Focusing on nickels

[mudpuppy]

Just got back from an early morning run. Went to the Coinstar and poured in all the dirty clad for this year so far...108 Qs, 105 D's 54 Ns, and 154 Ps...for about 35 bucks...seems the Ns and Ps paid the coinstar's commission.

Anyway, I got to thinking about Nickels...I've been really focusing on them lately, so I'm happy with that breakdown in the numbers ratio..The F70 generally hits them at 32, but the deeper they are, they might be 28, and sometimes they are at 34 if they are fresh and shallow or something's not set up ground balanced right..the canadian ones can be anywhere from a Q to a nickel, doesnt seem to be any pattern to their tone, just the target signature size and mass..

They do give a nice tight signal that if a fellow focuses on, taps coil on top of, jump right out of the usual tabs and can shards..sure, you still get some folded over can shards and halftabs etc. if you are a gold hunter...
Probably the main reason I'm focusing on them is for gold, and another is that I'm hunting the old places I highgraded for Q's and D's in the past and didnt focus on them much, wanted high count dollars per day...

So this year I'm locked on Nickels, and also any strange or squirrely signals...seems all the "good gold stuff" I've ever found was a strange signal with the exception of one nice gold ring that was a solid nickel 32 signal.

Someday it might be fun to just see how many nickels a guy can get in a year, out of all our US clad, they have to be the ones missed most due to the tone and it's proximity to trash signals, and that they are generally not as common as the rest of the coins....I've yet to figure out zincs/mens gold ring signature, but that is also fun to do when a guy gets a zinc signal, is it slightly different than a normal zinc tone, size and mass?..REVIER certainly knows...he got what like 3 big gold class rings in the zinc tones with his F2 a few years back? So Ive been punching them ever since to no avail, and cussing his name often as you can imagine, on every rotten zinc I dig! .Good luck y'all! Glad the season has opened up for us Northerners finally!
Mud

 

[REVIER]

Just got back from an early morning run. Went to the Coinstar and poured in all the dirty clad for this year so far...108 Qs, 105 D's 54 Ns, and 154 Ps...for about 35 bucks...seems the Ns and Ps paid the coinstar's commission.

Anyway, I got to thinking about Nickels...I've been really focusing on them lately, so I'm happy with that breakdown in the numbers ratio..The F70 generally hits them at 32, but the deeper they are, they might be 28, and sometimes they are at 34 if they are fresh and shallow or something's not set up ground balanced right..the canadian ones can be anywhere from a Q to a nickel, doesnt seem to be any pattern to their tone, just the target signature size and mass..

They do give a nice tight signal that if a fellow focuses on, taps coil on top of, jump right out of the usual tabs and can shards..sure, you still get some folded over can shards and halftabs etc. if you are a gold hunter...
Probably the main reason I'm focusing on them is for gold, and another is that I'm hunting the old places I highgraded for Q's and D's in the past and didnt focus on them much, wanted high count dollars per day...

So this year I'm locked on Nickels, and also any strange or squirrely signals...seems all the "good gold stuff" I've ever found was a strange signal with the exception of one nice gold ring that was a solid nickel 32 signal.

Someday it might be fun to just see how many nickels a guy can get in a year, out of all our US clad, they have to be the ones missed most due to the tone and it's proximity to trash signals, and that they are generally not as common as the rest of the coins....I've yet to figure out zincs/mens gold ring signature, but that is also fun to do when a guy gets a zinc signal, is it slightly different than a normal zinc tone, size and mass?..REVIER certainly knows...he got what like 3 big gold class rings in the zinc tones with his F2 a few years back? So Ive been punching them ever since to no avail, and cussing his name often as you can imagine, on every rotten zinc I dig! .Good luck y'all! Glad the season has opened up for us Northerners finally!
Mud

Cuss all you want...I will just bathe in the light and the glory that is me.

Actually mud, I have found 4 class rings up to this point, 2 with the F2 one with my Vaq and one with my Compadre.
Other Tesoro owners can can probably tell you this also, but even though the sound of most other gold rings that come in under zinc sound pretty sweet and solid and clear, they don't sound any different than a normal coin tone.
To me, anyway.
Now those big ones at zinc, on a Tesoro That tone is sweeter and clearer than any other and lingers and rings as true as the most perfect bell that was ever cast.
I rarely ever get rocked back on my heels when I hear a good tone on my Tesoro's but that one is so different that I ache to hear it again and again.
It is my holy grail signal and hopefully, with luck, one day I will hear that sound again.

The 2 I found with my F2 didn't sound much different to me than any other zinc cent signal that I can remember, but I have always dug every zinc signal I have ever come across and always will so again, with luck....
Both rings and most all the other gold I have found with my F2 did not jump a bit and were solid as all get out except for a couple that might have jumped 2 numbers but that is a dig me signal on the F series for me every time.

I am hoping that maybe on the F70 a big one like that might sound different too, but if it does it might only be in the 3-4H tones so maybe one day I will find out and report back on that.

As far as nickels the last gold ring I found was a dead on nickel signal which is a 33 on my F70.
No big deal difference noticed in that tone but it was solid, stable, did not jump a bit when I got the standard coil exactly in the right place over it even though there was some trash right next to it that did cause some nice jumping.
I was in 4H and even though that trash was in a whole different area, I think it was foil but I didn't dig it to find out, the tones were different but the gold/nickel sound still came through if only briefly which is what triggered me to dig that hole.
Go slow, you have good instincts, dig that gold ring ASAP.
I will then have to trump you being the little stinker that I am, and gold fever is raging in me so good luck!

 

[ez4sure]

thats it dig all those iffy nickel tab signals and once in a while one will be gold you should try running 1f tones for me it helps clear up some of the crappy sounding signals and in heavy emi areas it helps alot hh

 

[pine3874]

Interesting post. For Mud, nickles hit a solid 32, for Revier, they hit a solid 33, and for me, they hit a solid 31 everytime on the F70. Just goes to show I guess, that with different settings and different soils each F70 shows different values.

 

[REVIER]

Interesting post. For Mud, nickles hit a solid 32, for Revier, they hit a solid 33, and for me, they hit a solid 31 everytime on the F70. Just goes to show I guess, that with different settings and different soils each F70 shows different values.

Same on the F2.
Mine was a 33, many others were mostly at least one up or one down and even others were the same 33 as mine.

Soil could have something to do with it but I actually used that thing in 2 different states with completely different soils and the 33 number for me stayed the same.

I think it is more that every detector that comes out of the factory is just not calibrated exactly the same.
Whatever, the important thing is that each owner just learn what their particular numbers are and go from there.

 

[mudpuppy]

Sort of a challenge eh? Unless I find some new dirt close to home, looks like I'll be going back to the same old spots and gently hunting nickels/strange tones this Summer.
Seriously a rabid gold hunter...F70's have a unique advantage in this regard, super sensitive to dirt/beach gold that is, and fast. Thanks for the input boys..it sure is fun chasing the strange instead of the bang on coin signals all the time, really subtle signals on chains especially, not the solid "ping" of a coin or ring..

Nickels are not a standard TiD all the time like a Q is..once a guy gets to know his rig and all that..maybe a guy wants to try to get 1000 nickels in a year? That might be fun, but I guess whats the point of that, unless theres plenty of big gold involved, but then again, big gold lives in the Zinc tones. It would be nothing to get 1000 zincs, even on one weekend! Oh hell! Whats a guy to do? Swing away!
Mud

 

[REVIER]

Sort of a challenge eh? Unless I find some new dirt close to home, looks like I'll be going back to the same old spots and gently hunting nickels/strange tones this Summer.
Seriously a rabid gold hunter...F70's have a unique advantage in this regard, super sensitive to dirt/beach gold that is, and fast. Thanks for the input boys..it sure is fun chasing the strange instead of the bang on coin signals all the time, really subtle signals on chains especially, not the solid "ping" of a coin or ring..

Nickels are not a standard TiD all the time like a Q is..once a guy gets to know his rig and all that..maybe a guy wants to try to get 1000 nickels in a year? That might be fun, but I guess whats the point of that, unless theres plenty of big gold involved, but then again, big gold lives in the Zinc tones. It would be nothing to get 1000 zincs, even on one weekend! Oh hell! Whats a guy to do? Swing away!
Mud

Uhh...chase them nickel signals, dig zinc till you are blue in the face , but that isn't the only thing ya gotta go after if you want to find it all.
Lots will come in at hated foil, one target I found last year thought it was big silver.

My 2013 gold finds to inspire you...or pi$$ you off.
It took me 336 days to find it all.
Go out and beat this and get 13.
I am rooting for you!

 

[mudpuppy]

Outstanding! Dont think I forgot your 2013 goal, effort, and results!

Maybe its because we've been snowed in for so long? I dont know..seems to take a little to get back in the groove and figure out a strategy for the year, and then again, its all weather dependent, so strategy changes day to day...one thing, I hate the thought of beach and water hunting coming up.....miles and miles of sand..hope to put that off as long as possible...anyway, I'm warming up and settling in for the long haul...I prefer dirt work, strategic, fast and fun!..will hit a few more spots each morning this week while the schools are closed for Spring Break, big snow piles still, so conditions are not optimum, but might just get lucky.
Mud

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

1000 zincs in one weekend? Mud, you are not 21 anymore and even just leaning over a stabbing there are just some many stoops in the body! Seriously in my heavily minerlized soil ( colo. gold country)
ground balance 85 or higher the nickels still are solid at 32 (f-70) every time and the quarters are 85, you can count on those two signals. My last gold ring was small but it came in as solid zinc penny
signal 61/62. I will be watching your progress with your nickle/gold search with great interest. Might do a little "gold" prospecting myself.
HH Ed in co.

 

[shadowulf]

 

[mudpuppy]

Ha! Well lets say you are set up running mid/low range settings sweeping a field...you come across the traditional zinc ping, sound says its 3" deep...common and plentiful in various stages of decay...

..Does a gold class ring, hold or drop the signal when a guy raises the coil longer or shorter than on the penny? Can a guy tell by audio alone the mass of the ring opposed to the penny? You mentioned they sound for lack of a better word, "Heavier"? The only mens class rings I've found have been in the water, where its a "dig it all" game.

I would prefer not to dig all the zincs a guy comes across, for the reasons stated by Ed. You should do a test for us REVIER..

Mud.

 

[REVIER]

You liked that, did you?

You shouldn't poke the bear, but a mudpuppy...what is he gonna do, slime me?