Why do I find so few nickels...?

[Ron from Michigan]

The Sovereign is one of the best nickle detectors,but a 180 meter must be used.Example a modern nickle at 147,most Jeffersons 144-145,Buffalos143,V nickles 142,Shields 142-141 and War nickles 150-151.All these nickle signals on the Sovereign will have a solid tone.There is a little more thrash in the nickle zone.Good Luck Ron

 

[fwcrawford]

The Sovereign GT is very good at locating and finding nickels especially if you have a meter on it.
My buddy has a DFX and he finds lots of nickels with it.
Possibly not many nickels where you are hunting.. they will read in the trash range, but like I said, with a meter, you should have no problem finding them without having to dig alot of trash.

 

[Critterhunter]

Yes, nickle hunting is cake with the Sovereign and a meter. Around 143 to 147 VDI #, but probably like 144 or 145 being most common # at most site. It should lock onto one or at the most two VDI #s no matter which way you sweep. If it changes by 3 or more it's probably odd shaped trash. The audio should also sound "round" and not funky. Tabs start at about 148 or 149 and go up to 169 so they are easy to avoid while digging nickles or hoping for a gold ring in the nickle zone. Foil starts at about VDI# 60 and maybe ranges at the most up to about 114 or so no matter how large it is from my experience, but have to admit I haven't been digging foil signals much over the past year hoping for a gold ring. Usually foil will sound fuzzy or sick while a gold ring reading that low will sound warm, smooth, round, etc...and lock onto one or two VDI #s.

 

[Nock]

Today i went out and found 5 nickels and 1 dime in the same hole, that was a cool little dig.

 

[matthias]

Nice job Nock! HH. Matt

 

[Critterhunter]

There is a thread going on right now in either the Etrac or Explorer forum about finding gold rings that read the same as a nickle. Good inspiration to dig those nickle readings. Even if I'm just old coin shooting, which is mostly what I do, I always dig any deep or shallow nickle readings in the hopes of an old nickle or perhaps a gold ring. Since the ID resolution in that range is so high on the Sovereign, I can at least count on it being a modern nickle and not a tab or other junk 7 times out of 10 or so, and somehow knowing that I should at least come up with a modern nickle for my effort makes it worth taking a chance on those.