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When 2003 came to an end I looked back at all the finds of that year and was very satisfied.
This was my first full year with my White's XLT. I purchased my first metal detector in late
Fall of 2002 after my wife urged me to get out from behind my computer and get some sun. After
reading the manual a few times I got out and gave it a try. I live in So. CA so I can hunt
mostly year round. Southern California's modern history only goes back about 120 years so I
knew the real old coins and relics were out of reach. Also, most everything old has been torn
down or paved over. So, I concentrated on clad and jewelry at parks, schools and beaches. My
first silver coin was a 1913 Barber dime in very poor shape. But, at least it was old and
silver.
With such a large population, schools and parks are everywhere. I borrowed my wife's heavy map book of Los Angeles and Orange Counties and got busy. I tried to get out at least once or twice a week, on weekends only, and it paid off well, for a newbe. I still have a hard time believing what people will lose. Around the beginning of summer I felt pretty confident with my machine and decided to fiddle with the adjustments on the standard COIN/JEWELRY program. That is when I discovered TONE ID and VCO. I don't know why more fuss isn't made about them. With TONE ID on, every coin denomination has a different tone. I am sure some engineer at White's has a sense of humor, because the larger the piece of silver the higher and sweeter is the tone's pitch, but when you pass your coil over foil junk you get the "raspberry." I also found out that VCO really helps with pinpointing. Just pull back on the trigger and lock onto your target. Move the coil in an X pattern and when the pitch is at it's highest you are centered on your target. Then just check your depth on the screen and dig. I can now decide to dig, or not to dig, faster. That gives me more actual hunting time and that gives me more finds. (My Bullseye probe is another story, I never leave home without it. My battery died once and I just went home. No use hunting if I have to spend five minutes in each hole looking for camaflouged coins.) Here is my count for my first full year with an XLT. My clad coin count 3099 coins: 6 - dollar coins 3 - halves 356 - quarters 606 - dimes 186 - nickels 1942 - pennies 10 pieces of gold jewelry 26 of silver jewelry dozens of junk jewelry, some of which is pretty nice. Thank You, Dan |
XLT turns up Colonial shoe buckle!
  Dear White's, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm only 38 years old but have 2 herniated disks in my lower back. I was given the detector to help me get out more. Today I'm doing active things with my children that were considered impossible 2 years ago. I truly believe this hobby has saved my life. Sorry the message is so long but this is only part of what I'd like to tell you. White's has made my life magical!!! This was my first year detecting. I got my detector, a White's XLT, in April and only detected local parks until July 23rd, when I moved into a 230 year old house. Then the cool finds started happening. In the summer I got my first silver dollar hit with the detector. I was all excited and dug but instead of getting a silver dollar I found something much better, a Silver Colonial shoe buckle. Here is what I know about the buckle at this time. "Dear John, In reference to your colonial shoe buckle. It was made by Christopher Hughes, Baltimore Md. ca. 1771, partnered with John Corman in 1774, Married a Peggy Sanderson in 1779, and if you can find it, he had a portrait of himself painted by a Charles Wilson Peale, you can see the face of the guy who made your buckle. Nice Find. He was a pretty important guy and I found a single spoon made by him going at almost $1,200 bucks, a buckle would more than likely fetch much more. I also received a message from a Pennsylvania museum curator that stated "Your shoe buckle is a significant historic find....." John, PA |
Surfmaster grabs 1852 gold dollar!
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  Dear White's, Last year I bought a Surfmaster underwater metal detector. The first day out I went to my local beach and found 3 necklaces, 5 goldrings, 8 silver rings and lots of coins. One of the necklaces had 3 gold rings on it. I was now hooked on water detecting. This year was very profitable for me as well. While detecting at my favorite campground I was able to go out farther than usual because they had dropped the lake water level by about 10 feet. This meant all new search area. I was almost finished for the day when I got a choppy signal so I figured I had another chain. But when I passed over it from the other direction it was an even stronger signal. It took me 3 scoops but I got it. It was a chain alright, but at the end of that chain was the prettiest sight I ever saw. It was a 1$ United States gold piece dated 1852! I hope you like the enclosed pictures. Thanks again for your great service and White's for their great detectors. June M. |
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood...White's detectorists!
Submitted By:
 Christmas 2003 brought in two famous faces into our retail store Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. It seems they were bitten by the treasure hunting bug when they found two old coins while excavating for a pond on their property just outside Tulsa. They are now the proud owners of 3 MXT's. We will keep you posted on their finds. Randy Smith Treasure Electronics Tulsa , Okla |
IDX Pro finds nephew's class ring!
 Dear White's: My name is Steve C. and I am writing to you because my new IDX PRO did such a great job. On the second time out with my new detector I found my nephew's class ring he lost 16 years ago. My nephew was swimming in water about four feet deep and the ring slipped off. Recently the lake was partially drained to work on a dam. This luckily exposed the general area he thought the ring would be located. Nobody in my family thought there was a chance I could recover the ring because of the wide area to be searched in the deep mud. After an hour and a half of searching in ankle deep mud I heard a strong signal and dug down about four inches. I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted the ring in the hole. Everyone was amazed how lucky I was but I think with the IDX PRO you only need a little luck. I just had to share this story with you. Sincerely, Steve C. |