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A few weeks ago, inspired by some threads in the jewelry forum, I started shifting my focus from cherry picking coins, to digging possible jewelry signals using the Equinox 800. I actually started finding some, as shown in the first picture below. I was becoming a little frustrated, as (with the exception of one tiny silver ring), all I was finding was “crap” jewelry. That changed this morning. It’s been getting wicked hot here in Montana, so I’ve been out in the parks early. I was in one of the main city parks this morning (A park I’ve pulled a ton of coins out of, including a couple of Mercs and a war nickel), searching a different section away from the stage area where they have concerts, etc., when I got a solid 18/19 signal, consistent in all directions. I’ve dug many, many signals in this range, and most turn out to be some sort of can tab, but those signals have always been kind of "janky" and change or disappear with the direction of the swing. This one did not. I pinpointed. I dug. The target was right at the bottom of the plug. A glint of gold! I popped it out with my finger to reveal my first gold find! 4.74 grams of 10k plain gold band, with a current melt value of almost $125.00! Yes, I did a gold dance! This one find helped codify what signals I could/should/might be looking for. I know it’s not the end all be all, but the signal was SO strong and clear compared to all the aluminum tabs I’ve dug, the contrast was revelatory. I feel I’ve made a huge leap in understanding. The ring has an inscription and a date from 20 years ago, so I think I will put a craigslist ad in lost and found. Still a noob. ~Bash

This has been said by quite a few people now. Tom D #1 “In my mineral-free dirt.... nearly an air-test!...….. The Tarsacci will acquire a 12" Nickel. . . . just barely. You can tell it's non-ferrous..... and a mid/low conductor. The EQX in my test-garden...… will detect a 15" Nickel. . . . . . just barely. You can tell it's non-ferrous ….. and a mid/low conductor. My test-garden is substantially less-than 1-bar dirt. On the beach...…. the EQX genuinely (barely) detects a 12" Nickel on the wet-salt slope. The Tarsacci genuinely detects a 14" Nickel..... and with some authority. This is a Salt environment. The Tarsacci genuinely works better in wet-salt. If I depart my test-garden….and I go inland hunting...… in 1-bar dirt: The EQX will acquire a 13" Nickel...…. just barely. The Tarsacci will genuinely detect a 13" Nickel..... just barely. The playing field is identical/level. If I get into 2-bar dirt...… the Tarsacci is a clear winner...… with all..... span/range of conductor(s). If you have extremely low minerals..... do NOT buy a Tarsacci!“ (Emphasis added) Tom D #2 “The Tarsacci does very well in carpets of nails......and trashy areas......wearing its stock coil. . . . . . to the point of looking like: unique performance. The Equinox does very well in carpets of nails......and trashy areas......wearing its stock coil. . . . . . to the point of looking like: unique performance. When the small 6" coil is put on the EQX...….it indeed....can see between targets better; yet, a large amount of the wide-angle-wrap-around performance is lost.“ Tom D #3 “in my (less-than) 1-bar Florida dirt...….. the Tarsacci and the F75 LTD (with boost-process) have nearly absolutely the same depth performance on a: low-conductor Nickel...… and also a high-conductor Dime.” Tom D #4 “the ID numbers on the Tarsacci will 'bounce' a bit more...….. by about an additional 30% over a standard VLF unit.“ Keith and Learning Curve The bottom line is simple.... the MDT 8000 performance is highly variable depending on the ground. In very mild ground other machines can outperform it. In average ground... most ground... the MDT will run neck and neck with many popular detectors. Only in the worst ground and / or saltwater conditions are highly skilled operators seeing major benefits. And even those often not until something “clicks” as far as the unique operation of the detector. This difference in performance according to ground conditions plus the unique tuning requirements of the MDT 8000 are a 100% guarantee of differences of opinion about the MDT 8000 and its performance. People in moderate to low mineral ground may see little or no performance advantages. Those with more severe ground may see genuine advantages, but possibly only after getting their head properly around the detector, which by many accounts is not all that easy. Anyway, I’ve seen few machines as primed to create arguments as the MDT 8000. Two people on different ground are going to get completely different results. The machine is bound to disappoint some people, especially given the airplay it gets as being something new and magical. Others, who have situations that really benefit from the MDT way of doing things, will be happy. Just another perfect example of why getting opinions from the internet is a mixed bag.

A few finds from a recent detecting trip to a Colorado ghost town/mining camp. Found a token, brooch with a stone, numbered tag, ring, thimble, brass lock, crucible, marbles, buttons and the regular ghost town finds, some you can identify, others still trying to figure what they are. Some of the items the ground was not to kind to. The Joseph Golob "Good For a 5 Cent Drink" token was one of the items that didn't fair to well in the ground. According to the Leadville City Business Directory, Golob had a saloon in 1889-1892 and in 1895 at 101 Harrison Street. The last information I could find on another token like this was on ebay and sold for $72.50, but it was in a lot nicer shape. The item I found interesting was a assay crucible that was manufactured in England. It was manufactured by the Morgan Crucible Company in Battersea, England. I also believe I found a lead button that was from assaying not far from where I found the crucible.

Some finds from area that i tracked some months ago! We were having a very boring day... after several hours walking near a river bank hoping for a Medieval dock, I started to see few fragments of pottery and Equinox 800 started to grunt alot... 1 musket ball... 2... 3... We had just found a new hot spot! Lots of goodies from the 18th Century. When we started to get short on signals, I loaded my sea level simulator for a quick inspect... ( the more you go back in history, the more higher was the sea level), i saw an interesting elevation and went there for a inspection. Managed to extract 9 Medieval coppers on a small patch at the top! Hope y'all don't mind that I post old hunts... Be lucky! Cheers

Gold Catcher, The Mojave Nugget was not found by Jim Straight, but by Ty Paulson. Jim Straight knew Ty Paulson, and was prospecting in and around the Randsburg, CA area at the same time. Jim Straight in the ICMJ November 2004 Volume 74 says Ty Paulson found the Mojave Nugget in Benson Gulch on the ridge to the right side of the gulch, which is part of the taft prospectors claim, just south of PCSC (Red Chispa) claim. There have been some pretty good size multi ounce nuggets pulled out from the Red Chispa Claim, and to this date still are every now and then. Dave

Attached is trade mark application for GPX 6000 - as i have previously mentioned we have had sightings of unidentified Minelab Detector in Adelaide Hills (South Australia) with rumours that it is a new gold detector between the 5000 and 7000. Which makes sense from a marketing point of view - you keep the flagship GPZ 7000 but give the punters a better GPX 5000. So looks like its the GPX 6000 - time will tell whether it turns out to be a giant leap forward like the Equinox or just a slightly improved GPX 5000. JANUARY 2021 UPDATE - Minelab GPX 6000 Revealed!

I dont know how I missed it either ! Collapsed and Hospitalized with bleeding ulcers etc 🥴 at one point very many years ago. Yuppers for me I believe it really belongs in yer radiator to keep the rig from freezing ! Very good Steve, and all else who have conquered the monster over the years. Carry on Hapy Huntn 🤠😬🥴🙉🙊🙈😎

There is an old saying "THE CREAM ALWAYS FLOATS TO THE TOP" That is how I found this thread today and I read every word of it including the posts from the interview. I thoroughly enjoyed every word of it and would like to thank you Steve for your honesty openness. I now know now why I immediately liked you when I accidentally met you in the Nevada desert. Thanks for providing us with such a great forum Norm

Just got the HF 9 so i took it out for its 1st run on the hill of nails , this has been pounded till nothing sounds off but this combo maniged to pull two targets out in about 10 Minutes and the 1st one had 3 nails in the hole . The rivit washer really suprized me becuase it came in so clear in the one spot i always detect. I can only say this thing really can find the leftovers that nothing els can find Now i dug a few false cut nails but it was giving off the iron sound mixed in . but that ting you see that was a solid 14" deep and it was making a sound like a silver coin makes and repeatable . i was about to stop digging because i knew no silver coin would be that deep as 7" is about max for this 54KHZ if you really listen , but then i hit the ring . not a bad coil at all

Last Monday I thought I’d ry out my new waterproof GoPro 8 Black at the lake, and ended up leaking, so much for being water proof. 😡 So anyway I ended loosing my video. I ended finding a nice old gold signet ring, not too deep, and a big tungsten, alotta clad, some aluminum ect. That tungsten ring was DEEEEEP! The guy who lost it must been a big dude, it’s a big ring. Those crummy rings are so heavy it’s no wonder their always at least a foot deep! Check out the link for more pics.https://forums.tarsaccisales.com/forum/5/last-mondaysome-gold-and-tungsten Thanks looking....Aaron

I was approached by a young man (wearing a mask) today on the beach that I was metal detecting on. He ask me if my metal detector could find a medallion that he had lost when his chain had broken. He then said it was gold. I told him that gold was what I was looking for on the beach and said, Let's go find it. He and his buddies had been tossing a football around and that was when his gold chain had broken and the medallion had dropped into the dry sand and disappeared. I said, "I hope this is your lucky day". Two minutes later I ask his if it was "Jesus on the cross". He said "yes" and I handed it back to him. It took all of about 5 minutes of my time and made his day. I love this hobby!

Had some great winds, zero, .......smooth water, .........and fairly good tide. In the water about 3 hours, could not had been better. Other then the boats and jetski's , seemed everyone want to cruise close to shore, three times I had to flag them past. Two gold rings, 8 silver Washington's...

A share market analyst reviewing Codan (Minelab parent company) in June has the GPX 6000 (he mentions it by name) launching in September 2020 with a price tag of $8000AUD in Australia - so you would have the GPZ selling for $10,000AUD, GPX 6000 for $8000AUD and the GPX5000 for $6000. Also mentions the "capabilities" are different to the GPZ 7000 so that GPZ sales should not be significantly affected by the new model. I was in Codan/Minelab head office today in Adelaide to pick up a repair - had a bit of a snoop around in the front displays for any promo materials on the 6000 but had no luck.

Went back to an old poured concrete foundation in the woods which is a popular Elk hunters campsite. This is a site where I found my first seated dime a few years ago. The area is loaded with modern trash and lot's of iron nails and old tin buried near the foundation walls. I brought my Teknetics G2 with both the 5" and 11"x7" coil as I also intended to try some nugget detecting near the creek. I didn't find any nuggets but managed to pull 2 nice V nickels, 1890 and 1883. I set the detector in disc mode after ground balancing at 83. The ground here is very mineralized. I then set the tone break at 40 to separate ferrous from nonferrous and started swinging . I dug everything that hit in the ferrous range and all one-way signals that sounded good one direction but like iron the other. I also managed a few relics and a small pile of trash.

Honey Dew was a wine type drink made from elderberries back in the late 1800's. Great hunting and good luck on your next hunt.

Last week I posted a picture and write-up of a nice lake hunt I had. So today I am cleaning some of the silver from that hunt but one small silver ring is looking quite yellow compare to the other silver items. I put on my glasses and sure enough, it is stamped "417" for being 10K gold. It's not the biggest ring at 1.2 grams but it's kind of cool looking and bumped my total gold weight up a notch! Sure was a nice little surprise.

It’s a book on alcoholism and recovery, something I know too much about. I was addicted to alcohol and am coming up on eight years sober. It was the hardest thing ever did, with it taking lots of miserable years and two stints in rehab to get clean. I’m working towards a peer support specialist certificate at the University of Nevada, Reno. It’s a continuation of a new chapter in my life that I’m very excited about. Oddly enough I count my struggles with alcohol now as among the greatest blessings in my life as it set my feet on a path I don’t think I would have found otherwise. Thanks for asking. That was my official “coming out” statement. A real issue with addiction is the false dual life a person leads, and I’m enjoying finally just being whole in who I am. The good and the bad, no more energy devoted to presenting a false front. I’m just a flawed human doing the best I can. One of the reasons I am doing this is that as a so-called “successful person” I am in a position to speak out on issues surrounding the stigma attached to addiction and recovery issues. As an Alaskan I knew far too many people who are not with us now due to drugs and alcohol. It’s an issue that has touched too many lives in this country. My goal is to make some hard earned lemonade out of the lemons I grew and hopefully help some people the way I was helped myself. I am amazed every single day and eternally grateful for how fortunate I am. Thanks again for asking. This post is another big step forward in my ongoing recovery journey. But definitely off topic!

Hey wassup guys!😃 These are all my golds, found last year with my trusty Equinox 800! ( except the scorpion medallion, was found with 9HF) Staring from the top: 2 Escudos from Philippe II - 1556-1598 400 Reis from Ioannes V - 1722 Barbarian Tremiss 3 - 6th Century if I'm correct 1/4 Dinar aka Fraction - 12- 13th Century if I'm correct Roman Earing Hollow Earing 18-19th if I'm correct Scorpion medallion. I turned one of those coins into a ring. I never tried hunting for native gold and never tried learning how to track it, but I got sort of specialized on tracking Ancient/Medieval areas. Best of luck to you all! Cheers

Good morning everyone! Just passing by to drop some of my Vanquish finds! Really great machine! Its my Mini Nox haha. No complaints from here! Already managed to find a scattered hoard from the 14th century with it! Have great day! Cheers

I was just going to say I found a plain gold band with an inscription and a date. Give me the the inscription, date, and where you lost it, and it's yours. 😇 It was down about five inches, probably been there awhile, so I doubt I'll get any real responses, but if I can return it to the original owner, I will.

The buckle say s - PAT -march 3 1874 the other one i found this summer with another detector

I'll confirm what Ridge Runner said: you are both welcome here and valued. Posting finds made previously are fine, but best if you state that (and you did -- well done). Also, if you show pictures or relate stories that aren't your own, point that out, too, and give credit to those who are responsible. If it's an article from online, etc. and you have a link, please include that. We're an easy-going and tolerant bunch, as long as people treat each other with respect and stay within the site's topics (treasure hunting, metal detecting and detectors, prospecting, mining,...) If you haven't done so, make sure to read (click here) site founder and administrator Steve Herschbach's modest rules. I'm just summarizing a couple of them. Oh, and nice finds! Those of you who live in areas with longer recorded history remind those of us who don't that there's a big, wide, interesting world out there.

Thank you! I think it’s 3.8 grams Looks like I’ll just stick w the trusty iPhone....LOL

Gold is going up globally, but there appears to be more to it. Our dollar is weakening vs more stable currencies like EUR or even the AUD now due to our historically bad economy (record decrease in GDP, record high unemployment still) and our inability to reign in Covid compared to other more successful countries. Check out a chart of gold in EUR for instance (or a similar effect with AUD), it's still up, but they are just above May highs, while we have blown way past that mark in USD. That discrepancy is due to our dollar declining, not just because gold is going up. I'm sure we'll hit $2000 gold and above if our dollar keeps declining. $2500 gold would be great. The effect is mitigated if we end up paying 33% more for a Minelab in a year or two though.

Well done. I found quite a few coins hidden in iron same way. If you have a machine with all metal mode just watch your numbers. Iron with a spike above iron except those exceptionally off the chart spikes are worthy of digging. Big spikes usually turn out to be flat iron. In disc mode I will hit all coin sized targets that sound like iron in different directions to make sure they are just iron. If there are big objects like sheet metal it might be worth while to pull them and go over the grounds again. Betting there are more targets there.

Nice finds and excellent photos! Good to see the Tek T2 is still a capable detector as the world moves increasingly to simultaneous multi-frequency. Your 1883 Liberty (V-) nickel is the more common (15 million minted vs. 5 million) "with Cents" variety. Your photos show that nicely. Here is the earlier, less common version reverse: The story goes that scammers were coating them with gold and subsequently passing them off as 5 dollar gold pieces so the mint scrambled to thwart that. Interestingly, the "with Cents" variety carries more value in high grades. This likely reflects the fact that (still true today) when a new design is released people snarf them up thinking "oh, this is a collector's item and will be valuable!" Then later (e.g. 2nd year of issue) the novelty has subsided and the coins get into circulation, leading to wear on most specimens. A fairly recent example of that are the 1976 quarters, half dollars, and Eisenhower dollars. Everybody and her brother stashed those and they are worth, oh, exactly 25 cents, 50 cents, and 1 dollar respectively 44 years later. The intricate brass(?) item with the 1870 patent date is interesting. And have you figured out what the "Honey Dew" token(?) is for? Discount at the local brothel??

I've been sober since 1986. I don't know how it is I missed this thread until now.

Glad you were able to help the person out, but after you found something you should have asked "What did you lose". Good luck on your future hunts.

And this will be my first comment in this Forum... Hi everyone! Its a pleasure to be here! Finally i took the step to create an account haha. Steve, YOU ARE A LEGEND! Well, I'm from Europe, and believe me, back here most of us look for depth... But I must admit, depth isn't everything when we hit those hot spots like Roman, Medieval and Ancient areas... Lots of "polluted" patches, when i say "polluted" I'm referring to iron, "slag rocks" from when Romans used to work with iron... Most of these areas have a really dark soil and its full of pottery fragments... The problem nowadays is that there's lots of new Detectorists... And mostly don't even know alot about metal detectors, coil types, frequencies etc (after 3 years, I'm still learning). Sorry for my English

Last week, I had two days to hunt in the morning and no more than 4 total hours in the water, before people came to swim around me. Summer is the time when I hate the most questions and how much time is lost when people crowd the shore. In my area it seems an insane habit to ask beyond the limit of decency ... Not that I am full of words and patience in this case. However, without high expectations, I was in the usual super drained place by I don't know how many other hunters and with some method, I slowly hunted a relatively small area. I have done this because the almost total absence of sand makes it difficult to say where to start and where to end, without a clear idea of particular clues, stuff can be everywhere trapped down. Of the few signals left, in the first day I dug a heavy piece, which was so old, was now almost red. A thick bracelet after years without to see one of them! The heaviest single good target I have found since I started in 2005. In the same place, the second day, meters closer to that magical signal, another bracelet, this time thin, but still as heavy as two wedding rings ... In addition, a small earring with a stone that seems fake to me, closed the short time left. In total 30 grams of beloved 18k in 4 hours, a bit more, maybe... What a week...What a dream...

I believe crucibles are made of ceramic or some type of porcelain so they withstand high temperatures. This time I was using a Nokta-Makro Kruzer with a 5" coil and XP Deus with a 9" HF coil. Very heavy iron laden site. Quarter for scale. No that is part of an oil lamp where you can adjust the wick. Thimbles are very common out here, in fact a detecting buddy found a sterling one yesterday at a local park that had cherubs on it. Here is a closeup of one the items in the main picture and I'm not sure what it is or what it was use for.

There are some nasty AA cells that are best avoided, feed you machine a decent quality battery. I use long life alkalines and in a VLF they are fine for days. Ten year shelf life and made in Germany, very price competitive.. no compromise on quality. Only thing is I make sure I test each AA before feeding it into the battery tray, only takes one dud to spoil your day. A little bit of prep goes a long way.. no short cuts with batteries.

The Equinox wouldn't be my first choice for working in iron on or near the surface, as has already been said an Orx of even a cheap GM1 would be more inline. When detecting stubble or rolled ground etc your really only working the top 6" inches, what you miss this time around you'll get when the ground is turned over for the next years crops. Personally i had thought of buying the Tarsacci for deep pasture detecting on hammered coins, but the Nox with 15" coil and excellent audio accuracy on low/mid conductors is hard to beat for that job. Apparently there's a number of Tarsacci users already in the uk, but I've not seen or heard any reports.

Agree. Clumsy wording on my part. My point was merely that Tarsacci apparently has technology that differentiates itself from other high end VLF IB detector’s both multifrequency (e.g., Equinox) and multiple single frequency (e.g., Deus, Anfibio, and Equinox). The thing that is probably holding back wider adoption is not performance or complexity at this point, but cost. So focusing on innovations that help in getting the cost down might be the best next objective rather than solely focusing on further refining the technology that presently sets it apart from its competition. Otherwise, maintaining its present price point it will likely continue to be unfairly perceived as a niche detector. Equinox started the performance value affordability trend and now it is gaining momentum with Vanquish, Simplex, and Apex. Don’t want Tarsacci to fall by the wayside because it can’t compete. That would be a loss for the hobby.

Thank you all for the kind words of support, it’s much appreciated. Though I do have to be careful. My ego is my number one enemy and humility my friend and protector. I am not an AA member per se, but they recommend anonymity for good reason. The downside of that however is it does contribute to the stigma side of things. It’s important that people know it’s not just that skid row bum but everyone in all walks of life that faces these issues. Business owners are just one of many classes at particular risk. I’m still on the Board of Directors of my old company. They look at me like some amazing old guy, one of the founders, successful business person and all that hoorah. My last visit up I gave a presentation to the entire company where I told them no, I’m just a high school kid who made good but not because I am perfect by any means. I told them my story and let them know people in need would always get our support, to not be afraid to come forward and ask for help. There were literally tears in some eyes... it was a very emotional thing. The dark, cold, and social isolation of Alaska means the rates of every bad thing in the book are sky high. I am a good speaker and good story teller so I want to leverage those strengths to best advantage. I can help people one on one but it’s all about finding ways to be of more influence than that, and a book plays right into it. The problem always is making it about me instead of the people I want to help, and therein lies the danger in being public about this sort of thing. All I can say is I have always been a risk taker and will walk that tightrope as best I can. I can’t imagine giving up the peace of mind I have attained for any reason, but addiction is a tricky thing and I’m not entirely normal, whatever the heck that means! That’s ok though, I have learned to embrace my weirdness and above all laugh at myself. If I start taking myself seriously I know I’m on the wrong path. Anyway, once again, thank you all. It really is massively off topic but hey, I think I’ll give it a pass this time. That’s enough from me on the subject though, the rest can wait for that book. It’s been in the works all year with the goal of getting published next year. I’ve denied myself any more new toys, vacations, you name it until that thing is done and in the bag. Going public with all this does help put a fire under my goal, so there is a method here at work where I am purposefully making the commitment publicly as one of my self motivation tricks. With that, my best to all of you in your own journeys, and if you do need some help, please seek it out. It is amazing how many people want to help if all you do is admit you need it and ask. That is indeed the key. It’s ok to be human.

Hey wassup guys!😀 Theses are my last 3 hunts with my brand new GPX 5000! I have 4 coils : Commander 15x12 DD, Commander 11" Mono and Double-D, Coiltek 14" Mono Elite. 👍 I only used the 11" Double-D and the Coiltek! I have been learning a few things with Gordon Heritage from UK! These are all finds from areas where i hunted before with other machines! My main machine is the Equinox 800! I'm very pleased with the GPX! Cheers

was out looking for coins and got a hit on a nickle plated item of age , and I soon realized i had an out house. this is the 1st bottle i found in it , Still have to finish it

Congratulations. Now that you have heard that sound (the sound of a solid ring) it comes back to you. You'll be fooled by some bad sounds and get some rings that way too but a 'bong' sound with full body is a lovely sound at the beach and park. It makes you look at your number and you hope it is uncommon for a coin. More will follow but nothing like the first nice one. My first gold ring was a thin band. You will get 5-10 times as many junk rings as gold. Mitchel

Hope you enjoy this new video, all I'm trying to demonstrate here is that the Tasarcci is no slouch in dense iron against the Equinox. I'm not here to slam the Equinox, just to prove that the Tasarcci is equally as capable in dense iron! Regards Dave.H

Very cool finds. Congrats!

Google is way more than a search engine. They make billions serving ads on the internet, like the ones you are seeing here. I do get paid by the click, which pays for the website hosting and software costs, with some change left over.

Thanks for sharing these great pictures! I'm so jealous of the historical range of finds available in Europe. Approximately where do you normally go hunt?

Dan, It's good to see you posting on an md'ing forum ! Welcome . Your skill in junky park turf is legendary in CA ! As for the discussion of Nox vs Explorers : I know you had the SE, in the incarnation lineup of Explorers. And not sure if you're aware or not, but the SE suffered some criticism of being lesser depth than the other explorers in the evolution lineup. This was because when it evolved to the SE , one of the things Minelab attempted, was to speed up the processing, as you know. So as to be better in trash. A noble effort. HOWEVER, it had the subtle effect of lesser depth. Or at least TID at depth. Here's an example : I once bought an SE JUST TO GET THE INLINE PROBE off of it. And I decided to try out the SE on the wet salt beach, after we'd had some erosion. I wandered around for awhile and heard a few nails, but passed them. Eventually I finally got a waffling signal that took some "persuasion" to determine that it might be conductive. I dug a dime that .... IMHO *should* have been a bolder signal, at the depth I'd just dug it at. So on a hunch I doubled back to several "nails" that I'd passed. Lo & behold THEY TOO were deep coins. Hmmm. It was taking a lot of "persuasion" to make them hint at conductive. Otherwise, they were in the nail-grunt zone of audio. I posted my observations, and several people concurred that the SE does, in fact, get this criticism . So whereas the II will tend to get the TID on the first swing over the target, yet the SE requires more persuasion. Hence in effect, less depth. So when you say your Nox is beating the SE in turf for you, I wouldn't dispute this outcome. That's because I question the SE in the first place. HOWEVER : I'd love to see you go head to head with a proficient turf Exp II user. If you've got a weekend to come up this direction , there's a certain turf zone in SF where I've spanked a Nox user @ 2x to 1x on oldies. And trust me, it's NOT just chalked up to "experience" (that I have more years than him, or he's newer on his Nox, etc....). Because we are flagging signals back and forth. And he has all the time in the world to play with a myriad of Nox settings. And when it's all said and done, he has to admit he wouldn't have heard them. Trust me: He's studied all the forums for tips, etc... So I could go with "experience" causing the disparity, if all we did was count end of the day oldies. But when it comes to FLAGGING, then .... No amount of added "experience" is going to make a signal appear, that's simply not there no matter what settings you use. It's gotten to the point where he's attributing it to EMI and electrical/radio/cell interference. Because it seems to get worse for him when the "city wakes up after 7am". So we've tried starting at 4 or 5 am. And while it's a little better, he's still getting spanked . We fully intend to continue the experimentation, now that he's had more time on his machine. Would love to have you along. There's a couch you can crash on, and the beer's on me . You game ? Any time we visit this zone we never lack for back to back deepie wheatie/silver type signals. Some very deep and difficult, but still never lack getting a dozen or more wheaties, 2 or 3 or 4 silvers, etc... Lastly : When it comes to relicky ghost-townsy type hunting, then yes, the Nox is spanking me. But I'm the first to admit that the Exp II is not a good see-through/averaging/separating machine. It's great on turf (as you know) , but only so-so in iron-infested messes. Bring Jamflicker with you. I got 2 couches, haha.

Congratulations on the Nice gold signet! Sorry to hear you lost both video and cam..If your like me ..my video's are as prized as the gold. Stay safe and Good Luck! Just checked your other pics out..Signet has some good weight to it and that Big ring must had belonged to one big guy! Wow..

Dilek, if you'll notice our responses here on this thread, you'll see we sniffed this out from the beginning. You may have noticed even after a few people here tried to help, nothing but silence. I think Steve calls these 'driveby posts'. Reminds me of the woman you sent a (free!) detector to who wanted it replaced and raised a stink when you didn't. She also scammed another member here with a sad story of why she couldn't afford an aftermarket shaft, then after he graciously sent her one (free!) she told everyone in a later post she was going into business making shafts. I realize not every viewer/reader on the internet is as detector saavy as the general reader here, so your concerns are well founded. But you've set up an excellent raport here unlike any other representative of a detector manufacturer. That is greatly appreciated. We know the high quality of Makro/Nokta products and we've got your back.

I don’t take it as a slam on Equinox. I see no glory in the Tarsacci doing as well as a detector that costs half as much. Anyone laying out twice the cash would probably expect to get something for the money. Nice video - thanks!

I can't say much about searching for natural gold since, living where I do, I haven't had much chance to do that with a metal detector. And water/beach hunting isn't my thing. Old coin hunting is my area of concentration. Jeff mentions 8-12 inch depth in his area. Simon gets another several inches in his cointopia site. My ground doesn't seem to hold coins at those kinds of depths. I don't remember getting any coin deeper than 8 inches. Having said that, I've only found one 90% silver coin (Washington 25c) and only a couple > 95% copper coins (USA 1864 2c and 1917 Canadian 1c) larger than dime/penny. Even nickels which the Minelab Equinox multifrequency really likes, I still haven't found below 8 inches. So is it my technique or detector that's limiting me? I don't think either, and here is some (admittedly sparse) evidence. My recorded coin hunting time accumlation has reached 1000 hours. The two oldest coins I've found are an 1867 Shield Nickel (Fisher F75) and an 1864 2 cent piece (Eqx 800 as chronicled here). Although the ground hasn't been kind to either, the details show that both these coins were in circulation for a very short time. I.e. if not for the ground damage they would grade Very Fine or higher. The nickel was found near a 19th Century homestead. I don't know when that homestead was established, though. The coin was no more than 6 inches deep. The 2 cent piece history is a bit better captured, I think. Although I found it in a park established ~1920, I was since told that there had been a (pre-deployment) Civil War Union troop camp there. At the time I found it I was scratching my head as to how it got there. Now I at least have a good theory. That coin was only 5 inches deep, even after 'living' there for >150 years (if my CW camp theory is correct). So to get back to Steve's question, simply more depth likely won't help me, at least in my parks and schools. Better separation (unmasking) from both aluminum and iron trash would help, a lot. The Eqx 800 multifrequency has plenty good enough TID for me. It also has the best separation abilities of any of my detectors. But I want more, and I need more if I'm going to find more coins in these trashy (and likely previously hunted) sites.

So far the most beautiful coin I've found, and the rarest, Caligula, CESAR AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS as RV VESTA, 10, 55 gr.

Some good finds. Last time I was in water that color, I had leaches stuck to parts I would not describe. Was the pipe and bottles just laying on the bottom, or did they come up with other targets? Seems like a good way to beat the heat.

I have never met Steve but have heard nothing but great things. The responses to my Q&A and the comments here only reinforce that. You have a lot of friends Steve and they have a lot of respect for you. Thanks for all you do.....