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How to find hammered coins
In this short metal detecting article, I would like to go through just a few key points aimed at helping you and your XP find hammered coins.
Frequencies
Back then when I started detecting most machines were running between 4 and 7 kilohertz, in today’s terms those low frequencies were not the best choices.
Now with today’s modern machines we can go much higher on the frequency, and I would suggest 14 kilohertz and above will be your optimum range.
Recovery Speed (Reactivity)
Once you have the correct frequency, it is just as important to have a machine with a fast recovery speed, we will cover this a little later in the article.
Technique and discipline
You need to match your sweep speed with the machine and the terrain you are searching.
You would think, keeping the coil close to the ground goes without speaking, but this is a delicate art and needs a lot of practice.
Meet the ground with a steady, confident sweep speed which matches the terrain and indeed the machine.
Location and terrain
location is really important sure you can find hammered coins just about anywhere but they are probably casual losses, if you want to maximize your chances you need to be where the ancients lived and worked.
Try and talk to locals and see if you can get some inside information.
You really need to be looking for little hamlets close to a water source, deserted medieval villages are not always recorded so you need to use your detectorists nose, ask yourself, would I like to live here, is the soil easy to work, does it have good drainage, is it out of the wind.
It is always a good idea to do some field walking, look out for pot – tile – clay pipe stems and oyster shells.
Find that Iron!
Here is a video showing how important Iron is to successful metal detecting.
You need to find the iron… find the iron you’ve found habitation.
This is where your faster recovery speed and high frequency is going to unlock the fields true potential, concentrate on sweep and technique and you are well on the way to mastering your craft.
By Paul Bancroft
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