Critterhunter
New member
This was in my response to somebody looking for deeper silver at a pounded site where it might not sink that deep, out of the range of some other machines...
One word...12x10. Don't know how well it does on your machine but it's done wonders in both more depth and better separation on some machines, mine included. I can tell you my "lowly" model from one manufacturer is getting just as deep and unmasking just as well as my friend's flagship computer model from the same company, comparing many deep or badly masked coins undug in the field as he or I find them.
Also, like he said, some sites just don't let targets to sink much and so are well within the range of most other machines. You've got to go to better soil, or even bad heavy clay soil but with heavy moisture (low fields) that allow coins to sink out of the range of some other machines. In the areas I know coins are limited to say 8" or less, no sense on looking for deep classic clean silver signals. Time to dig the iffy ones on edge or masked. Save the deep/clean stuff for sites where coins could sink deeper than the range of some other machines.
At a site where coins are limited in depth by heavy soil, or a lack of moisture, or a clay sublayer, waste of time to find the clean/deep-ish coin signals. Those are gone for the most part. Dig the iffy one way stuff and such. Save the hours of wandering for deep stuff (say past 8" or so) for sites where coins can seek deeper and be out of the range of other machines or your sloppy hunter. Why wander at those sites for hours looking when you could be digging tons of iffy coin hits? Those sites still were around for me say 7 years ago but those easy somewhat deep coins ( 8" or less ) are gone at most sites these days, as many machines can hit those depths. Might as well dig the iffy/one way ones at those sites.
A good way to judge how deep coins can sink at a site is the depth of round tabs. Up to about 4" or so max and the coins are probably shallow. Round tabs say around 5 or 6" or more and coins can sink deeper, as tabs are lighter than coins in terms of surface area.
These are just rules of thumb though. Some spots a round tab could sink 6" fairly quick, but stops due to a harder (say clay) sublayer. You've got to judge sites on your own, but round tabs are always a good indicator. Another is screw caps. If I'm digging them say 5 or 6" deep then I'm pretty sure old silver could be much deeper, but then again once again a deeper sub layer of clay or rock might stop them even if they sank quick.
There is no rhyme or reason. You must judge the target depths. I've hunted hard clay where coins were super deep, only because the soil held a lot of moisture/water and so got soupy and sunk stuff fast even though it's not in fine soil.
Too many people try to force a round peg into a square hole. Let the site talk to you based on how deep certain targets are. Digging zincs or clads at say 5 or 6" or more? Then good chance the silver might be twice that depth. But digging round tabs at same depth and no deeper? Suspect there might be a denser sub layer of soil. A trick I use for gold rings is to dig those "junk" signals deeper than the deepest of round tabs. Let the site tell you how deep stuff is, and how much deeper silver might be, and if you dig your deepest hole and hit clay or rock, chances are the silver is stopping at that level and not going deeper. If that depth (say south of 8" ) is within the range of most machines, stop wasting time looking for clean classic deep silver readings. Those are long gone. Start digging the iffy or one way coin hits most pass that could be silver masked or on edge. Even the best of machines to handle ground minerals max out at about 8 or perhaps 9". Beyond that it's digging the iffy stuff, and I don't care what machine you are talking about when it comes to some soils.
That's why I say take with a grain of salt depth reports. One machine in one place might easily hit a coin at say 9 or 10" or deeper, but at another site due to ground minerals 7 or 8" is pushing things. For years I owned many machines and the two best of those could only max about 7.5" on a silver dime in my soil. Sooner or later I did own a few machines that would go deeper in my soil, but even with those it's not common to dig a 8 or 9" dime with a solid hit all the time. Deepest coins I have dug with those are an 11" indian and v-nickle in two separate holes, but that was in prime wet ground conditions. At the same site in dry conditions I'm lucky to get a good signal on a wheat at around 8 or 9".
One word...12x10. Don't know how well it does on your machine but it's done wonders in both more depth and better separation on some machines, mine included. I can tell you my "lowly" model from one manufacturer is getting just as deep and unmasking just as well as my friend's flagship computer model from the same company, comparing many deep or badly masked coins undug in the field as he or I find them.
Also, like he said, some sites just don't let targets to sink much and so are well within the range of most other machines. You've got to go to better soil, or even bad heavy clay soil but with heavy moisture (low fields) that allow coins to sink out of the range of some other machines. In the areas I know coins are limited to say 8" or less, no sense on looking for deep classic clean silver signals. Time to dig the iffy ones on edge or masked. Save the deep/clean stuff for sites where coins could sink deeper than the range of some other machines.
At a site where coins are limited in depth by heavy soil, or a lack of moisture, or a clay sublayer, waste of time to find the clean/deep-ish coin signals. Those are gone for the most part. Dig the iffy one way stuff and such. Save the hours of wandering for deep stuff (say past 8" or so) for sites where coins can seek deeper and be out of the range of other machines or your sloppy hunter. Why wander at those sites for hours looking when you could be digging tons of iffy coin hits? Those sites still were around for me say 7 years ago but those easy somewhat deep coins ( 8" or less ) are gone at most sites these days, as many machines can hit those depths. Might as well dig the iffy/one way ones at those sites.
A good way to judge how deep coins can sink at a site is the depth of round tabs. Up to about 4" or so max and the coins are probably shallow. Round tabs say around 5 or 6" or more and coins can sink deeper, as tabs are lighter than coins in terms of surface area.
These are just rules of thumb though. Some spots a round tab could sink 6" fairly quick, but stops due to a harder (say clay) sublayer. You've got to judge sites on your own, but round tabs are always a good indicator. Another is screw caps. If I'm digging them say 5 or 6" deep then I'm pretty sure old silver could be much deeper, but then again once again a deeper sub layer of clay or rock might stop them even if they sank quick.
There is no rhyme or reason. You must judge the target depths. I've hunted hard clay where coins were super deep, only because the soil held a lot of moisture/water and so got soupy and sunk stuff fast even though it's not in fine soil.
Too many people try to force a round peg into a square hole. Let the site talk to you based on how deep certain targets are. Digging zincs or clads at say 5 or 6" or more? Then good chance the silver might be twice that depth. But digging round tabs at same depth and no deeper? Suspect there might be a denser sub layer of soil. A trick I use for gold rings is to dig those "junk" signals deeper than the deepest of round tabs. Let the site tell you how deep stuff is, and how much deeper silver might be, and if you dig your deepest hole and hit clay or rock, chances are the silver is stopping at that level and not going deeper. If that depth (say south of 8" ) is within the range of most machines, stop wasting time looking for clean classic deep silver readings. Those are long gone. Start digging the iffy or one way coin hits most pass that could be silver masked or on edge. Even the best of machines to handle ground minerals max out at about 8 or perhaps 9". Beyond that it's digging the iffy stuff, and I don't care what machine you are talking about when it comes to some soils.
That's why I say take with a grain of salt depth reports. One machine in one place might easily hit a coin at say 9 or 10" or deeper, but at another site due to ground minerals 7 or 8" is pushing things. For years I owned many machines and the two best of those could only max about 7.5" on a silver dime in my soil. Sooner or later I did own a few machines that would go deeper in my soil, but even with those it's not common to dig a 8 or 9" dime with a solid hit all the time. Deepest coins I have dug with those are an 11" indian and v-nickle in two separate holes, but that was in prime wet ground conditions. At the same site in dry conditions I'm lucky to get a good signal on a wheat at around 8 or 9".