Question for Experienced SE Users

[JM*StL]

I am new to metal detecting and new to the SE. I had a good session with it today and gained a lot of ground on understanding it. There is still plenty to be learned.

As I was walking to the car, I checked out one last small section and got a good tone and a reading of 07-25. I moved around the target and scanned it from multiple directions, all gave a reading of 07-25, so I pulled out my info sheet and it stated that 07-25 is an Indian Head. So, now I apply my newly acquired pinpointing skill and actually pinpoint it perfectly. Cut the plug, pried it up, inserted my trusty TinyTec and got a tone, reached in and pulled out the coin.

At this point I rescanned the hole and nothing seemed to remain, placed the coin in a protective pouch (my pocket) and headed to the car and then home. When I got there, I rinsed the "Indian Head" and gently cleaned it under running water. But what I see is Lincoln, not an Indian Head.

That was fine, but I am just curious what the answer is to this puzzle, why did the Lincoln cent give an Indian Head reading? It is quite corroded and the soil was fairly damp, as it rained last night.

Thanks for any insight.

John in St. Louis

 

[daveo]

the readings for indians and old wheaties are very close in my opinion,

 

[NealNoIN]

n/t

 

[JM*StL]

That sheds some light on the mystery. I wonder, is there a difference in tone between, say a Memorial cent and an Indian Head that both read 07-25, when running Conduct?

 

[daveo]

there isnt in ferrous , i never run anything else , ive found about 25 now, along with wheats in the same area , all rang the same , target , numbers and tone .

 

[Mike in Dana Point Ca]

i mostly go by depth. if i get a zinc/indian signal and the depth meter reads more than halfway, i'll dig it. that's not to say that some indians aren't shallow, but i'm just playing the odds. in my area, most of the old coins are 5-6 inches or deeper. i'm sure i pass up a few oldies by not digging anything shallower than 5-6 inches, but i don't want to spend all day digging clad and zincs. this, by the way, only applies to turf hunting in parks. in private yards, demos, and hard-packed dirt areas, i'll dig shallower stuff.

 

[mattockman]

n/t

 

[Dan-Pa.]

All you have is a guide which basically is true but misc. junk, tilted coin. deep coin, worn coin, corroded coin, one next to junk the number may differ..In your case you have a new penny made of crap metal and the corrosion caused the problem..In time you will correlate the tone along with positioning of the cursor to help you decide to dig or not..Personally since your new to the unit do a lot of digging and above all get an iffie that just says dig go for it lest you miss a goodie..Many reports of nice coins coming out the hole along with a rusty nail or junk which can greatly influence the number..

 

[BlackX]

I'm only a few months into the SE--and much of that during frozen ground time but I'm finding I'm starting to be able to tell when there are multiple targets in one hole. Sure, iron falsing is going to get me a lot of the time but yesterday, for instance, I had one of those mixed/multiple tones in one spot that I could get to repeat from multiple angles, so I dug it. Along with a couple pieces of iron, I found my first flat button! I'm really starting to love this machine.

As Mike mentioned, I also will--depending on the location and whether it looks like the soil has been turned--not dig shallow 7-24/25--at least the ones I'm pretty damn sure are zincs. If I get that reading deeper down, I'll dig it. (I hate zincs in general--not even worth the metal they're minted on.) Mike mentioned it more generally but, specifically, when you're at a new spot and not sure how the ground's been treated, dig everything at first.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

John,

Don't go by exact numbers or you will leave much more in the ground than in your pocket. And DO NOT try to learn in discrimination patterns like they talk about in the book.

Basically coins will hit where they are expected to when you air test or are real shallow. Occasionally deeper ones will under optimal conditions, but this is the exception and not the rule. Most targets that hit like they should were dug 20 years ago. You need to learn how to find the ones left behind and they are typically buried next to trash.

Chris

 

[digitrich]

Chris is right on, throw away the patterns in the book and as for the info sheet, that will only tell you the general area that specific targets will hit. Just wait till you get to an area and every single silver dime reading is really a modern Lincoln penny. Frustrating to say the least. Corrosion, mineralization, moisture content, silent masking, collocated targets, electrical interference from man made objects, even lightning 1000 miles away will effect your machine in unpredictable ways. Worse, some of these things can change drastically in just a few feet apart from one another. If it's a solid signal, dig it. Sometimes it will surprise you and sometimes it will disappoint you

 

[Magicman]

I remember reading a post that said, no machine can ID every item and if you buy a machine thinking it will you will be disappointed. I am glad I read that before bying my SE.

I basically use the screen as a guide. As it was said before, if it is a solid signal -dig it... Picked up a silver pendent, along with some pull tabs. It is dirt fishing and you will be surprised what you haul in.

 

[BlackX]

...that target numbers/smartfind id bounce up as well as down. I see it in both directions.

I suspect that took a while to sink in because I moved to the SE from a Sov, where one often has to "work up" the number on the deep targets with the wiggle (which doesn't seem to work as well for me on the SE).

And, thinking about it a bit more, I think I'm seeing most of the bounce on the ferrous axis and less on the conductive axis. Is it most folks experience that the conductive number or location on the conductive axis will be more stable than the ferrous?