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X-Terra 30 Field Test Canadian Coins

I was given the opportunity to field test the new Minelab X-terra 30 and to evaluate it's performance on Canadian Coins.
In 1999 the Canadian Mint started changing the composition of the coins less than the $1 coin (1, 5,10 and 25 cent pieces) to electro-plated steel cores (mint mark 'P'). This explains why many modern metal detectors have difficulty finding the modern coins as they are usually discriminated out. Older Canadian coins (pre-1969) have high enough silver content to be located and locked onto, however as the years have passed, the metal content has changed and with each change more difficult to discern between a coin and junk. Most metal detectors can readily locate pre-1999 coins easily enough with some practice by the user.
I received the DVD prior to the detector, which gave me a little insight on the newest model from Minelab. Upon receiving the detector and assembling it, various coin were air tested to check the response of the detector. A 1" (25.4mm) thick slab of wood (Canadian soft-wood pine) was placed on the floor with the various denominations of coins on top. This provided a sufficient barrier to any steel within the floor slab.
The following is a list of the responses to the post 1969 and pre-1999 coins:
1 cent: 36-40
5 cent: 16
10cent: bounce between 32 and 36
25 cent: 40
$1.00 (loonie) bounce between 36 and 40
$2.00 (toonie) 36

I then collected the same denominations in post 1999 coins with the 'P' mint mark on them except for the $1 and $2 coins. The results were similar to the above, but the signals were not solid and more erratic, kinda like our government.
1c : 28-32
5c: 36-40
10c: 32-36
25c: 32-36
$1: 36-40
$2: 36
One thing to note, the $1 and $2 signals did not change, but I did note that a modern $1 coin is worth (signals) the same as a pre 1999 penny. Interesting.
Today was the field test, and it couldn't have been a more Canadian day, overcast, snowing and -3degrees Celsius (26.6F). That was the high for today. There was just a slight snow cover on the ground.
The ground was not yet frozen however, so digging was easy.
After a quick scan of my front yard that has been well worked by a bounty hunter tracker IV, Whites XLT, Garrett 450Ace, Sovereign XS2pro and Excalibur 1000, this little machine surprised the heck out of me by revealing a silver 1954 10cent piece, two pre-1999 cents and a pre-1999 25cent. WOW! I was sure there was nothing left in that ground.
Energized by these results I headed to a local park that is well worked by local detectorists, but well used in the summer hosting a variety of events.
Seeing as how I was after modern coins, I set the sensitivity down to 5 and started swinging. Initially I dug any signal that read 8 and over. Due to the erratic results of the air test, I was not concerned too much with focusing on "solid" sounding signals, just taking note of the number reading on the meter.
Within an hour, I took note of the following:
12-16 readings could get me pop (soda) can tabs and bottle caps.
28-32 irregular readings were bits of aluminum
32-36 signal was an American dime (YAHOOOOO!)
36-40 Canadian 10c
36-40 Canadian 1c
36-40 loonie
36 toonie
It is difficult to tell if the snow on the ground and detector made any difference in the variability of the readings, but it did not take long to learn this detector. In no time I was ignoring the "junk" numbers and concentrating on anything that registered between 32 and 40, even it it jumped around a bit, and any "ring" sounding 16-20ish readings.
The total take in 2 1/2 hours detecting was as follows:
(25) 1c
(4) 5c
(10) 10c
(2) 25c
(2) 1$
(1) 2$ for a total of $5.95.
Other items were a piece of a decorative brass thing, a brass nut, a hunk of lead (possibly .22 bullet deformed), and half a dozen pop (soda) can tabs. All targets were within 4 inches of the surface with most of them just under the grass roots, making recovery a snap with my hand-held pinpointer.
Speaking of pinpointing, this feature on the X-terra is excellent. Every time the coin was found within the center of the coil, which is a great time saver.
As I have said, this park gets hit regularly by detectorists. I noticed many fresh dug holes and plugs during my time there, and this can account for the low numbers of 25c, $1, and $2 coins since many coin shooters "cherry pick" going for the bigger denominations.
This was however, a new record for 10c coins for me. They are so light and small that many detectors pass them by or they sound like junk to the user. So that was a bonus.
All in all, I must say that using this detector was alot of fun to use, and extremely easy to learn. Minelab has filled a special niche in the detector market with this machine.
After the field test, I went home and took my two boys (8 and 10) out with it and we took turns finding 1 and 10c coins. It is a fun and simple machine to use, very accurate, light and versitile.
More tests to come!
 
I found a Canadian dime and nickel last week.They were God awful signals.Erratic is the best way to describe it.I think my detector was reacting positive to the shape and negative to the metal content.Kind of like a bottle cap,but stronger.I would hate trying to detect those things all day.Dave
 
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