A head scratcher for sure

[Pistol60]

I got out for a few hours this morning to play in the dirt. Came home with a real head scratcher for me. Was detecting an old demo site and hit a faint 80 VDI on my AT Pro. Dug it and was surprised to find a war nichol crusted up pretty good. Couldn't read the date. I did an air test with it when I got home and it still hit an 80. Knowing a nichol hits in the 52 - 53 range. And only at 30% silver. Can anyone explain this?

 

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[Silvermonkey]

Hmmmmm. Good question. What was the nickel crusted with? Could there have been some iron in the hole too? There have been several times when I have been surprised to pop a silver , only to find that there was a copper or some iron buried with it. At any rate...you scored a war nickel! Congrats!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[Trezurehunter]

I'm only guessing, because I am not familiar with the detector you use. If a solid Nickel hits at 52-53, and you add the 35 % silver in the coin, maybe this raises your VDI hit to 80 ? I'd try testing it on some other War Nickels and see if you get the same reading.

 

[Norwichnut]

Dont understand that..all the war nickels i found when i was using an at pro back in the day ..hit at 52 ..just like any other nickel.. and since it hits high even doing an air test makes it even more strange

Did you get the crust of and air test it?

 

[xr7ator]

I've had war nickels hit high tone initially. Actually, nickels can hit from high 30's up to high 50's if a war nickel, and even higher. A solid 80 would be odd, however. War nickels, nickels in general, are tricky targets. I have dug buffs at 38/39 that were badly corroded and deep.
If you swing the AT Pro, quit looking, or don't pay much attention to, the VDI.

 

[CTXAgGetter]

Twice in my 5 years of detecting have I dug completely encrusted war nickels (where I couldn't even tell they were coins at first... both times dark grey to black... both times in low-lying swampy soil). Both of those rang WAY high for a war nickel. It's the crusty stuff that is on them. Soak them in lemon juice for a while, flake the crust off, and presto... they ring normal!
It's the crustiness that raises the tone, for whatever reason.
Curious phenomenon.
It seems the crustier they are, the higher they ring.
Here's what one of them looked like as I started cleaning it.

 

[CRUSADER]

If you swing the AT Pro, quit looking, or don't pay much attention to, the VDI.

I totally agree & I'm going to repeat what I always say. Don't focus on the numbers ever, whatever machine you use. Have a glance & a bit of fun trying to guess what your digging up but focus on the sounds.
If you want to be successful, you need to be in the mindset of a Trash Digger, not Treasure Hunter. These bell & whistles are not a short-cut to treasure, its similar to the lures that catch the fisherman. Forget the numbers.
I have no clue what number my most recent Celtic Gold was, to busy quickly digging it up & on to the next.