Zinc or not to zinc?

[Coin Digger]

I find more and more I'm notching out zinc pennies. They come out of the ground looking like poo and they jam up my coin sorter.
Out of a handful I will throw away several. Some of them are in such poor shape they have less value then a pull tab.
I think some of the reason for their poor condition could be from fertilizers and weed killers.

 

[aa battery]

because i hand roll they go to the bank and they throw um away but i still get credit for um

 

[TerryC]

You're right about the bank taking them. They MUST! Any bank insured by the FDIC is required to take any authentic U.S. money nolonger good for use. It is a federal law. That aside, I voted I dig every thing but really mean I dig all money. For two reasons... one: metaldetecting is a physical endeaver for me. Every coin found is that much more exercize I get. Second: the areas I hunt will now be less cluttered with clad and therefore more promising the next time I hunt it. TTC

 

[aa battery]

You're right about the bank taking them. They MUST! Any bank insured by the FDIC is required to take any authentic U.S. money nolonger good for use. It is a federal law. That aside, I voted I dig every thing but really mean I dig all money. For two reasons... one: metaldetecting is a physical endeaver for me. Every coin found is that much more exercize I get. Second: the areas I hunt will now be less cluttered with clad and therefore more promising the next time I hunt it. TTC

i started to pass up a zinker once and it turned out to be a indian head

 

[dkw]

i started to pass up a zinker once and it turned out to be a indian head

DITTO!!!!!! I've dug several IHs and a few wheats that read a lot like a zinc cent.

 

[TerryC]

Someone e-mailed me asking for the law requiring banks to take money. I must refine my reply to be: all "Federal Reserve Banks" must take "currency" clearly U.S. if it is at least 5/8ths of the bill. They must also take coins that are worn. Those coins are called "uncurrent". Coins that are brocken, bent, not whole, or "corroded" are called mutilated and are redeemable at the U.S.Mint in PA. The entire explaination is available at.... www.usmint.gov/downloads/faqs/mutilated.pdf TTC

 

[JasonB]

Sometimes jewelry hits in the zinc range too. I dig 'em.

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

Yep, I dig em. Don't like it, but have to. Found two pieces of silver jewelry, but almost did not dig because I thought it was another stinkin Lincoln. LOL

Ray S

 

[Slingshot]

I notch them out when clad hunting, but accept them when I get into Indian Head country. I once saw a test done that showed about 60% of all gold rings fall into this same spectrum.

 

[TreasurdiggrNY]

I dig 'em especially with the F2. In my air tests with a honking 14K gold ring it rang up every time with the #46 under Zinc from 1 inch to 6 inches. At 7 inches it rang 46-48 zinc, at 8 inches it rang up 48-54 zinc, at 9 inches 45-52 zinc and at 10 inches 40-50's zinc.
Good Luck,
Glenn

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

I don't disc them, but don't dig them. Too many of them, and too much trash that comes up as them. I'm not in it for IH or jewelry.

 

[bazinga]

I don't disc them, but don't dig them. Too many of them, and too much trash that comes up as them. I'm not in it for IH or jewelry.

I'm with Ricardo on this one. I don't ever dig them, and I don't notch them out either. I don't knock anything out except for a little iron mask.

I do enjoy digging indian heads though since so few silver coins are left in the ground around here to be found.

 

[dl_mooney]

I dig all.Have several Zink messed up ones.There still not completely gone.

 

[mick56]

I have found several silver rings that my ace 250 rang up as zincs. I always dig 'em!

 

[steve from ohio]

You're right about the bank taking them. They MUST! Any bank insured by the FDIC is required to take any authentic U.S. money nolonger good for use. It is a federal law. That aside, I voted I dig every thing but really mean I dig all money. For two reasons... one: metaldetecting is a physical endeaver for me. Every coin found is that much more exercize I get. Second: the areas I hunt will now be less cluttered with clad and therefore more promising the next time I hunt it. TTC

I keep the clad until I get around a hundred bucks...usually about three or four detecting days. I then convert them to Silver Eagles. Been doing that since 1986 and have over two thousand five hundred silver eagles from the clads and zinc pennies I have found. The White's eagle Spectrum with a Bigfoot coil is a killer for clad. I love clad...it's like finding real money in the ground.

 

[steve from ohio]

I keep the clad until I get around a hundred bucks...usually about three or four detecting days. I then convert them to Silver Eagles. Been doing that since 1986 and have over two thousand five hundred silver eagles from the clads and zinc pennies I have found. The White's eagle Spectrum with a Bigfoot coil is a killer for clad. I love clad...it's like finding real money in the ground.

A couple hundred dollars in 3-4 days? I don't believe it at all. Maybe if you hit a virgin spot LOADED with clad, but there is no way you can do that on a regular basis.

Believe it! Not a couple of hundred, but very close to a hundred bucks every three or four detecting days.

I travel a lot to detect and I have a Bigfoot coil with an Eagle Spectrum. I go to cities that have community days in central park areas with grass and hit the areas after they are over. On a recent outing, I had $125.15 worth of clads in about 5 hours of detecting. I was picking up quarters, dimes and nickles right on top of the ground but hidden by the grass. I also have noticed that a lot of coins are being dropped near trash cans. I also look for well traveled areas in the grass and concentrate my efforts there.

I also hit the parking lots. Lots of coins dropped there in the winter and get shoveled into the grass right next to the lot. I never see anyone detecting the edges of parking lots. But I do. Every year clads are being dropped in the parking lots and plowed into the grass. Hundreds of parking lots where I live.

I hit the county fairgrounds and get a lot of clads there. I keep a sharp eye out in the newspapers for outdoor events held in parks and public outdoor areas. I am always the first there and make out big time! Airshows are a great place to find clads especially at small airports.

I look for schools with grass playgrounds. The kids are dropping clad coins every day and at a local school, I usually hit that school ground once a week. Takes an hour or two to cover the ground where I have taken notice where the majority of my previous finds have been and hit those places and leave the rest for later in the year.

What's nice about finding clads is that in many cases, you are not digging all day, just picking them up off the ground. I even pick up the pennies that i find on the ground at the local gas station or at local parking lots. Don't even need a detector for those. I have to laugh at people who drop a penny or even several and say...Oh well they are just pennies.
Those pennies add up.

I go to the beach in the winter in Florida. I usually get tons of clads there. and every day the clads are being replenished.

Again, I am using an Eagle Spectrum with a Bigfoot coil. The Bigfoot covers 18 inches at each sweep and goes down about 4 to 6 inches, sometimes more. Anyone can do it. Get yourself a Bigfoot with a White's detector and you too can become KING OF THE CLADS.

Back in the late 80's when silver was 3 to 4 bucks an ounce, I was buying 8 to 10 silver Eagles in a week from the clads I was finding with my old detector. I wish I had the Spectrum with the Bigfoot back then. I would have had twice the amount of silver Eagles that I have now!

 

[Coin Digger]

I've heard of people cleaning up with a big foot coil, but $100 in a couple of days maybe once in a blue moon but come on you would run out of places to hunt, you would really have to travel to keep up that pace.

 

[steve from ohio]

I've heard of people cleaning up with a big foot coil, but $100 in a couple of days maybe once in a blue moon but come on you would run out of places to hunt, you would really have to travel to keep up that pace.

When I am out detecting, it is not for an hour or two. When I go out, I am detecting 5 to 9 hours with a small lunch break. And you would be surprised how many local places are overlooked by others with detectors. I detect at least 4 days a week and sometimes more. $100 a week for four days is $25.00 a day in clads. Not all that difficult with the Bigfoot. Lots of work though. My Spectrum is hip mounted and the Bigfoot coil is easy to swing all day.

I did say every three or four days. Some weeks more, some weeks less. If you check my posting, I have a pretty good way of keeping my pipeline full. I am always on the lookout for public places to hunt. Most folks would not even think of hitting the grassy areas outside of parking lots. Lots of coins are dropped in the winter and they get plowed into piles on the grass. Lots of cities have community days with rides and lots of other activities that allow for people to drop coins. Restaurants with drive ins have a ton of coins plowed into grass in the winter. Most people are afraid to detect the grass strip between the street and sidewalk. Not me. I hit it big time. Lots of clads there.

I often go to sled riding hills. Lots and lots of coins there. Bike racks are a good place to look. In my area of Northern Ohio, there are lots of schools that have playgrounds with grass. We have the Metroparks that allow MD'ing and ther areTons of coins and tons of places to detect there. I am always thinking of where to look. There are so many places locally. I do often travel and when I do, the detectors go with me. So I often go out of state but the same areas are available almost everywhere.
I do go to Florida in the winter and that extends my season to 12 months. That is when I really hit the beaches. Tons and Tons of clads there.

No such thing as running out of places to hunt. Just running out of ideas as to where to hunt. That certainly is not my problem.

That is just my clad activities. I also have been using a Minelab Explorer SE pro which is going to be sold to my brother. I'm getting the E-Trac. I use the Minelab to hit the real deep stuff after I hit the clads.

I take MD'ing seriously and do it for fun.

 

[Michigan Badger]

A zinc in northern Michigan is the equivalent of a Pine Tree Shilling down in Ma.

 

[Slingshot]

Wow, $25 a day on average! You certainly don't hunt within 100 miles of where I live. I did dig a little over $40 out of a single park once. I dug from sunlight to dark about 20 years ago with a hipmounted TEK 9000, and I was so sore the next couple of days I could hardly move. I'm in great shape now, and was in even better condition then. Sounds like youv'e located an area with no competition at all! COOL!!! You might want to eliminate Georgia as a place you want to visit and detect at. There is a lot of fierce competition here over clad, relics, and old coins, as Southerners seem to be more intense over their passions than folks from the rest of the country. An unusually great day here would yield about $10 in clad, and I'm sure you would be dissappointed digging in the poor old South. Good luck on your digging, and keep piling it in!