Detecting Canadian Clad Coins

fella

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2012
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Wisc
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Metal Detecting
Couple of days ago my brother dug a 80's Canadian quarter. He was expecting trash when he dug it because the tone wasn't steady and his VDI was jumping all over. Once out of the ground his GTI 2500 still wasn't getting any kind of steady signal.
He called me over and I ran my AT Pro over the coin with the same results he got. VDI was all over the board as were the tones. I also checked it with my MXT Pro with the same results.

I have never seen a coin respond this way. This quarter is 99.9% Nickel. I would think that it should have rang up as SOMETHING no matter what its composition but no! Just scratchy and jumpy on three different machines. Nothing to indicate anything other than trash!

What gives? Does all Canadian clad act this way? (being 99.9%, isn't clad I know)


*edit* Each detector was set with zero disc while checking this out.
 

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Some Canada coins are made out of such junk metal that Minelabs will just not sound off on them......They null them out....
 

I only know one person with a high-end Minelab, we were talking about what if the US goes to Canadian style coinage and he said ,"I hope not, Canadian coins will cause my Minelab to go bonkers!" That always made me wonder what coin hunters in Canada do? Any T-Netters from Canada out there?"
 

I live on the U.S. /Canada International boarder crossing, and see their change as much as ours. I use an AT Pro, and some days I get home and may have as many as 4-5 Canadian coins in the pouch. I know sometimes the numbers are different, but never any real problems with them. I had a target ring in at 81, thought it was a dime......dug 1947 Canadian penny!
 

I use a Teknetics Delta 4000. Although our Canadian coins don't always line-up with the American numbers, I've found that the signals for Canadian coinage have always been consistent (as in not jumpy). Our 1968-1999 Quarters (composed of Nickel) ring in at 82-83 on my machine (roughly in the dime area).

Hint for other Teknetics Delta 4000 users regarding Canadian Coins:
It's frustrating sometimes searching for Canadian clad because the composition varied so much over the years:
- 1920-41 Penny = 77
- 1942-77 Penny = 83
- 1978-79 Penny = 85
- 1980-96 Penny = 82
- 1997-present =76
Other than 1982-1999 Canadian Nickels, which measure 57-58 out of 100, all other Canadian coins ring in between 76 - 88. I'm uncertain what pre 1967 (silver) quarters read... likely 88 or higher. Hope that helps :-)
 

fella besides that 1 coin have u tried any other ones like it ?
 

I have had an ace 250 and now a teknetics 4000 , much better target id but yes our clad is all over the place . allmost have to dig everything :( i guess it saves me getting a big $ machine
 

fella besides that 1 coin have u tried any other ones like it ?

I don't dig much Monopoly money which is kinda strange considering the amount we get in change around here. I did however dig a newer Canadian quarter a couple of days ago and it rang up in the nickel range. (55 I think) That one at least had a consistent signal. The one mentioned in my op wouldn't ring up as anything. Just jumpy vdi & tones!
 

Huh I hit a 56 canadian penny the other day with the deus hit real nice & clear not exactly sure on depth but it was a little more then half way on the pro pointer rang in at 66,67 back & fourth
 

Yeah I dig Canadian pennies quite often and they hit hard just not much of their pretend-o-coins.
 

Hit on a toonie yesterday. It rang hard but alittle inconsistent. I believe it was a higher read, penny to dime range.
 

Yeah I dig Canadian pennies quite often and they hit hard just not much of their pretend-o-coins.

"Pretend-o-coins" eh? Please elaborate.
20111103-biggoldcoin-05.jpg
 

Most countries like Canada and Mexico and the EU smartened up and coin cheap stainless steel to save taxpayer money. But not the good ole U S of A, nosiree. We still use expensive nickel and copper samwiches for our coins. And nickel for the nickel. It costs more than a cent to coin a US cent go figure. Since stainless steel is highly ferrous, it does not lend itself well to most detectors, except ones like the Etrac which could arguably be the best for ID'ing modern Canada coinage if you optimize the scrim grid to the correct ferrous/conductive numbers for said coins.
 

So they "smartened up" by making their money worth less?...K...I got now!

Brillant!
 

fella, "worth" less than what? What do you mean by "worth"? Metal melt value? For modern money, paper and coin, "worth" is the face value of the money, not the value of the material the money is made of. What about paper money? Would you rather have a hundred dollar bill in your pocket or four hundred clad quarters? The four hundred clad quarters, although made of nickel/copper sambwiches are still only worth a hundred dollars. You cant get more money for the quarters and you can't buy more than the hundred dollar bill will. Because they are both still only worth a hundred dollars. Its money. The paper that the franklin is printed on is worthless. I bet you are the type of guy who would rather have a crisp franklin in his wallet than four hundred quarters in a big jar hidden in your closet. But why? Because we know that the quarters are a pain in the ass and aint worth a red cent more and are almost impossible to put in your pockets. The countries that use sensible mint policy to lower the cost of minting coinage by using durable cheap metals like stainless and brass do so as to relieve the tax burden on the citizens. They actually make a better profit on the coinage so its a win win situation. The US is about the only country left that does business strikes using expensive materials. But they wont hold out for long. The paper dollar is on the way out too, just wait and see.
 

Today Coinflation lists clad US quarters as being worth 4.2 cents metal value. Canada quarters are 94% steel so have essentially zero melt value, but are still worth a Canada quarter, and cost a fraction to produce compared to the clad crap.
 

I bet you are the type of guy who would rather have a crisp franklin in his wallet than four hundred quarters in a big jar hidden in your closet. But why?

Well, right there you'd be wrong. Again!
 

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Well, right there you'd be wrong. Again!

It aint all that bad. Just think fella, when we go like the Canadians you could possibly find enough stainless steel or brass one and two dollar coins in an afternoon of tectin the park to actually afford lunch at Burger King. No, really.
 

so you can see my /our problem with having a non numeric display detector like the ace 250 .all our coins chime in as iron washers (junk), hair clips sound better !!!! if you only go by the target id you have to dig every single find .

Ok so what detector coil combo would be best???? should i get a cheapy machine and just dig every signal ,what frequency is best for coinshooting canadian parks? at least the pro pointer is not fussy

has anyone seen our plastic $20 bills , yep i said plastic ......rubbermaid? lol
 

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