Great Detecting Finds

This is one of the most gratifying pages to be able to have on mywebsite. It is a showcase of the things that Big Valley and its customers have found. Some of these have great stories behind them, whereas others are merely quiet tributes to the tenacity and the dedication of time and energy the true detectorist possesses. This will always be a work in progress, with pictures frequently posted before text.

And to start it off, a testimonial from one of my clients. If I would have sat down to fake a testimonial, I think I would have liked to make it sound like this, but Henry Bvmd from Davis took care of it for me. You'll find most people's last name on this page to be Bvmd, as they are all considered part of my Big Valley Metal Detectors family.

 

By the way, for me, an email like this one from one of my customers is a great find!

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Success ....

"Larry,
 
I just wanted to share with you some of the finds that I made recently using the Fisher F2 detector that I purchased from you.  I was hunting my buddy’s front yard in the Midtown part of Sacramento.  His house was built in 1892.  My friend bought it from the original owners family.  The property had been altered very little over the years so I knew it would be a good place to look.  Unfortunately I did not have a detector two years ago when my friend raised the house and poured a foundation and slab, otherwise I might have found much more.  In any case, I hit the jackpot in his front yard a couple of weeks ago. 
 
My first good find was a Shield nickel from the 1880’s.  It was pretty crusty so we didn’t know what we had found at first.  I made the mistake of cleaning it by electrolysis which got rid of a bunch of the junk but also caused enough pitting that we cannot read the last digit of the date.  If it is an 1880 (as my buddy wants to think) it would be pretty valuable.  If it is an 1882 (as I think) it is not worth much.  In either case, it is just a cool find.   The next day I started looking again in the same place, only a few feet from the sidewalk.  I picked up a nice dime tone through my headphones although I could not consistently locate the target with each sweep.  After a few minutes of digging and poking around I located the target with my pinpointer.  It was an 1891 seated liberty dime in beautiful condition.  Over the next two or three hours I found three more seated liberty dimes: another 1891 in great shape, an 1872 that is very worn with a hole in it as though it was once worn on a chain, and an 1874 in fair condition.  The 1874 has arrows on either side of the date making it a somewhat rare coin. 

I also dug some sort of heavy button that feels like it is made of lead.  It has either a “5” or an “S” raised on the surface.  I’m not sure what it is.  I found a beautiful old brass faucet about 10” deep in the back yard.  That was a satisfying recovery because I was picking up two different tones on the detector (there was a rusted iron washer on the faucet), and I had to dig so deep to locate it.  What a great hobby this is.  As you said “the targets are limitless”.  I am realizing how true that is as I constantly notice new places to check out.  Thanks again for your great service.  I’ll be back when it is time to upgrade.
 
Sincerely,
Henry Bvmd
 
Ps.  You can use the photos and testimonial on your website if you like.

****************************************************************

 

There's gold in them there hills!!!

 

Dave Bvmd pulled these beauties oout of his pocket on a recent visit.

 

 

 

****************************************************************

 

WOW!!

 

With a little dedication, this is what can be found in just 1 season!

 

 

 

****************************************************************

English Dave ....

Got these coins from one of my correspondents.

"English Dave" contacted me a few times over the past year. He was a novice in Great Britain, and graciously sent these coins he found along for me to post on my (well, your, really) "Gr8 Finds" page.

 

 

****************************************************************

 

Larry's nuggets (customer Larry, not me!)

 

One of the nicest things about this business is the things I get to see. Some of my customers are very thoughtful, and bring by their treasures for me to enjoy. As you can see, a lifetime of dedication to the hobby can be very rewarding!

 

 

****************************************************************

Helping preserve our natural resources...

In February 2008 I was contacted by the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. They were interested in a machine that could detect medium sized iron objects. I asked them a few questions and found out they were looking for temperature probes. They've been working to restore the Koho salmon population in this area, and it was important to recover the data on the temperature fluctuations from this particular watershed.
I made an appointment for them to come by and bring a sample of the intended target.
After seeing the object, and finding out that the probes had actually been in a stream for a year, I decided that White's Surf PI Pro would really be best suited for the job. Normally, I only rent out jewelry/coin recovery type 'land' detectors. However, I could see that they had no hope for success using that type of machine. Since I thought that recovering this data is important to us all, I figured I would sacrifice the PI Pro (because I'll now have to sell it as used).
So I put the machine together, and gave them a lesson on the machine when they came to pick it up. Whether you rent or buy from me, I'll always give you instruction on the machine. Sometimes, however, that is not enough. And sometimes, you have only 1 chance to get what you're after. Here's where my 9-9, 7 days a week availability came in handy for them, as they ran into some unforeseen conditions. They called me on 2 different occasions right from the stream, and after the second call they retrieved the most important of the probes from the headwaters of the tributary.

****************************************************************

 

Fisher F2 finds...

' Hello Larry.

I thought I would send you some finds that I have made with my Fisher F2 that I purchased from you a few month back. I have had a great time with this machine finding 328 clad coins and a couple that are a little more unique, to me anyways. Starting from the top right to left 1919 wheat penny, 1946 wheat penny, 1952 wheat penny, 1958 wheat penny, 1960 Canada penny. The bottom right to left is a 1945 Merc dime, 1953 Roosevelt dime, 1936 Buffalo nickel. And the bottom is my first ring that I have found so far; it is a 925 silver ring with a stone that I don't know what it is. I love this new hobby and can't wait until I master this detector so that I can grow into a better one. Thanks for the help into this hobby, Larry.

Jeff.'

 

 

****************************************************************

Fisher F2 TOO??

 

 

'Don't let anyone tell you that the Fisher F2 won't find gold it will. A lot of this was found with my Minelab but my wife found a couple with my Fisher F2 good stuff.  Jeff.'

 

 

 

****************************************************************

 

Folsom Lake silver...

'Nice talking with you the other day!

I found these coins on February 6th, 2008 near the low-water line of Folsom Lake. These finds occurred near the end of my 4-hour outing. I had picked up a few clad coins earlier, along with many fishing lures and weights, but no keepers! The 1960 penny was dug first, followed by the 1944 "wheatie". At that point, I knew there was a chance for silver in the area. The next signal was a foot away and it was a solid signal that never wavered from the 88-92 range on my DFX. I was hoping for a silver quarter, but was thrilled to find a 1943D Walking Liberty Half Dollar! Boy was I excited. It was my first silver half dollar. Two more signals turned up 1946 and 1959 nickels. There were no other coins around these 5 coins, so I speculate they were dropped by a swimmer or fisherman sometime in the early 1960s. All coins were found in a straight line perpendicular to the waterline over a distance of about 8 feet. The depth was between 6 and 8 inches. I went back two days later for an additional 4 hours. My hopes were high, but the day wound up like most others - a bag full of mostly trash. That's OK though. I've finally found my first "Folsom Silver".
Take care, Branton.'

****************************************************************

Tom's diamonds...

Tom is one of those customers who take full advantage of my services to become successful. After he had used his detector for a while without finding any serious gold, which is what he was targeting, he called me. I gave him some advice on a few changes, and he sent me this note, along with the picture, within a few days of that conversation.

Hi Larry,
 
Hope you are enjoying your time off.  I went out on Mon the 24th and guess what I found?  You are right,  I found my first diamond ring.  It registered 16-18.  I thought I would give it a shot.  It was about 1 1/2 " in Senior Court at my old high school right behind a little bench.  The band is 14k.  Not sure about the diamonds.  I am going to check with the school to see if anyone lost a ring.  Here is a picture of the ring.  Talk to you soon.  By the way, I got the coil on Sat.  Thanks a bunch. 
 
Tom

****************************************************************

 

Two silvers and an old Indian...

 

In October of 2007 I had gotten permission to hunt an old house I had had my eye on for a while. I selected my Minelab Explorer SE to take down there, and, as you can see from these silver dimes and Indianhead penny I found, it did not disappoint!

 

****************************************************************

Newbie M6 training...

I took out one of my customers who had purchased a White's M6 from me for field training. We had an excellent session, and this is what he came away with from that trip.

 

 

****************************************************************

Lion ring...

 

This ring is one of my earlier finds. I dug it at about 8" with the Explorer II. I tried to find out something about it, and finally ended up posting it to a forum. There I was told that the marks on the back of the ring were very old ones from Britain!

 

 

****************************************************************

Aussie penny...

 

This Australian penny from 1927 I found along with this white gold ring when I was out water detecting with the Excalibur from Minelab. I was surprised to find such an old coin in the water so far away from where it came from, and it was one of the more exciting finds I made that week.

 

 

****************************************************************

Always a good find...

 

Larry's kebobs are famous around the world!!!!

 

 

****************************************************************