GOLD - What Readings?

[Cherokee]

I use a Fisher Edge II. I generally use the factory settings and will use the pinpoint button for anything that is +22 or higher. I know gold has a lower reading of about +15 but so does the junk metal. Is it recommended to dig all signals or is there an easier way to know a gold reading?

 

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[Joe(TX)]

.................OK....Most Gold Rings are not made out of pure gold unless it is 24karat and that is few and far inbetween!!....So most gold rings are alloys.............. something is added to the ring to make it harder.....because of this alloy gold rings can fall all over the place on the TID meter.............from Foil ......Nickels......Pulltabs .......and up thru aluminum Screw Caps..............if I am at the beach I will dig all signals......................but at the park or school yard.......I will notch out the pulltabs and the foil and dig all of the Nickels and Screw Caps............if you dig a high percentage of Nickels .........your ring count should go up..................HH................Joe

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Joe is right. There is no way to tell aluminum verses gold. Both are simply low conductors. Both can read all over the low end of the scale, and have an infinate number of characteristics, just like gold jewelry (based on shape, size, weight, angle in the ground, etc...) If anyone tells you they can tell gold verses aluminum (with tones or graphs, etc...) QUICKLY take them out to the nearest inner city blighted urban ghetto park, turn them loose, and see how well they do

 

[Monty]

Well, I don't have that detector so my numbers will be different. But, on my Safari gold no matter what the carat comes in between 21 and 26. Aluminum always comes in right along with silver around a 36 to 38. Thirty six is nearly always an aluminum can while can slaw if smashed real tight reads the same as silver or a 37 and 38. Aluminum screw on lids also read 37 or 38 and they are the nemesis of the Safari. 40 on the scale is always and I mean always rusted steel with the halo effect. So, when park hunting especially, I discriminate everything out except the "good" numbers and dig everything with very little junk. If digging for artifacts such as a civil war field I use all metal and dig it all. Lots of junk, but lots of goodies too! Monty

 

[BIG61AL]

I dig everything from nickle/pulltab on up. While I have yet to find a small woman's gold ring I am sure it would be read on the low end and would not want to miss it soooo everything gets dug.

 

[Da Sand Crab]

Unfortunate reality as stated by everyone. If you want to find gold then you gotta dig alot of aluminum trash.

The gold is there though.

 

[Tank69]

I dug this with my ace 250 an it read as a dime .....you just never know .

 

[NGE]

I knew an old radio/tv tech that was working on a portable oscilloscope, mounted on a shaft, he already had the coil built, just needed to figure out how to power the thing, last thing I heard from him, he had 2 car batteries hooked up to it, and they were in an old radio Flyer wagon, that he had to tow behind him. He showed me in the shop what signals were produced by different metals (wave lengths) yes they were all different. Now if someone can reproduce what he was doing, I would be glad to watch wave lengths on a meter.........NGE

 

[Monty]

And with my ACE, a penny also reads as a dime lots of times! Monty

 

[Digger]

While there is no 100% accurate way of finding gold, there are ways to increase the odds without digging every bit a trash.

I run with my discrimination pretty much wide open. I only reject iron. I prefer to hear, and see, everything that is in the ground, because it helps me to determine what I'm dealing with. Just as a dime or quarter is pretty easy to identify by its display characteristics, so is some standard trash. Those pesky pull tabs for example.

When I first get to a site I will recover pretty much everything at first until I find the trash pattern. If I find a site that is littered with pull tabs, and I find they read either a 21 to 24 and 26 to 28, then I simply ignore those numbers and dig everything else. doesn't guarantee you won't mis any gold, but it will increase you odds substantially.

My experience has been like Monty's. I have yet to ever dig gold above 21 on my DFX. Chains from 01 to 03 and rings/pendents/earrings from 04 to 21, but never any higher. Doesn't mean they don't just that I have yet to see it, and I've found a crap load of gold rings.

 

[underdogger]

My priz II has no vdi #s to rely on . but I disagree with some of the post because I have found my best ring at 9 in, in the foil range. I also found a ring that was full on pop top. To really under stand try this test. Pick a likely spot you think could contain a ring or jewelry. run with iron disriminate only. then try a 10 by 10 spot and dig all hits. my guess you will learn a lot about your detector if you do this.

 

[mlayers]

I have a White's DFX and my gold wedding band locks on at 11 and the is in the foil range so I normally dig everything when the ground is good and moist. I don't like digging in the hard dry ground and this will leave dead spots. So it is not a easy task to find the gold in the parks. Unless you dig it all. Take your machine and get a few rings that is different sizes and do some air testing and you can see what they will right upin....Matt

 

[Shortstack]

mlayers:

........and other users of VDI machines; to get a better idea of the reactions to different types of rings, find a clean area of ground and lay those rings on the ground, one at a time, to put the "dirt" factor in to get a more accurate reading.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

.................OK....Most Gold Rings are not made out of pure gold unless it is 24karat and that is few and far inbetween!!....So most gold rings are alloys.............. something is added to the ring to make it harder.....because of this alloy gold rings can fall all over the place on the TID meter.............from Foil ......Nickels......Pulltabs .......and up thru aluminum Screw Caps..............if I am at the beach I will dig all signals......................but at the park or school yard.......I will notch out the pulltabs and the foil and dig all of the Nickels and Screw Caps............if you dig a high percentage of Nickels .........your ring count should go up..................HH................Joe

True,True