Discriminating pennies with a gt

[Jiminsandiego]

Thanks to a lot of good input on a previous thread (by the way thanks everyone), I am curious if it is possible to discriminate pennies from the beach (or land) using a meter,tone,all metal or whatever with a gt. I have been digging quite a few pennies at the beach lately (sometimes a think someone scattered em for a joke) and if I could identify pennies for (almost) certain I would definitely be ahead of the game. Do I need an e-trac for this or is it possible with a gt. Do I need better head phones(like sunray golds) and a 180 meter? If i could stop digging pennies they would be worth it.
Any input is much appreciated,
Jim

 

[Rick(ND)]

The new zinc pennies from 1982 up you can with the meter or the tones, but the copper ones will be hard to impossible with the Sovereign or the E-Trac and the Explorer.With the Explorer/E-trac you can tell the difference between the quarters and the copper pennies and dimes fairly easy, but the dimes and copper pennies will read the same.

 

[synthnut]

When on the beach, I set my ETrac up and will dig VERY FEW pennies .....You can tell by slightly jumping numbers whats what .......If the numbers stay solid , it will more than likely be the coin of the number that it's staying on ...For example , a quarter may hit an 11/47 ....and a dime at 11/46....If the number jumps between the two and hits more on 11/47 when checking the target , ti's more than likely a quarter ..... If it goes back and forth on 45 and 46 it's normallly a dime ..... I will descriminate starting at 45 and going back to whatever number I have to to eliminate pennies depending on the area and soil conditions .... On the Sovereign , that 180 number is one that I will pretty much always dig, and end up with more Pennies runnign the Sovereign than I do when I run my E Trac .... Pennies to Quarters ratio is like 80/20 with the 80 being Pennies .....With the E Trac it's the opposite and I will also end up with more dimes .... What's nice about that is that I can also keep the foil and nickel and tab range open for Gold !!....That is my basic beach program ...Dimes , Quarters , and Silver , and Gold !!....NO PENNIES !!!....( if I can help it ) with NO depth penalty for discrimination ........ Jim

 

[Neil]

Thanks to a lot of good input on a previous thread (by the way thanks everyone), I am curious if it is possible to discriminate pennies from the beach (or land) using a meter,tone,all metal or whatever with a gt. I have been digging quite a few pennies at the beach lately (sometimes a think someone scattered em for a joke) and if I could identify pennies for (almost) certain I would definitely be ahead of the game. Do I need an e-trac for this or is it possible with a gt. Do I need better head phones(like sunray golds) and a 180 meter? If i could stop digging pennies they would be worth it.
Any input is much appreciated,
Jim

I havent used a meter on a sov in awhile but if I remember the zincs go no higher than 176 so if your using a 180 meter just stick with the 176 and down numbers and you will increase your odds of finding gold. you will not hit copper pennies/dimes/quarters and some silver rings but you will still hit some of the silver rings. Ive never seen a gold ring hit higher than a zinc penny, they might be out there but Ive only found two that hit as high as a zinc, one is a 14k high school ring I found that will glide over my thumb without touching(its the biggest Ive ever found) and I also found a 22k wedding band that hits that high, other than that the larger gold rings all hit in the pull tab range. lots of people cant pass over the quarters/dimes and if your one of those than this wornt work for you.
like jim says the etrac (or even explorer) is more adjustable in this regards and you can ID them easier. the corroded zincs are always gonna be a problem as you probably know already. I would recommend using the meter and sound only though, I think you always pay a price for using disc both in depth and in locating targets next to each other.

 

[Critterhunter]

Zincs read 176 or so. Copper pennies will linger for me in the 177, 178, or 179 range. They may go 180 but won't stay there usually, dipping a digit or two as you sweep over them. Tweak the meter to go 181 here and there on a silver dime or clad quarter and you can tell easier if it's a copper penny or not (178, 179, or 180, while a silver dime or clad quarter will go 181 at least every other sweep). I can easily hear the difference between a zinc 176 and a 180 coin signal, but it's harder for me to tell a wheat from a quarter or silver dime by sound. On the other hand, when you hear a silver coin you will usually KNOW it's just that. They are just a little smoother/sweeter/slightly higher pitched/softer than a wheat.

Another way to tell coins apart is how fast they go 180. Wheats or clad dimes will tend to "walk" their way to 180. Meaning, you'll see them go 177, 178, 179, 180, where as a silver coin or a clad quarter will mostly instantly go "180" on you without as much coil work.