I DIG IT NEWS AUSTIN METAL DETECTING CLUB (Since 1963) 5007 Timothy Circle Austin, TX 78734 Membership: $20.00 * * * February 2010 Note March meeting moved to March 18th Meeting Information: D Place - Woodlawn Baptist Church 4600 Manchaca Date February 11 th 2010 2 nd Thursday of each month Time - 7:00 pm Room M 103/104 Officers: President Susie Mireles 989-1134 Vice President Jim Lawhon 259-1036 Treasurer Scott Hegel 331-1131 Secretary/Newsletter Blaine Nelson 266-7058 punkin4048@aol.com Executive Committee: Betty Vickers, Art Tiemann 272-8902 Richard Wright, John Chapman, Lee Presley, Leon and Mary Prause, Cecil Herrin President s Corner: Happy February! I can t believe it s already time to finish up plans for the Annual TCTC Treasure Show in Longview. Our booth should be great again with the new back drop and the displays from you! We are always proud to be able to display our member s finds at our booth. We will have a fund raiser again this year and you can get a head start by purchasing tickets at the February general meeting. If you haven t already made plans to join us in Longview, please give it some thought. We always have a great time and would love to have you join us. If you can t be there, consider bringing a display to this week s meeting so you will be represented! Happy Hunting! Susie Mireles Club Dues - 2010 dues are due! Please bring your dues money to the meeting this month or mail to Scott Hegel, 10200 Grand Oak Dr., Austin, TX 78750 Dues are $20 again this year.
February Meeting The program for February will be presented by club member Charles Goertz on The Art of Making Ceramics. For years Charles and his wife Elaine have enjoyed the hobby of crafting ceramics, and Charles will bring a number of his finished pieces and describe the process of creating these works of art. Following the program we ll have our Find of the Month competition, so bring you FINDS anything you have found since the JANUARY meeting. Even if you are a new member or have never participated, please bring your items to show and enter. It is fun, and the more we have the more interesting it is! Daniel and Susie will bring refreshments for this meeting. Be Thinking Displays! Last month we added a new category to the FINDS contest - DISPLAYS! You may bring any finds found since the last eligible meeting and show them in a display. They can be in a case, a box or any other way you would like to present your finds. This is your chance to be creative. The winner will receive double points. You may still enter finds in the regular categories if you enter a display. Remember also we are encouraging members to show displays in the AMDC booth at the upcoming Treasure Show. January Meeting Recap How to Value Your Finds. Blaine and Scott presented information on how to identify and determine the value of items you find - such as jewelry and coins. They also presented an Excel spread sheet one might use to track finds, and shared a few ideas and resources for selling finds. Tools we can use to assist include a diamond tester, gold tester and small scale for weighing jewelry. These tools will be available at meetings periodically for club members to use. The following Web Sites are resources: For Jewelry Markings: http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/allenok/jwlrymark.html To Calculate Weight and Current Value of Metals: http://dendritics.com/scales/metal-calc.asp Source for Selling Precious Metals: http://www.midwestrefineries.com/ Blaine reported that she has personally used Mid West Refineries as a test to sell some silver rings and a few odd gold pieces, and got prompt service and very fair value for the items. Scott cautioned members to check places before they sell items, as there is a lot of variation in what they pay.
Executive Meetings The March Board meeting will be at Bill Miller s Bar-B-Q 8700 E. Hwy 290 on Thursday, March 4th. All are welcome to come join us, eat and participate. Come early to eat, the meeting starts at 6:00. February Board Meeting - Items discussed included ideas for upcoming programs and club activities. We will host a metal detecting class sometime in April to give members a chance to try various detectors, learn retrieval tips etc. We also discussed plans for our booth and fund raiser at the Texas Council Show in Longview. Search Team Efforts The team had two requests to look for lost items this month. The first request was to search for a platinum men s wedding band lost in the back yard. Scott, Jim and Blaine went out on this search, and Jim came up with the ring! Rob, the owner has lost it while playing with his infant son. Blaine, Jim, Rob and son Clive, Scott The second request was to search for a platinum men s ring lost in an Austin City Park. To date we have not been able to obtain a permit from the City to search for the ring.
Upcoming Events: March 12-14, 2010 25 th Annual Texas Treasure Show Longview. Mark your calendars and plan to come! January Finds U.S. Coin Foreign Coin Ed Newsom - 1918 Dime Daniel Mireles - 1956-50 Lira - Italy Scott Hegel - 1938D Cent Scott Mathews - 1993 Dime - Canada Jan Hallez - 2001D Half Scott Hegel - 2007 10??? -????? Daniel Mireles - 1867D Dime Blaine Nelson - 2001 10 Euro - Netherlands Dennis Gans - 1965 Quarter Scott Mathews - 1979S Dollar Ring Blaine Nelson - 2004D Dollar Blaine Nelson - 10K Ladies with Blue Stone Leon Prause - 2009P Dime Scott Mathews - Silver Mary Prause - 1989D Dime Scott Hegel - Silver with Onyx Stone Rudy Nordmeyer - 1941D Cent Jan Hallez - Silvertone Double Band Token Artifact Scott Hegel - Deep Waterways Convention 1907 Rudy Nordmeyer - Gun Barrel Rudy Nordmeyer - "God Loves You" Cross Ed Newsom - Victorian Pin Jan Hallez - Las Vegas Casino Chip Scott Hegel - Nozzle Scott Mathews - Putt-Putt Golf Blaine Nelson - Spoon Handle Dennis Gans - Lead Weight Jewelry Daniel Mireles - 1971 License Plate Blaine Nelson - Stingray Pendant Scott Mathews - Anne Klein Watch Daniel Mireles - Ladies Watch Jan Hallez - Old Nail Scott Hegel - Silver Chain Richard Wright - Arrowhead Rudy Nordmeyer - Pease Earring Scott Mathews - Heart Pendant on Chain Button Jan Hallez - Whale Tail Pendant Ed Newsom - Military Scott Hegel - Star Toy Blaine Nelson - Shield Rudy Nordmeyer - Cap Gun Jan Hallez - Green Sparklee Blaine Nelson - Tootsie Toy Cannon Rudy Nordmeyer - Flower Jan Hallez - Red Car Scott Mathews - Faded Glory Scott Hegel - Hotwheels Monster Truck Scott Mathews - Yellow Race Car Non-Metal Ed Newsom - Bottle Most Unusual Scott Hegel - Brown Bennington Marble Jan Hallez - Nightware Before Christmas Rudy Nordmeyer - Flint Scraper Scott Mathews - Bug Pin with Swords Scott Mathews - Plastic Army Man Scott Hegel - Moose Bottle Opener from Canada Blaine Nelson - Glass Marble Rudy Nordmeyer - Civil War Bullet Jan Hallez - Powerball Ticket
Daniel Mireles - Light Socket Dennis Gans - Rock Blaine Nelson - Faucet Knob Richard Wright - Shell Dennis Gans - Lead Ball Richard Wright - Cowbell Oldest U.S. Cent Leon Prause - Fitting Ed Newsom - 1917 Scott Hegel - 1921 Oldest U.S. Coin Daniel Mireles - 1945 Scott Hegel - 1919 Nickel Blaine Nelson - 1952 Jan Hallez - 1947 Nickel Dennis Gans - 1959D Blaine Nelson - 1962D Nickel Jan Hallez - 1961D Scott Mathews - 1963 Dime Scott Mathews - 1962 Dennis Gans - 1965 Dime Mary Prause - 1974D Most Valuable U.S. Coin Scott Hegel - 1939D Cent Blaine Nelson - 1941 Cent Display Scott Hegel Blaine Nelson Richard Wright Rank after January Meeting Scott Hegel Blaine Nelson Scott Matthews Jan Hallez Rudy Nordmeyer Ed Newsom Daniel Mireles Dennis Gans Richard Wright Leon Prause Mary Prause
Find of the Month U.S. COIN: # FOREIGN COIN: # TOKEN: # RING: # JEWELRY: # ARTIFACT: # TOY: # BUTTON: # MOST UNUSUAL: # NON-METAL: # OLDEST U.S. COIN: # OLDEST U.S. CENT: # MOST VALUABLE U.S. COIN: # DISPLAY: #