Silver cache appears as an iron target!!! Wha...

relicswinger

Jr. Member
Jun 19, 2008
51
5
I have a GTP 1350 and an AT Pro.

Both of them will see a silver coin.

Neither of them will see 7 one ounce coins stacked in a pile.

They both see the pile as an iron target.

This is with both of them in Zero Discrimination (all metal mode) and other settings.

I may have ignored silver caches that appeared as iron targets.???

Any ideas out there???
 

BadM0nkey

Full Member
Apr 28, 2013
246
77
Andover, NJ
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75 SE Limited Edition
Garrett ProPointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a GTP 1350 and an AT Pro.

Both of them will see a silver coin.

Neither of them will see 7 one ounce coins stacked in a pile.

They both see the pile as an iron target.

This is with both of them in Zero Discrimination (all metal mode) and other settings.

I may have ignored silver caches that appeared as iron targets.???

Any ideas out there???

It's all about conductivity. A pile of anything will be different from a single one. Dig all targets.
 

badpenny

Sr. Member
Mar 28, 2013
456
171
NE PA
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I agree, if it is repeatable signal with no crackle or pops in it I dig it;... like Pop always said, "You never know when a blind squirrel will find an acorn?" And I'm still lookin'!
 

Digger2

Bronze Member
Apr 9, 2013
1,099
204
Vacherie Louisiana
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS,Garrett AT Pro, GTI 2500 ,
Minelab Explorer II
Garrett pointer
Garrett Pro Pointer
Detectorpro Uniprobe

Vibra-tector 730
Vibra-Probe 580
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
BadM0nkey;Dig all targets.[/QUOTE said:
I am finding that out the hard way!
 

OP
OP
R

relicswinger

Jr. Member
Jun 19, 2008
51
5
Facebookers have said that this could be the "signal wrap around" effect, where the signal goes past what the target is and shows a large iron plate as a silver cache indication.
They said to view the VDI numbers or the pixel indicators as a circle instead of a line. That is how the silver goes past the top of the scale and appears as iron.
I also have an email dialog going on with Sue at Garrett. She is checking with the engineers to check it out and get me some feedback.
With the AT Pro I'll be checking whether an iron is large by lifting the coil and if it is large, I'll dig.
All the while hoping that the iron indication turns out to be a silver cache...
 

WVPapaw

Sr. Member
Feb 22, 2013
348
100
Hills of WV
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold, pro pointer, and two dowsing rods.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Facebookers have said that this could be the "signal wrap around" effect, where the signal goes past what the target is and shows a large iron plate as a silver cache indication.
They said to view the VDI numbers or the pixel indicators as a circle instead of a line. That is how the silver goes past the top of the scale and appears as iron.
I also have an email dialog going on with Sue at Garrett. She is checking with the engineers to check it out and get me some feedback.
With the AT Pro I'll be checking whether an iron is large by lifting the coil and if it is large, I'll dig.
All the while hoping that the iron indication turns out to be a silver cache...

My AT gold shows big iron as silver and gold which makes me pass up some readings that I probably should have dug. I have learned to use iron audio to avoid digging iron, but now I wonder if it could be a silver cache that sounds like iron.
 

Last edited:

WVPapaw

Sr. Member
Feb 22, 2013
348
100
Hills of WV
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold, pro pointer, and two dowsing rods.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
And that is why i dig everything ! you should see my amazing collection of rusty nails !!

Exactly, but I have to admit I have dug a lot of what I thought would be silver to find sheet metal, pipes, and other iron objects. Aluminum cans are real screamers too.
 

gunsil

Silver Member
Dec 27, 2012
3,863
6,204
lower hudson valley, N.Y.
Detector(s) used
safari, ATPro, infinium, old Garrett BFO, Excal, Nox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Don't worry too much about having missed a large cache of coins. The chances of actually finding one in the ground without it being the specific target due to previous knowledge and research are slim to none, and Slim left town. We all dream about such a find, but if you are hunting parks, schools, and other public places it is pretty much just dreaming. If you are a true cache hunter you dig all targets that are large and don't care if they sound like iron. There were very few in ground caches made, most were inside structures like houses, and there hasn't been that much turmoil here as in Europe to make people bury their precious items every time a foreign army came through. Don't forget either, that there have been caches of coins that were buried in cast iron pots, so dig iron if you want that cache!! Good luck!!
 

WVPapaw

Sr. Member
Feb 22, 2013
348
100
Hills of WV
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold, pro pointer, and two dowsing rods.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Don't worry too much about having missed a large cache of coins. The chances of actually finding one in the ground without it being the specific target due to previous knowledge and research are slim to none, and Slim left town. We all dream about such a find, but if you are hunting parks, schools, and other public places it is pretty much just dreaming. If you are a true cache hunter you dig all targets that are large and don't care if they sound like iron. There were very few in ground caches made, most were inside structures like houses, and there hasn't been that much turmoil here as in Europe to make people bury their precious items every time a foreign army came through. Don't forget either, that there have been caches of coins that were buried in cast iron pots, so dig iron if you want that cache!! Good luck!!

Very good advice. I have three homesteads I am going to hunt. Two are on family property. The other belonged to a timber baron family back in the 1800s and the current owner invited me to hunt with him. These places could have caches, I suppose, so I will keep your advice in mind.There were no major civil war battles here to cause people to bury caches, but lots of people did not trust banks after the depression. I have heard it said but don't know how true it was that many old timers with big families were tired of grown children living off them, and consequently they hoarded money and did not tell anyone where their cache was hid.
 

OP
OP
R

relicswinger

Jr. Member
Jun 19, 2008
51
5
[h=5]I wrote on Facebook/Garrett:
Question for Garrett users...
My GTP 1350 (Zero mode, using Profiling) and AT Pro (I was using Pro-zero. Sensitivity minus 2. Ground balanced by pumping, setting at 75) both see an ounce silver coin without any problem.
However if I stack 7 of them together, both of the detectors see the stack as an iron target (no matter what settings they are set on).
So, if I'm searching and see an iron target, do I dig?
Any ideas why they are not indicating a silver cache?
So...
The answers that came in are:
From Sue at Garrett: "Metal detectors are designed to look for coin sized objects. When they see that much silver they can't identify it accurately. So dig everything"
From others on this site: "It is a 'wrap around effect'. When it sees a large target it slides the identity too far along the scale."
My take-away:
1. If I see a large target, no matter what the ID, I'm digging it. It could be a cache. To see if it is a large target, keep swinging the coil while raising it. Small objects will not be detected while the coil is near the ground, large objects will still be seen while the coil is high off the ground.
2. The ID will be inaccurate when the target is large. A silver cache will appear as iron and iron will appear as silver. This would be due to the ID sliding further to the right and if it goes off the scale on the right it shows up on the left side as if the scale is a circle rather than a line also known as wrapping around.
3. It makes me wonder if I have ignored caches in the past since they would have identified as iron... EEeek!!!
4. Always set up a test (bottle of silver coins if looking for a silver cache, etc) of what you are looking for and observe the indicators on the detector.
5. Always remember that the detector IS telling you what it is seeing. It is up to us to learn the language of the detector...[/h]
 

WVPapaw

Sr. Member
Feb 22, 2013
348
100
Hills of WV
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold, pro pointer, and two dowsing rods.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
[h=5]I wrote on Facebook/Garrett:
Question for Garrett users...
My GTP 1350 (Zero mode, using Profiling) and AT Pro (I was using Pro-zero. Sensitivity minus 2. Ground balanced by pumping, setting at 75) both see an ounce silver coin without any problem.
However if I stack 7 of them together, both of the detectors see the stack as an iron target (no matter what settings they are set on).
So, if I'm searching and see an iron target, do I dig?
Any ideas why they are not indicating a silver cache?
So...
The answers that came in are:
From Sue at Garrett: "Metal detectors are designed to look for coin sized objects. When they see that much silver they can't identify it accurately. So dig everything"
From others on this site: "It is a 'wrap around effect'. When it sees a large target it slides the identity too far along the scale."
My take-away:
1. If I see a large target, no matter what the ID, I'm digging it. It could be a cache. To see if it is a large target, keep swinging the coil while raising it. Small objects will not be detected while the coil is near the ground, large objects will still be seen while the coil is high off the ground.
2. The ID will be inaccurate when the target is large. A silver cache will appear as iron and iron will appear as silver. This would be due to the ID sliding further to the right and if it goes off the scale on the right it shows up on the left side as if the scale is a circle rather than a line also known as wrapping around.
3. It makes me wonder if I have ignored caches in the past since they would have identified as iron... EEeek!!!
4. Always set up a test (bottle of silver coins if looking for a silver cache, etc) of what you are looking for and observe the indicators on the detector.
5. Always remember that the detector IS telling you what it is seeing. It is up to us to learn the language of the detector...[/h]

I use a metal,rod for a probe to determine size of target and depth. it helps you to decide if you want to dig it or not. I usually don't if it is in an area that I know contains lots of buried junk. Now if in was in a homestead yard under a shade tree, that would be a different story. I would dig it.
 

paul of Penna

Jr. Member
Feb 1, 2011
75
15
PA
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Eldorado umax
Garrett AT PRO
Vibrapaobe Pinpointer
Whites Classic III
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Funny how a detector without an ID screen will just tell 'ya to dig it up! Less expensive machines still tell you it reads high.....it just does it cheaper, DIG ALL SIGNALS you can bare+1.
Paul of Penna
 

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