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Help Finding Lost Ring....


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Guys I lost a ring in 1981 in a very specific spot in my parents yard when I was 14. I bought a Garret freedom two in about 92 and could never find it. I bought a Tesoro silver about 5 years ago and still couldn’t find it so I thought I needed a detector with a digital readout so I bought a Minelab vanquish. The area I lost the ring in is probably no bigger than 15x25 feet and I have taken probably 150 items out of the ground in that small area nails, screws,, nuts, bolts, coins, tinfoil etc...My parents passed and the house is going up for sale this Thursday. With the Tesoro I usually would set the disc at the iron and then thumb the knob to just pass pull tab and anything that got choppy or disappeared From foil to tab I dug. I bought the Minelab and have used jewelry mode and dug anything that registered 0-25 I dug and to no avail. A lot of times I will get a signal and the signal might be 15 then -3 or minus 4 and I have dug all of those. I have dug so much that their is literally nothing left that gives a clean signal, I am literally now in all metal mode and trying to dig everything, I even called a guy from ringfinders and he said he probably couldn’t find it and didn’t want to look for it. I was a skinny 14 year old when in lost it so it’s. Its not a huge ring but it was big enough to have the letter “R” engraved on the front, I guess it’s called a signet ring. Can anyone on here give me any suggestions as I am not that experienced using metal detectors. The ring is purely sentimental value having been my grandfathers, then my fathers and then mine. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have also searched further out into the yard thinking possibly the mower had flung it out in the yard but still nothing. Help please.

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First don’t panic.  The house is going up for sale as you said.  It is not sold or closed upon.  So you still have a decent time to search for it. Locating a buyer and time for closure normally takes a while.

Next, is there a chance that your parents let someone else detect the yard?  If so, someone else might have found it previously. If not, read on…

Locating a gold ring in a junk filled yard is not an easy task, even for a seasoned detectorist.  It takes time and getting to know the machine, it’s sounds, and other characteristics.  

Since you have several detectors to choose from,  try each detector with some similar gold rings so you can hear the tones each produces.  You can adjust the sensitivity or disc to make sure you can pick up each and every ring.  Choose the detector that seems to give you the best response to the ring closest to yours, but make sure the settings let you detect all rings you try. 
 

If there is iron in the yard in the form of nails, etc., choosing a detector with a double D coil with the sensitive strip in the center of the coil like the vanquish, rather than a donut shaped coil might help. 
 

Try searching the area moving in a left to right pattern, then change your direction of pattern 90degrees.  Sometimes this helps.  You’ll have to listen for a tone like the ones you heard when you listened to the reference rings you tested.  If you hear anything like the sound of the reference ring, dig it.  Even if the sound is preceded by an iron tone, or followed by an iron tone.  Iron next to the target could mask the signal (shifting its tone up or down) and make it more difficult to locate. 
 

I’m sure other detectorists will chime in with helpful suggestions.  
 

Good luck in your endeavor.  If you find it, let us know.

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We are talking 40 years ago, right?  

 "I have dug so much that their is literally nothing left that gives a clean signal, I am literally now in all metal mode and trying to dig everything"

It's very possible you are not remembering the location completely, just saying.  If you have dug all signals either with a crappy detector or a good one, it's very possible it's not there.  Sounds like you did a very decent job of looking for it.  I have no other good news to pass along, Sorry GaryC/Oregon Coast

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What part of the country are you in? There may be people here that will help you find it.

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There are others that will assist you such as Lostmystuff.com, and local detecting clubs on FB. Where are you located?   

As far as the detectors, work with the one you have the most hours on. The smallest DD coil is a good idea and be sure to keep the coil low as is rubbing the top of the grass and overlap your swings by say 50%. The ring you are looking for is most likely not over a couple of grams in weight. It should be a low number most likely. Slow down and try different directions like Dig5050 said. 

If the grass was mowed with a grass catcher bag there is a chance the ring was sucked up into the bag. If there is a place where the grass bag was emptied I’d check there. If it was hauled away then you may be out of luck. 

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I've been looking for a ring in an area the person who lost it thinks it was lost and haven't found it. It was only 2 years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was kicked into a neighboring cornfield by a lawnmower and may turn up there.

Lost one of my rings a couple of days ago out playing with my dog, found it in 5 minutes with the Equinox.

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Everyone, I appreciate all of the suggestions and I am going to do all of them ya’ll suggested. I just got a couple of rings and went into my back yard and the vanquish locked on at 14-15 on both those rings and rang out like a church bell. I’m going to go back as soon as I can and look again and also push my search area a little further out and maybe grid it one way then back 90 degrees to that sweep. I will surely let you know If I find it. By the way I am in Charleston SC.

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Gary brings up a very good point about the ring that may just not be there.

If your Tesoro has a concentric coil and you set the disc to just above iron and crank that sensitivity up to but not to chatter at all with coil raised it should be in striking range for the ring.

Another thought is it may have been knocked out of that location from a lawnmower or yard cleanup. I would grid off the whole yard. Also check where clippings may have been dumped.

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Hibernia, I see you're a new member, welcome to the forum. Hope you plan you stay, seems like you have a few detectors and some experience. Do a Meet and Greet and let us know more about ya. We hope you find your ring, sounds like a real challenge! And we like pics of finds. 🙄

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