Am I doing something wrong?

[BestAntiquities]

Over the years I've buried coins and rings to test my detectors for depth. And I usually buy the best top of the line machines. I seem to get about 5-7 inches deep on quarters. Maybe 6 inches on a wheat and dime. Is this what you all are getting too or am I doing something wrong? I read about people finding coins at 10-15 inches deep with VLF detectors so I wonder.
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[TerryC]

I've bench tested all of my detectors. My Garrett Scorpion will only detect coins at about 4 inches. My GTA 500 will do dimes and pennies at about 7 inches. My Ace 250 will do quarters at about 14 inches BENCH TESTED. That's perfect conditions, on the bench. Any and all good detectors will do something inside those parameters. If you're finding coins in the ground at 7 inches, you're doing good. If you're finding them deeper, you are doing fantastic. If you're collecting coins at 10 inches, you're doing everything right! I do not recall ever digging a coin more than 8 inches deep. Hope this helps. TTC

 

[seas1to2]

how long the coin has been lost,other trash next to coin an the soil all have affect on how deep you will get,I can get coins at the beach easy 12-15 + inches.In the dirt at parks with tons of trash most finds are less than 6".

 

[Keppy]

Your fine all detectors will get just what you got no matter what you paid for it $200.00 or 1200.00 they all get the same depth give or take. ....At the top of the line you are only paying for bells & whistles not any more depth. When they say they are getting that depth with a VLF they are only kidding themselves it is all in there mind .Not on the tape measure.....

 

[BestAntiquities]

Thanks Terry--seas--Gadabout.

I do extremely well with air tests but in the ground it all changes
I just tested a new machine I won't name and I couldn't get a decent signal on a quarter at 4 inches deep. Then I checked the ground in all metal and discovered there's a giant bunch of trash down deep under my test spot. I guess that would make a big difference. Wouldn't deep rusty cans effect the test results?

 

[Sandman]

Wouldn't deep rusty cans effect the test results?

It sure would. A lot depends too on the amount of Sensitivity, more is not always better in minerized ground even if it is ground balanced. Seems you are in the ballpark.

You have to remember that these claims for extreme depths are someones wishful thinking to be nice about it.

 

[BestAntiquities]

Wouldn't deep rusty cans effect the test results?

It sure would. A lot depends too on the amount of Sensitivity, more is not always better in minerized ground even if it is ground balanced. Seems you are in the ballpark.

You have to remember that these claims for extreme depths are someones wishful thinking to be nice about it.

Thanks Sandman and I understand what you're saying. When I saw your avatar I thought it was my good looking brother! You look just like him. He's a fun loving good guy too. I'm just a part time treasure hunter who detects about an hour and then has to watch 2 hours of treasure movies or read a treasure mag.

 

[TORRERO]

Thanks Terry--seas--Gadabout.

I do extremely well with air tests but in the ground it all changes
I just tested a new machine I won't name and I couldn't get a decent signal on a quarter at 4 inches deep. Then I checked the ground in all metal and discovered there's a giant bunch of trash down deep under my test spot. I guess that would make a big difference. Wouldn't deep rusty cans effect the test results?

There is also a possible answer no one has mentioned...
It takes a long time for a coin to get really deep, and there may not be anything much deeper than what
you are finding where you are looking.

I know that my Whites DFX never reads a target more than 7" in the ground, but does that mean the target
is really that deep or even possibly deeper ?

Long years of experiance have shown me that most items don't go "Crazy deep" after they have been lost,
100 + - year old coins are normally not much deeper than 5-6 inches in general soil....
In plowed fields it can be much deeper or right on top.... because the soil gets turned regularly....
So no....
this is a normal depth....
even with the best of machines...
Richard

 

[BestAntiquities]

There is also a possible answer no one has mentioned...
It takes a long time for a coin to get really deep, and there may not be anything much deeper than what
you are finding where you are looking.

I know that my Whites DFX never reads a target more than 7" in the ground, but does that mean the target
is really that deep or even possibly deeper ?

Long years of experiance have shown me that most items don't go "Crazy deep" after they have been lost,
100 + - year old coins are normally not much deeper than 5-6 inches in general soil....
In plowed fields it can be much deeper or right on top.... because the soil gets turned regularly....
So no....
this is a normal depth....
even with the best of machines...
Richard

Thanks Richard. What I was doing was burying coins and then testing.
But you're right about the depth of lost coins and other things too. I used to have some contact with a guy in the UK who hunts Roman artifacts and he used a Tesoro Cibola. Most of his 2000 year old digs were from 1-5 inches deep. Another person digging 6000 year old copper artifacts told me 4 inches deep is common. So you got it right.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

 

[Keppy]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

That is the same depth you will get with any detector on large items..We were talking coins........

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

That is the same depth you will get with any detector on large items..We were talking coins........

Quarters 14-16 inches...recovered a dime that was not a field test at 12".

 

[TORRERO]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

That is the same depth you will get with any detector on large items..We were talking coins........

Quarters 14-16 inches...recovered a dime that was not a field test at 12".

I never said you can't dig coins deeper than 5-6 inches, sure I have dug a few coins really deep,
but in 20 years of hunting it has been very rare....

In parks and school yards, you are more likely to get a good repeatable signal that is a Barber dime at
6-7 inches than a questionable signal that turns out to be a Standing liberty Quarter at 12 inches...

Sure it can happen, but for those that this has never happened too, what I am saying is that this is not
so unusual, its normal, not to be digging all kinds of good coins at 10-12 inches or more...

Personally I have to believe that at least some of the time that people have claimed they dug some at
12-15 inches, it really was not that deep, but may have been on the edge of the hole and fell into the
hole while being dug and now appears to have been deeper than what was reality...

I do not carry a yardstick with me everytime I go hunting....
My digger shows a measurement of 6' on the blade... have I dug deeper than that blade when recovering a target ?? certainly !!
Can I tell you how much deeper ??
Probably not....
More conjecture than reality...

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

That is the same depth you will get with any detector on large items..We were talking coins........

Quarters 14-16 inches...recovered a dime that was not a field test at 12".

I never said you can't dig coins deeper than 5-6 inches, sure I have dug a few coins really deep,
but in 20 years of hunting it has been very rare....

In parks and school yards, you are more likely to get a good repeatable signal that is a Barber dime at
6-7 inches than a questionable signal that turns out to be a Standing liberty Quarter at 12 inches...

Sure it can happen, but for those that this has never happened too, what I am saying is that this is not
so unusual, its normal, not to be digging all kinds of good coins at 10-12 inches or more...

Personally I have to believe that at least some of the time that people have claimed they dug some at
12-15 inches, it really was not that deep, but may have been on the edge of the hole and fell into the
hole while being dug and now appears to have been deeper than what was reality...

I do not carry a yardstick with me everytime I go hunting....
My digger shows a measurement of 6' on the blade... have I dug deeper than that blade when recovering a target ?? certainly !!
Can I tell you how much deeper ??
Probably not....
More conjecture than reality...

Seems to make a lot of sense....but I know I am digging deeper with the Se.... I can tell when my whole digger is below ground level...that was not happening with the dfx... But I now notice the 6" Excelerator coil on the Se is finding coins I think the dfx and Se both missed! The Excelerator is going deeper in the dry soil... And the separation is amazing!

 

[bakergeol]

As they say "location, location, location". Under stable soil conditions you may find 100yr+ coins a few inches deep. Or the reverse in which old coins are really deep in unstable soil.

Here are exerpts from Charles NY on his WOT coil(Explorer). I just loved this piece.http://msnusers.com/minelabexplorerxsusers/wotcoiltips.msnw


"I took up metal detecting just a little over 2 years ago now and the Minelab Explorer was my first detector. I live in a very historic area most parks around here have been hunted to death in the 1-6 inch deep range, I thought buy a big coil and go deep. All the folks on the detecting forum said no, they said you can't use a big coil like that in a park and suggested that I buy a smaller coil instead to pick through the trash. They meant well of course but I decided to try the big coil anyway and purchased a WOT against all advice. Now as a newby I took a lot of ribbing for swinging the WOT but that started to quiet down after I started posting mercs and barbers from the hunted out parks five nights a week. It went dead silent after I started posting seated dimes, half dimes, and gobs of IH's, half dollars, a bust dime, 3 cent piece, 1700 colonials, 1700's large cents, well you get the picture. Here's some newbie thats only been detecting for a few months digging up all manner of finds from hunted to death parks.

In these two years I have found over 400 silver coins alone and most of the best were with the WOT, at least 200 silvers, several hundred IH's, and all my 1700's colonials and pre 1800 large cents.

Case in point, I have a site which is not too large, maybe two football fields in size. I hunted it hard 4 times when I first purchased the WOT and found absolutely nothing but clad in the 1-7 inch range. I got outhunted more than once by that other top brand detector of all things which at least picked up a couple of rosies and a Washington quarter. I was all over that field because in 1860 it was a town square and I had heard there were some old coins found there yet I was going home empty handed time after time.

Then one day I decided to open up the Explorer iron mask to -16 which is zero discrimination, and I decided to dig every signal 8 inches or deeper. That day was like turning on a light switch, at first indian head cents started popping up all over the place. Then a barber dime, teen mercs, more barber dimes, then seated dimes back to 1840's, then a bust dime, seated half dimes, a half dollar, 3 cent piece, two cent pieces, barber quarters, SL quarters, and gobs more indian head cents, silver rings, silver religious medals, gold rings, and other jewelry items. My new other brand swinging detecting buddy who showed me this site was now having a cow. To date I have dug at least 150 silver coins from this site and over 200 Indian Head cents.

So what was I doing wrong those first several hunts? Well this site as it turns out is a sink hole and the coins are very deep, you find beaver tales 7 inches down and the good coins were all 8-12. 150+ years of grass growing over the top of them plus this place is a swamp each spring. I just happened to luck upon the perfect site to learn how to use the WOT and Explorer on deep coins. After I finished with this site I took what I learned over to the two big parks in town where I had also been skunked many a day and stripped them of several hundred more coins."


Happy Hunting
George

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

That is the same depth you will get with any detector on large items..We were talking coins........

Quarters 14-16 inches...recovered a dime that was not a field test at 12".

...DREAMER...DREAMER...DREAMER............I HAD THIE DREAMER POST IN HERE YESTERDAY AND SOMEONE TOOK IT OUT WHY OR WHO ??

(Gadabout)Jim... maybe you did not notice everyone else is discussing the matter of depth... You coming on this post typing in all caps and using red for color is not the best way to talk on the post...especially in a negative way...

Lets try to keep the posts positive and lose the cap lock! Don't worry your response is not necessary to me... I will not answer... But do not ruin a good post with arguing... You with your caps lock have quickly entered the world of a select few... The ignore list.... bye!

 

[bakergeol]

George,

Good post. Sometimes it takes a newcomer to step outside of conventional thinking to enjoy renewed success in well hunted areas, and elsewhere. There have been posts regarding White's new 12" Super coil, that it's not appropriate for coin hunting in the typical parks; some users (who are not "knowledgeable" enough to know better than to use such coils in these areas) say otherwise and have great finds to back up their statements...as you have pointed out.

I have been recently wondering if a number of us long time users have in some ways outgrown our usefulness for delivering forthright quality information to the hobby newcomers. One example might include depth capabilities of some units. Some of us oldsters seem too prepared to indicate unequivocally that there is very little difference in depths between various models at various prices. That may apply to many units, but certainly not all. I've noticed too, that some of us seem unwilling to acknowledge the performance abilities of a few newer units, due to biases formed in response, for example, to build quality/manufacturing quality control issues, or for whatever reason. It seems like it's an all or nothing attitude

We are witnessing newcomers without a history of preconceived ideas about units and coil capabilities.. using some controversial detectors and doing very well making good finds in trashy areas and at previously unheard of depths...routinely. I believe that most users are honest folks, yes some may exaggerate, but most are forthright in their reports. These reports are not all wrong, and some are produced by well known, high profile members of the metal detecting fraternity.

Some of us oldtimers need to sit up, take notice, re-examine our views, and become more knowledgeable about some detector models prior to issuing blanket statements that apply to detectors in general ... and especially for those individuals who are inclined to making negative remarks and innuendos about those folks providing such performance reports. I fully realize that it's not a black and white one way street here, that in fact some reports are highly questionable, but I also believe that a number of us oldsters could stand to learn from these successful users and newcomers to the hobby. IMHO.

Jim.

Good Post Jim

I remember when I first posted Charle's WOT report on finding really old coins 8" to 12" here on TN. Talk about a firestorm that post created. A lot of "experts" jumped in and hammered Charles on his article. They did not believe him and attacked him(This was before the new TN rules). It got so bad that eventually someone saw this and informed Charles about what was said about him. Charles jumped in here with both barrels and totally destroyed his critics. However, it turned into something positive as Charles was quite willing to explain his deep coin hunting methods. A lot of eyes were opened on the discussions that followed.

I remember I also faced criticism in the past for revealing techniques that people could not accept. The end result is that some people will cease posting tests or viewpoints which have real value. A shame.

It is important that people keep learning. I have been doing this for 44 years and I am still learning.
Perhaps the best question we should ask ourselves is the title of this thread.

Am I doing something wrong?

Keep learning
George

 

[vondrewvious]

My two cents.
Forget the coin garden. You are driving yourself nuts over analyzing a flawed test. Just go use the machines. Put some hours on them and eventually you will realize how effective it is in real word experiences.

 

[Keppy]

Try an Explorer Se...problem solved... My air tests were 14-16 inches on larger items and up to a foot in the field...

That is the same depth you will get with any detector on large items..We were talking coins........

Quarters 14-16 inches...recovered a dime that was not a field test at 12".

...DREAMER...DREAMER...DREAMER............I HAD THIE DREAMER POST IN HERE YESTERDAY AND SOMEONE TOOK IT OUT WHY OR WHO ??

Jim... maybe you did not notice everyone else is discussing the matter of depth... You coming on this post typing in all caps and using red for color is not the best way to talk on the post...especially in a negative way...

Lets try to keep the posts positive and lose the cap lock! Don't worry your response is not necessary to me... I will not answer... But do not ruin a good post with arguing... You with your caps lock have quickly entered the world of a select few... The ignore list.... bye!

Thank god.........................

 

[The.Boomer]

This post isn't meant to dispute depth or anything but My question is regarding recovery. Now I personally recover most of my coin and jewelery finds in the top 4". That said i try to keep my hole size to no more than 4" wide max. Most of the time I only leave a very shallow 2" wide tamped earth divot. Thus my complaint level from park employees and grounds keepers is kept to a minimum. I read people saying they're digging holes of 12"-14" and my first thought is WTF. How big around does your hole get ? What are you using to dig these fox holes ? Is it worth it to spend an hour to dig on 14" hole for a barber dime when three or four smaller holes at a different locale could be dug for almost any kind of coin or jewelery ? what do you say to the grounds keepers at these parks when they walk up on you while you head and shoulders deep in a hole with only your feet sticking out ? I do believe hunting in all metal mode can reach great depths, especially if your willing to dig all targets even the phantoms of long ago evaporated iron deposits, But why ? when with just a little research, one can reveal a multitude of as yet still unsearched sites that will yield many of the same variety of coins within the top 4" ?