Critterhunter
New member
I don't know about you guys but with my DigiSearch meter on noise band 2 if the target sounds smooth and round and reads stable at 145 or 146 (most common, but I have dug a few that read down to 139 or so) then I almost bet money it's a nickle. I've noticed to that if the VDI changes a bit by say 2 or especially 3 numbers then when I dig it it almost always turns out to be oddly shaped trash. Being ununiform in shape targets will have trouble locking onto 1 or 2 VDI numbers. Really I think most of my nickles have locked onto just one number no matter what way I sweep (probably 145 is most common), but sometimes they's change by say a digit depending on which way I'm sweeping. I like to sweep around these targets from different angles, and if it changes by say 3 digits or more then it always turns out to be trash for me.
That's one of the perks about the Sovereign. It may have no coin resolution above a copper penny, but the low and mid range of targets all the way from tiny foil all the way up to copper penny is greatly expanded compared to other machines on the market. I'm not aware of any machine (? Somebody know of one?) that has as high of resolution in this range as the Sovereign. None that I've used or read specs closely on, anyway. I've noticed in the MXT/M6 forum that guys complain that they can't tell the difference in VDI numbers between nickles or tabs. Glad the Sovereign has this ability. At the place we've been hunting lately I've been killing nickles, and many old ones 4 to 5" deep or so...But no buffalos, Vs, or shields yet at this spot. Since barbers have been popped there I expect that to happen any time I dig a nickle number that is say 5" or deeper. Wheats seem to start at about 6" at this site, so right in there depth wise or deeper is where I'm expecting them to start showing up.
It's been obvious at many places I've hunted with the Sovereign by the number of nickles I'm digging that there aren't too many machines from the competition that has high enough resolution in the nickle VDI range to tell them apart from tabs, foil, and other junk. Does anybody know of any machines that do have this ability? Like I said, for the most part I haven't owned one that could do this like a Sovereign. Well, the 6000 Pro XL was close but I still dug more trash with that that read in the nickle range on it.
The other big perk of digging those singles I'm sure are going to be nickles is you never know when a gold ring might turn off. By my number crunching of the VDI of over 100 rings we sampled there really aren't more gold rings in the nickle range, but it's still more fun to bend down and dig the target when I should at least come up with a nickle, and maybe an old nickle. I think the old myth that most gold rings read in the nickle range was due to the poor resolution on many detectors over the years. In reality the "nickle zone" on many machines is including everything from foil to pull tabs. Thus how I think that old saying got started.
I suspect that some old Vs, Buffalos, and Shields might read as low as say 136 to 139 or so due to them degrading in the ground. On the other hand, I wonder if they develop a halo that might make some old nickles read even higher than say 146? Anybody?
That's one of the perks about the Sovereign. It may have no coin resolution above a copper penny, but the low and mid range of targets all the way from tiny foil all the way up to copper penny is greatly expanded compared to other machines on the market. I'm not aware of any machine (? Somebody know of one?) that has as high of resolution in this range as the Sovereign. None that I've used or read specs closely on, anyway. I've noticed in the MXT/M6 forum that guys complain that they can't tell the difference in VDI numbers between nickles or tabs. Glad the Sovereign has this ability. At the place we've been hunting lately I've been killing nickles, and many old ones 4 to 5" deep or so...But no buffalos, Vs, or shields yet at this spot. Since barbers have been popped there I expect that to happen any time I dig a nickle number that is say 5" or deeper. Wheats seem to start at about 6" at this site, so right in there depth wise or deeper is where I'm expecting them to start showing up.
It's been obvious at many places I've hunted with the Sovereign by the number of nickles I'm digging that there aren't too many machines from the competition that has high enough resolution in the nickle VDI range to tell them apart from tabs, foil, and other junk. Does anybody know of any machines that do have this ability? Like I said, for the most part I haven't owned one that could do this like a Sovereign. Well, the 6000 Pro XL was close but I still dug more trash with that that read in the nickle range on it.
The other big perk of digging those singles I'm sure are going to be nickles is you never know when a gold ring might turn off. By my number crunching of the VDI of over 100 rings we sampled there really aren't more gold rings in the nickle range, but it's still more fun to bend down and dig the target when I should at least come up with a nickle, and maybe an old nickle. I think the old myth that most gold rings read in the nickle range was due to the poor resolution on many detectors over the years. In reality the "nickle zone" on many machines is including everything from foil to pull tabs. Thus how I think that old saying got started.
I suspect that some old Vs, Buffalos, and Shields might read as low as say 136 to 139 or so due to them degrading in the ground. On the other hand, I wonder if they develop a halo that might make some old nickles read even higher than say 146? Anybody?
Jim