What do you think is the best coin detector out there

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There is no one best coin MD out there as it depends on your hunting style, etc. What I can't live with out you would think was just an extra feature. Even most of the entry level detectors are very good but if you want ground balance you pay more for it. Some units are great in good ground if your lucky to live there. Your question is like asking whats the best car............
 

Treasure finder

Sr. Member
Apr 4, 2006
464
60
Los Angeles
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, Compass Gold Scanner, Maxi Pulse, Gardner with a 3 foot loop, PDF1000, & Dowsing rods,
The best coin detector out there is the one you currently own. You know how to use it,
where you keep it and it is ready to go at a moments notice. I have 4 of them ready to
go at the moment, the best one is whichever one I feel like swinging at the moment.
Enjoy,
Rich
 

Phillip_in_NM

Full Member
Jul 15, 2006
229
14
Land of Enchantment
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, White's M6, Nokta Legend, Minelab Equinox 800, Nokta Simplex+
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I agree totally with Sandman. We'll all be glad to tell you what our favorite detector(s) are. It's up to you to figure out what is "Best" for yourself.
 

Bart@Big Boys Hobbies

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Jul 24, 2005
4,594
1,219
Moore Oklahoma
Detector(s) used
Call for your Treasurenet special discount! Be sure to mention Tnet when you call!
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Last edited:

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
Bart@ Big Boys Hobbies said:
The best coin machine out, specially for silver is the Minelab E-Trac hands down.

The best buy for the $ is the Teknetics Omega 8000.
I think he said no bells & whistles and the two you named are full of bells & whistles...... The E-Trac is loaded with them and the Omega has a few in it also........... I would have thought they would have said the ..Vaquero with ground balance............. or the Cibola or golden u max with out ground balance....
 

Bart@Big Boys Hobbies

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Jul 24, 2005
4,594
1,219
Moore Oklahoma
Detector(s) used
Call for your Treasurenet special discount! Be sure to mention Tnet when you call!
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Keppy said:
Bart@ Big Boys Hobbies said:
The best coin machine out, specially for silver is the Minelab E-Trac hands down.

The best buy for the $ is the Teknetics Omega 8000.
I think he said no bells & whistles and the two you named are full of bells & whistles...... The E-Trac is loaded with them and the Omega has a few in it also........... I would have thought they would have said the ..Vaquero with ground balance............. or the Cibola or golden u max with out ground balance....

True those are very hard to beat. But when someone asks for performance those two pop into my head above any other.
 

U.K. Brian

Bronze Member
Oct 11, 2005
1,629
153
Detector(s) used
XLT, Whites D.F., Treasure Baron, Deepstar, Goldquest, Beachscan, T.D.I., Sovereign, 2x Nautilus, various Arado's, Ixcus Diver, Altek Quadtone, T2, Beach Hunter I.D, GS 5 pulse, Searchman 2 ,V3i
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
No question as you only list lands sites....the Nautilus DMC II-B. No bells, no whistles just great performance.
 

OP
OP
rodbuster

rodbuster

Jr. Member
Dec 1, 2009
24
0
Grant Park Il
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT 950/ 6" excelerator- MXT PRO 6x10 & 12"- Vaquero\ stock and 6" coil ''
That's to everyone who replied to the topic. In the past 30 years I have been able to own some of the top of the line detectors and for the most part have done pretty good with them. I have been able to hunt some exciting sites, also under water in Lake Michigan and on its many beaches. I agree with your replies, I started with a TR unit and have used everything in between. I always felt the best discriminator is you, some of my best finds did not sound or read as a good targets. With so many differant units available today I just wondered if anyone had a favorite machine, set up for coins, not a multipurpose detector with to much information to sort thru. Keep it simple.
Good Luck ,and Happy Hunting
 

cosmic

Hero Member
Dec 31, 2006
882
50
Watseka, Illinois
Detector(s) used
Nokta Fors Core, X pointer, Sunrays
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Whites M6 is what I suggest.. Great coin machine, with a very large selection of coils.. (super 12 and the 5.3 are my favorites..
 

Smudge

Bronze Member
Jul 9, 2010
1,532
44
Central Florida
Detector(s) used
A Propointer tied to a stick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I always hesitate to say "best", because that always starts a cat fight. I will only say the best coin detector I have personally ever used (and I've used a bunch) is the Tesoro Golden uMax.

The tones are ideal for identifying good targets and if you dig only the high tone, you will only lose nickels (a mid tone) and "zincolns" (also a mid tone). But you will still dig copper pennies, dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars.

The only junk you will dig are crushed aluminum cans, because they also produce a high tone.

It has a depth that should satisfy 90% of all coin hunters (5-6") and it has a quick recovery speed when searching.

It is also incredibly light weight and you can swing it all day without fatigue.

And yes, the lifetime warranty is pretty sweet too.

So that's my vote.
 

sniffer

Gold Member
Dec 31, 2006
5,906
58
Kansas
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS
a MD that falls in line with what you're looking for is the Ace 250 by Garrett. I'm not hyping Garrett, but the people that own them are finding a lot of stuff across the board, and they're lite weight
 

shanegalang

Bronze Member
Oct 31, 2007
1,379
641
Island of Mozambique
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, X 35 coil, 11" LF coil, Deteknix headphones with WS4 puck, Fiskars steel D-Handle Transplanting Spade
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"not a multipurpose detector with to much information to sort thru"
I vote for my Cortes but ultimately a detector will only be as good as what it's coil passes over.
 

LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
More people with $1000 to $1500 machines are often being trumped for coins/jewelry more by the Tesoro Silver uMax and Tesoro Cibola cheapies than any other low-end ones. Take a good look at the more expensive Whites do-all MXT Tracker, Whites DFX, older Fisher cz-70, and Garrett GTI 2500 too. Those have lots and lots of satisfied customers. Right now though, First Texas has a big piece of the pie with all it's new stuff. Here is a good place to start doing some investigating. Some of them are posted by company reps, but it's easy to read through the lines: The url won't go through but here is the web site:

metaldetectorreviews.net

If I didn't have a cz-70 and a few old yet fantastic Compass detectors I would opt for a Teknetics Omega 8000, for several reasons: Mostly because it cherry-picks MUCH better than either one of these other detectors in this video: I like the sound of the Whites but it appears to have a smaller coil than the E-Trac. The ML has a nicer appearance in my book. Check out the video;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHCWn2nhM

LL
 

Adrian SS

Sr. Member
Dec 7, 2008
363
73
Canberra
Detector(s) used
LST, BDHI,Infinium,Sov XS,6000DI Pro SL,Scorpion,V-SAT,Spectrum XLT,Gold Spear,Scorpion,Sand Shark, Compadre,Sierra Madre,Safari, SDC2300, Sea Hunter,CS4PI,TDI OZ Pro, Vallon VMH3CS. Gardiner 202A
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I will always like the old Sov XS.
Handle any ground (almost). Goes deeeep,Sensitive, doesn't need ground balancing Wide ranging TID capability and fitted with the simple digital meter you can ID almost anything once you have learnt the tones and numbers. It is the one detector that I will take to my grave.
 

LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
For those who think that TID's and screens, etc is the way to go, here is the ugly, brutal truth. Thomas knows his stuff too, count on it!

www.dankowskidetectors.com/painful_truth.htm

Enjoy the one about all the iron in the soil - that screens, tones, and TID's hide the good stuff from us. This is true of (A-L-L) brands, all detectors, regardless of price.

For salt beaches the Minelab Sovs and Fisher cz-'s are probably the best on the block, because most beach hunters dig everything anyway in a single or multi-freq low freq detector.

LL
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
LL.... Yes i read that before......... I read almost every thing Tom Dankowski has put out......... And even though he proves every thing he has to say.................... You will find so many that will not believe the proven facts............ I hate to say this but it is for the most part..... The Minelab users that will find some stupid reason why Dankowski is wrong ................For there minelabs will find the coins and ID a coin correct if a big iron plate is on top of the coin........... And the coin is 12 inches down.....................
 

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