Tell Us About Your "Trash" Signal That Turned Out To Be A Good Coin

[Critterhunter]

I posted a thread like this a while back in the main detecting forum and it was an interesting read to hear about those "junk" targets that turned out to be something good (mainly coins, but other items welcome). I figured I'd rather hear about fellow Sovereign owners who have had similar experiences with a "bad" or "trashy" signal that turned out to be a real keeper.

When posting your story let us know which coil you were using, the type of soil (minerals, etc), and any other important info such as how deep the coin or other target turned out to be. How did it respond for you on the VDI and by audio. What did you think it was going to be and what made you decide to dig it. Finally, why do you think it gave such a poor response? Was it masked by iron or some other non-ferrous junk? Did it have multiple coins in the same hole such as nickles that played havoc with the ID? Was it on edge, or was it so deep or in such bad ground that you feel that's why the ID and/or audio never was perfect. Stories like this help inspire those among us to dig those "beyond fringe" type of signals on days when that might be the only way we won't get skunked.

I'll start off with my own quick Sovereign story. A while back I was hunting along the side of a small river in the woods when I came across what I thought for sure was going to be a screw cap. You know the kind of response they give- Usually a 180 signal one way but sweeping the other way they can drop down a bit like to 176 or so. They normally have a sick or "warbly" sound to them that tips you off to the fact that it's going to be a screw cap. Since I was pretty far back in the woods and not seeing much in the way of signals (let alone screw caps) I figured I'd go ahead and dig it up. For some reason I was having trouble pin pointing it because my first plug didn't reveal the target. A little later a friend wandered by and so I asked him to check the signal out and to pin point it for me since he might have better luck. He swept over it and said "I'm getting a half dollar signal" and it sounds good to me. I told him to go ahead and dig it but he said no and that I should.

Since he was already bent down I jokingly said "you might as well dig it for me then" and he did. When he flipped out the plug we instantly saw a barber quarter laying on top of the ground having been thrown clear of the dirt. I told him it was his but he refused. Then I wondered why in the heck that quarter gave me such a sick sounding "screw cap" type signal, and also why I had trouble pinpointing it. I also wondered why it was reading "half" for him on his 6000 Pro XL. I swept back over the hole and was getting a very iffy "nickel" signal that sounded much deeper, like about 9 or 10" deep where as this quarter was found at about 6 or 7". The "nickel" signal was so bad and iffy that had I not found that quarter I wouldn't have dug that target on this already long day's hunt. It ended up being a buffalo nickle about 3" deeper or more than the quarter and off to the side by a few inches. I re-swept the hole after that and ended up with I think a wheat penny as well at the same depth of the buffalo.

I've got to possible reasons for the quarter sounding that bad. One, it was blending with the nickle and wheat, but that's unlikely since the quarter was much more shallow and also presented a larger target for the coil's field to hit first and only on. That also wouldn't explain why it read as a half for him. I doubt he was picking up the penny or the buffalo at that depth but even if he was the VDI scale probably should have went down and not up for him. But, those other targets probably do explain why I had missed with my first pinpoint. Still, I believe this quarter was probably laying on it's side because I have dug a few other silver quarters so far that were on edge and presented this screw cap like warbly signal. Most of the time in my tests a silver coin on edge will read perfectly just as if it was laying flat, but I'm sure at depth and in soil something like the above can happen to make them sound a little iffy like that.

So if you've got a story where a target made you wonder why in the heck it sounded or ID'd so bad I'd like to hear it. Also, did you re-sweep the hole to see if something else was present? After I recovered the three coins I found no iron or other metal that would explain the above response. I'm just glad the area wasn't loaded with screw caps because I probably wouldn't have dug that signal. It did sound better than most screw caps but it was still borderline to where I might not have dug it if a lot of other junk was present in that area.

 

[element]

similar thing happened to me once was out with a mate with an etrac. he asked me to check a signal.. It sounded scratchy to say the least and I remember saying I wouldnt dig that.... only way to see though was to dig it I thought.. so I did.... and it was an older 2p (our new uk 2p's are steel core with copper coating and do not give good signals or stable vdi) at about 10inches or so... nothing else in the hole or next to it (this was on beach btw). I was slightly confused by this and actually made me wonder how much good stuff I had missed because of not digging an iffy signal. Im guessing I was on the fringe of picking it up? It was in real black sand. bit of a weird one...

Ive also had multiple coins in the same whole and they give off a signal that sounds like a can.. as you probably know you can sometimes tell they are pocket spills by the slight difference in tones as you are sweeping but sometimes they are so close together the signal doesn't get a chance to drop off before hitting the next target..

 

[Mentez]

Not so much a trash signal, but I think this counts -

I was using a Garrett 150 treasure ace about 15 years ago and got a huge signal on a roman site. I dug down 5 inches..nothing. Then a foot...nothing. A couple of inches further and CLUNK. "Oh crap" I thought. I reached down and pulled up a foot long iron bolt. I was ranting about it to my friend who was standing next to me laughing when I looked into the hole and right under where the bolt had been was a Charles the first hammered silver sixpence date 1638. It was my turn to laugh . The Garrett would never have found that coin at more than 4 inches! The only time I was ever pleased digging up a lump of iron.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

I did not read your book posting, but did glance at it. I think after only 36 years under my belt. I can say this, if your relying on that darn meter to tell you its trash, then you missed a lot more stories you could be telling here! And I must now ask how do you know what you did not dig was trash? Very rarely do I not dig a signal, hence the name Buried Crap. But I have dug too many what may have been thought to be trash signals that turned out to be very deep silver coins. I don't use the meters on any of my machines first. I have cloth covers for them. I get the target/signa,l if its at all iffy, I work it through sound,sweep speed,angle,coil height. Then I look at the meter and dig. So I guess I use the meter to prove it was wrong more often than its right. So yes I have dug targets that were supposed be trash and turned out good. Back in 1993 I found a 1899 half 1/2 inch deep laying flat.It pinned meter, swamp the sound on a compass xp pro, thought it was another large can or metal plate that I already dug several that day. Just another reason to dig everything.

 

[Critterhunter]

Some good stories. Now that I think of it I think I posted this thread in this forum too a while back. No matter, it still spawned some new stories that were interesting to read.

Why do I rely on the meter and/or audio sometimes? Simply because if I was only going to hunt when I fully intended to dig any and all signals regardless of how bad they were then I'd be hunting a lot less often. There are just those days when you are too lazy to go out and dig any time the machine reacts in any manner at all. Also, if I'm hunting somebody's yard or say a public place where I might get hassled by the public or they'd call the cops if they saw me dig a hole every 3 feet then that's when it's a good idea as well to rely on the meter. There are days when I'm in the "dig it all" mentallity but as the day goes on my standards get higher as I get more tired, or as said if I feel the public has eyes on just what I'm doing to "their" park or such. Even on days when I'm being selective about target quality I usually set the bar somewhat low in that it needs to be say 60% "good" in the way of a signal for me to dig it. Depending on depth and soil conditions I'll raise or lower that standard, along with how much I've beat myself up hunting that day. For example, when the back gets a little sore I'll get more picky.

A few other short stories- Dug a rosie or a merc once that had a scratchy bottle cap sound to it. Turned out a galvanized roofing nail was laying right on top of it. Also dug a silver dime once that kept switching between sounding like total iron and silver. Turned out there was a hot rock a little smaller than the size of a marble laying right next to it in the hole.

The ones that really get me are the silver dimes, even shallow ones, that read like a zinc penny or at the very least like a copper penny. Either wear, angle in the ground, or mineral content can cause that, but I've mainly noticed that fooling my prior machines more than I have my Sovereign. I hate that feeling though when I've dug a silver dime that read like a penny and then realize I've got to now dig one hundred pennies out of the site so I don't risk missing silver. Again, mainly a problem for my prior machines at certain locations. What also kills me is those deep big/fat square tabs (like the first style made) that are 6" deep and read like a zinc or some indians. Digging those gets real old fast when the site has a lot of them.