Whats the deal with nickels??

[AugustMoose87]

What's the deal with nickels??

So I don't know if this is just me, my detector, or my park, but I'm wondering if anyone else has this...

I'm finding a LOT fewer nickles that I expected, based on the number of other coins I've found... I've got 30 quarters (plus 7 quarter sized tokens), 61 dimes and 343 pennies... Thinking that a nickel is below a quarter in size (so slightly harder to find) but less valuable than a dime (less motivation to find), I would have guessed my nickel county would be closer to dimes... like 50's. But I've got 35.... I know that isn't a huge difference, and we could go on and on about the small sample size, margin of error, etc, etc, etc. I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed this, or if it's just me.

 

[Indian Steve]

Are you discriminating poptops? Poptops and nickels fall in the same range. I did everything above iron. I once went to a park where I knew another detector hunted. He hated poptops and discriminated them out. I dug several poptops, 12 nickels, 1 dime, 1 quarter, 1 penny and a GOLD RING. Poptops, nickels, small gold all fall in the same range.

 

[Jesse James]

My pop once came to me and said, "Out of all this change I found, why don't I have any nickels?" Shortly after that he discovered that he wasn't digging tones that sounded like tabs. Low and behold he started digging those tones and out came the nickels. I, on the other hand, tend to dig virtually every tone so I seem to find them. I have even been able to recognize a potential nickel now. I guess I have avoided the whole nickel thing by being the anal person I am when it comes to digging every and all targets.

 

[Normsel]

You will never find as many nickels as dimes or quarters mostly because the vdi range they are in. I have found over $1700 in coins in the past 2 yrs and the nickel ratio is about one nickel to 10 quarters or dimes. I don't dig on every sound but if a tone comes up + or - a cpl of numbers in the ideal vdi range I dig them. Like many people say the more you hunt the more you find as you learn your detector.

 

[mikeraydj]

I felt that way until one day I started getting nickel hits at a park at the fairgrounds. At first I thought I was hitting pull tabs, Then a nickel popped. Then another, then another. By the time I was done I picked 168 nickels before I stopped counting. Almost all at 3 inches deep and in a area about 10 feet circular. It was the strangest coin spill I have ever come across.

 

[AugustMoose87]

I don't think I am discriminating them out. My detector just has three ranges - Sm. Gold/Iron/Trash, Gold/Nickels/Pull Tabs, and Silver/Coins. I've only discriminated out the Sm. Gold/Tron/Trash. I am pulling a TON of pull tabs, plus I dig every signal that gives repeatable tones... Like at least a tone 50% of the time... Stuff that I get one beep and they can't find again for a few passes I leave for if/when I come back with a better detector.

 

[ps249]

nickel is a rare coin compared to pennys dimes and quarters .... plus it reads lower than copper an silver most people discriminate out the nickels. I will say I have had more luck with nickels with the mxt pro than any other detector I have used.

 

[ZR2guy]

I have found quite a few with my 705. A solid nickle comes in about 12. If I see the VDI bounce from 10-14 with a 12 popping in there, I dig it and 9 times out of 10, it is a nickel.

 

[lookindown]

There are less nickels lost than other coins because there are less nickels in circulation...so you are going to find less...your coin ratio is normal.

 

[Silverslug]

I have the same problem. My Garrett Ace 250 can't tell the difference between a nickel and a pull tab. As a result, I find very few nickels. I usually only find them if they are part of a spill.

 

[RobRieman]

I have the same problem. My Garrett Ace 250 can't tell the difference between a nickel and a pull tab. As a result, I find very few nickels. I usually only find them if they are part of a spill.

It's tough to tell the difference between some tabs and nickels. What's even harder is telling the difference between nickels and gold rings gotta dig them tabs and nickels to find the gold.

 

[rainyday101]

nickel is a rare coin compared to pennys dimes and quarters .... plus it reads lower than copper an silver most people discriminate out the nickels. I will say I have had more luck with nickels with the mxt pro than any other detector I have used.

I went to a Whites dealer one day and did a demo on a MXT pro. The ability of that detector to tell the difference between several types of tabs and nickels really amazed me. If I wasn't swinging Tesoro's, I would buy and MXT Pro in a heartbeat and dig nickels and rings all day long, just because I could.

 

[jeepGold]

I recently bought an AT GOLD w/the assumption that I'd be using it in the desert along w/my dry washer. Well my 4x is down for an unexpected count so I've taken up coin shooting @ local parks. Some advice might be needed but this is what I've figured out so far. The ATG is so strong that I can turn my signal strength all the way down @ it still hits really well. For parks I tend to go in discrem 2 & keep the iron audio off until I get a hit. Then I turn it on to see if I get that AWWWGG sound or not. The 1st time I used it I was all over those 68-78's because its a strong upper medium tone. Well those are pennies. Even in the mid 80's and a higher tone it can be a penny. I've learned to (for the most part) ignore the 70's... 45-60 tends to be nickels & from what I've read, jewelry. Dimes are around mid to lower 80's & are close to quarters which are about 85+. The main difference between dimes & quarters is the tone. Quarters scream, dimes yell.
I had gotten to the point that I completely ignore pennies unless they are surface ones or an inch or two down. I pay more attn to the 50's because that's where the rings, etc fall into but its a PITA because all you tend to really get are poptabs & bottle tops. Any hints otherwise?

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I wouldnt ever expect your nickle ratio to be the same as your other coins...Thou I find tons of nickles on my machine, because its pretty dead on the numbers....I still find nickles that are reading 5+ numbers higher and lower.

If you are digging that many nickles and pulltabs..You are on your way to Gold!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

When I used to hunt a local park on my lunchbreak I found a lot of nickels. I think it is because most prior detectorists had discriminated or notched them out. They are down around 28-30 out of 0 to 99 possible range on my F-75's display.

There are a lot of nickels in circulation. I just looked in my pocket and I got a 1953 in my change from supper tonight.

 

[gleaner1]

I dig a lot of nickels doing trash clean outs at parks. They sound like pulltabs and I dig those hoping for gold rings. I have found six and eight nicks in a good two hour cleanout many times. Actually, the parks have been hit so well by the minelab guys that the only older coins I find nowadays are nickels, scattered about hidden in a blizzard of crown caps, pull tabs, foil wads, rusty debris and metal detecting angst.

 

[Coin Digger]

There are less nickels lost than other coins because there are less nickels in circulation...so you are going to find less...your coin ratio is normal.

That was my findings. I run my pocket change through a coin sorter and nickels are always the last to fill up. I'll fill up 3-5 penny rolls before one nickel roll.