Coin depth. Help, please?

7up2000 · Aug 6, 2014

How come I'm not finding any coins deeper than 3"? I've got a Fisher F2. I bought it new about 2 months ago. I've found lots of coins but all within the 3" and all clad. Am I doing something wrong? :BangHead:

G.A.P.metal · Aug 6, 2014

Where are you hunting ?
Gary

7up2000 · Aug 6, 2014

City parks, old football field, private houses built around 1950, schools(circa 1950), Tree lines(trees are large and old)

airscapes · Aug 6, 2014

been at it since Nov, have about $130 in clad and 3 silver dimes from the 50s.. oh and one Indian Head from 1901 but no idea where I found that cause it was tossed in with all the other clad.. Not as many coins as you would think reading the forum.. Remember, no machine can see through other stuff. If there is 30 year blanket of trash metal and clad coins in the first 6" and there is an old coin below, nothing is going to see it if it is under other stuff.. The dimes I found in peoples yards.. nuti in the public places as of yet..

Boatlode · Aug 6, 2014

7up2000 said:
How come I'm not finding any coins deeper than 3"? I've got a Fisher F2. I bought it new about 2 months ago. I've found lots of coins but all within the 3" and all clad. Am I doing something wrong?

Start digging everything. Discriminating metal detectors are notorious liars.

7up2000 · Aug 6, 2014

I've found 6 wheats, including a 1928 and 1938. And they were both withing 3" of digging. So age is not the hurdle. Congrats on the $130 in clad. There's your gas money or upgrade on equipment. Silver dreams. :icon_thumleft:

7up2000 · Aug 6, 2014

Boatlode, LOL, that's a good one. But I refuse to dig iron. I'd be at it all day with a bunch of rusty nails to show for it.

Dave Rishar · Aug 6, 2014

7up2000 said:
Boatlode, LOL, that's a good one. But I refuse to dig iron. I'd be at it all day with a bunch of rusty nails to show for it.

But if you don't dig it up, you'll never know what's beneath it. Consider cleaning up at least a few square feet, just to see if there was something below it.

As for your original question, you may not be finding coins below 3" because there may not be any. How quickly do coins sink in your ground? What's the history of those parks, or even the houses? Has the land been filled or graded? What's the approximate age of the clad that you're digging up? Did other detectorists crush these sites ten or fifteen years ago?

Boatlode · Aug 6, 2014

7up2000 said:
Boatlode, LOL, that's a good one. But I refuse to dig iron. I'd be at it all day with a bunch of rusty nails to show for it.

Until you learn your detector, you will be missing good stuff if you don't dig everything. After you understand what the machine is telling you, then you will be able to make educated decisions whether or not to dig a target.

You can refuse to dig. And you will not learn anything. The good stuff is found by experienced hunters who have paid their dues and know their machine.

MrMikeJackie · Aug 6, 2014

Boatlode said:
Until you learn your detector, you will be missing good stuff if you don't dig everything. After you understand what the machine is telling you, then you will be able to make educated decisions whether or not to dig a target.

You can refuse to dig. And you will not learn anything. The good stuff is found by experienced hunters who have paid their dues and know their machine.

That's about as good a advice as your gonna get.

MrMikeJackie · Aug 6, 2014

7up2000 said:
Boatlode, LOL, that's a good one. But I refuse to dig iron. I'd be at it all day with a bunch of rusty nails to show for it.

If I only had the time and video footage to show you what iron hides. You would dig every iron signal you pass over. And not just iron, but whatever you're machine is set to discriminate.

DonDigger · Aug 6, 2014

All good advice above. Another thought, how close to the ground are you swinging the coil? The detectors depth range starts at the coil, so be sure you are skimming the ground as closely as possible to maximize target depth.

DiggerinVA · Aug 6, 2014

When hunting civil war relics depth can be a hurdle to cross......but with coins(old coins) most of the time trash and target masking is the problem......the smallest coil you can get will help some but as others have said dig the trash!

foiler · Aug 7, 2014

Sensitivity settings and proper ground balancing will affect depth.

Limitool · Aug 7, 2014

7up2000 said:
Boatlode, LOL, that's a good one. But I refuse to dig iron. I'd be at it all day with a bunch of rusty nails to show for it.

They do LIE.... You need to spend some time "digging a bunch of rusty nails" and confirm what you believe. And even then you'll make some "wrong" choices.

CincinnatiKid · Aug 7, 2014

I recently dug a "high pitched" piece of iron. It's vdi numbers showed a positive small coin though? After diggin' up the iron, I swept coil over plug again. Out pops a Barber dime?
As Limitool states, dig some iron. You might get a few keepers.
Good luck
Peace

Limitool · Aug 7, 2014

I dig on this old wagon road a lot (right by house). I have a White's Spectrum XLT E-series. I'm still learning to use it to its max. But..... I set it for relics in the pre-programmed mode. So in this mode I KNOW I'M GOING TO GET A LOT OF IRON... but the iron signals are all over the readouts. Some from negative #'s to high 50's. So I get a high 50 and think this might be something different... but NO... out pops another horseshoe. So I've discovered the iron signals can be all over the readout (thus far).

CincinnatiKid · Aug 7, 2014

Wagon road nearby! I wish. Years of diggin', and not one complete horse shoe. Railroad spikes are plentiful though. I'm narrowing in on cannonballs too. All iron ain't bad.
Peace

MUD(S.W.A.T) · Aug 7, 2014

Sounds like your having a depth issue with your machine. :icon_scratch:

Not all coins are 3 inches deep, however the most common depth is 4-6 inches. :dontknow:

Take your machine out and listen for deep faint hits, :headbang:

dig them and see if you can find some deeper artifacts or coin... If not your machine needs fixed...

Keep @ it and HH !! :hello2:

Pointman · Aug 7, 2014

A simple trick is to listen for all the subtle signals that are hard to pinpoint and almost hard to hear. Get a good set of headphones and turn the threshold up a bit if the detector has that feature.

This weekend I was finding a lot of newer stuff and I noticed all my targets were within the top 3". I then started to listen for the hard to pinpoint signals and started to find good older things.

In my last three detectors that I have dozens of hours on and serious use out of, I would do the following (in this order) and I get surprised all the time:

1. If it sounds good and reads good definitely dig it.
2. If it sounds good, but reads bad-dig it.
3. If it reads good (consistent good signal) but sounds bad-dig it.

Above all, take your knocks and learn your machine. In most soil I can tell if I have a piece of can or a nickel or penny. This only came from consistently digging signals both good and bad. I may hunt 8 hours and literally dig 150 times and bring 30 or 40 good things back. The rest is trash.