readings on wheatbacks

[G.papa.findsalot]

I have been digging a lot of wheatbacks lately and have noticed that when I get my reading I get a VDI lower 70's and reads as if it is a dime and even when I pinpoint it it is dominant in the 2.5 making me think it is a dime. why is this, are my settings off or does this just happen to some copper after being in the dirt for long periods. I do know wheat backs had more copper than our zink penny was there some other metal added to the wheatback penny that makes it read this way

 

[burlbark]

You answered your own question. This is a normal reading with the v3i. Old wheats ring up like dimes and I love finding them.

 

[Hunt4Fun]

I have been digging a lot of wheatbacks lately and have noticed that when I get my reading I get a VDI lower 70's and reads as if it is a dime and even when I pinpoint it it is dominant in the 2.5 making me think it is a dime. why is this, are my settings off or does this just happen to some copper after being in the dirt for long periods. I do know wheat backs had more copper than our zink penny was there some other metal added to the wheatback penny that makes it read this way

The Lincoln Wheat cents were made from 1909 through 1958. In 1959 the Lincoln cent got the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse. All of the Lincoln pennies from 1909 through mid-year 1982 were made of an alloy of 95% copper and 5% Tin & Zinc and are listed as having the same size and weight. The only exception is the 1943 penny which was made of zinc coated steel.

Most of the 1909 through mid-year 1982 pennies read in the same range as clad and silver dimes ... 75 to 80. The reason is because copper is a very good conductor which makes these copper items read high on the VDI scale. However, I have found some of the early wheat backs that read down into the 60s ... do not know why.

From mid-year 1982 to today, they make Lincoln Memorial pennies with copper plated zinc planchets. The composition is 99.2% zinc and 0.8% copper. These are what we call Zincoln Pennies. When first dropped on the ground they read around VDI 65 and range downward depending upon their state of corrosion / decomposition. Actually they read a little higher when they first start decomposing but the VDI drops when the soil around them is disturbed.

Yes, you can find 1982 pennies that are both copper and zincoln. Hope I worded the above so that it makes sense and is helpful.

Bob

 

[TC-NM]

I have been digging a lot of wheatbacks lately and have noticed that when I get my reading I get a VDI lower 70's and reads as if it is a dime and even when I pinpoint it it is dominant in the 2.5 making me think it is a dime. why is this, are my settings off or does this just happen to some copper after being in the dirt for long periods. I do know wheat backs had more copper than our zink penny was there some other metal added to the wheatback penny that makes it read this way

Zinc pennies (1982 to present) read 56-57-58. . . Copper pennies (wheat backs and memorials) read at the lower to mid 70 range just as dimes do. I've set my tones for zinc pennies vs. copper/dime signals. If I feel like it, I sometimes cherry pick where I don't want to dig 56-58 signals because I know that they are at 0 to 3 inches in depth.

Now if I'm hunting a older part of town lots, parks, etc. Indian Head pennies ring up the same as zinc. But be aware that IH's are deeper from 3 to 7 inches vs. zinc's. At least this is my observations and my locations where I live. Your's may vary in you location.

Good Luck,

TC-NM

 

[nw1886]

Another variable is what the ground has done to the surface composition of a coin. Because of this it is always good to dig a lot of deeper targets when you first get going on a site and dig even shallower ones when you see a pattern that shows up frequently. Below are three situations where once I discovered a pattern, volume of finds ended up in my pouch:


1. I've had a slew of wheats show up in the low teens. (All were blood red in color and effected by acids from Mountain Ash berries...."one time only" experience but it sure taught me the importance of how the composition of acids in the ground can effect target sigs.)

2. Another anomaly for me has been deep Indians smearing up into low 90s' (amongst predominant "low iron" numbers) where you can tell the target is small to begin with.

3. This happened at the edge of a running track....modern clad quarters were popping up (roll spill I think) giving me signatures way way low. I figured they had been effected by a fertilizer shed just at the edge of the oval?

Investigating a repetitive or curious pattern can really help figure out these anomalistic condition at times.....to never have them repeat themselves again? (They sure can be a lesson teacher too that sticks!)

 

[texjim]

I have found wheats in a baseball and football fields that had vdi's in the 30's that were 4" and deeper.. I believe it had to do with the lime and fertilizer?

 

[yazoo]

Also the passing up of a zincon in some areas or deep ones can be Indian cents. Yazoo

 

[Larry (IL)]

Great advise from Scott (nw1886) and others. I would investigate most signals at a new location to get the "feel" for target ID's. A lot of things seems to affect what the detector is "guessing" what the targets might be.

To add my finds to the list of oddities............ I dug 17 wheats over the weekend and most of them came from one yard and they were reading as silver dimes and the one silver dime I found came in as a wheat..... now figure that one out....

 

[triplehooked]

I've had early wheaties ring up as IH/Zinc pennies, middle freq. dominate and everything....On that note, I've dug Buffalo nickels smack dab in the screw top range (50's).... When in a new area I do exactly as Larry stated, dig a few targets to get a good feel of the area. You can cash in on targets that other people considered trash!

 

[Monte]

What many people seem to forget is that visual Target ID and the numeric VDI read-outs are ONLY a "best guess" of a target based upon the located objects conductivity; AND size-and shape; orientation in the ground and relationship to the search coils position; the ground mineral make-up; the search Col's size, shape and internal design; the depth or distance from coil-to-target; influence of any nearby interfering source, such as EMI or another close-by target (i.e. masking); and other factors.

If we consider only the VDI/TID readings of a US "wheat-back" 1

 

[nw1886]

The only accurate discrimination is the discriminating detectorist who has dug a mountain of junk to get where they are.