Gerry in Idaho

Joel, Pinpointers are like detectors and each has strong and or weak points. Do me a favor please. Get one of your wife or girlfriends diamond stud earrings and do the test on your 2 pointers and give us the update. This will help you, me and many other people as some folks feel since I sell detectors, I have a bias. After you provide your results, I'll then mention mine. Hope you understand and thanks for respecting my input on other subjects and or posts.

GB, I am so fortune to have the job I do. Over 25 yrs ago I started selling metal detectors and as the industry has shifted from small Ma/Pa shops to Mail Order, Big K warehouses and Amazon, I realized the need for personal touch and trying to build a relationship with my customer. Since I use, sell, test and compare so many brands and models...and travel all over the place for many styles of detecting, it gives me knowledge most of the mentioned sites do not have. Plus, it is me who actually answers the phone each day and me who emails answers to the questions I get all the time. Yes it's time consuming, but at least I know I tried to offer more detector knowledge than the average dealer. If my customer is Successful with the detector they purchased from me, then I usually have a customer for life and they are willing to refer folks my way. By no means am I saying I'm the best know it all dealer and I would never say that. But not many dealers went on 15+ individual week long hunts to 7 states and 4 different countries in the last year. After all, I get to swing, use, and talk detectors for a living and I also realize some of my input will help others in the hobby I so much love. In reality, how many people know what the average diamond stud earring sounds like or reads on the NOX? I do, and I also know what pin pointer works best when trying to find that tiny gold and glitter in a grass soccer field.

Yes. The reason I call it Prospecting Mode and not Gold Mode.... I've sold over 200 NOX units across the US and many folks wanted the 800 model so they can hunt GOLD RINGS. , but there is no raw natural gold in their region. The NOX 600 does not have the Gold Mode and so they felt the 600 will not find rings. So wrong they are, as a gold ring is just as easy to detect with both models. So with many folks not realizing it, I call the Gold Mode what it is meant to be...a Prospecting Mode. Here are some NOX 600 gold jewelry finds as it does just as well for ring hunters as the 800. Part of why I get so many referrals on detector sales, is I try to get the customer what I feel is the best bang for the buck detector. When comparing the 600 to the 800 and you live back East with no natural gold, why pay $250 more for wireless headphones? Yes I realize there are some advanced fine tuning and I know most folks never go there...let along even know how to get there in the detector. Minelab did a stunner job of making great adjustments and settings for the Factory Preset Modes which will suite the majority of users.

JP, If I may... Do you feel the urge to turn your threshold up (just a little) even higher in the later afternoon or on really windy days? I do and it seems to help as I am always splitting hairs trying to keep the threshold smooth enough to hear those faint ones. I have also found sites that the detector runs even more smooth when I night hunt. My experience in summer is.. As the soil heats up from the rays of the sun, the ground seems to come more alive with unwanted sounds and my threshold will not be as smooth. I seem to do best, when 1st hunting in morning and then late hunt just as the sun goes down. Plus the night hunts were always good, but I did not know there were literally hundreds of scorpions out at night at Rye Patch. For most certain at night your ears become even better tunes for slight change as the brain adjusts your senses and capabilities. Thanks in advance.

That's an easy one to the trained ear but many people do in fact walk past those. You are helping folks all over the word JP, so Job Well Done.

Need a big PI to find high $$ gold? New customer on 1st voyage with his little VLF Gold Monster 1000 just dug some incredible, amazing, beautiful & highly collectible gold/quartz specimens. Largest quarts chunk is 27 grams Au. 2nd flat one 9 grams & 3 more rough pieces. Paid for GM1000 1st time out. I want most folks to realize, this isn't normal results, but with a geology background, it sure helps you read terrain & decide best ground to swing. Thanks bunches MH for allowing me to share your success.

I recently returned from a MD’ing trip to Cancun and the 3 of us used Minelab Equinox detectors. Finds included 100’s of coins, probably 10+ pairs of sun glasses, with 1 of them being Ray-Bans, 2 cell phones, numerous ear rings with 1 of them being 14K gold and another was a diamond stud. Chains, bracelets and metals, some broken and others hole. Over 30+ rings with many sterling, a few of the modern Tungsten and Stainless wedding bands and even gold rings (both white and yellow gold). 2 rings really popped out that were both 14K gold. One was the blue sapphire with diamonds and the other a wedding ring with a nice 1+ karats of diamonds. Even the 1st time lady digger scored a nice 14K white gold wedding band with a couple cool sterling rings. I managed 21 of the 30 rings so I won't complain but the amount of gold was certainly off my standards. Pic of rings on my hand were the ones I found minus a sterling that broke when being tumbled. We all enjoyed the warm weather, water and experience. The Equinox detectors performed as hoped. Used Beach Mode #1, GB on, open screen by pushing the Horseshoe, SENS around 17 to 19 and Threshold so I can hear it. All other settings were FP. What amazes me is the gold to modern metal ratio. The resorts I hunt used to produce more gold than modern metals and now it has flipped. in years past, I'd come back with 15 or 20 gold rings on a weeks hunt and never a modern Stainless or Tungsten. Now it seems I'll get more of them than I actually do the gold ones? Well the wife still likes going down there so I might as well get used to it and realize 5, 6 and 7 Gold ring days are long gone at those places. Guess I'll jump into a lake and follow BeechNut around as his gold ring counts are still good.

It is always a blessing to take Jesus home with you. Well done.

Thanks for keeping us informed on your Success with the Tarsacci. I hope it grows and gets even more news and reviews as I like competition from the different manufactures. Very cute ring too.

A couple of those are some hefty rings and YES the toning of the gold shows their age. Back in my not so smart years, I thought those were gold plated or gold filled, but I have since learned the older rings have different metals and purities added for strength and their methods compared to today was much more crude. Now we don't see it as often, but on some 9 and 10K. Occasionally 14K but I have not dug a stained or toned 18K that was modern. 6 gold rings in a day is TOPS in 95% of most hunters books. I'm quite impressed and will say, a Job Well Done. Thanks for sharing too.

I agree 100% and especially when detecting those same #'s in parks and fields. Very nice save my friend.

Joel, His does have an octagonal barrel too. Thanks

I have not done a thorough test on gold rings with the NOX yet, but have probably found 40 pieces of gold jewelry so far with one. In fact I just returned from a Cancun trip using the 800 and scooped 21 rings and many other misc items. I have 2 styles of detecting the VBall Court and each has their purpose. 1st is to find recently lost rings. Todays newer generation often wear stainless, sterling and tungsten more than gold. Those rings including open toe rings are all over the #'s, so I dig all easy to hear coin size nonferrous signals. Most of the gold rings will read 18 and below with the majority registering 6 to 14. 2nd hunt style is to find it all. (Micro Jewelry) Not only do I find the mentioned items above, but there are those shiny dingler thingie things that hang from the belly button. Thin gold chain ankle bracelets, diamond studs earrings and nose piercings are much smaller than a ring and 95% of the detectorists have no clue how to find them. Do yourself a favor and borrow some of the wife's diamond stud earrings and or thin chains. Check with your daughter (if appropriate age) to test some of her piercing pieces. Most gold diamond stud earrings I have testes read 1 and sometimes 2, which is the same on a thin gold ankle bracelet or chain. The dinglers are of different sizes and metals as well, so no near #'s, but from 3 to #14 on the ones I have found. 2nd hunt style modified for the NOX. Put the 800 in Prospect 1 Mode, do a ground balance and be sure to turn Tracking Off..Also open the screen with the horseshoe button and go...it will amaze you the capabilities of this sub $1000 detector. Other important aspects of fine jewelry or Micro hunting is Proper Coil Control. You lift the coil 1 or 2" off some of those targets and the signal is gone. So if it is 2 inches deep..you better be on your A game. Gridding is a must and be sure to sweep the coil in the sand to leave your trail on purpose. Overlapping will give the extra depth on some of the targets (depending on inside of coil windings) so I like to overlap about 1/3 of the coil length. Bring a super magnet and a nonmetal nugget scoop or nugget cup to help in speed of recovery. The magnet is to help rid of any small iron bits and also help ID some of the really cheap jewelry. After some time and practice, you'll start finding the backings of earrings and at that point, you are starting to get dialed in. Micro jewelry detecting is very hard and takes a lot of extra time and patience. In reality you are hunting for the treasures the other 95% of people miss. On a side note. If you have a VLF gold detector, a volleyball court is a fantastic place to start. Yes, small lead bird shot is a must to teach yourself the detector and its capabilities. #6 I feel is to big, but #7 1/2 or #8 is right and if you have #9 dove load in lead...cut one open and start listening.

What is your goal of the hunt, a ring and coins or diamond stud? When I hunt for rings and charms from broken necklace, I dig all foil readings and up. If I have time and want to impress folks, then take a VLF gold detector and dig all nonferrous signals and especially the ones that have the signal width of a #9 lead birdshot. None of these were real diamonds this time, but I have found them. Keep us posted of your hunt.

Tom, It is period piece, but as you say could have been lost later on in life. I've dug enough relics in our region to get an idea of iron wrought and feel this one certainly is old. But part of the unknown is just that? When a TH'er finds a Morgan Dollar at a grade school and it is only an inch down, it is assumed to have been a recent loss. Reality is we don't know and most will never. I have dug period buckles out west with leather still attached and in fact did so last month. Either way, we enjoy what we do and I thought is was cool for him to catchit on video.

Yes we can see the road was just graved. We hunt a few old mining camps in the higher country that are and have been for 100+ yrs., main travel-ways. Each Spring and Fall they grade the roads and it is a good time to metal detect them. This actual find...I am must certain was under sole until it was graded. I have found Chinese Coins, an Indian Head Cent and even a gun barrel without a detector and as many experienced nugget hunters know, even a few gold nuggets on occasion. I have found 2 Morgan Dollars without a detector and they were at different locations and I didn't even have a detector with me. You are right about the condition of surface finds Back East. When I was stationed USMC at the Port of Wilmington, NC. I used to walk the banks at low tide and find pieces of history. If most of it was stuck in the mud, then it might be ok. If it was exposed, the condition would be much rougher. Mud and clay are great preservers of metal objects. 20 yrs ago my wife and I were detecting with Jimmy Sierra Normandi and my wife recovered a 5th Century Saxon Cruciform Brooch that still had cloth fragments attached. The archaeologists were running around going nuts. It is now in the Norwich Museum and the certificate is proudly displayed in my shop with actual drawing and photos.

My good friend RJ was scouting an area to detect and his eye catches something not so normal. Very cool video and heck of a history save.

Tom, You certainly have the upper hand on GC's than most of us. Just for info to know their denominations, could you tell us how many of what? I found an 1852 $2.50 with Explorer and an 1903 $5 found with Explorer-II detectors. Wondering if most folks finds the smaller or larger ones? Also, if you don't mind mentioning what detector did you find this one with? You are correct, as in the amount of them found. Most of my clients have only found 1 and a few scored 2. The daddy/daughter duo found over 10 at one site, but I count that as a Cache since they were all found same day in about a 20 foot area. Detail on your Eagle is Stunning, so hats off to you.

Mitchel, I have to agree with some of the comments mentioned too. I also feel you have tuned the beach hunt (so much closer to you and 10X times more hunting than gold hunts) to your main focus. As said by a few, the beach hunting style is so much different than swinging a 7000. I have not hunted a beach with you yet, but know ground coverage is a big part of beach hunting. I say it in reverse when chasing a nugget for most sites. It is not how much ground you cover, but finding an old patch and covering that same ground (much smaller area too) very methodically, and slow. Why is it that I can take a dink nugget and toss it in front of a new customer in a 10 foot square and they see it hit the ground, but can not hear it with their detector? If I took a ring and tossed it 50 feet down the side of a beach, I know you would find it. Your ear, mind and thoughts have been trained to listen for beach type targets on a pretty smooth (for the most part) surface. In order for someone to find that little dink in a 10 foot area, they need to keep the coil scraping the ground (making more unwanted noise), overlap at least 20 to 30%, have perfect coil control, swing really slow and be willing to investigate any slight change of threshold. So you think you did in fact find the target??? Now try to pinpoint and then get that dang little bugger in the plastic scoop. I've watched customers spend 15 minutes on 1 BB signal. I've even found a target, gotten it in the scoop and then tossed it back down, as I did not think it was in the scoop? Ears my friend and then some luck. I travel quite a bit and detect most everywhere and have been for many years. Ancient Coins/Artifacts in England, Civil War sites back East, beaches all over the world, old coin and relics out west and gold nugget hunts where-ever there is gold. Gold Nugget Hunting is by far much harder and takes the most patience of all, in my opinion. Good post BTW.

JP, I am so impressed with the time you take to not only teach yourself the GPZ, but actually do photos to catch the moment, surface ground type, approx depth, soil condition the gold is in...and of course the yellow stuff we all dream of. Then to top it off, you again take more time and share your field experiences. You are 1 in million my friend and a great asset to Minelab and DP. So many people think a certain timing is the golden ticket, but even the ones my Field Staff and I share with customers, are really just starters. I have my Rye Patch favorite timings, but when I arrive and if the soil moisture content is different, then I'm trying to compromise and need to make adjustments. I let my ears tell me when it is right, or as close to it. Learning the GPZ - Oh my..what a session that will be for some time. Heck, Lunk and I are still finding ways to get more ( either depth, cleaner signal response, smoother threshold, or sensitivity) out of certain conditions and or for size/density of gold. There are just so many variables and or unknowns. I remember when 7000 came out, there were a few folks (good GPX hunters) who jumped ship of the 7000 because they did some testing/comparing and got spooked of their results on a certain density and size of nugget, not realizing in reality there are timings for those few pieces. I think a couple of those folks have also come to the conclusion, there is more to the Zed and its abilities than just a couple tests at a site with a few pieces of gold. Even with my own staff, our desired settings and how we run the 7000 is different than when it first came out. I do wish other Training would offer the hands on you mentioned. My staff and I also like to plug 2 people into 1 machine and we'll run it at first so they see/hear what slows us down, what we ignore and or investigate. We don't worry about loud targets often, as anyone can find those. Teaching customers to hear the faint signals most others miss, is usually what will put Au in the scrotum pouch. Self-confidence in one's ability with their detector is half the battle. Your psychology mention is spot on and even if a beginner goes home with 1 bit, that person is slowly learning from each piece of gold recovered. I sure don't know how you manage it all, but do enjoy reading your nuggets of info. Sorry if I don't get on here enough and tell you more often. On a side note. Hopefully some day Minelab will get you back USA and I am most certain we could put something together at Rye Patch area. Heck, even if Minelab would not flip the bill, there are enough DP readers who would pitch in, we'd certainly get the airfare taken care of. Now that would be a fun 3 day event. Thanks again Mr. 1 in a million...and hats off to continuing thread of said ZED Nugget Knowledge.

Nice variety of Au digs Dew. The 14K white gold band must be a common design as I've scooped a few and yes..most are 10+ grams. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pics.

Beautiful cross. Looks to be white gold and yellow gold....what tone was it or ID#? I've saved a couple gold rings with white and yellow, a white/yellow money clip and my hunting partner was with me in MX and dug a white gold wristband with yellow gold as well. The diamonds are way cool too.

Oh my...I need to check the Jewelry forum more often. Hats off to the S & G saves.

Wowers save. Big name too. Probably only 10 platinum in all my years.

I'm not opening my foot and inserting mouth. I'm a viewer this round.