Critterhunter
New member
After just spending an hour or two digging through old threads looking for rare coil information, I started thinking about this. The Sovereign has been made in various renditions for what...20 years roughly? That's a heck of a lot of machines out there, and since they all are pretty close to each other in depth (meaning outstanding depth that is still setting standards to this day against the "competition"), I started to wonder just where all those machines have ended up over the years? Do you think many are still sitting in the aresenal of various detectorists who opt for one machine over another on any given day? There are guys out there that have a line up of machines and pick one over another for a day based on mood or conditions. Or, do you think some of those machines have been sold off to people who never really got the bug for detecting and are thus sitting in some dusty closet somewhere never to see day light again until an estate sale 40 years from now, or perhaps show up at the odd garage sale for pennies just because the guy who bought it never realized what a hard to find (used that is) and awesome detector it is? As many of us know Sovereigns are kind of hard to find used, and when you do find them they seem to have very good resale value. Sure, some of the early models are cheaper these days then they were, but in general they still sell for much more than another detector of that age. That should tell you something. And just look at the GT. I think it's still the hardest Minelab to find used. Up until a few months ago it was right up there with the Etrac is scarcity used, but not that the CTX is out I see a lot of Etracs for sale. Strangely though, still not too many GTs or Excals going on the auction block. Then there's the fact that used GTs have gone UP in price since the Minelab price increase. My GT with Digisearch meter I think I paid $650 for about three years ago and at the time I thought I got a good deal. I could be wrong but I think the going price for the GT and Digisearch meter used these days is like $800 to $850 or so? It seems to hold it's resale value much higher than say the Explorers for some odd reason.
But anyway, back to the topic of this thread...So where are all those machines now of various models? Where do you think they went? Not to mention I suspect there are many more secret Sovereign users out there then you suspect. Just look at how many people view threads in this forum versus make a post. The Sovereign is a low profile kind of un-assuming non-flashy kind of machine. I think that kind of image attracts people who like to fly under the radar. They know just what kind of raw power is under the hood of a Sovereign, so they quietly go about there hunting days digging great stuff and not wanting to call attention to themselves...Or this great machine that can do things that other machines just can't do in terms of raw depth, handling the worst of ground, or pulling coin signals out of iron with it's mysterious Iron Mask abilities that seem to do wonders for me anyway, even compared to fast machines I've owned.
What about all those odd or rare coils you hardly ever see? Where do you think those things ended up? Who's hoarding them?
I know of a few guys who supposedly hoard the old horseshoe crab style Excal coils because they rave about their stability. Even seen a few guys who put a coil plug on them so they could use them on land with their Sovereigns. That should tell you something. And then there's the 8" Coinsearch coils. People still rave about that first coil that came out on the first Minelab in terms of a great 8" coil that many felt was even better than the later heavy 8" BBS coil (not to be confused with the 8" Tornado which was better than the BBS model and also much lighter...And the 8" Coinsearch was a true 8" coil while the 8" BBS or Tornados are 7 & 1/4" and known for great seperation). What about the 11" Minelab Coinsearch coil that seems ultra rare? Wonder how well it performed? Seem to remember a blurb or two about it being a great coil. Who is hoarding those? What about the 12" solid S-12 coils too?
Just saying....where have all the Sovereigns and coils gone? What do you think? Me? I suspect there are more in use then we know. Guys who don't get involved in the flash or the model race. They just know what works and goes deeper than you could ever want to dig, so they quietly put on their camo and sneek out into the dark corners of detecting land, digging stuff up while everybody else wonders if anything else out there is any deep these days. Those who know...Those who have ran that rat race and compared and spent the time and money...Those are the guys who sit quietly in their room and read if the secret has finaly got out...And grind their teeth when they hear hints to that truth no longer being a well kept secret...
But anyway, back to the topic of this thread...So where are all those machines now of various models? Where do you think they went? Not to mention I suspect there are many more secret Sovereign users out there then you suspect. Just look at how many people view threads in this forum versus make a post. The Sovereign is a low profile kind of un-assuming non-flashy kind of machine. I think that kind of image attracts people who like to fly under the radar. They know just what kind of raw power is under the hood of a Sovereign, so they quietly go about there hunting days digging great stuff and not wanting to call attention to themselves...Or this great machine that can do things that other machines just can't do in terms of raw depth, handling the worst of ground, or pulling coin signals out of iron with it's mysterious Iron Mask abilities that seem to do wonders for me anyway, even compared to fast machines I've owned.
What about all those odd or rare coils you hardly ever see? Where do you think those things ended up? Who's hoarding them?
I know of a few guys who supposedly hoard the old horseshoe crab style Excal coils because they rave about their stability. Even seen a few guys who put a coil plug on them so they could use them on land with their Sovereigns. That should tell you something. And then there's the 8" Coinsearch coils. People still rave about that first coil that came out on the first Minelab in terms of a great 8" coil that many felt was even better than the later heavy 8" BBS coil (not to be confused with the 8" Tornado which was better than the BBS model and also much lighter...And the 8" Coinsearch was a true 8" coil while the 8" BBS or Tornados are 7 & 1/4" and known for great seperation). What about the 11" Minelab Coinsearch coil that seems ultra rare? Wonder how well it performed? Seem to remember a blurb or two about it being a great coil. Who is hoarding those? What about the 12" solid S-12 coils too?Just saying....where have all the Sovereigns and coils gone? What do you think? Me? I suspect there are more in use then we know. Guys who don't get involved in the flash or the model race. They just know what works and goes deeper than you could ever want to dig, so they quietly put on their camo and sneek out into the dark corners of detecting land, digging stuff up while everybody else wonders if anything else out there is any deep these days. Those who know...Those who have ran that rat race and compared and spent the time and money...Those are the guys who sit quietly in their room and read if the secret has finaly got out...And grind their teeth when they hear hints to that truth no longer being a well kept secret...
. HH Jim