Any tips for finding my moms wedding band?

[Codyg]

So my mom lost her wedding band almost 20 years ago planting flowers. Its 14k gold and she said its not very thick. The search area is a circle about 8feet in diameter. The edges are old stones about 1 foot each. I recently bought a equinox 600 and am pretty new to metal detecting. So far I have searched with park 1 park 2 and all metal. Im no longer getting any signals inside or around the edge of the rock circle any any of those modes. Just wondering if there is any tips to hopefully find it. Ive also tried auto ground balancing it (55 was the reading). Unfortunately I can only get the sensitivity up to 16 or 17 after that its starts chattering. Did the auto emi calibration or whatever, just auto though. I havent done the whole area with the threshold raised, not really sure if this would help, prolly need to read the manual again to understand it better, so most of it was at 0 threshold. Tried 1 2 and 3 swing speed. Anyway, I guess it might be too deep or maybe i should have bought the 800 for gold mode or maybe its just not there. But im open to ideas I should also note the area near the search area can gets kinda muddy often due to a sub pump nearby but not sure if that would make the ring sink since the search area does not really get wet. Anyway thanks in advance

Cody

 

[Hotrod65]

I would think the 600 in multi would be as effective as the 800 in single. I would guess it's either too deep, or not there. You said an 8' circle, assume that is the same circle for the last 20 years? Depending on what is there you could excavate the soil a few inches at a time, but that would be a lot of work. Maybe someone has better ideas, would be very cool to find it though.

 

[sgoss66]

Cody --

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything "wrong," and you don't need the "gold mode" on the 800 to find this ring. Raising threshold won't do anything, it's not that. If you have dug all the metal targets out of there, and found no ring, MY guess is, the ring is NOT within that 8' circle she/you think it is in. It is quite common, when I try and search for lost jewelry for someone, that it ends up NOT being exactly where they thought it was. I would branch out from the 8 foot circle, and try searching outside the circle.

ALSO, a ring shouldn't sink "out of reach" in 20 years, unless your soil is sandy, or unless the flower garden has been repeatedly cultivated "deep" (many inches deep). If it is typical dirt, it's probably still "within range." What you might do, is take a nickel, bury it WITHIN that 8' radius circle, at 8" to 10" deep, set your machine up in Park 2 mode, and see if you can detect the nickel at the 16 or 17 sensitivity you are having to run it at (for stability reasons). I suspect you will be able to hit it at 8", and if so, that should give you confidence that the machine is "seeing deep."

Another thing, NEVER underestimate the ability of iron to "mask" a target. One tiny piece of iron, positioned a few inches above a "good" target, can make the good target completely "invisible" to the detector. So, what I'd suggest, to be SURE that your ring isn't being "hidden" by a roofing nail, or other type of iron junk, is make SURE you are running no discrimination (all metal, as you said you are) and dig out even the iron signals that you get on the machine -- i.e. the negative numbers. Clean EVERYTHING out of there, just to be sure. But, I would be willing to bet that the issue is that the ring is slightly outside the radius she thinks it was lost in.

Did you move all the rocks/stones that surround the planting bed? It may also be nestled right up along the edge of the rocks, too close to them for your machine's coil to pass over it, and thus not detect it...

GOOD LUCK finding it.

One last thing...there's a group called "lost my stuff" that is comprised of a bunch of volunteer detectorists across the country (I am member, for instance). You submit a "lost item" report, and where you are located, and then any voluteers that happen to live near you will be notified via email of your lost item report. Someone may then volunteer to come and help you search for the ring. If I lived nearby, I would...where are you located?

I hope some of this helps.

Steve

 

[Codyg]

Thanks for the answers guys I really appreciate it. Ill try the things you all saiid I havent moved the rocks so after the nickel test ill try that. I live in louisville ky btw. I will prolly search the whole yard eventually so maybe ill find it somewhere else. Honestly today was the most fun I have had in along time, was a beautiful spring day, just great to be out! This forum seems nice, glad I came across it. Ill let yall know if I find it or have any other questions

 

[sgoss66]

Super!

Good luck, Cody!

I'm nowhere near Louisville, but I'm sure someone is...

Definitely move the rocks, and definitely dig out EVERY signal you get, including the iron; I think the "nickel test" will give you the confidence that if the ring is there, and not hidden beneath a nail, you'll hear it...

Steve

 

[laplander]

An additional suggestion on the sensitivity issue might be something in the house causing interference ie internet etc. might shut a few things off to see if it helps. You might try a representative example ring to see how it detects it.
Laplander

 

[eriks]

After a heavy rain storm, some deeper targets may show up as signals.

 

[parkgt]

If all else fails dig out the circle to a depth of a foot or so and run the soil through 1/4" screen wire. 8 foot circle should take to long.

 

[Greg (E.Tn)]

It happens.

People realize they lost a ring and mentally backtrack, then isolate a setting when the right MUST have been lost, but it is not always the case.

Or, they feel the ring is not on their finger and assume they lost it within the last few moments of when they noticed it was missing.

OR, if she did lose it there, she lost it outside of the perimeter where she thinks she lost it.

When I was in high school, a friend lost his high school class ring in a yard while wrestling a friend, and knew within a few feet of where it was lost--about a 12'X12' area, which we detecting for about four hours. We went back to his house, but his dad made us go back and look some more. I finally gave up.

He grabbed the detector, and started searching outside the perimeter of our search area and found the ring. He had either misjudged where he lost it, or the ring was tossed, bounced, or rolled a distance away when it hit the ground.

If she was planting flowers/pulling weeds and so forth, she might have been reaching for something, tossing weeds away, or making some other movement with her ring hand which caused the ring to fly off and land outside of your search area.

Good luck with your search.

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Look where she put the weeds after pulling them.
Look inside her glove if she was wearing one I heard of that happening before the ring was stuck in the glove.
Check where she may have gotten some soil from elsewhere to put in the circle if she was doing that etc.
Hope these and the other ideas help ya. Let us know.

Tom

 

[Bryan V]

If you can’t get past 15-16 on the sensitivity, maybe try 20kHz and see if you can get it to run more quiet..
The ring is probably going to come in around the single digits.. I tested a few thinner 14k ladies rings and they were around 6 give at take a couple digits..
I would check everything in the foil tab range though..

Bryan

 

[pasttom]

Wrong ring area is very common. Also check coat pockets, but after 20 years that is not too likely, but still... Gradually expand the hunt area until you have exhausted all possibilities. A thin gold ring can have a very low ID number so be sure to dig everything. If you have a hand held pin pointer, set it on max range and closely go around the stones that boarder the garden. Its also a good time to catch up on prayer.

 

[Codyg]

Thanks guys great suggestions! Ill try them out and keep looking. Maybe ill find it on Easter, that would be a good gift

 

[dewcon4414]

Its more important to run this machine stable. You might also find with rain in alkalized soil it chatters even more. As a beach hunter...... i cant tell you how many rings ive hunted for where people were just wrong as to where they lost it. AM..... dig what you hear and remove it.... thats not a very big area.

 

[ky hunter]

Hey Cody
I am in Louisville also and would be happy to help if you need it. I have found a lot of lost Items for people over the years. Just message if you need Help.
Good Luck

 

[Metal Dictator]

Not really adding anything new to the discussion but it's my 2 cents. Take it for what it's worth to you. I have only done two ring recoveries. Neither were found where the owners were "certain" that they had lost them. Not even close actually. Also, the masking issue others have mentioned is very likely. Make sure all of the trash and nails are no longer in the search area. If the ring fell down right next to the rocks that border the area, it might be difficult to get the nose of the coil in close enough to pick it up. Like others have said, move the rocks and see if your target is at the edge of your search area. I hope you find the ring. Good luck with your search.

 

[Codyg]

Thanks guys, even though my mom does not want me searching now for whatever reason (she might just not want her yard dug up lol) I learned alot from your comments! I went to the park today, mostly just to enjoy the beuatiful weather and guess what, first find was car keys, probably to old that the person would want them returned! but I really enjoyed myself and maybe helped someone! Also im 13 cents richer!