Coin probe.... Do you use one?........ If yes why, if no why?

[golddredgergold]

Coin probes. Brass or steal with a ball on the end. Whats your style and take on the coin probe. Do you use one? Why? or Why not?

I dig a plug for all targets. I use my pinpointer to locate the target and remove it from the plug. I am thinking of trying a coin probe but have read some stories of guy/gals hurting coins with it. I have already made a nice brass probe and I am ready to take it out and give it a whirl.

 

[gleaner1]

With the newer detectors able to pinpoint better, and the advent of the handheld pinpointer, the retrieval of coins and artifacts is easier than a decade or less farther back. However, like many here, I started out with a ground down screwdriver for artifact digging around old ghost towns until one fine day when I badly marked a valuable coin. Lets face it, metal is metal, brass or steel it will scratch a potentially valuable find. I personally love using a probe and I continue to use a coin probe to this day, but I now use a mini carbon shaft one (not metal) I bought from http://www.ut10.com/products.html. I started using this carbon fiber probe a year ago and haven't scratched a single find since.

I also like the fact that neither of my metal detectors or electronic pinpointer gives off a signal from the probe because there is no metal in it, so I can find my target much quicker too.

I have been probin' coins for pushin' twenty years. Probing and pushing. Probing and pushing. Never probe-scratched a coin. Hacked a few with the spade. How many coins have you scratched with a probe? Brass or otherwise? This is a good topic!!!

 

[Sandman]

I stopped using a probe like a brass rod or screw driver and like to use a bayonet which is dull as heck but it wedges in the ring or pull tab instead of going all around it. I don't think I have ever scratched a coin but most of my coins are clad anyway. Depends on where you are searching and the ground, rocks and stones. You get a feel for what it is when touching it. I've seen guys stab a probe into the dirt to find the coins and these guys should be finding land mines.

 

[team sidewinder]

I use one in the public parks when coin hunting. After getting the exact location with my pro-pointer I usually can just use my finger to extract the coin. Usually use a homemade probe from a stainless car radio antenna. Would like to get a Garrett brass coin probe. Saves me from cutting a plug when the coin is only a inch under the surface.

 

[airscapes]

Use a screwdriver in schools and parks. With the TRX I can pop a coin up to 3" deep (depending on soil conditions) in far less time the digging a plug. Don't even use the pinpointer on the MD.. just wiggle to the toe, use the TRX, coin is right where I push in the screwdriver, move to the back of the coin and wiggle a slot, move to the front wiggle the slot, pop it out and move on.. no mess no dead soccer field grass... deeper than 3" then I cut the plug. Much more fun when there is lots of clad.

 

[WhiteTornado]

I don't use one, I just use my Lesche digger. I feel like I've gotten pretty good with digging plugs, even in parks or at schools. Granted, not every plug comes out perfect every time, but I think that is the case no matter what tools or techniques one is using. With a probe, I think I would need to see one used in person in conjunction with the detector signals to see how it is best used.

 

[Detector Wars]

That's the main way we hunt for new coins here in australia. You can get really good at it, I know a guy who only hunts like that and he can dig anything! Not good for old coins though, obviously.

 

[CaptEsteban]

Rarely use one , but in some nice lawns I may. Take one of these, round the end to help keep from scratching a coin . Use a screwdriver handle, or make a handle with a 1" diameter piece of a hardwood limb . Bore a hole in the limb & glue rod in place.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bra...-ballcock-float-rod-package-of-5.html;600;600