Digging DEEP Coins

[Gare]

Here is a question for everyone. Is anyone constantly digging coins over 8 inches deep. If you are can you tell us what machine, ground conditions and maybe how you find your spots to dig ?

 

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[Toecutter]

Not often I find deep coins but when I do its usually a cool one...

 

[ARC]

I do... always.

<---- Detectors used.

Soil conditions = various / any and all.

( i was going to start this post with "8 inches is a tease"... but did not sound right .. heh)

 

[pepperj]

There's the odd one over the years that have made me go "say what"
Getting it from a depth that really is great. Large cent 14" soft forest loamy soil, and it was with Explorer SE.
Cartwheel One Penny at 17" in a lawn along a road same machine.
Both times if it had been a tad drier noway they'd still be there.
I have a hay field, heavy clay, XP Deus 6-10" and few scratching deeper depths. But that's the limits of the machine. 2 dozen Coppers a couple of silver, plus the military buttons, relics.
I'll hit once more this spring with the CTX and see what I have missed over the past few years of digging the site.
THE M6 Pinpointer is 9 5" and the photo shows the depth still a bit more for that recovery.
That was the limit of the machine.

 

[Rhapsody]

Here is a question for everyone. Is anyone constantly digging coins over 8 inches deep. If you are can you tell us what machine, ground conditions and maybe how you find your spots to dig ?

If the site is old enough abandonment that you do not have a lot of modern junk then I noticed hunting in 'all metal' or a mode that essentially uses no discrimination you will get more depth but will also dig more ferrous targets. There are many aftermarket larger coils out there but when you go deeper with coil size you sacrifice target seperation (masking) and harder to pinpoint small targets. Ground balance often. Hope this helps & good luck

 

[Gare]

There's the odd one over the years that have made me go "say what"
Getting it from a depth that really is great. Large cent 14" soft forest loamy soil, and it was with Explorer SE.
Cartwheel One Penny at 17" in a lawn along a road same machine.
Both times if it had been a tad drier noway they'd still be there.
I have a hay field, heavy clay, XP Deus 6-10" and few scratching deeper depths. But that's the limits of the machine. 2 dozen Coppers a couple of silver, plus the military buttons, relics.
I'll hit once more this spring with the CTX and see what I have missed over the past few years of digging the site.
THE M6 Pinpointer is 9 5" and the photo shows the depth still a bit more for that recovery.
That was the limit of the machine.
View attachment 2015958

Thanks Pepper

There's the odd one over the years that have made me go "say what"
Getting it from a depth that really is great. Large cent 14" soft forest loamy soil, and it was with Explorer SE.
Cartwheel One Penny at 17" in a lawn along a road same machine.
Both times if it had been a tad drier noway they'd still be there.
I have a hay field, heavy clay, XP Deus 6-10" and few scratching deeper depths. But that's the limits of the machine. 2 dozen Coppers a couple of silver, plus the military buttons, relics.
I'll hit once more this spring with the CTX and see what I have missed over the past few years of digging the site.
THE M6 Pinpointer is 9 5" and the photo shows the depth still a bit more for that recovery.
That was the limit of the machine.
View attachment 2015958

Thanks pepper. I was just curious how many people consistently dig deep coins and where they are finding them

 

[Gare]

If the site is old enough abandonment that you do not have a lot of modern junk then I noticed hunting in 'all metal' or a mode that essentially uses no discrimination you will get more depth but will also dig more non ferrous targets. There are many aftermarket larger coils out there but when you go deeper with coil size you sacrifice target seperation (masking) and harder to pinpoint small targets. Ground balance often. Hope this helps & good luck

Another GREAT Point SCROUNGE !! Thanks lets see if anyone else has any tips

 

[Rhapsody]

Another GREAT Point SCROUNGE !! Thanks lets see if anyone else has any tips

I certainly do not mean to 'preach to the choir' as you probably are ten times the treasure hunter I am but figured others reading the post may find it useful. Good luck Gare hope you pull many Ohio one piece buttons and liberty cap largies this year , man I miss hunting the east.

 

[Tpmetal]

The site where most of my seated coins come from(I think over 50 at this point with well over 100 indians and many nickles), ALL the coins are over 6 inches deep. Most of them are usually 8 to 10 inches with some coming deeper. I have found almost all of those coins with my whites mx sport, and a few with the equinox. My buddy 3cylbill found a old postcard image of the site and we tracked it down using old maps and such. Conditions are rough as it is in an unmaintained field that is only huntable in the spring, and even then parts of it are flooded or too over grown to swing. I hunt with my machine wide open in all metal mode. Not a whole lot of modern trash, but lots of old iron and coke/coal. Hunting is rough, so rough we made two or three trips before we really found much. Making sure my machine is running right is important, slow recovery speeds and matching your swing speed with recovery speed to insure the most depth. I have also found a spill of a seated half and 4 or 5 large cents that came from about 16 inches deep, my deepest I have ever dug any coins. That was also dug with my mx sport. I am still trying to perfect the equinox and getting really deep targets like that with it.

 

[Gare]

The site where most of my seated coins come from(I think over 50 at this point with well over 100 indians and many nickles), ALL the coins are over 6 inches deep. Most of them are usually 8 to 10 inches with some coming deeper. I have found almost all of those coins with my whites mx sport, and a few with the equinox. My buddy 3cylbill found a old postcard image of the site and we tracked it down using old maps and such. Conditions are rough as it is in an unmaintained field that is only huntable in the spring, and even then parts of it are flooded or too over grown to swing. I hunt with my machine wide open in all metal mode. Not a whole lot of modern trash, but lots of old iron and coke/coal. Hunting is rough, so rough we made two or three trips before we really found much. Making sure my machine is running right is important, slow recovery speeds and matching your swing speed with recovery speed to insure the most depth. I have also found a spill of a seated half and 4 or 5 large cents that came from about 16 inches deep, my deepest I have ever dug any coins. That was also dug with my mx sport. I am still trying to perfect the equinox and getting really deep targets like that with it.

tpMetal thank you for your VERY INFORMATIVE Post !!

 

[OH..POPS]

Your right Tpmetal matching my swing with recovery speed is very important in running full metal to get the most depth. I think when I'm in full metal I'm still having hard time here in Middle TN where most of our soil is hard clay and if I get 6-8" in full metal I'm doing really good. But I'm finding it hard running full metal with my Garrett 400 but it's easier with my BH Sharp Shooter II. I really don't know if it's the 8.5X11" DD vs 8" Concentric coil or the fact that the BH is so basic only relying on sensitivity control and discrimination that I'm so use to since it is my first detector. What I'm trying to say is that the soil type is so important for depth and I also believe you have to be able to run wide open in full metal and the trust in your machine to do the job is also very important. helpful. I'm also still a BIG NEWBY in this Hobby...........

 

[Emil W]

My deepest coins have been around 8 - 9 inches, maybe 10, none of them larger than a quarter and all of them in very trashy fields. I don't specifically hunt coins but I'd say about half of the ones I've found have been in the 8 - 9 inch range, found on 18th-19th century properties. I'm sure if I detected local parks or newer properties that percentage would go way down, but most decent finds tend to be deep on the properties I detect. One Merc was about 8" in very trashy ground and this bronze Napoleonic medal was even deeper and surrounded by iron. I was actually shocked I found it so deep in such trashy soil. It's just a little smaller than a quarter.

I usually hunt using the Hot program, sometimes Deep, less often in Deus Fast.

All my deepest finds have been with the Deus using the 11" X35 coil.

 

[Tpmetal]

Your right Tpmetal matching my swing with recovery speed is very important in running full metal to get the most depth. I think when I'm in full metal I'm still having hard time here in Middle TN where most of our soil is hard clay and if I get 6-8" in full metal I'm doing really good. But I'm finding it hard running full metal with my Garrett 400 but it's easier with my BH Sharp Shooter II. I really don't know if it's the 8.5X11" DD vs 8" Concentric coil or the fact that the BH is so basic only relying on sensitivity control and discrimination that I'm so use to since it is my first detector. What I'm trying to say is that the soil type is so important for depth and I also believe you have to be able to run wide open in full metal and the trust in your machine to do the job is also very important. helpful. I'm also still a BIG NEWBY in this Hobby...........

So the concentric coils will generally go deeper, but that deep detection area is very small. Imagine an upside down small traffic cone under the coil as the "detection zone". So to really cover ground well with a concentric you have to overlap every few inches. Where as a dd is usually not quite as deep but the detection zone is more akin to a half sphere rather than a cone. So you can cover more ground more efficiently with the dd but you loose that overall maximum depth.

 

[OH..POPS]

So the concentric coils will generally go deeper, but that deep detection area is very small. Imagine an upside down small traffic cone under the coil as the "detection zone". So to really cover ground well with a concentric you have to overlap every few inches. Where as a dd is usually not quite as deep but the detection zone is more akin to a half sphere rather than a cone. So you can cover more ground more efficiently with the dd but you loose that overall maximum depth.

Thanks for that bit of information. I also use the BH in really trashy parks because it gets thru the trash better that the Garrett 400. I am waiting for the 5x8 DD coil to get back in stock because I have read great things about the depth and the ability to pick out the trash. This is really the best site due to all the information everyone is willing to share with others.
Thank You Tpmetal

 

[Clad2Silver]

The vast majority of the coins I dig, clad or silver, are anywhere from one to six inches deep. Occasionally I'll get some that are deeper and many of them are clad with the occasional silver surprise. Last November I dug a 1787 Fugio Cent that was only about 6 inches deep. There are many factors that determine a coin's depth and sometimes it'll leave me scratching my head wondering why the coins are where they are depth wise.

 

[DanU]

Yesterday at the beach, in dry sand, I found 5 quarters (clad) in an 18 inch square area. They were from about 10 inches to 14 inches deep. I also pulled a couple of pennies (clad) that were 10 to 12 inches in wet sand. Almost gave up thinking it was a false signal since I had dug so deep. Since I am new, I dig everything at the beach. Using the Deus II which I am still learning.

 

[fistfulladirt]

I have a couple spots near home that produced a lot of silver, nickels and copper at depths of 7-12“. One is a three acre, 120+ y.o. ballfield/ice skating rink over loamy dark soil. One of the neighbors that lives across the street since the 1960’s said he’d seen people dirtfishing from time to time. I hit it with my DFX for the first time about ten years ago, found a merc or two. Talk about easy digging! Like cutting butter. Went back shortly after I picked up a used Minelab Explorer II with stock coil, and started popping silver left and right including 1870’s Canadian silver, Barbers, mercs, a seated dime and IH’s, 7-8” average. Picked up an aftermarket 10x12 coil and gained another 2“ in depth. Deepest coin was a Barber quarter at 12”. I dug at least 30 silvers, several buffalos, a dozen IH’s, 75+ wheats but surprisingly not a single ring. I have a couple more ballfields that were just like that one, really odd almost like they’d never been hunted!

 

[Trezurehunter]

Not on a consistent basis, but I have found some that deep.