My etrac is schizo...

[jkline]

Been using the beast for two years now... $155 in clad, 4 silver dimes and 1 silver quarter to my name. 4 of those I found this week. It's been a long slog using Andy S's program, but also experimenting with 'trashy park' and totally open. I prefer TTF, but do experiment with multi CO.

Today I was hunting in a spot after work I often frequent: I had a solid 10/12 46/47/48, from all directions... a zinc penny. I would have bet my soul it was silver. A short while later, I got a 1 32 hit and then it gave me an 8 36 from a perpendicular direction ... I almost passed it up-- was rewarded with a tarnished 1919 Merc.

I hear how people 'cherry pick'-- not sure how that works, as for my tiny hoard of silver, none rang up in the CO 40's. The quarter I found last week: 2 39. the soil: soft earth that is frequently watered and fertilized. I'm wondering if I should move on to the ctx, as I'm so tired of corroded pennies and my readings seem opposite of what they should be.

I guess my question is... is this normal, that zinc pennies can have a higher CO reading than silver dimes in the same soil?

Thanks,

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

j,

I've had that happen before, got a signal that had me expecting silver but dug a zincoln instead. This typically happens in ground that is often flooded or watered, often the zinc cents come out of the ground with a very reddish tint. Not sure what the chemistry involved is, but at these sites almost every zinc penny sounded good. Not much you can do... I know the XS does the same, may have to take my CTX, and NOX 800 to one of these areas and see if there is a difference. Doubt it.

So yes it can happen. I'll often cherry pick some sites, but as much for depth than silver/copper. Thirty years ago it was much easier to do so.

Chris(SoCenWI)

 

[jkline]

Thanks Chris. Cool, it isn't just me! Yes, this is ground that is frequently watered-- a school. I imagine it gets fertilized every year-- the Merc I found looks like it was barely in circulation, sadly it 1/2 of obverse/reverse surfaces have a brownish/greenish stain that appears to be permanent. This ground is hard on nickles too: found a few V nickles and a 1913 buffalo (the key date/type version) and the patina looks awful.

I regret now swinging my old Garret more often 20 years ago-- all I found was trash, so lost interest pretty fast. I guess I'm getting old: elk hunting and steelhead fishing have been my passions for 40 years-- the thrill of both for me is waning. Picking up a detector gives me some of that excitement that I haven't felt on the river in awhile. Just hate hate hate hate door knocking. That's my undoing. And it is a small town with quite a few guys that have pounded most places over the last 30 years.