New Metal Detector For Gold And Coins

[arcanomistero]

Hello,

i want buy a new metal detector for small gold nuggets and coins or other small object so it has to be all around

i live in Italy, here the gold nuggets here are very small 0.03 g there aren't very big nuggets above 1g. 

the ground where i want search is medium-high mineralized, also i need a detector with good discrimination.

here there are my choices with the videos test

 

Detech eds gold catcher 28khz for 540€ new with 2 coil. not a stunning performance with small 0.03 nugget but i like a lot.

also there is the detech eds plus ii, but work only at 14khz but i can put the same coil use on eds gold cathcer

Golden mask 4 18khz or thracian version 22khz pretty much the same detector at 300€

 

golden mask 5 15-30khz at 300€  but not a very good performance on small nugget 0.03g

i need some advices, i'm not very expert

thanks

[Jeff McClendon]

Minelab Equinox 800 and 6 inch coil. XP Orx with white high frequency 9”coil or 9X5” coil. Nokta Makro Multi Kruzer, Gold Kruzer or Anfibio Multi. 
 

Jeff

[arcanomistero]

thanks for the advice but the price are a little high.

what about the  fisher gold bug pro with small coil ? is good on small nuggets ?

this man in the first ten 10 second find very good nuggets with fisher gold bug in italy

 

[Jeff McClendon]

arcanomistero

Your initial question included gold in the .03 gram size. You would need a much more sensitive, high gain detector running at higher frequencies for that sized gold.

The Gold Bug Pro with the small 5" coil or the 10X5" or even better the F19 with the same coils would do very well on gold that is 0.2 grams or larger. The gold in the video that was shown at the beginning was at least 0.5 grams and would be no problem for the Gold Bug, F19 or the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro. That sized gold would also be no problem for many detectors running at 14 kHz with a small 10 x 5" coil or smaller like an Fisher F75, Makro Racer or Racer 2, Whites MXT, MX5, MX7, MX Sport, X-Terra 705 or the 14 kHz Makro Kruzer. Even better would be the Makro Multi Kruzer.  They should be able to detect a 0.2 gram or larger gold at 2" depth or more. I would not recommend the Garrett detector the gentleman had however.

Are there used detectors like the ones phrunt and I have recommended available in your area? Buying a new detector like the ones mentioned but with the smaller coils is more expensive generally.

Jeff

[GB_Amateur]

16 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Are there used detectors like the ones phrunt and I have recommended available in your area?

 

15 hours ago, phrunt said:

I forgot he said 0.03 of a gram is his normal gold size, for that it's vital to get higher frequency than the 19kHz GBP/G2/Time Ranger Pro/F19 in my opinion so scrap that idea of getting one of those detectors as you'll get much better results with a higher frequency machine.  Can you find a second hand unit, maybe there is a Gold Bug 2 for sale somewhere in your area, they tend to be on the second hand market quite a bit.  Nokta have some higher frequency options you may find second hand too in your area.  The problem is once you start to go to those dedicated gold detectors you lose the ability to find coins with them, they're just no good for that.  (empasis mine)

Although in general it is true that higher frequencies are less well-suited to coins, particularly silver coins, the Nokta/Makro Gold Racer seems to be an exception to the old 'rule' that high frequency (40 kHz and higher operating freq's) gold detectors are specialty detectors only for searching for gold.  Steve has made a point more than once that the Gold Racer will find coins.  He also mentions the Gold Kruzer having ability to find coins.

Given that Turkey isn't all that far from Italy and also on the Mediterranean Sea (although it's a long swim 😁), are the Nokta/Makro detectors more affordable there?

I've also done well with used detectors.  The downside (sometimes) is whether/not you can get a warranty transfer, but even when not, they can still be worth the risk if the price is right.

 

[Chase Goldman]

The higher frequencies will indeed ping shallower high conductive targets but there will be a physics-based limitation on ultimate detection depth for all targets because the high frequency field is naturally attenuated in the ground to a greater extent than the lower frequency field.  In other words the transmitted and received field strength in the ground drops off quicker with higher transmit frequencies than with lower frequencies which limits the ultimate depth capability of VLF induction balance detectors using higher frequencies all other variables being the same for both cases.

[GB_Amateur]

To state the obvious, but clarify my thoughts, the choice of detector depends strongly upon two things:  intended usage and available budget.

If someone were exclusively hunting for native gold then the Fisher Gold Bug 2 and Minelab Gold Monster 1000 are natural choices.  However, neither is much of a coin hunter and no one (?) would recommend them as such.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, if coin hunting were the only goal, then getting a low to middle frequency detector is the way to go.

The compromise occurs when you will be using a single detector for both.  Jeff did a good job detailing that.  From the title of this thread and particularly its initial post it sounds as though arcanomistero (initiator) is more in the market for a detector that will find the tiny gold than one which specialized in coins.  To me that makes the Makro Gold Racer a candidate.  Phrunt (to the likely distress of his mentor KiwiJW 😏) downplayed the monetary value of tiny nuggets and thus recommended an intermediate frequency detector.  True, but to some people there's more value to finding tiny gold than simply the currency it can be exchanged for.  (Of course Phrunt knows this.  He's just trying to do as the rest of us and suggest the optimal compromise solution.)  But as Jeff and Phrunt point out, if you relax the 0.03 gram requirement then a lot of detectors start to become attractive.

For many, the optimal compromise is the Minelab Equinox, even the lower priced 600 model whose multi-frequency park and field modes make use of operating frequencies in the high 30's kHz (good for tiny gold) as well as single digit kHz (good for silver coins).  However, back to the first point in this thread, if the Equinox is above the available budget then other solutions are needed.

 

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

For many, the optimal compromise is the Minelab Equinox, even the lower priced 600 model whose multi-frequency park and field modes make use of operating frequencies in the high 30's kHz (good for tiny gold) as well as single digit kHz (good for silver coins).  However, back to the first point in this thread, if the Equinox is above the available budget then other solutions are needed.

Which makes me wonder why no one has suggested the Multi IQ-based Vanquish...until now.

[GB_Amateur]

6 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Which makes me wonder why no one has suggested the Multi IQ-based Vanquish...until now.

I guess 'now' means your tongue-in-cheek reference quoted above.  😁  Since you've been one of the more outspoken (in a good way, IMO) critics (positive and negative) of the Vanquish, are you really recommending it as an option?  I was thinking that its ground balancing limitations could be a problem.  I always associate areas where native gold is found with potentially heavy mineralization.  That's certainly an oversimplification and maybe the mountains of Italy aren't particularly stressful in this case.

 

[Chase Goldman]

44 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

I guess 'now' means your tongue-in-cheek reference quoted above.  😁  Since you've been one of the more outspoken (in a good way, IMO) critics (positive and negative) of the Vanquish, are you really recommending it as an option?  I was thinking that its ground balancing limitations could be a problem.  I always associate areas where native gold is found with potentially heavy mineralization.  That's certainly an oversimplification and maybe the mountains of Italy aren't particularly stressful in this case.

 

In the US, yes you are usually dealing with some level of mineralization while prospecting.  I am not a prospector, so not necessarily the right person to be recommending this detector to the OP.  As a relic hunter, primarily, I use no discrimination a lot because I need to hear the iron for various reasons (to locate a possible dwelling site, to better contrast the iron grunt against non-ferrous tones) and because of the fixed GB of the Vanquish that can be a problem in mineralized ground because of the resulting ground noise due to the preset, fixed ground phase reference.  I do not think, however, that it makes the detector blind to small gold.  There is a workaround for the ground noise issue for us "all metal" mode users, but it is a little limited in that you can only apply the workaround to one mode at a time as the Vanquish only allows you to save one set of custom discrimination and search mode settings at a time.

Not sure about the ground conditions in Italy, but Phrunt apparently can prospect for gold with nary a concern about mineralization in NZ.  Now I don't know about .03g gold, but it is multifrequency (though weighted more to the low frequency range) so it gives you a fighting chance over a range of targets vs. a single frequency machine. The 540 PRO PACK is in the right price range and you get a small accessory V8 coil very well suited to small gold and jewelry while the "stock" coil is a great for general purpose coin and relic hunting on land and on the beach.

Phrunt has had the most experience and can best discuss whether someone could have success with coins and prospecting for natural gold with the Vanquish.

He sings its praises in his review here.  With one notable quote:

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With the V8 coil in jewellery/ All metal mode it's a respectable gold nugget prospecting machine, able to compete with the 19khz machines from other manufacturers in performance.

His other review is here.  With these relevant tidbits:

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If you're into hunting coins and jewellery but don't want to spend a fortune to have a bit of fun the Vanquish is for you, it's easy to use, the detector's built in settings are based around making it as easy as possible and enjoyable to use, and it's multi-IQ technology is what's making it so competitive with the high end machines.  I can imagine it will also be a very good wet and dry sand beach detector which very few detectors can boast, even high end machines and that's as a result of its Multi-IQ technology.

 

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Also, if you're wanting to do the odd bit of gold prospecting it can do the job, it can find nuggets in the 0.0X of a gram range, especially with the V8 coil so for a entry level detector it's very versatile.

Sounds like exactly what the OP was looking for in price and capability.