CZconnoisseur
Active member
Got out to the park again today after work and concentrated on more deep targets using 4kHz. The first target I came across was faint, but I got a VDI of 95 and it seemed to hold true to that number. Some bottlecaps and cast iron can ID around the mid-90s, but the audio component of the signal was too sweet to pass up - I really thought I was going after a silver dime...turns out the first coin to dig today was a 1907 V nickel - a nice surprise from about 7" deep!
I only had about 2 hours to hunt today but I was getting good signals almost all the way throughout the entire time I was there - dug a few pulltabs and ringtabs, along with the requisite foil balls; but today I would get rewarded for digging those junk targets! I remember getting a 28-30 while staying in 4khz, and knowing that sometimes deeper nickels can indicate as low as the upper 20s (4Khz); I decided to dig. Got a hit at the bottom of the plug, at about 5" - and noticed what looked like just another ringtab. But ringtabs don't have mounted stones and I was very pumped to see a small white gold wedding ring staring back at me! Out of the hole it indicated 29-30, exactly how a small gold ring should read.
Looking into the inside of the ring I saw some letters after the 14K stamp, and at first glance I thought I read the dreaded "HGE" hallmark of junk - but closer inspection showed this to be the jeweler's mark and the middle character WASN'T a "G", but a diamond...I could have walked out of there blissfully happy, but there was still a good hour of daylight remaining, so I pressed on....14K white gold is a bit tougher to locate than yellow gold due to the nickel content, thus lowering conductivity and making it easier to pass over....
After a while I came across some clad, and a deep partial zincoln that fooled me pretty good , but not far from that I started getting non-VDI hits to where I had to slow down and isolate those targets. Seemed to be something else in the ground deeper than the deep coins that was throwing the Deus, but finally I got centered over the coin signals and could get to them. I didn't check the dates on any of the old Wheats until I got home, and all of these Wheats today were 8-9" deep. The V nickel would be the shallowest old coin of the day at 7" - but 4kHz has trouble seeing nickels beyond 8" or so sometimes.
I haven't found 8, 12, or 18kHz any better at IDing those deep coin targets, rather using those other frequencies tends to get chatty with the shallow foil and deep iron signals. 4Khz seems to work BETTER with the 9" coil vs 11" coil in terms of stability and separation (no surprise though) on deeper, difficult targets.
I did try Goldfield on a couple of deep coin targets, and after a couple minutes of adjusting a few settings I wasn't able to get Goldfield to hit on any of the faint targets. One thing I haven't tried with the 9" coil is the NOMAD (non-motion audio disc) mode which is great for IDing deep ferrous vs deep non-ferrous items. It takes a couple of minutes to set up and is definitely an acquired taste, but once it gets tuned to the soil AND you get your ear used to the audio - you are able to hit and ID deeper targets that don't give any VDI. I will have to use this mode one day where I'm not limited on time, and return to this area to see if deeper 10" plus coins are lying in wait!
When I got home to check the dates on the Wheats, I was happy to see 1912 S, 1912 D, 1920 D, and 1924 S. The 1912 S is the rarest of the group found today, followed by the 1912 D. This place consistently gives up early mintmarked coins, and I believe it's only a matter of time before I get over a 1914 D or 1909 S (VDB) penny!
More rain is in the forecast for the weekend, so may not get back to the honey hole for another week! GL & HH
I only had about 2 hours to hunt today but I was getting good signals almost all the way throughout the entire time I was there - dug a few pulltabs and ringtabs, along with the requisite foil balls; but today I would get rewarded for digging those junk targets! I remember getting a 28-30 while staying in 4khz, and knowing that sometimes deeper nickels can indicate as low as the upper 20s (4Khz); I decided to dig. Got a hit at the bottom of the plug, at about 5" - and noticed what looked like just another ringtab. But ringtabs don't have mounted stones and I was very pumped to see a small white gold wedding ring staring back at me! Out of the hole it indicated 29-30, exactly how a small gold ring should read.
Looking into the inside of the ring I saw some letters after the 14K stamp, and at first glance I thought I read the dreaded "HGE" hallmark of junk - but closer inspection showed this to be the jeweler's mark and the middle character WASN'T a "G", but a diamond...I could have walked out of there blissfully happy, but there was still a good hour of daylight remaining, so I pressed on....14K white gold is a bit tougher to locate than yellow gold due to the nickel content, thus lowering conductivity and making it easier to pass over....
After a while I came across some clad, and a deep partial zincoln that fooled me pretty good , but not far from that I started getting non-VDI hits to where I had to slow down and isolate those targets. Seemed to be something else in the ground deeper than the deep coins that was throwing the Deus, but finally I got centered over the coin signals and could get to them. I didn't check the dates on any of the old Wheats until I got home, and all of these Wheats today were 8-9" deep. The V nickel would be the shallowest old coin of the day at 7" - but 4kHz has trouble seeing nickels beyond 8" or so sometimes.
I haven't found 8, 12, or 18kHz any better at IDing those deep coin targets, rather using those other frequencies tends to get chatty with the shallow foil and deep iron signals. 4Khz seems to work BETTER with the 9" coil vs 11" coil in terms of stability and separation (no surprise though) on deeper, difficult targets.
I did try Goldfield on a couple of deep coin targets, and after a couple minutes of adjusting a few settings I wasn't able to get Goldfield to hit on any of the faint targets. One thing I haven't tried with the 9" coil is the NOMAD (non-motion audio disc) mode which is great for IDing deep ferrous vs deep non-ferrous items. It takes a couple of minutes to set up and is definitely an acquired taste, but once it gets tuned to the soil AND you get your ear used to the audio - you are able to hit and ID deeper targets that don't give any VDI. I will have to use this mode one day where I'm not limited on time, and return to this area to see if deeper 10" plus coins are lying in wait!
When I got home to check the dates on the Wheats, I was happy to see 1912 S, 1912 D, 1920 D, and 1924 S. The 1912 S is the rarest of the group found today, followed by the 1912 D. This place consistently gives up early mintmarked coins, and I believe it's only a matter of time before I get over a 1914 D or 1909 S (VDB) penny!
More rain is in the forecast for the weekend, so may not get back to the honey hole for another week! GL & HH
