wales. While those specific finds aren't featured in the images today, the EmiteR 200x scoop got a great workout, and I managed to pocket a handful of modern coins!
Back on the land, those Manticore tweaks proved absolutely lethal. Here are the key highlights from an unforgettable week!
Find of the Month: Gold Georgian Fob Seal Top
I still cannot believe my luck with this one. First, let’s talk about the signal. In the bone-dry soil, it gave a highly questionable, scratchy response in the mid-20s. It didn't scream "dig me," but experience told me to find out what was down there.
Once it was out of the dry dirt, the target absolutely came to life. It turned out to be an incredible gold top of a Georgian fob seal! The design is breathtakingly intricate and absolutely beautiful. To find something with this level of craftsmanship intact is a dream come true.
Want to see the exact moment this gold beauty saw the light of day for the first time in centuries?
👉 [Watch the Gold Fob Seal Recovery Video Here]
Live Stream Special: Charles I Silver Sixpence
The excitement didn’t stop with gold. During a recent live stream, I hit another scratchy signal—this time landing in the 50s. Because the soil was so dry, the machine was struggling a bit, but we dug it anyway.
Out popped a beautiful Charles I silver hammered sixpence after some serious slogging, the coin was definitely over 13 inches deep which is phenomenal considering the dry soil conditions! It is clipped along the edges, which was a very common practice back in the 17th century, but the remaining detail on this silver coin is just spectacular. Doing this live with so many of you watching made the buzz ten times better!
Catch the live reaction and the scratchy 50s signal in action:
👉 [Watch the Charles I Live Stream Highlight Video Here]
Weekly Highlights: Queen Victoria & International Silver
To top off an already legendary week, the fields gave up a couple more brilliant silver targets:
- Queen Victoria Silver Sixpence: A classic British silver coin that is always a welcome sight in the finds pouch.
- Late 1880s International Silver: An incredibly interesting foreign silver piece from the late 1880s that adds a brilliant bit of mystery to the permission.
Amongst plenty of other finds, these pieces made this one of the best detecting weeks I've had in a very long time. July, you were absolute magic.
What Do You Think?
Would you have dug that scratchy mid-20s signal in the dry dirt? Which of these pieces would you be most thrilled to pull out of the ground? Let me know in the comments below!
Follow the Action Live on TikTok!
If you want to catch these saves as they happen, come and join the community live on the fields! You can follow my live hunts, see instant reactions to history coming out of the dirt, and chat with me while I detect.
👉 [Give me a follow on TikTok here!]
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Happy hunting!