Should I keep digging?

[reeceaian]

Hey there, 1st time poster, long time visitor. After a year of reading what everyone else is pulling from the ground, I finally bought my first detector 2 weeks ago. My son and I have been hunting together frequently having a blast. I own a Tesoro Silver umax and am amazed of how much this machine knows what's in the ground.
We've found a community centre nearby quite lucrative that's hosted numerous events like baseball games, bbq's, fairs, etc...and amongst the usual tabs and other unwanted items, we've found plenty of pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies ($1 & $2 coins). We've noticed that most if not all of the coins are found in the plug or only 1 or 2 inches down. However some time I get a similar coin signal, dig and find nothing. I scan the hole again and the signal is still strong so I keep digging. After about 6 or 8 inches, still nothing even though the signal is still audible over the hole. I'm assuming it's not a coin as all the other coins we found were very shallow. Should I keep digging or am I to assume it's junk? This happens frequently. For the Tesoro users, I've the discrimination on foil and the sens on about 5. Thanks in advance.

 

[SeaninNH]

It's either on the rim of your hole. Make the hole wider and see if that helps. If it's not on the side of the hole it will be something BIG and DEEP.

 

[Goodyguy]

When the target is on the sides of the hole it helps to use a pinpointer.
Otherwise keep digging.

 

[Sandman]

When the target is on the sides of the hole it helps to use a pinpointer.
Otherwise keep digging.

True.....Also a coin on edge will pinpoint differently and throw you off. This is where an electronic pinpointer helps. When I started I only used a screw driver for a probe to touch the coin before I popped a shallow coin or or dug a plug.

 

[mts]

Let's assume that the OP knows that the target truly is deeper than he has dug and isn't just on the side of the hole. This is a very common occurrence for most of us and we are all faced with this question now and then.

He wants to know if he should continue digging down deeper or is 99.9% of this stuff going to be trash? I typically stop digging as I assume that it is trash. But I'll defer to the real experts to give an opinion.

 

[reeceaian]

Every other coin has been 1-2 inches down. So when I get the same "coin" signal and the coin isn't in that 1-2 inch range, I would assume it's not a coin. The community centre hasn't been around that long so I doubt that a coin would be much deeper. I usually move on after 5 minutes of digging if I can't find anything. Perhaps a solid piece of sheet metal or rebar when the park was constructed. I'll take the advice of digging a larger hole and getting a pinpointer.

 

[mts]

Every other coin has been 1-2 inches down. So when I get the same "coin" signal and the coin isn't in that 1-2 inch range, I would assume it's not a coin. The community centre hasn't been around that long so I doubt that a coin would be much deeper. I usually move on after 5 minutes of digging if I can't find anything. Perhaps a solid piece of sheet metal or rebar when the park was constructed. I'll take the advice of digging a larger hole and getting a pinpointer.

A pinpointer is the best investment you'll ever make. Especially if you go with something like the Garrett ProPointer. The ProPointer beeps faster as you get closer to the target. Most cheaper pinpointers just give a solid beep which doesn't do much to help you figure out exactly where the target might be. The ProPointer's faster beeping takes you right to the target and is very good at helping you decide whether or not to keep digging.

I would not assume that all coins are in the 1-2 inch range. That may be the norm but you may be passing up older coins by not digging down to at least 6" or more. Of course, this all depends on your soil.

But my experience (which isn't worth much) is that there are many types of trash targets that can be fairly deep and will sound like a coin signal. So I usually stop digging if I get down to 8" and my pinpointer indicates that I'm nowhere near the target yet.

Again, I'll defer to the REAL professionals here to provide better advice.

 

[FarmerChick]

at a community center or park, at some point I stop digging. too deep could easily be pipes, trash metal from building etc. places like this run metal underground, grids etc.

plus at these types of places you don't want to dig to China and make a gopher field out of the place LOL

 

[Goodyguy]

at a community center or park, at some point I stop digging. too deep could easily be pipes, trash metal from building etc. places like this run metal underground, grids etc.

plus at these types of places you don't want to dig to China and make a gopher field out of the place LOL

I agree, don't dig a crater in a public area. But I dig every target. digging deeper usually means older target,
and bigger is not always bad.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hey there, 1st time poster, long time visitor. After a year of reading what everyone else is pulling from the ground, I finally bought my first detector 2 weeks ago. My son and I have been hunting together frequently having a blast. I own a Tesoro Silver umax and am amazed of how much this machine knows what's in the ground.
We've found a community centre nearby quite lucrative that's hosted numerous events like baseball games, bbq's, fairs, etc...and amongst the usual tabs and other unwanted items, we've found plenty of pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies ($1 & $2 coins). We've noticed that most if not all of the coins are found in the plug or only 1 or 2 inches down. However some time I get a similar coin signal, dig and find nothing. I scan the hole again and the signal is still strong so I keep digging. After about 6 or 8 inches, still nothing even though the signal is still audible over the hole. I'm assuming it's not a coin as all the other coins we found were very shallow. Should I keep digging or am I to assume it's junk? This happens frequently. For the Tesoro users, I've the discrimination on foil and the sens on about 5. Thanks in advance.

Sometimes "deep" is just deep. Here is the Dr. Pepper I dug 22" for! LOL! - Terry

 

[Goodyguy]

If you don't like digging, then you may not want to own a deep seeking two box detector.
I have dug holes up to ten feet deep for a car bumper or similar size car or tractor or farm implement part.
Filling them back in is no picnic either.

GG~

 

[thrillathahunt]

Please allow me to add my 2 cents worth. As a fellow Tesoro owner and a former Silver umax owner, if you are still getting a signal after digging 6+ inches, crank the discrimination all the way up and re-check. If you still get a large signal, try to determine the size of the object by swinging out from the center of the target, if you get a signal more than a couple of inches out from center it has been my experience that it will be a soda can or other large piece of junk 99.9% of the time. So the question one needs to ask oneself is, dig or not to dig.

 

[fishbone3d]

Lift your coil up higher. I you still get a good beep at six inches to a foot above the ground, it is probably large junk. Also Look in the side walls, like the earlier poster said to do. I have found many goodies in the side walls. I have a Garrett Pro-Pointer that is my most valuable tool of the trade. Pretty good investment, if you are really interested in the hobby.

 

[Monty]

Keep digging until you can hear Chinese being spoken in the hole and then you have gone too far. MOnty

 

[Bum Luck]

Yup, I don't dig large deep targets either (but as my name indicates, I'm not finding a lot of good stuff).

The deep stuff I've dug has been car parts, metal roofing, aluminum siding scraps, license plates and paint cans (the latter through 2 layers of asphalt and 2 feet down). Bad for your attitude.

The one time I didn't dig a deep target, it was next to a home foundation, solid signal. I went a foot deep and quit because it was in her flower bed. She later said she found a cache of silver half dollars, 14 in all. This guy, then dead, was a druggie thief who lived with his parents and probably forget he did it.

Good luck, and keep having fun, which is the main thing.

 

[FarmerChick]

LOL Terry---that dr. pepper can reminds me of my 3 ft. deep pepsi can
on the beach...I dug and dug and dug to hit that can

 

[dirty digger dude]

 

[OhioDeb]

But wasn't it fun tho? And you got a story to tell. OhioDeb

 

[relichunters]

Chances are it's in the rim of the hole, that happens often. Buy a pinpointer and move that around the rim and on top of the grass and you will find it.