Why do I find so few nickels...?

[matthias]

Am I missing something here? It just seems I only find quarters, dimes and lots of pennies. I found my first Buffalo nickel a couple weeks ago but it was at the bottom of a coin spill with a '59 Rosie on the top of the spill. What does your experience say? This happens on both my Sovereign GT and my DFX. Thanks. HH. Matt

 

[Rob (IL)]

On the DFX they read about 19 or 20. This also is the same as some pull tabs. If you want nickels you will also have to dig some tabs. Many guys ignore them, which leaves more for me. They hit has well as all the other coins.

 

[Thound]

I actually find as many nickles as I do quarters and I think the reason is that a lot of people cheerypick the quarters and pass on the nickles because they are in the pulltab range.I also find a lot of coin spills because they sound like crap and most people would just walk away.Seems there is more cheery pickin going on these days as in years past I found more quarters than nickles. I don't really care though cause I just dig the coins because they fall in the jewelery range. HH

 

[Digger 45]

Had a 22-23 signal yesterday, dug it and it was a 14k cross small about 1" by 1" but had 14k on the ring at the top of the cross so if you don't want to dig the low signals thats fine with me!!

 

[mudpuppy]

Its probably a mixture of the above mentioned items, plus they are just not as common in change anymore since the advent of the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray at the stores. Every once in a while a fellow will stumble upon a schoolyard loaded with nickles, so I would venture a guess that theres a vending machine that spits them out as change for items listed at 45c, or 20c or whatever...I've been really trying to concentrate on nickle signals though, and when you do you will find more of them, I seem to find lots of dimes for some reason, though of course pennys are the main volumn of most of my hunts...

 

[Elton]

Or you are not digging the targets when they hit..................[attachment 233743 gdpit_com_96762789_223.gif]
Can you tell us a little more about the areas you detect.And your settings..

 

[Larry (IL)]

Am I missing something here?

Yea, you are missing the nickels silly.............

Put a nickel on the ground and see what VDI they come is as and dig those numbers. Deeper nickels will vary somewhat in VDI so if you get a deep signal that might be slightly higher VDI, I would dig those too.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

several reasons..1-copper coins scream on most machines whereas nickle { assuming nickles are still made from nickle} gives a softer signal..2-nickles fall into the pulltab range and most people give up on those signals after a couple dozen pulltab recoveries... 3-i dont believe nickles read as well when deep as compared to copper coins thus when it comes to nickles you are actually loosing depth as compared to a zinc pennies which i find to be the easiest coin to sound off at maximum depth... 4-just check your own pockets at the end of the day,chances are you will have more pennies than any other coin as everything we buy has tax on it...followed by quarters an dimes in quanity and last but not least many days i notice no nickles in my end of the day ...nickles are probably the least circulated of the common coinage....just my 2 cents worth....

 

[matthias]

Thanks guys for the answers. They all make sense and have given me something to think about. Figures tho...today I found one nickel with my GT. I could tell by the tone it was something different. I did pass on a lot of tab signals with my DFX...hmmmm...maybe not anymore! Thanks. HH. Matt

 

[geodehunter]

Matt, On my DFX they will come it anywhere from 18 to 22. Just dug another one about 20 minutes ago. it was 19 to 20. Hope this helps.

 

[Critterhunter]

Surprised your having trouble with nickles on your GT, because I find I'm digging more nickles than ever with it. They're easy thanks to the high VDI resolution it has in the foil range (starts at about 60) all the way up to copper pennies, which of course read 180. Nickles will usually read around 142 to 146 for me (using noise band 2 on the GT as band 1 can make them read a bit different as it adjusts mid range target numbers a bit...all the charts use band 2). Anyway, they'll either lock onto 1 or maybe at the most 2 VDI #s no matter which way you sweep over them, and of course they'll have a nice smooth "round" sound to them like a gold ring would too. If the VDI changes by say 3 or more digits as you sweep at different angles then it's probably going to be junk, especially oddly shaped junk. Pulltabs will read around 149 to 169 on the VDI, so it's real easy to avoid those unless they are cut in half badly or something. In fact, most identical tabs I find will read the same ID # as each other even if one is bent or crushed a good bit compared to an identical one that isn't. I'm finding tons of nickles 4 or 5" deep at pounded out sites, indicating people are hitting those spots but not digging the nickles because they might not be able to tell them from other things on their VDI. I've dug my share of war nickles, Vs, and buffalos with the GT too. Just waiting on that first shield nickle.

Just remember, a VDI of around 142 to 146 (most probably read 144, 145, or 146...can't remember which two exactly right now are the most common), and the VDI should lock onto one or at the most maybe two numbers no matter which way you sweep over it. If it changes by 3 or more chances are it's trash. The audio should sound nice and "round" and smooth too. If it does, and the VDI is 1 or 2 digits, then I'll bet it's a nickle every time and it usually is.

Some old nickles can read as low as like 136 on the chart depending on the soil they've been soaking in and how bad of shape they are in, but then I've dug my share of old Vs or buffalos in pretty bad shape that still read right in that 144 to 146 or so range, maybe a few at 142 or 143.

 

[matthias]

Hey Critter. I no longer use a meter. Today's nickel hit hard and had a lower range tone. I knew it was something good. Had the S-5 coil going as usual. Slow and low as usual. Got lots of clad today too. Thank you for the additional info guys! HH. Matt

 

[Critterhunter]

Not using a meter?! Man, I can't live without my meter. Of course I go by the audio first, and only look at the meter as a final clue as to the target's ID. If anything a meter helps to split hairs on stuff when you want to be real picky about say not digging a certain few tab #s while digging everything else. Can't imagine hunting without it. Only time my meter stays home is when I chest mount the control box and go water hunting. Then it's scoop everything of course.

 

[WV62]

Hey Critter. I no longer use a meter. Today's nickel hit hard and had a lower range tone. I knew it was something good. Had the S-5 coil going as usual. Slow and low as usual. Got lots of clad today too. Thank you for the additional info guys! HH. Matt

I was going to suggest just going with the audio, but I know the guys are kind of tired of hearing me talk about beep and dig. I have a couple of nice meter machines but I set the disc to take in what I want to find and most of the time I will dig off the audio and just use the meter to get a better idea what may be down there. I like to use the depth info from the meter when I am hunting old coins and have some idea how deep they are running. I have been working a park and started finding silver with readings 6" or more.

Some of those tabs could be nickels and could also be gold.

So if you are digging nickels you will have a better chance of getting into the medium size gold rings. The small gold will come in between iron and nickels.

Good luck with those nickels,
Ron in WV

 

[TerraDigger]

As others have said, on most machines, nickels will have ID number variance. Unlike copper or silver which can give unwavering ID's. I think even when hunting to allow for nickels, they get passed up because its not a 'solid' hit.

 

[slingshot]

I noticed no one told about the nickels that fall in the foil range. They usually have a dark, yucky coating on them. My Compadre hits nickels like crazy because I never use above iron nail reject in likely locations.

 

[GoVidGo]

my GF notches out nickles on my AT Pro when she goes out and uses it it because she hates pull tabs....

she has found many quarters, dimes, pennies, gold engagement ring, silver Irish ring, 1880's bras military button, silver coins, BUT... has found '0' nickels! yeah!

 

[sheetal]

I would like to suggest , the date on the buffalo nickel was placed in a bad spot and was easily worn away then the coin hit circulation. that's why almost everybody who own circulated a buffalo nickel is going to have a coin with a date that is just barely legible.

 

[wasp]

Matt, my nickel count these days is generally close to 9% of the total number of coins I dig. And I dig a lot of tabs. With my DFX I try to dig any signals between 14 and 25 if the ground isn't too trashy. I am more picky with anything over or under that is either not in the coin ranges or is not a good solid repeatable hit.

In the past I have checked my pocket change after letting it accumulate on my dresser for a while. The percentage of nickels in my change was about the same as what I dig. So maybe they aren't there in great numbers to start with.

 

[GunnarMN]

my GT was good at nickles, but they did come in lowere sounding and may have apperad as can slaw, the gold bug loves them .