That Silver Coin Wasn't Even Masked Or All That Deep, But It Read Lower Than Silver, Or For Some Odd Reason Gave A Junky Signal. Got Any Stories Like

[Critterhunter]

I've dug my share of silvers over the years that read like wheat pennies or zincs, and even a few that read down in the pull tab range, but didn't have any trash around them to cause that. Some of these were caused by the soil matrix such as it containing certain minerals which brought down conductivity values of targets, and some others such as silver dimes read lower into the penny range because they were very worn, but just the same I've dug some perfect silver dimes in the past that just read lower on the scale for some reason.

Anybody got any stories to share?

 

[dirt doctor]

I've found well worn and crusty silver dimes that went as low as zinc but no lower .Also are you using a different size coil than what the manufacturer sold it with the unit ?

 

[Hank68]

How did they read after you got them out of the ground , as testing them with your coil.

 

[Elton]

Was due to the dry ground, and maybe a slightly slanted coin..with a smidgen of some rusted out item in the dirt.

 

[thump7]

About half of the half dimes I found gave a poor, broken signal. Out of the ground they read crisp and clean.

 

[Critterhunter]

Good conversation. Keep it coming.

Yes, a worn dime can easily read as low as a wheat or even as low as a zinc in some situations. I've dug mercs at one site that all read at around the zinc penny to even down into the high pulltab range. No trash masking them. It was just the perfect storm in terms of dry ground and mineralized soil. On the other hand, there are odd situations where wet soil can actually seem to give less depth or as reliable of a target ID as dry. Though rare to happen, I have read others say this. I believe it might have something to do with the "brew" of minerals and iron in the soil, where when wet there might be some kind of reaction going on...Maybe due to the rain being charged (or ionized) in some odd way like say due to a thunderstorm. Then again, here and there in the past I've read where guys say they swear they get deeper/stronger signals when a storm front is approaching, perhaps due to the atmospher being charged in some way.

No opinion on this either way myself, as I'm pretty much a true believer that wet soil will give you the most depth and the best target IDs.

 

[BarberBill]

Got a signal one time near a park swing that read as trash, sounded a bit different than most trash, but not solid like a goodie either. Walked on past, thought about it, went back and dug. Turned out to be a very shallow, silver scotty dog charm from a charm bracelet. The sound was just different enough from what I usually expect that curiosity turned me around to retrieve the target. Glad I did.
BB