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Using Coin Probe
- Thread starter Magicman
- Start date
gordygroover
New member
for now it has just been an old welding rod with the flux broken off and the last three inches bent over 90 degrees to form a handle.
I have a metal probe,but do not use it much.What if you are in an old park,private yard,etc and you use the probe to locate the target then when you dig that target it is a very fine silver half(or any other nice old coin) with a probe scratch or punch hole on it?
My best advice would be to use your detector to pin point it,then dig around the target to remove it from the ground.Also,you would be better off using a White's Bullseye or similar pin pointer to help locate it.The only time I use a probe is when I know the coins I'll be finding are going to be something from the 70s and up.
The probe I have is made from an 8" thin shafted screwdriver with the tip ground round and a 1" wooden dowel glued and screwed to the handle to make it a "T".
Waterbug
My best advice would be to use your detector to pin point it,then dig around the target to remove it from the ground.Also,you would be better off using a White's Bullseye or similar pin pointer to help locate it.The only time I use a probe is when I know the coins I'll be finding are going to be something from the 70s and up.
The probe I have is made from an 8" thin shafted screwdriver with the tip ground round and a 1" wooden dowel glued and screwed to the handle to make it a "T".
Waterbug
Wishful-thinker
New member
I went to a hardware store and asked them to order me a 1' piece of brass 1/4" key stock.
When i get it I'm going to lathe it round and add a handle.
Right now I use a 14" piece of fiberglass from a kite sharpened on one end and a screwdriver handle on the other....
When i get it I'm going to lathe it round and add a handle.
Right now I use a 14" piece of fiberglass from a kite sharpened on one end and a screwdriver handle on the other....
I am a shallow park hunter.
My probe of choice is an ice pick.
I just tap at the surface where the pinpoint says the target is located.
Usually it's within an inch of where I think it is.
If I don't find it with light pressure very near the surface, I repeat my pattern, pushing harder and deeper.
Then I slice the turf for about 2" or so, reach beneath the target and pop it up and out.
It is a guaranteed method to destroy the value of almost any quality find.
And, I'm healing from stabbing my finger, as I type this.
I would advise use of an electronic pinpointer or a non-marking probe.
If your turf will take a flap cut, it is a far superior method to 'popping', as I do.
A plug, or flap will usually not work in my locations, as even after sprinklers have been on, it's only wet 1/2" down.
HH
Recovers Many Pull Tab Relics
My probe of choice is an ice pick.
I just tap at the surface where the pinpoint says the target is located.
Usually it's within an inch of where I think it is.
If I don't find it with light pressure very near the surface, I repeat my pattern, pushing harder and deeper.
Then I slice the turf for about 2" or so, reach beneath the target and pop it up and out.
It is a guaranteed method to destroy the value of almost any quality find.
And, I'm healing from stabbing my finger, as I type this.
I would advise use of an electronic pinpointer or a non-marking probe.
If your turf will take a flap cut, it is a far superior method to 'popping', as I do.
A plug, or flap will usually not work in my locations, as even after sprinklers have been on, it's only wet 1/2" down.
HH
Recovers Many Pull Tab Relics
magicman if i were going to use a coin probe,i would buy one from a manufacturer,i bought one at one time i forget were but there out there, it was like an 8 inch with a brass ball at the end(no pun intended).i think they advertise that it will not scratch the coins etc.that way if it did ruin a coin you could at least have some one to blame! HH!
Here's my two cents worth.
I don't want to damage my finds with a probe.
I've used screw drivers, brass rod and other
materials. None were any better than the tip
of my digger.
But here's a better idea
Take a broken or otherwise useless fiberglass fishing rod.
Find the diameter you want at the end of your probe and
cut it off there.
Then measure the total length you want your probe to be,
and cut it off.
Make a handle with tape or something and round off the
smaller end with sandpaper.
Congratulations. You have just made the best probe money
can't buy. This probe is safe, and, if you brake it or ware it
out. There's a life time warranty.
I warranty that you will never run out of old fishing rods...
HH,
I don't want to damage my finds with a probe.
I've used screw drivers, brass rod and other
materials. None were any better than the tip
of my digger.
But here's a better idea
Take a broken or otherwise useless fiberglass fishing rod.
Find the diameter you want at the end of your probe and
cut it off there.
Then measure the total length you want your probe to be,
and cut it off.
Make a handle with tape or something and round off the
smaller end with sandpaper.
Congratulations. You have just made the best probe money
can't buy. This probe is safe, and, if you brake it or ware it
out. There's a life time warranty.
I warranty that you will never run out of old fishing rods...
HH,
BarberBill
New member
I don't use a probe all the time, but when I do I use a commercially built one with a ball on the tip. So far haven't scratched any coins and it works pretty well. I worry more about using a screwdriver to pop the coin out of the ground if it isn't very deep. My two bits.
HH
BB
HH
BB
Golden Silver
New member
It looks like you (and others) read my 1990s article in TREASURE FACTS! 
Golden Silver
[quote tabdog]Here's my two cents worth.
I don't want to damage my finds with a probe.
I've used screw drivers, brass rod and other
materials. None were any better than the tip
of my digger.
But here's a better idea
Take a broken or otherwise useless fiberglass fishing rod.
Find the diameter you want at the end of your probe and
cut it off there.
Then measure the total length you want your probe to be,
and cut it off.
Make a handle with tape or something and round off the
smaller end with sandpaper.
Congratulations. You have just made the best probe money
can't buy. This probe is safe, and, if you brake it or ware it
out. There's a life time warranty.
I warranty that you will never run out of old fishing rods...
HH,[/quote]
Golden Silver
[quote tabdog]Here's my two cents worth.
I don't want to damage my finds with a probe.
I've used screw drivers, brass rod and other
materials. None were any better than the tip
of my digger.
But here's a better idea
Take a broken or otherwise useless fiberglass fishing rod.
Find the diameter you want at the end of your probe and
cut it off there.
Then measure the total length you want your probe to be,
and cut it off.
Make a handle with tape or something and round off the
smaller end with sandpaper.
Congratulations. You have just made the best probe money
can't buy. This probe is safe, and, if you brake it or ware it
out. There's a life time warranty.
I warranty that you will never run out of old fishing rods...
HH,[/quote]
Golden Silver
New member
It is definitely a good feeling when your probe touches whatever the detector signaled on. However, pinpointing first makes it easier to find, instead of just stabbing the ground hoping to hit it as the more you stab with a fiberglass probe the faster it wears out. My fiberglass probes were used in mostly city parks which are not as gravel filled or rocky. You'll find those conditions in natural settings. Parks are mostly artificial, at least in big cities. If you're gonna go the fiberglass probe, buy as many used solid fishing rods (or kite ribs) as you can and store them until needed as a probe will last a few months depending on the frequency of detecting.
It would be frustrating, as you state, to use a fiberglass probe or any probe on gravel or rocky soils. For that you need heavy-duty metal trowels or whatever you have handy.
Retrieving an undamaged coin is so satisfying.
It would be frustrating, as you state, to use a fiberglass probe or any probe on gravel or rocky soils. For that you need heavy-duty metal trowels or whatever you have handy.
Retrieving an undamaged coin is so satisfying.
scubadetector
New member
I use a probe on shallow targets only. I actually made my own simular to ones above. I buy 3/16 welding brass rod and porcalin handles at Lowes. I then cut the rod as long as I want the probe and thread it with a die. Then screw on the handle. As I said I only have done this for very shallow targets down to about 3" I also don't want to damage any coins. You can make 4 probes out of 6 - 8 dollars that work just fine.
Golden Silver
New member
[quote tabdog]n/t[/quote]
My good man (or THer), there's no need to be sorry. You got a great idea and acted on it. Then you shared it and others will benefit from your idea. I didn't originate fiberglass probes, I may have read about it. But then again, I don't remember. In 1993 I decided to share my idea and make a few bucks at the same time so I wrote the article with photos.
Basically, I saw solid (as opposed to hollow) fiberglass fishing poles in a thrift store for a buck or two and bought 'em. I cut the poles into 12" sections, discarded the tip section 'cause it was too flexible and kept the other sections. I removed the hardware (those rings for the fishing line). Then I went to one of those Home Depot-type places and bought a couple of file wood handles. And some white Elmer's glue. I sanded the thicker end of the fishing pole's sections and repeatedly inserted it into the handle's hole until the pole section fit into the hole all the way. Once that was done I filled the handle's hole almost to the top with the glue and gently inserted the pole section into the handle. You'll get some glue overflow but it's not problem so don't fill the hole. I rocked the pole section while in the hole to make sure the glue went down all of the way and set the whole thing in a corner with the pole up, of course. It took a couple of days for the glue to dry and off we went detecting and probing knowing the end of scratched coins was over. Here's a photo of some of my efforts which appeared in the article. BTW, some poles come with a cork handle. Use it as is. That's a 12" ruler for reference.
My good man (or THer), there's no need to be sorry. You got a great idea and acted on it. Then you shared it and others will benefit from your idea. I didn't originate fiberglass probes, I may have read about it. But then again, I don't remember. In 1993 I decided to share my idea and make a few bucks at the same time so I wrote the article with photos.
Basically, I saw solid (as opposed to hollow) fiberglass fishing poles in a thrift store for a buck or two and bought 'em. I cut the poles into 12" sections, discarded the tip section 'cause it was too flexible and kept the other sections. I removed the hardware (those rings for the fishing line). Then I went to one of those Home Depot-type places and bought a couple of file wood handles. And some white Elmer's glue. I sanded the thicker end of the fishing pole's sections and repeatedly inserted it into the handle's hole until the pole section fit into the hole all the way. Once that was done I filled the handle's hole almost to the top with the glue and gently inserted the pole section into the handle. You'll get some glue overflow but it's not problem so don't fill the hole. I rocked the pole section while in the hole to make sure the glue went down all of the way and set the whole thing in a corner with the pole up, of course. It took a couple of days for the glue to dry and off we went detecting and probing knowing the end of scratched coins was over. Here's a photo of some of my efforts which appeared in the article. BTW, some poles come with a cork handle. Use it as is. That's a 12" ruler for reference.
