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Thanks GBA! I will say I was decidedly less successful in my Powerball investment this weekend. ? ~Tim

Wow Gary, you were dedicated! Sounds like it paid off for you while it lasted. Where did you cash in your silver to get the best value? I'm not in a rush to sell it, I tend to be more of a collector, but good to have options ?

Thanks Fred, our notes crossed paths ? Tim

Thanks Simon, In the US, the government used 90% silver composition for dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars until 1964. In 1965, dime and quarter coins were changed in composition to "clad" which is a mix of copper and nickel. Silver dollars were issued until 1935, then were not produced for circulation again. In 1971, the clad "Eisenhower" dollar was issued for circulation. The exception to the post 1965 clad issues, are the Kennedy half dollars issued between 1965 and 1970, which are actually 40% silver. So the silver content of these coins, at current silver market rates, makes the silver melt value somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 per 1964 and before coin, and $2 per coin on the others... against a face value of $0.50. As GBA calculated out. Hope that helps ? Tim

I realize this is a detecting site... but I just had to share... I went to the bank today to take care of some personal business... on a whim, I asked the teller if she had any rolls of halves or dollars. I like using big coins to treat the kids for acts of kindness, or for buying lemonade from the neighborhood lemonade stand... plus, maybe I would find a silver mixed in. My teller didn't have any, so she asked another teller down the line, who happened to have 3 rolls of halves in her till. I bought all three. When I got back to work, I pulled them out of my pocket, and opened up one end of a roll for a sneak peak. Wouldn't you know there was a 1964 Kennedy staring at me. I slid the rest of the roll into my hand... then the next roll... then the next. 60 coins. 45 coins 1964 or older, 15 coins 1965-1969. I thought my day was going well when I found a silver rosie and a silver canadian quarter in a sidewalk strip at lunch... little did I know what was waiting for me at the bank.. I am still a little in shock. Thanks for allowing my distraction from the detecting forum for a moment. ? ~Tim

I may do just that this weekend.. great suggestion Mark.

So do you find that the feedback with all metal gives you a less masked/cleaner tone when hunting? I toyed a little last night in all metal, using the 600/6", and lowered the volume in the tone 1 section (though the break isn't movable on the 600... or I haven't figured out how to do it yet). It was kind of like a threshold feel with the constant iron chatter (I was in a pretty infested site last night). I switched back and forth... in and out of all metal a few times... I didn't notice a difference on the few non-ferrous targets I found, but I did feel like I wasn't missing anything in all metal. I will try it some more, as well as with my 800 and more customized settings ability. Thanks!

I found that interesting as well. It was giving me enough "12's" to keep my interest, but it never did give me a 13. The tone was soft, but tight, if that makes sense. I have a nice collection of detached beaver tails.. those and pencil tops give me nice nickel id's... but I don't mind digging them knowing there are Nickels, and possibly yellow lurking below . I agree, it very well could have been a blended id based on the other lower conductors around it.

Zincs are annoying for sure. But I have also found some interesting finds (mostly at depth) in that zinc range... including my two IHP's (not to mention two gold rings). I battle with myself over that same dilemma every time I hunt, and usually leave several shallow zinc signals in the ground... I'm not proud of that. haha. ~tim.

Good question NCT. I usually do run the 600 at max recovery. I normally run my 800 at 6 or 7. On this day, I was wanting to see if a lower recovery would clean up some iffy deeper targets. Based on the co located iron and trash targets I found, the higher recovery would probably have been better. Tim

Jack, I did... sadly, it is a no mint 1916... not a Denver :/.

Boy, that barber is in great condition!! you were right in your comments about how nice that is.!! Tim.

Wow GBA! Congratulations. I was just getting ready to post my head scratching 6" coil finds, but you definitely bested my few coins (see my thread here ? ? I am going back now to study your notes. I am intrigued by the all metal. I haven't yet got enough confidence to try that, but your results are compelling. I love the detail of your hunts and the settings you are using. Thanks for taking the time to share your hunts and your amazing finds!! Tim.

Installment #2 to my hunts and review thread for the 6" coil. Back out at the pounded park today at lunch. about 45 minutes hunt time, bookended by the V Nickel within my first few targets, and the Merc on the last target before turning off the machine. I give the credit for both these finds to the 6" coil. The V Nickel was about 5" around some roots and around the 11-12 tone I received, were some other mid conductor trash (can slaw, a pop top, and some deeper iron that I left in the ground). But in between all those competing tones, the 6" coil narrowed in on a quieter but solid nickel tone. This is my second V and the ground is really hard on nickels in my area, but at least I can make out the date on this one. 1907. The merc was only a few inches down, and no doubt I (and others) have been over the top of this coin many times. It was surrounded by all kinds of iron tones... a few pieces I dug out were a few rusted nails, and a two wire fence nails, the ones that are "u" shaped to capture the fence against a wooden post. But between all those grunting iron tones, a solid 25-26-27 tone kept ringing through. 1916 Mercury dime. (And my 2nd Quest for Silver completed... about a week after it started :)). I am really learning to love this coil. I was running the E600 with original firmware in Park 1/50 tones/sensitivity 20/recovery 2 (4 on the 800) and IB 0. And I was making an effort to swing slower than I normally do (though this was probably faster than others... I have a bad habit of swinging too fast). Tim.

LOVE this series!!!

As I mentioned in the below thread, I received my 6 inch coil yesterday and couldn't wait to take it through the paces: Today, during a lunch break from work, I headed out to a local old and pounded park I have hunted countless hours with countless machines. I have been amazed the life my Equinox brought back into this park. My early year success is outlined here: So, with an hour to hunt, my E600 in hand, loaded with the 6 inch coil and original firmware (I am still testing old vs. new firmware using my E600 with original and E800 with new firmware), I set out. I was running Park 1, 50 tone, Sensitivity 22 (pretty stable), Recovery 3 (6 on 800) and IB 1 (2 on 800) and walked into the area of the park I have hunted hardest to see if this rig could uncover anything I missed with all my other machines, including the E600 and E800 using stock coils. My first target was a series of bouncy tones across about 4" of ground. As I narrowed my swings, concentrating on the different tones, I was able to hear one solid mid tone that was 11-12 ID, but a couple of high tones that were more scratchy and not repeatable an inch or two away in two directions. I pinpointed and it was evident that I had 2, maybe 3 targets there. I chose to circle the mid-tone first. While the depth meter on the 600 with old firmware isn't exact, the modulation on the pinpoint told me it was in the 4"-5" range. So I dug. I was expecting a pull tab, or beaver tail. Both notorious for bouncing into the 12-13 range in my ground, but also occasionally giving off 11's and 14's. My intent was to clear the trash, so I could better hone in on the higher tones sitting near this target. A little over 4" down: I think it is a 1935... our ground is hard on nickels. Only my 3rd Buffalo since I started detecting and my previous two were no-dates. I refilled my hole, stood up and swept the coil over the area again... the high tones were still there, and equally as iffy as before, giving me numbers in the 21 to 26 range, and on every other pass or so. But they pinpointed pretty tight.. I estimated 5"-6" based on the pinpoint tone on both. A little ground excavating later and out popped: Looks like a 40's and a 50's wheatie. I have a little cleaning to do on all three of these coins, and they aren't ground breaking by numismatic standards, but I am thrilled. And here is why: Three old coins that by all rights, should have been found previously, but weren't. I have a suspicion that the closeness of these coins would have given larger coils, even with fast recovery like the Equinox, troubles. So the 6 inch coil came through in my opinion (I would bet that I was getting some type of blended tone previously... like a 15 or 16 on the Equinox as an example, which I chose not to dig thinking it was trash). In my soil, with the settings I was using, I think I was at the limit of detecting depth with these Wheaties... about 6". So that is really good information for me. Not that depth is everything, because I was able to separate between these three targets at depth. Had I been thinking more scientifically, I would have tried to clean up the tones by dropping the recovery down to 2 (4 on the 800), or boosting the sensitivity up to 24 or 25. Or I would have walked back to my car and grabbed the 800 with the stock 11" and documented what these targets read, and why I hadn't investigated them before. Heat of the hunt and a lesche in my hand got the better of me. All three of these targets were dead center in my plug. Which is somewhat expected when the coil itself is only 6", but just verification that the coil with this rig was pinpointing accurately. Hopefully more results and finds to follow. HEH (Happy Equinox Hunting) to all, ~Tim.

Just received my 6" coil today. Did about an hour hunt at one of the hardest hit old schools in my town... was able to squeak out a wheat and some copper memorials... all amidst trash and all 4" or less. Need to do more hunting to get a better feel for it. I see this thread died a few months ago... if there are subsequent posts where you share results Steve or Dew or anyone, please point me to them. Thanks ~Tim

Great Find Dukester… beautiful gold!

Quest For Silver - SUCCESSFUL! An update on my on-going and repeated search at the above pictured school for my personal quest for a silver coin. Last night, I had a nice break in the Pacific Northwest weather, and an hour before dark, so I decided to continue my hunt for the elusive silver coin out of this old school that as previously reported, has given up many wheat pennies. With my E600/original firmware/Park 1/50 tone/Sens 22/recovery 3 (6 on the E800)/IB 1 (2 on E800) I hunted in the area just below the tennis courts and tree line - which I had previously passed through a few times, but really never attended to in a concerted effort to cover the ground in grid fashion. I hunted most of the hour of daylight left and found several memorial pennies (a few zinc, mostly copper), a couple dimes and 3 nickels. At dusk, walking back to the car, on the north end of the track (which you can barely see outlined in the pic above) I hit a solid 13 at depth. I pinpointed it, and estimated about 6" depth... and off to the side of the hole, my first silver coin from this location after many hours of hunting this location over the past year. 1943-S War Nickel. I was not expecting this to be the silver (was really thinking I would find a Rosie or maybe a Merc with a scratchy tone). Happy to report I slept well last night knowing my unfinished business with this location now has closure. :) ~Tim

Hey Steve... do those awesome new lower rods come with the 6" coil as pictured? Looks great, can't wait for them to be available (even without the coil lol) ~Tim.

CG was much more eloquent with his comment on audio feedback than I... so I will simply and respectfully give it a +1... that is what I was trying to say :). ~Tim

That is a beauty Andy! Nice!! Tim.

I guess the size of your divot would make all the difference ;). I just ordered the 6"... looking forward to hitting a few of my trashiest of trashy old parks with it :) I expect the TID to be similar enough (with the Equinox's inherent TID variability) to not make much difference... for me it is all about the tone baby. :) ~Tim

My guess is that it "sounded" good. I have found I can derive much more information from the sound of a target than the id. ~Tim

Wow, that is awesome! You have some nice old ground you are hunting to be able to pull a multi-1800's coin spill. A little jealous here!! haha. I get excited pulling a few mid-60's copper pennies out of a hole. ;)