What would be the best nickel detector ?

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,843
59,628
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My nickels this year.
101 in the Pic.
The clean ones I picked off
the top of the ground are kept seperate.
as are every nickel
1959 and older

Picture 011.jpg

I could say My Detector but Honestly
any detector set to accept Nickels,
Then dig everything is Best.

Most people Ignore Nickels so
their are plenty there yet,
as long as you don't hunt behind me :tongue3:
 

teddy

Full Member
Nov 7, 2009
148
1
The whole thing with this coin is discrimination. Most people just discriminate them out.

Dig more trash and you'll get the nickels.

teddy
 

aa battery

Gold Member
Oct 11, 2006
10,620
3,241
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
jeff of pa said:
My nickels this year.




I could say My Detector but Honestly
any detector set to accept Nickels,
Then dig everything is Best.

Most people Ignore Nickels so
their are plenty there yet,
as long as you don't hunt behind me :tongue3:
show off ;D
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,843
59,628
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
aa battery said:
jeff of pa said:
My nickels this year.




I could say My Detector but Honestly
any detector set to accept Nickels,
Then dig everything is Best.

Most people Ignore Nickels so
their are plenty there yet,
as long as you don't hunt behind me :tongue3:
show off ;D

Nickels are My Favorite Clad finds
I'm Proud when I Find Nickels.
It means I'm doing something Right ;D
 

aa battery

Gold Member
Oct 11, 2006
10,620
3,241
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
jeff of pa said:
aa battery said:
jeff of pa said:
My nickels this year.




I could say My Detector but Honestly
any detector set to accept Nickels,
Then dig everything is Best.

Most people Ignore Nickels so
their are plenty there yet,
as long as you don't hunt behind me :tongue3:
show off ;D

Nickels are My Favorite Clad finds
I'm Proud when I Find Nickels.
It means I'm doing something Right ;D
Oh i understand it shows im not :thumbsup:
 

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
Statistically (according to reports) A Fisher CZ3D, CZ-5, or CZ-70. The CZ-5 was the best of all.

Almost every old (or newer) detectorist knows this already.

Now you do.

And yes, out of the roughly $15,000 worth of loose change I've found in the last 37 years, roughly $3,000 of it was in nickels. Gold rings come next in value with tokens third.

Have fun.

LL
 

rjw4law

Bronze Member
Apr 25, 2007
1,588
180
Missouri
Detector(s) used
AT Garrett Max/ Garrett ATX/ Deus XP
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
The best detector is the operator of the one he is holding.
 

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
All you have to do is adjust your disc so it responds on Nickels. There is no special detector. :thumbsup:
 

Ray S ECenFL

Silver Member
Feb 17, 2007
2,536
20
East Central Florida WP
Detector(s) used
Whites XLT / M6
To find nickels you have to dig the pull tabs. In other words, most folks who do not want to dig the pull tabs will discriminate them out and then not find nickels. Aluminium and gold fall into the same detection area. That area of detection is also where nickels are going to be found. Dig everything and you will also find nickels.

One of the sad facts of life.

Happy Hunting,

Ray S
 

Bum Luck

Silver Member
May 24, 2008
3,482
1,282
Wisconsin
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2SE, GARRETT GTI 2500, Garrett Infinium
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My old Tesoro Golden Sabre has a disc knob that is easy to tune to ID nickles. It's easier (and I think more accurate) than my GTI2500.

It's still a good machine. and the Tesoro folks are great support.
 

OP
OP
fng68

fng68

Full Member
Nov 5, 2004
114
2
Beaver County PA
Detector(s) used
Minelab SE, X-Terra 70,Tiger Shark,Garrett CWIII,Ace 250
All good responses,


I really wanted to cut down on my pulltab digging, without disc'ing them out.
My nickel count went up ( bigtime ) this summer mainly because I'm getting used to the sound they make.
I use a little hint I found of putting a nickel in my shoe opposite my detector side.
Whenever I came across a possible nickel, I would scan my left shoe and compare the distinctive sound.
Although a beavertail part of a pulltab still gets me.
On the Explorer the sound is very important. On the XT-70 sound was a little less specific but the digital was a 10 or 12.
Every detector,I think,has it's own way of responding to targets.
Do some detectors really sing out in that range of targets,as LuckyLarry and others suggests?
Like an Explorer is noted for Silver.

Jeff in PA said:
"Nickels are My Favorite Clad finds
I'm Proud when I Find Nickels.
It means I'm doing something Right "

That's what I'm trying to achieve in areas polluted with tabs and such.
I've noticed a few pleasant surprises when digging in that range.
I'm aware of all the different factors that can affect the response to nickels or any target actually.
And the need to slow way down (Explorer thing) when hunting these areas.

If I'm ever going to dig a one dollar gold coin,which is a 1/2 inch diameter, I have to practice this.

Thanks Guys,
Ron
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,843
59,628
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
fng68 said:
All good responses,


I really wanted to cut down on my pulltab digging, without disc'ing them out.
My nickel count went up ( bigtime ) this summer mainly because I'm getting used to the sound they make.
I use a little hint I found of putting a nickel in my shoe opposite my detector side.
Whenever I came across a possible nickel, I would scan my left shoe and compare the distinctive sound.
Although a beavertail part of a pulltab still gets me.
On the Explorer the sound is very important. On the XT-70 sound was a little less specific but the digital was a 10 or 12.
Every detector,I think,has it's own way of responding to targets.
Do some detectors really sing out in that range of targets,as LuckyLarry and others suggests?
Like an Explorer is noted for Silver.

Jeff in PA said:
"Nickels are My Favorite Clad finds
I'm Proud when I Find Nickels.
It means I'm doing something Right "

That's what I'm trying to achieve in areas polluted with tabs and such.
I've noticed a few pleasant surprises when digging in that range.
I'm aware of all the different factors that can affect the response to nickels or any target actually.
And the need to slow way down (Explorer thing) when hunting these areas.

If I'm ever going to dig a one dollar gold coin,which is a 1/2 inch diameter, I have to practice this.

Thanks Guys,
Ron

yes the Tab Tungs can come up
Spot on Nickel
very Often. so can certain Shotgun Brass

& yes certain Gold, However

If you Want to Find Buffalos
you need to go down about 5 to 10 Points
from a Jefferson
a V 10 to 20 points from a Jefferson.

Shield Nickels you Need to go Very Low

(these are Sovereign Readings)

also certain gold items can show up
anywhere on the scale
from a rolled up gum rapper to
half dollar.

also remember there are alot of aluminum
tokens worth big bucks images.jpg as well as alot
of Foreign coins are Aluminum.

Now let's not add on Ground Conditions :tongue3:

Point being Never Trust an ID Machine
till they invent one with a Real Time
full color (High Def) TV Screen
to show you the item as it sits.

& Then Don't buy one because
it would take all the Surprise & Fun Out :thumbsup:
JEFF
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,843
59,628
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
a P.S.

That said:

A good Tone I.D. machine can Improve
things.

I'd say 90% of my Nickel finds are not a surprise
to me.

At sweet arrow Lake I Found so Many class rings
they were Not a surprize anymore.
I Knew by Tone before digging.

But unless you have super tone abilities
in your head to remember every tone
immediatly it take alot of like finds
 

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
My (ex), notice I said "ex" Sov could not cancel ANY nickels in some soils, and I mean ANY. The Explorers in the same soils had the same difficulty. My cz-70 could not cancel them either and neither could any other Fisher. But most Whites, Tesoros, and Garretts could. There IS a difference between brands due to inherent circuitry design - and don't let anybody tell you differently! In some soils absolutely ZERO detectors can find nickels, including PI's. I tell you this not out of opinion but from actual experience using them - and knowledge of the inherent circuit design. Today the current Minelab Safari and x70 are killers on silver, and that's because of the freq choices, and they were DESIGNED that way.

And yes, the older Fisher cz series were DESIGNED to find nickels best, and this too is not my opinion. The original Garrett Deepseekers and Fisher 400 and 500 series were disigned to respond to copper and other minerals best. And yes they blew the other brands clear out of the water in this regard.

LL
 

kando

Full Member
Nov 14, 2008
143
2
,U.S.A. almost in Canada
Detector(s) used
....Tesoro conquistador , minelab sovereign
I ExpLuckyLarry said:
My (ex), noticelorers in the same soils had the same difficulty. My cz-70 could said "ex" Sov could not cancel ANY nickels in some soils, and I mean ANY. The not cancel them either and neither could any other Fisher, but most Whites, Tesoros, and Garretts could. There IS a difference between brands due to inherent circuitry design - and don't let anybody tell you differently! In some soils absolutely ZERO detectors can find nickels, including PI's. I tell you this not out of opinion but from actual experience using them and knowledge of the inherent circuit design. Today the current Minelab Safari and x70 are killers on silver, and that's because of the freq choices, and they were DESIGNED that way.

And yes, the older Fisher cz series were DESIGNED to find nickels best, and this too is not my opinion. The original Garrett Deepseekers and Fisher 400 and 500 series were disigned to respond to copper and other minerals best. And yes they blew the other brands clear out of the water in this regard.

LL
I don't understand what you are saying .......Did you say that you got rid of your sovereign because it could not find nickels . And that the safari and x70 could find silver but not nickles.
 

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
Kando I just moved to Alaska and the words get messed up due to the extremely slow internet speed. I'll correct that.

Oh! I see that you copied my unedited first writing.

The Sovs and Explorers are slow too because of their inherent slow processors, just like my Alaska internet. Additionally the Sovs also have poorer discriminators in really bad ground. They were designed to viciously compete on salt beaches and open, less-mineralized fields. Yes, because of their design they excelled at both tasks - but S-U-C-K-E-D in real trashy areas for discrimination.

With metal detectors it's really tough to say that one brand works better in all situations since each model is still often a bit different than the next "identical" model of the same brand. Take the F-2's and F-4's for example, each one behaves a little differently than the other, some good, some bad. The Aces have a similar problem in that they do not work well in high iron soil where the Fishers commonly do. Additionally some are better (or worse) than an "identical" one right next to it. This is still comparing apples to oranges though. The only detectors that are close clones of each other are the Tesoros.

And yes I got rid of my Sovereign because it could NOT cancel some nickels - and MANY pull tabs in (some) soils too , and I got tired of dealing with it. I traded it for a Browning A-Bolt 338 mag and thought I got the best deal.

And no the x70 does ok- but not as well as the old cz's on nickels. And the cz70 does better than the x70 on nickels although the right coil on the xterra70 will nearly match the cz-70.

Note: According to George Payne (the engineer who design most of today's circuitry) says the ideal freq for finding nickels is 17 Khz and for finding silver and other coins it's 2.7 Khz, but that alone is not the only determinant. Ground (Fe) content and circuit design also contribute to our success.

LL
 

Nick A

Hero Member
May 10, 2007
657
153
Columbus Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Minelab E-Trac, Fisher CZ3D
My Fisher CZ-5 was the hottest nickel machine I ever owned.

I tried an experiment with the Minelab E-Trac and discriminated out all but nickels and it was pretty hot on nickels too, but in regular coin mode theres just too much trash, noise and chatter in that range in trashy sites for me to pick out the good nickel hits. Some can pick them out, and I occasionally can, but it's not easy for me.
 

Monty

Gold Member
Jan 26, 2005
10,746
166
Sand Springs, OK
Detector(s) used
ACE 250, Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My ACE 250 probably has found more nickels than any of my others. And yes, there probably is no "better" nickel finder. Monty
 

OP
OP
fng68

fng68

Full Member
Nov 5, 2004
114
2
Beaver County PA
Detector(s) used
Minelab SE, X-Terra 70,Tiger Shark,Garrett CWIII,Ace 250
Thanks to one and all,

I now have more research to do this winter, I'm in Phoenix for a few months and been concentrating on tot lots, soccer fields and volleyball courts for now. Mostly using the SE w/ pro coil. Man does it find small stuff.

Was thinking of the ML 8" or XT-70 with 6"HF for around poles.

So far its been mildly productive, some rings,some jewelry and some clad.

Good Luck to all,
Ron
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top