Butler County Treasure Hunters
The first organizational meeting was held 2/14/1976
BCTH NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2008
Meetings: 7:00 PM (3rd Thursday every month March thru December)
All meetings are held at:
The Family Bowl-Away, 540 Fairground Road, Butler PA.
We always welcome guests.
Club information may be obtained via the club’s website at: http://butlertreasurehunters.net/
UNBELIEVEABLE !! The August meeting was certainly one to remember for a long time. For me, it was a special pleasure and honor to meet the founder of our club, Walter McKruit. He along with Dale Shook, another of the original Charter Members, were present and shared many remembrances of the clubs beginnings back in 1976. Walter brought a nice display of unique finds he has made over the years, including a Union Civil War Belt Buckle. All in attendance were captured by our founders all too brief stories about the history of our club. Walter expressed to me much joy and said it was truly unbelievable to him that something he and his family had started 32 years ago, is still going strong today. He had no idea the club still existed until Dale, found our website and told him about it. Great news, both are coming back to our September meeting and are going to share a presentation on our clubs beginnings complete with displays of finds, hopefully pictures and I am sure some inspiring stories of our clubs beginnings and rich history. The September meeting is one, Not to miss. I am sure , it will be another unbelievable evening.
Thanks so much to Ron Smith for his great presentation on searching deeds and finding property owners. Ron shared many great ideas and tips which can benefit all of us when seeking permission to hunt a property. Questions were many with Ron giving very precise and easily understandable answers. Ron also offered to help any member with their searches, a truly generous offer. Ron is our newest member and we all Thank him very much for joining and all the help and expertise he brings to our club.
August once again had an abundance of great finds exhibited at our monthly meeting. Shown were an array of finds from Large cents, much silver coinage including several Barber Quarters, Gold jewelry aplenty and even a Civil War hat pin. Every month our Show & Tell goes a long way to let each of us know, there are still great finds to be made. Putting in the time seems to be the key ingredient in having most of the success our members enjoy. Of course, finding productive places helps and oh yes, a bit of luck is helpful too. Our two returning Charter members, Walter McKruit and Dale Shook volunteered to do the judging and a fine job they did. I thought, how many clubs can say after 30 plus years of existence, two founding members came back and then did the judging of today’s finds? A rare event indeed, maybe even a first. Thanks so much Walter and Dale.
.. Our fall hunt is scheduled for September 27, so keep that date in mind. It is sure to be another memorable time. Please keep in mind that donations are always more than welcome and will go a long way to help make this years hunt, a great one. Well, till next month, good health to all. Lets keep in our minds those members that have had health problems in recent times as well as some who have had ailing family members. A few to be mentioned are Steve Dodin, Henry Thiel, and also the spouses of Paul Kramer and Richard Aretz. May we also keep them in our prayers as well.
THOUGHT
The secret of: Best Wishes and God Bless
Contentment is not getting what we want, Jack Barrett
But being satisfied with what we have.
August Meeting Minutes
OPENING
Jack Barrett called the meeting to order at 7:15, followed by the pledge to the flag and a moment of silence for the troops.
GREETING
35 members--2 Charter Members: Dale Shook & Walter McKruit
All of our thoughts & prayers go out to Richard Artez's wife, Paul Kramer's wife & Henry Theil.
MINUTES
Jim Hindman read July's minutes. Motion to accept was made by Gary Waddell, seconded by Andy Boro.
STRIP TICKET WINNER
#113 Don Wagoner $100
HUNTS
The brown bag hunt was on Saturday, August 23rd at Paradise Park in Cowansville. Even though it was dry, everyone found coins, but no silver.
Club Fall Hunt--Sept 27, 2008. Tentative site is Paradise Park in Cowansville. More information will follow at the meeting the week before the hunt
TREASURER’S REPORT
Greg was unable to make the meeting, but gave Jack a balance as of August 21, 2008 of $799.27.
Harry Neimeyer-$17.26 Newsletter Expenses.
FMDAC NEWS
The fall expo will be held in Wildwood New Jersey. Terry had raffle tickets for silver prizes. They'll be drawn on October 12, 2008.
GUEST SPEAKER
Ron Smith spoke on searching property deeds. If you know the county, the township and parcel number for a few dollars, you can purchase a map. Tax maps also offer excellent information on previous owners over the years. Ron also said that people who work in tax offices are there to help you look for information, but not to give you information.
Thanks for all the great info Ron!
RAFFLE TICKETS
$52 donated for the 50/50--winner Ted Listik.
Thanks to Kathy Bollinger for selling the tickets.
Vic's Silver drawing-1889O-$42 donated to the fall hunt-winner--Joe Novastat.
Attendance winner-Joe Guerre
DISPLAYS
11 displays
BEST DISPLAY-Terry Taylor- gold rings, more gold rings, gold bracelet & many other items.
BEST COIN-Clair Klingensmith-1936 Silver Half.
BEST JEWELRY- Joe Novastat-14kt gold ring with diamonds.
BEST ARTIFACT- Joe Guerre-civil war cap insignia.
OLDEST COIN- Red Craft-1845 large cent
MOST SILVER- Perry Smyda- 6 silver coins
CONSOLATION WINNER- Larry Leathers
Judges: Our two Charter Members; Dale Shook & Walter McKruit.
MOTION TO ADJOURN
Bob Brown made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 P.M., seconded by Red Craft.
Editor
Can iron be rejected and gold nuggets still be found?
Generally speaking, the best way to hunt for gold nuggets is to hunt in the All Metal mode. Nuggets, depending on their size, shape, purity, and orientation in the ground, will all create different signals. If you hunt in the Discriminate mode, some nuggets may be lost. The best way to get rid of iron is to search in the All Metal mode and then check the targets in the Discriminate mode. This allows you to search and find all of the possible gold nuggets. Checking the targets with the Discriminate mode turned up just high enough to knock out the small iron will give you much more information before you decide to dig. Practice this by doing air tests to see the best setting for your particular detector.
My detector still finds large iron targets, even with the Discriminate set high. Is this normal?
Most detectors can be fooled by some iron targets. There are two different ways that the machine can be fooled.
Circular iron can fool a detector because of its shape. Any iron, such as a ring or washer or even bent nails, are hard for the machine to identify accurately. As the iron starts under the coil, it gives the same type of signal as a coin. When the target is directly under the coil, it reads as iron, then reads as a coin as the coil sweeps over it. In most cases, the detector may give a signal, but it will be a broken or chirpy signal. With a little practice, the broken signals will start to stand out from good repeatable signals.
Large rusty iron can also give off signals no matter where the discrimination is set. When iron or any ferrous target is in the ground long enough, it starts to rust and break down. This causes a large halo of super mineralized dirt around the target. The halo is different enough from the surrounding ground matrix that the detector picks up a signal. The strength of the signal is so large that it momentarily overdrives the detector and it beeps. Signals of this nature usually seem bigger than the size of the coil.
The best thing to do when getting either a broken signal or a very large signal is to dig the target. Most of the time, it will probably be junk, but every now and then, you will be happily surprised by a very unique target.
"Courtesy of Tesoro Electronics"
FMDAC NEWS
2008 FMDAC Fall Convention & Treasure Expo.
October 10th, 11th and 12th, 2008
Mid-Atlantic East Coast Chapter Open Hunt
October 25th, 2008
BCTH Annual Fall Hunt
September 27th 2008
Site to be confirmed at the September meeting
Water Hunting Season
Yes the water hunting season is just about over. It has not been a banner year for those of us that seem to live for only that part of our hobby.
I know of some who went on a long 1200 mile trip and came home with only a few trinkets. There were those who made many-many trips to several lakes in Western Pa and came home empty-handed.
Yes some of us got a few gold & silver trinkets, but not like years past.
My wife and I with another couple went on a four day hunt to several lakes and came home with only a few clad coins. Three of us went on our annual Labor Day excursion and came home with less than $10.00 in clads between all of us.
The weather has been damp and cool this summer, the adults have not been in the water but to get wet and than lay on the beach. So I guess it is time to break down the water detectors, clean them up and remove the batteries until next year.
Yes you read it correctly ‘wait till next year” It will be here soon enough.
Harry Niemeyer
73 McGovern Blvd
Crescent, PA
15046