What would I expect to see?

[Roland58]

Hi All,
I'm trying to help a lady that lost an engagement ring about a year ago. She is quite sure of the area, about 60' x 12', where the ring was dropped by a dog that snatched it from the hand of the dog's owner. The lady was showing it to her friend with the dog. The dog ran off and they both saw where he dropped it, but, it was in some tall grass in a ditch line and could not be found.
It will be a small, platinum ring with diamonds all around. I have nothing to compare it to, so, I can only guess that it is going to ID in the foil range, say 16-28 on the VDI and should (heavy on the 'should') remain rather steady. I still need to clear the area of a foot of wet leaves and shredded aluminum, as best I can. Hopefully, I can help her out.
Am I in the ball park for the VDI??

[Charlie P. (NY)]

VDI is a relative scale. It would help if you told us which detector you were using. So I'm guessing the F75 from your user ID?

If your scale displays 0 to 99 a gold ring ought to be 25 to 55 depending on karat and size, shape.

[Roland58]

Thanks for the quick response, Charlie. You are correct about my detector, it is, as shown in my info.......an F75 Standard. It is my first detector and I have had it about a year (little over).

As small as this lady is, I'm thinking I'm going to be on the low end of the scale.....right in there with aluminum sherds. Oh well, dig it all and see what happens. I know she would be so incredibly happy to see it come home. I'll give it a few hard efforts, at least, before I call it a 'done deal.'

Thanks again.

[limegoldconvertible68]

I have seen engagement rings that ID as low as 18 with most reading only as high as 22.

[Sandman]

The dog might have not dropped it either so it could be anywhere he takes a dump. Use all metal and dig everything as it could be near other metal and be masked. Why I like Minelabs is they ignore iron and still report on gold rings with nails thru them.

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

I would guess 16-38 but it could be anywhere since gold has many alloys in it. I would dig it all. Good luck!!

[Roland58]

The dog might have not dropped it either so it could be anywhere he takes a dump. Use all metal and dig everything as it could be near other metal and be masked. Why I like Minelabs is they ignore iron and still report on gold rings with nails thru them.

A big "thank you" to all responders, you confirmed my suspicions and, yes, I will be digging all signals, if for no other reason, to remove any trash that may be interfering with the desired target.

Sandman, maybe I'm not understanding your post, but, the F75 can notch out iron and pick up other signals below it. In fact, in all metal mode and not using 'notch', I found a very rusted and deteriorated tin plate in pieces reading 6 to 12 VDI, with a solid 36 VDI coming in and out as I moved my coil. About 4 inches below the remains of the tin plate (which was about 4" down itself), I uncovered a beautiful old signet ring in solid 18K+ with a very smooth "T" or maybe "J" initial and a small diamond mounted on onyx. Judging from the smoothness of the ring (most of the design detail was worn away), the ring was worn frequently and it looks quite old by design.....it is solid inside. I know my F75 Standard is not the best detector in the world, but, it is way ahead of most. ( I do have a Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 that has never been used! , maybe I should be using it??)