Is it me or the MXT?

[TooManyHobbies]

I've found over 30 wheats so far this year, and only one lone barber dime (1905s). Why can't I find a silver coin? I keep telling myself "it's averages", the silver will come and avg out, but I think my mouth is lying to my brain.

 

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[UncleVinnys]

Probably "None of the above."
I've had an MXT for over a year now and have NEVER found a silver coin.
Of course, here in Calif. we don't have the long history of the eastern states.

Couple things.
1. Metal detector have been around for decades now, and many places
are fished out of silver.
2. The silver coins, from what I hear from club members, are generally
deep - 6 to 10 inches, so you need a good sized coil or a DD coil.
Everyone I know uses the White's 6x10-inch DD coil, and that works well,
but some go for even bigger coils.
3. Going deep is a different ball game. I'd suggest when you find
an area where there are 60's pennies, to slow down, do a methodical,
overlapping scan with the detector, and listen for the faint signals.

Good luck!

 

[luvsdux]

It's not the MXT, nor are you somehow not a silver magnet. Be persistent and when you pass the coil over one of the declining number of silver coins, you'll dig silver. In parks and other popular detecting areas, the days of easily pulling up silver coins are definitely in decline.
Hang in,
Bill

 

[extractor]

Keep looking , it will find you some.

 

[mlayers]

25 years ago I found plenty of silver coins. But the last couple years I have only found 6 silver dimes. So I just don't think the silver is out there like it was 25 to 30 years ago. I am sure if you get to a site where silver is you will find it. Good luck.....Matt

 

[TooManyHobbies]

LOL, I'm just glad it ain't me. Still holding at 31/1 (wheats/silver). Thanks all for the encouragement. Maybe I should count it as 2 IH/1 Barber. Sounds better.

 

[bazinga]

If you are hunting parks / public places, then get a better machine.

Then you will start making the silver finds. It really is that simple.

I don't hunt as much as I would like, but I can't remember the last time I saw a non explorer/etrac/dfx or other expensive machine find a silver coin in a public place. There is a real reason why people upgrade. So if you can afford to do so, then by all means do it.

Then sell the mxt (or keep as a backup / field machine). And after you have a handful of silver at the end of the year, send me a rosie. haha

 

[TooManyHobbies]

If you are hunting parks / public places, then get a better machine.

Really My MXT isn't good enough? Maybe I'll just get a sniper coil for the parks and not spend a thousand dollars on a new machine. Meanwhile I'll just keep swinging away and hope to swing my coil over a silver coin. Thanks.
BTW, my buddies Ace250 has found 4 silver quarters in the last three weeks to my one barber dime. I don't think it's the price of the machine but swinging over the right target and digging it.

 

[bazinga]

If you are hunting parks / public places, then get a better machine.

Really My MXT isn't good enough? Maybe I'll just get a sniper coil for the parks and not spend a thousand dollars on a new machine. Meanwhile I'll just keep swinging away and hope to swing my coil over a silver coin. Thanks.
BTW, my buddies Ace250 has found 4 silver quarters in the last three weeks to my one barber dime. I don't think it's the price of the machine but swinging over the right target and digging it.

Keep thinking that then. And you will keep coming home with a couple of wheats. Unless you hit loaded parks, then you generally need a better machine. Not just for the depth, for the ability to discriminate between targets.

But remember, you came here asking why you aren't finding silver. And I gave you the simplest answer of all. There is a reason why most people eventually upgrade to higher performing machines.

 

[bazinga]

Hmmm, in one of the forums (maybe this one) an aussie had a ML 4500 and his search area was conjested with all kinds of trash,making the ML useless.He borrowed a GMT and dug up 30 ounces of aussie's beautiful gold.here is a pic . Whites detectors do ok i think.

He isn't detecting gold. He is asking about how to find silver coins. Big difference here.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Nice gold Ankh. Thanks.

Seems I can find silver after all, finally. Bscofield6, how much more silver do you find than someone with a lesser machine? And is it the location you hunt or is the machine really that much better at seperating targets? I found this walker yesterday at 4", private property, but dug quite a few pop tops and other non iron targets. I obviously didn't need a high end machine for it, but I do wonder if I'm missing deeeeeeep targets. I've only had the MXT for a year and have nothing to compare to except my son's Ace250.

 

[bazinga]

Nice gold Ankh. Thanks.

Seems I can find silver after all, finally. Bscofield6, how much more silver do you find than someone with a lesser machine? And is it the location you hunt or is the machine really that much better at seperating targets? I found this walker yesterday at 4", private property, but dug quite a few pop tops and other non iron targets. I obviously didn't need a high end machine for it, but I do wonder if I'm missing deeeeeeep targets. I've only had the MXT for a year and have nothing to compare to except my son's Ace250.

When it comes to hunting a park and the same area of a park with somebody using another machine, there is no contest. I hunted side by side an M6 about 2 months ago. Took him straight to a spot that I thought would produce some silver. I finished the day with 9 silver and 20+ wheats. He finished the day with a single indian head cent. I even let him grid some of the area before me and find no coins. He just walked away grumpy because he wasn't hearing anything there. And I swooped in and grabbed a few silver there.

After that day, he went right out and bought an explorer. He is posting silver almost every trip out. Prior to the explorer, he wouldn't even go to public parks.

For somebody using other machines, hunting in parks with me on the same day, same conditions, etc. I would estimate the silver tally to be about 5-1.

In 23 hunts this year, I have found 58 silver and 190 wheats. 4-5 of those hunts where in farm fields that only produced 1 or 2 coins. The rest in public parks.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Thanks. I'm not one to run out and buy the new gizmo, but I do have a friend that may want mine if I change my mind.

 

[George (MN)]

One of the things we hear over & over from some is if the numbers jump around alot, it's trash. That may usually be true in low mineral areas, but the White's XLT & MXT I had could not produce a meaningful ID beyond 4" in 99% of the ground around here. The larger coils do provide more depth on coins if you have any areas that aren't real trashy. Old shallow coins are sometimes found in very trashy areas using small coils.

I had a Jimmy Sierra 12.5" concentric coil on a White's M6 & got deeper good IDs, better IDs on tilted coins & it even found tiny gold jewelry.

In parks with moderate mineralization, Explorer users get 8"-9" deep coins & sometimes it seems those are the shallowest old ones left. Generally, in old very heavily hunted areas, the coins that are left probably won't have a perfect coin sound or perfect visual ID. Actually, deep coins are possible with many detectors, but it seems necessary to dig way too much trash to get them. HH, George (MN)

 

[John (Ma)]

It will pick up silver, but not as well as a detector with low frequency. The higher frequency likes mid range, gold, brass, bronze, aluminum, etc. The lower freq. likes silver, copper, etc. Not that they won't find them, but different frequencies are better at some things than others. That is why you see some detectors runing multiple frequencies at once. Hope this helps.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

George, I've been paying attention and yes it seems it only finds coins to 4-5 inches. Every deep coin signal turns into iron as I get closer. I've also been finding coins (wheats) with a bouncy foil/cap signal.
I'm starting to think more about upgrading already and I've only had it for a year.

 

[Nana40]

Well...I've found silver with my MXT? Once I find a good site to hunt, I go really slow. I hunt in relic mode and listen for the faint higher tones. One thing that has really helped too, is the 6 X 10 DD coil. It's a great improvement. Turn it up as high as you can, when you can. I'm sure there probably are better machines out there, but I'm happy with mine for now. Good luck!

Nana

 

[allen]

more than likely its the area you are detecting
and not yours or your machines fault !

 

[civil war hunter]

I turn my MD all the way up baby! Every knob will be on high, it tends to suck down the batteries tho.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I turn my MD all the way up baby! Every knob will be on high, it tends to suck down the batteries tho.

How can you stand the constant buzzing?