Old Nickles???

[lambo1]

Sorry if this is a dumb question as I am brand new to MD'ng but why is it that I see a lot of finds on the forum for older dimes but hardly never older nickles?
I read the forums for all the machines but you just don't see them.

 

[Rob (IL)]

I can't say for sure but;

Last year I found 2669 dimes and 1115 nickels with my MXT. The problem is, nickels read near the tab range, usually 18-20 on my detector. Many times though it's a tab, bent tab, part of a tab or the disk the tab knocks out. Now a dime reads like a dime or copper penny. Many guys disc out the nickels range. Some guys don't bother to dig them because many time its junk.

Dimes before 65 are silver and except for the war nickels nickels are not. If a guy finds a 64 dime he posts, "I found silver". They don't usually post, "i found a 64 nickel". Rob

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Many cherrypick when hunting old silver and copper coins and discriminate the nickles out...another reason is older Buffalo, V and Shield nickles come in low perhaps high foil on most ID machines and so do many items of junk and many don't want to spend time digging junk to find older nickles which really come out of the ground in poor condition especially the shield variety.

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

One reason you find less nickels is that they are less likely to get dropped and lost than dimes and pennies. Nickels are a little larger than both the dime and penny, and certainly shinier than a penny, hence easier to find when dropped. Couple that with the lower conductivity and your chances of finding a nickel are diminished. For example, a quarter will give a nice loud belltone at 5 inches, but a nickel can be questionable at this depth.

One of my goals for last year was to dig more nickels, and find more jewelry, and it worked out pretty well. If I detected more at schools and parks I am sure my nickel (and jewelry) count would go up significantly.

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

Last year I found an 1882, 1896, 1900, 1906 and 9 Buffalo nickels. Of course many older Jefferson's and 3 war nickels.

 

[mrowdy]

First day out this spring in Wisconsin trying out my 12" coil. Found a 1918 buffalo, 1924 Deauville compact, a Tip-Top barrette made in Omaha in the 20s, and a BSA Be Prepared pin, an old fork plus some nails bullets, etc. But I always dig when I get a signal. In fact, at times, a nickel -sounding beep can be a gold ring. The only thing I don't like about nickels is that it takes so many to make a dollar. I have $86 of nickels in a pail, and have a hard time lifting it. Funny how it goes, but on the beach, I might not find any nickels one night and 15 the next . And dig those snap tabs so you won't have to hear them again. Happy hunting.

 

[DFXED]

Good question hope everyone helped with the answer . I dig all my low vdi signals and come up with allot of trash (foil, pencil eraser backs and pull tabs of many varieties).. I always dig when I think it is a nickle . I like to guess whether it is a nickle, tab or pencil back ... I get allot of nickles and sometimes get a nice golden surprise Also I clean out all the junk items so my next hunt will be less trashy . Best of luck hope you find gold soon.

 

[JJ]

a few weeks ago i found an 1867 shield nickel w/out rays about 5 feet from my back door. The only reason i dug it was because i recently decided to change my hunting habits back to digging these type of signals, and it was only the third target i had dug in this range after making that decision. I feel kind of ill thinking about what i passed up. note, this was with my bounty hunter, i just like to cruise the whites forum because i think i might be getting one soon, probably the MXT.