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I haven't been out much lately due to some uncomfortable tendonitis but I made it down to a beach this afternoon for low tide. The beach was sanded in and I wasn't expecting to much from the Impulse but just needed to "get out" of the house mainly. I had the beach pretty much all to myself with just a couple of surfers and a few walkers. I was running AM and basically default settings and just enjoying the beach. I dug several bottle caps so I knew that finding something good would be a crap shoot. The Impulse was hitting the lobster trap pieces pretty hard and I was getting a double beep on some pieces but not enough. LOL I got a good solid AM hit and switched to Tone mode and got the "doo whop" sound of a coin. I am thinking quarter all the way. Three scoops down and it finally came out of hole of the caving in wet sand. It is the biggest ring I have ever detected. A big boy for a big boy!!! 18.9 g and size 13 1/4. I can wear it on my left thumb. To bad it wasn't a gold class ring but I will take silver any day. I am not sure what the stone is either. But beggars can't be choosers. LOL Thanks for looking!

I'm hardcore out of habit, and when I am out tend to treat food as fuel. And I'm frugal (cheap?). So for me it is anything I can buy at a grocery store that can be eaten straight out of a burnable pouch. Right now Tasty Bite selections cover most of my needs. I can sit one in my car window to warm it up, but often just eat them cold out of the pouch. Uncle Ben's rice has a lot of choices, and there are various tuna or salmon in a pouch, etc. Not much reason for specialty stuff for me unless it was a every ounce counts backpack situation.

Hello all, I recently saw someone state that they didn't fully understand why they sometimes get the urge to buy a certain detector! And for one reason or another, fail to pull the trigger, or asking the question of why not! I, like many here, have questioned why i would want to purchase; and have purchased, what would "technically" be an "inferior" detector! If there is such a thing; they all find stuff!! I think the reason's are as numerous as one can imagine! So i won't bore everyone with what i think their reasons are! I can only speak for myself! Probably my number one driving factor are places like this forum, and other sources for research! Once you really start to get the "bug" for detecting, you begin to understand that it can go beyond just finding treasures! In fact, my reading, and quest for information, far exceeds my actual detecting hours! Of course, there are also "real life" reasons that prevent me from getting out there as often as i would like! But instead of that being a negative; and me being bitter about it! I funnel that energy into trying to soak up more knowledge to make my actual detecting hours more productive! Many here will understand this! So, for those thay are unclear what that has to do with buying older, or less advanced detectors, i will explain! Like many, i detected a few years when i was young! Stopped for a career, and family; among other reasons! And got back to it, a few years before my retirement five years ago! Not being involved for all those years, i went with a new detector; among others i researched at the time! Now fast forward to today! I'm much more knowledgeable than seven years ago; detecting and theory wise, but have barely scratched the surface! I own several detectors for various functions! Some overlapping each other a bit in operation! A few others are just for fun, or for something i feel i missed, in my absent years! Other's were too good a deal to pass up! And I could get a good return for, if i chose to! So, to summarize! In my opinion, the longer your in it, the wider range of technology, legends, varations, etc... you are likely to buy, and try, for no very practical reason! Cost not withstanding; as you advance in this hobby! Or as some jokingly refer to it as a "sickness ", or "obsession "! 🤩 👍👍

I thought I would give everyone a quick update on how the weather may play into your detecting plans this spring and summer. For a little background we are in a La Nina weather pattern right now. This is expected to hold with a fair bit of certainty well into March. In La Nina years the weather patterns change from normal and we see the Northern US get cold and wet while the Southern US gets warm and dry. This is on a large scale so there may still be some local storms which are quite powerful but we are playing with averages here. I've attached NOAA reports which are great little graphics that show the status of the snow pack as a percent of normal. This is important to us as detectorist since the sooner everything dries up the easier it is on us. Also for prospectors since it will give you a good indication of when high water will happen and when the rivers will be perfect for sluicing. As you can see from the graphics, the northern US is getting its fair share of snow where the jet stream comes across with all that Aleutian moisture. Normally in a La Nina year we would see more moisture coming into northern Cali, Nevada, and Utah but this year California has packed some crazy high pressure ridges protecting (or cursing depending on your outlook) the entire region from the agony of the jet stream moisture. This is good news for detectorist since the snow pack will melt much earlier than normal and the soil will dry much quicker. Places like the Rye patch which are difficult until late June or so will be much easier...probably by the end of May this year. This could all change though with just one or two good snowstorms so cross your fingers. It will be interesting to see what happens in the spring though as La Nina loosens its grips. Thats a report for the future though. My predictions are as follows......take them for what they are worth. California- by the end of the winter I think you will see a more normal snowpack, I'd expect 75% or so of normal. With the jet stream sliding so far to the east its gonna drag in some of that moist pacific air and deliver some snow and moisture to the mountains. Cougars and bears will be very active and attracted to your detectors. Be careful. Nevada- I predict most of the moisture from California is going to drop over the sierras and the snow will stay in low amounts. If you prospect here make plans to get out 2 weeks to a month earlier than usual. It's going to be the best year ever for Nevada. I would expect to see many multi-pound nuggets coming from the state this year due to the heavenly weather. Arizona- It will be brutally hot and dry by April. You will not be able to prospect at all since the heat will encourage snakes to come out and bite you. Men were not meant to live in this environment much less prospect. Those brave enough to get out early in the mornings and late in the evenings will be greeted by very aggressive burros. Cactus will have a bumper crop this year and you'll get many needles in the bottoms of your shoes. Let it be man, let it be. Oregon- While not quite as good as Nevada it will still be decent. Still lots of gold here and the weather, while not great will still allow many prospectors to hone their craft. I would expect cold in windy starting in March and not warming up until July. Any other place- Ehh sorry (including Australia) west_swepctnormal_update.pdf

I am pretty sure that most, if not all, people who use after market coils & chatter/post on forums of their finds do mention the actual detector used too. Everybody is interested in what others are using & what is working for them both in what detector & what coil combo. More choices & each coil has its own signature on certain size, type & depth of gold. Any thing to get an advantage in the hunt for gold when pickings are getting lean. Even if it is only psychological but gives them a boost in confidence & morale in getting out there with high spirits & enthusiasm. That in itself can lead to success. I think we all agree that ML make the best detectors but have fallen a bit short with coil choices for some of their models. None more so than with the GPZ 7000 despite commenting they would make a 10" coil for it that never eventuated. With the GP & GPX series of detectors numerous outfits made some damn good revolutionary after market wonder coils for them. Of that there is no denying. They didn't need to make the electronics as ML already had the platform for them to work with, & besides, ML has all the patents & copyrights in place to protect those electronics. Now we are seeing it with their coils & chips added to protect their detectors so only their coils can be used. Personally I don't think for a second that the GPZ is fragile at all. It might be if you throw it under a bus & don't take a bit of care with it. There has been the odd occasion when I have gone to dig a signal, have gone to place the detector on the ground & after unclipping the bungy have gone to grab the arm cuff to lower it gently to the ground. With my eye on the spot where the signal is, have missed grabbing the arm cuff & the detector has dropped to the ground. I cringe & curse at myself for being so foolish & careless. But so far nothing has gone astray with the detector. Touch wood. Someone made the comment of breaking 37, I think it was, lower shafts. How on earth have you done that? I have had my GPZ for 3 years also & still have the original lower shaft & I am out most weekends so it is well used & in some pretty rough terrain. G4G

I have prospected with people who subsist on sardines and bread out in the bush, and those who prefer a pan seared steak, asparagus, and baked potatoes. I like to keep things simple and would love to hear your favorite easy camp foods for five plus days in the wilderness. Military MRE’s were my choice before the prices went up after COVID-19. A days worth of food in one pouch, and has the benefit of saving your TP since they turn into Quikrete after eating them. But they make a ton of trash and are expensive. Please share your own Spartan food choices for someone more interested in detecting than playing chef at camp. I cook at home and when I’m out in the wilds food is just fuel for the adventure. Looking for options that are easy, affordable, don’t require refrigeration or much water since water goes fast in the desert.

Because I`m out there for weeks at a time, I return from prospecting and prepare a meal over the open fire at about 4pm, equal to anything you can prepare at home. If you`ve enjoyed a thick steak singed on the outside but rare grilled over an open fire lathered with mushroom/butter sauce, mashed spuds with garlic and onion diced into and mouth watering reconstituted dried vegies washed down with a port, an Expresso coffee, beer or cognac whatever you desire, under a blanket sky of a Zillion stars, again if you`d enjoyed such then you know where I`m coming from. Nice pocket of that heavy stuff to view via fire light just adds to each day, it don`t get any better. See you out there.

Well of course the GM 1000 has no timings, since it's VLF - that's where the comparison diverges - but according to what we know so far, there are 4 timings on the GPX 6000: Normal, Difficult, EMI cancel and Salt cancel, all of which are manually selected via buttons on the control panel. Nothing so far has indicated automatic switching of timings. But yes, it would be cool if there were other timings being utilized behind the scenes to compensate for changes in the detecting environment as they occur, certainly. Perhaps GeoSense runs multiple timings all at once, not unlike the multi-frequency tech of the Equinox. In any case, it will be interesting to find out just what makes the GPX 6000 work its magic.

Click or double-click images for larger versions Minelab GPX 6000 Data & Reviews Minelab GPX 6000 Quick Start Minelab GPX 6000 Controls Minelab GPX 6000 Display

Me and the wife were looking thru some older money and foreign currency and I came across this coin. I had seen it before but I didn't pay it much attention. I honestly have no idea where or when I found it. It’s a 1/4 Pahlavi Mohammed Reza Sha made from 1945-1979. I weigh mine and it’s exactly 2.03 grams. I know it’s not an American gold coin but I’m still happy to have it in my collection.

Enjoy! Aaron

I think it's pretty well implied which detector is being used. Besides, we had 5 years of talking about and extolling the virtues of the GPZ, I'm not sure there is much more new to add there. Whereas the coils were a new unknown thing, and thus were the subject of new conversation. I have to disagree with many here though, certain parts of the GPZ are fragile and should be redesigned. The foot and the battery design among the most often mentioned ones. The great thing is, looking at the 6000 it does appear that engineers have listened and they not only got rid of the foot and made the bottom wider, but they rubberized the bottom too (it appears?), like you find in high quality power tools. Also following the high quality power tool lead they seem to have used similar new rugged battery insertion schemes there too. So, it's a good thing people mention these issues, they appear to have been addressed and that's a win in my book. I also have to take slight exception at the amazement someone might drop their GPZ 1 foot. I do it all the time. It should take it. It's a field tool meant for rugged environments. It's not hard to design sensitive electronics to withstand 1 foot drops. I've dropped my phone 10 or 15 times from hip or chest level, no problem, and it's an office tool. Dropped my Hitachi framing nailer from 16 feet onto gravel, no prob. And dropped my Makita's more times than I can count from roofs, ladders, and hips with no issues.

Yep. Brother in law got an SDC for Western Australia (lives there) but brought it across to Vic for Christmas 2019. He had only just got the larger Coiltek and was giving it its first run. We hit a little flogged patch that I’d already done with a stock SDC and the GPZ. First 5 minutes I found a tiny piece - crazy small. And this is a spot that has bad red clay and hot rocks that I’d struggled with a little bit with the Z. We were both pretty impressed with the larger coil and he has since gone on to find quite a few small pieces and speccies back in WA. And so much better ground cover 👍

Folks, I just joined your fine forum and am enjoying a good winter, full of snow, ice and cold, which affords time to finally see through the trees, and to ponder and plan another season, chock full of New England hiking and rockhounding adventures (gem & mineral). Now I want add metal detecting, to spice things up. I’m currently in the early stages of research for this hobby (addiction?), before emptying my wallet, and I’m considering a Minelab Equinox 800. No beach combing or town greens for me. I’m a mountains, woods, stream, and fields guy and I prefer to bushwhack and explore off-trail. Hoping to reveal some of the past that surrounds me and perhaps find a trinket, coin, teeny nugget, or some interesting mineral. - Stretchy

My favorites are whatever Sourdough Scott has with him. The quantity varies depending on the quality of my starving prospector act. When I am by myself I carry various forms of salted cholesterol. When I Forget my lunch (with my pick) I resort to pine nuts and acorns. I do always keep a meal or two of whatever will survive for weeks in the bottom of my backpack -sardines, dried fruits, jerky...

And if you want real adventure, don’t even pack any food along; just go full-on Bear Grylls: https://www.storypick.com/bear-grylls-foods/ 🤣 And as for what he drinks...I won’t even go there.🤮

Thank you guys for all the suggestions. I know when I am older (and probably rounder) I may want to cook good food and drink beer after a day of digging. But for the next 20 years or so I will leave the gourmet meals and single malt for the true sensualists. Most places I go aren't trailer/RV friendly. Traveling light, conserving water, space and energy are important. I almost see time out in the bush as my "40 days in the desert" - a spiritual fast even (and I often lose a few pounds). This thread is giving me better ideas for how I can expand beyond a diet of beans, peanut butter, tortillas, emergen-c packets and water without becoming Gordon Ramsey. One thing I learned the hard way is canned fish in bear country can add substantially to the adventure factor.

The 6000 will be at the Quartzsite Gold Show 12 - 14 Feb. Someone needs to be there to ask questions.😀

Lunk, great review of the 6000 design concepts, which will simplify the operators decisions while detecting. The 5000 has way too many adjustments that make the operator second guess their settings. We just want to find gold!😀

The current GPX range is already essentially multi-frequency (MPS technologies transmit multiple frequencies). The timings have a mixture of long & short transmit “ON” periods. With only 4 x main "timings" on the GPX6000 my thoughts are the current timings (& possibly new one/s) are put into these 4 i.e. Normal (Normal, Sharp, Sensitive Extra); Difficult (Enhance, Fine Gold, Sensitive Smooth); Salt (Salt Gold); DD (less aggressive in DD mode). I'm assuming GeoSense will be able to adjust automatically thru these depending on chosen timing + settings & feedback from ground + EMI. Wishful thinking?

Another test: The silver Half Real I found last week is .0395, only slightly thicker (.0385) and it weighs .04 ounce vs. .03. It is nearly the same size. Copper density is 8.96g per cubic centimeter, and silver is 10.49. Gold is 19.32g/cc, it would weigh almost twice as much. It's copper.

Nature Valley bars (there are several choices) are always in my food stash. I buy them by the boat load at Sam's Club. Instant oatmeal (in packets) is good if you can handle the sugar. I bring along powdered milk to add to that and for the coffee (but don't drink it alone, although some people do). Summer sausage is pretty bulletproof. If that spoils you probably better get out of Death Valley because you'll be next. (But I do like canned fish, including sardines and smoked salmon.) I have a double burner (propane) Coleman stove in my vehicle. Obviously I don't carry that in a backpack. I like those freeze dried meals you can get at Walmart, etc. They do cost more than roll-your-own but are quite tasty and a good break between the spartan meals. I can get two meals out of an $8-$10 package.

Excellent sleuthing! A year ago this most recent Thanksgiving weekend I searched a friend's small fish pond. At the pond's outlet I got a high TID and pulled out a thin copper slug. I was hopeful it was a large cent (about the right size) but when my friend noticed the edge was reeded the hope faded. In fact it was exactly what you said -- the copper core of a clad quarter. You can read what I wrote here on the site. My hypothesis was that the acid from decaying leaves had eaten off the Cu-Ni clad layers. You took the right approach -- holding hope that it was valuable but being open minded enough to research until you got a convincing determination. The opposite (from the start assuming it was worthless) will never result in a great discovery. There's a much more satisfying and profitable ending that occurred a couple years ago where a person found (apparently in a rummage sale box although I don't think that was ever confirmed) what appeared to be an extremely rare $5 gold piece. He showed it to some coin dealers and all told him it was a fake. He didn't give up but instead sent it to a professional grading service which authenticated it. He then sold it through a rare coin auction house and it fetched over $2 million.

OK so gold nuggets may be the wrong phrase. I'm not quite sure on the words as mainly detect muddy fields looking for old silver coins. I also look for coins in sales and antique shops and I bought this some years ago with some quite nice US silver coins in a lot that all came together. The coins were unusual in that I don't see many good US coins from the 1860's. I put this little locket to one side and didn't give it much thought. Then tidying some things together I looked at it again - and realised that the glass is old, it has degraded. And the contents are tiny bits of gold. The frame I guess is also gold, but no hallmarks so only a guess. It is well made and holds together with a tiny fixing screw. Has anyone seen one of these before? Is it just a common bit of prospecting 'look what I found in California' item, or did the prospectors sell these to the tourists - a bit like opal (and gold) in Australian airports. Is it just me that has never seen one of these before?

I wonder if Minelab have learnt something through the aftermarket Coiltek 15” coil on the SDC. That is a big mono (bigger than intended for the SDC anyway) that stills somehow retains the secret sauce for working in mineralised ground and is still crazy sensitive to small gold. If the 6000 is running some of that secret sauce then who knows what is possible. Of course there are people that could tell us but they are gagged. C’mon Minelab, let the speakers speak 😩 At the moment the rest of us are just making stuff up 🤪🤦‍♂️

Since prices have been released now can someone ask in Quartzsite if we know what the MSRP on the 17" coil will be and when we might expect US availability?

I'm glad Coiltek came out with a small/medium eliptical for the Minelab Equinox. I'm disappointed that it's open rather than closed. This seems to be the direction metal detecting has been going for years (decades?) -- open coils. Ironically Coiltek is one of the few exclusively aftermarket coil makers who has actually made closed coils! (Nugget Finder has, too. I guess it's because these two companies cater to desert gold detectorists.) Except for the small(est) coils the Eastern European manufacturers seem to stay with open coils. What we've been left to do is make our own closed coil covers. I like thin (1/32") polycarbonate baseplate (idea from Steve H. who made one for his Equinox 11"). That's 80% of it. It can be attached directly to the coil or (in my case) to the available open cover. You can either go with permanence (epoxy) or removable (with lots of elbow grease -- 100% silicone caulk). But this solution still leaves the top open to collect refuse although that is more of a problem in the desert. I've experimented with duct tape over the top -- klugey for sure, but it's reversible! Hunting in wild vegetation like we have in much of the Eastern part of the USA is a real hassle and open coils hang up too easily in that stuff.

Enjoy! Aaron

I didn’t find this one with the detector however I was lucky enough to have become a member of the club a few years back. Sometimes miracles do happen. The only place that I can think of is the coinstar since I hunt those whenever I’m at the store. I am always on the hunt eyetecting wherever I go.

I'd try them both and see which worked better. What happens next depends on the detector. Theory is nice guide, but never replaces actual comparative tests with your own detector and coil, on your own ground. If I simply had to choose one without knowing which is best, I'd go with the DD first due to the ground canceling capability that tends to be inherent in DD coils.

Nice silver whopper! My silver wedding ring isn't nearly as chunky, but is a size 15! I have fat fingers!🤣 . Here's a few similar agates i found! (On the internet)! Is the bottom of the stone open? It looks like its picking up some of your skin color due to it being translucent!👍👍

I will hit the Q show tomorrow and ask Debbie, the Minelab rep, if she knows what GeoSense is. I doubt she does, but if so, will she even be allowed to talk about it yet?

Years ago I used to just take canned goods, chili, stew, you name it, but my buddy reminded me a long time ago that good meals out in the goldfields, prepared over a open fire both fuels you properly and eases your mind and allows for downtime to think about where I detected and where I haven't. This allows me to put more clues together to get onto the nuggets. For years now I will take Ribeyes, New York steaks, wild Alaskan sockeye salmon grilled over a fire pit with garlic, lime juice, and Ginger powder coating the salmon. Fried potatoes. Sauteed mushrooms and onions in butter. One time I told a friend he need to get out of town for a while and unwind, so I had him go detecting with me for 5 days. I told him to bring plenty of food for three meals a day, five days. He showed up with a small bag of frozen veggies and a small pack of two round steaks and a case or two of beer. And he brought his fishing pole. I had two coolers with meats, milk, medium cheddar cheese (Tillemuk), and two storage tots with dry good foods. I always go prepared for just about anything into the goldfields.sometimes even a portable shower, til it broke. Will be getting a new one this spring. They have come out with some nice options recently. A well made tasty meal and a hot shower can keep me going for along time. I have done this for as much as 7 months at a time. I don't like being miserable out there. It affects your morale and your positive outlook for finding gold.

From the point of view of ergonomics, we can adjust any detector well enough for better balancing .., sometimes even minor adjustments .., and sometimes it is better to do, for example, the telescopic construction of the detector. ..No one of these 3 detectors has the original ergonomics .... ,, after a simple tuning, these detectors .. these detectors are much better balanced ,, easier, and more compact ......

Geosense appears to be the software GB/gain/filtering (3 levels as mentioned in the literature) in conjunction with the ground-grab & tracking system. I think it auto adjusts the pulse-train timings to allow the maximum punch and ground signal dissipation on-the-fly. A very fluid auto adjustment filter which would require a very high-end processor, since it needs to work hundreds of times per sweep in mineralized ground conditions.

I live off BBQ beef jerky, Walmart dried mangoes and bananas (better than the name brand IMO), Bumblebee chicken salad n crackers, and Golden Graham bars. My mother would not approve. I don't do more than 2 day/night trips usually though. I throw in a few packs of Knorr Mexican Rice, maybe some Dinty Moore stew or chili, and I hate sardines but I loooove me a few tins of smoked oysters. And I have to have some kind of soda, if not with me than at least in the truck when I get back. My first stop back to town is whatever mom and pop I find for a heavy dose of fat like a cheeseburger and then a big fresh salad, and it's the best meal I ever had, every time.

Did they get it sorted out to where they allow customers to move the dish to areas other than where they started service? When I first signed up for the beta they said it would only be allowed to work within some short distance from where your service address was at and didn't allow travel. Would be nice if they changed that since then.

Queensland (Australia) and Drunk 🍻 (kidding on that last one) Hopefully turn that into two (maybe 3) states this year, pandemic pending.

Wow, that is a monster of a ring, and it is awesome! Maybe banded agate as far as the stone not sure, but sweet find! ht👍

Sure looks like gold in the pic? You're the boss and if you say it's copper then it's copper! If it were mine and it looks in real life like it does in the pics I'd take it to your local coin dealer or jeweler and have them do a quick acid test on it....but that's me?

Nah man I just thought someone else may have the same problem I do with connectivity when I’m off on claims. I hate having to drive 20 miles to just call the wife. I’m super stoked about it.

Hello Stretchy, Glad you found your way here! Winter is a good time to research a detector, here on the forum! But whatever one you choose, keep your eyes sharp! As I'm sure you know, many item's and clues can't be picked up with a detector, but may lead you to good places to use it! Good Luck!!👍👍

I looked into the F70 and Patriot a little. That could be an option at the right price. Maybe provides some of the same balance, coil selection, and more depth than the F22 with similar simplicity. But yeah, the price difference is not that great. There is a Patriot in Ohio on Marketplace right now asking $225. Just not worth the drive for me. Maybe if the right deal comes along locally. It doesn’t have the same grip or cuff either. There is also the T2 I see come up for seemingly good deals and very similar. I see you are in southern Indiana. We might not be too far away from each other. Maybe you can give the Simplex a try and I can try out that F75 sometime? : ) Sort of like student exchange program for detectors. Or foreign detector exchange program? Hey, I see a business opportunity for this site and Steve. Like a detector library. Try before you buy, used detectors program. Small fee, shipping, and a review of detector required.

Ok some specs: It's almost exactly the same size as a dime, It's about 0.0385 thick, it weighs 1 gram or .03 ounce. It rings when dropped on a table. I'm saying if it quacks like a duck it's probably the copper core of a modern dime. What keeps it so shiny is still a mystery, could be that it's kept polished by the sand. I'll have it tested, but it's probably copper. Had to leave something behind that ID'd at 25 behind when the tide came in, it was under a large piece of piling on its side. I didn't want to pry the log up with my sand scoop. Went out in the field afterwards and had a good day there, musket ball, old dog tag, 5 buttons. One button is silverplated, 3 tombac, and one that says "Double plated London" on the back. We're looking at a bad week ahead so I made the most of it.

First of all it looks like gold, get it tested. FWIW, brackish water has LESS salinity than seawater, not more. It is where tidal freshwater and seawater bodies mix. Regardless, salt will not corrode gold like that. Farm runoff should have no effect on gold corrosion either. As someone previously mentioned, it looks more like heat damage, not chemical pitting. So therein lies the mystery... provided it tests out as pure gold vs. a gold plated medallion or non-gold item.

I see your point of course, I think the only way we can really map out the true state of affairs (the actual of ‘now’ compared to our idea of the ‘ideal’ ) is look back in time and compare to today. The Equinox is a good example of how far ML as a detector designer has come, go swing an Xterra or an Etrac and then go back to the NOX and you very quickly realise the improvements. The GPX6000 will be a very fine example of this new trend, but yes there will be niggles and annoyances but overall ML are definitely changing as a company when it comes to ergonomics. Hopefully the effort ML put into their technology continues unabated as well. One thing is for sure there will always be niggles and annoyances, but overall I see a definite trend towards the very positive. JP

"GPX 6000 automatically compensates for ground noise, EMI, and sensitivity within 20 seconds of turning on" I'd assume that sums GeoSense up in a nutshell.

It's sounding like you've talked yourself into a Fisher F75. 😁 For a 10+ year old detector (I mean the age of the design and earliest units manufactured, not necessarily the actual age of the one you buy) it's a pretty darned good performer....

The size is right for a USA gold $1, and of course there are coins from other countries so if gold, it doesn't have to be of domestic origin. Chase recently found one -- I don't remember what the digital TID was on his. (Now for the bad news, or at least words of caution:) Salt water shouldn't lead to that kind of damage. Gold coins recovered from 300-400 year old shipwrecks in the Atlantic don't look like this (that I'm aware of). You mention brackish water so I assume that means a much higher salt content than mid-ocean. Maybe that affects things. USA gold coins are around 90% purity (a bit under 22 kt) but foreign coins, I don't know but wouldn't expect them to necessarily be that pure. I think water detectorists see worse corrosion on the lower purity jewelry. My WAG is brass or bronze button. (There does appear to be a central feature on one side, but pictures and human brains can deceive.) A specific gravity determination should distinguish between most mid-density metal alloys (values of 7-10) and gold alloys (12?-19) but it will take a high precision scale (grams to at least 2 decimal places and preferably 3) to do this for such a small piece. Hey, I'm as hopeful as the others that this is gold. More tests/data needed.

Just to let everyone know, I did contact Joe and he is fine. He is taking a breather to catch up, and wanted to pass on his thanks to everyone for the well wishes. He will be back, but for now he needs time to heal, so let's give him space for that. As I say, he is fine now. Steve H