Tiftaaft

A gold coin and a seated. Wow. What a day!!!! Congrats Chris!!

I realize I promised not to bore you all with "non-quest" finds... but I wanted to share this one (a few actually). As I mentioned, I'm taking advantage of this site to dust off many of my detectors after having spent almost all my time with the Equinox since I received it a few years back. So yesterday morning I set out with my Explorer SE Pro/stock Pro Coil for a few hours. Interestingly, I did find a clad quarter that was significantly co-located with trash, near a tree, but the Explorer gave me blip of a high squeak, and only in one direction... but narrowing my swing to about a 2" wiggle, I was able to see the quarter signal repeated. Pinpointing it was impossible, as larger lower conductors were dragging my point off to the side of the tone... and in more than one direction... targets that were stronger within a 6" circle of where I wiggled the high tone to be. I wondered about coil edge falsing, or the lower conductor throwing off a high tone with rust and such... but the tone was really sweet when I could find it. Even my pro-pointer set to 1 was getting dragged off center as I pulled the plug. Anyway, cleared several pieces of trash between 3" and 6" around my "center", and was still getting a pointer signal at the bottom of my initial plug. Out of curiosity, I stood up and re-swept... and there was no doubt this time... it was a quarter signal. As much as I was hoping it would be silver... especially all masked as it was... I was only slightly let down to find it clad at about 7". Moving away from the tree in a line toward the open area of the field, I received another high tone blip, this one more faint, and was able to easier make it repeatable and also pinpoint. I dug my plug, and had to stand up and re-sweep several times (3 I think) to ensure I was still getting a signal. It was reading in the 07-27/07-28 range on the TID for those of you that know the Explorer TID's. It was still there, but I wasn't getting anything with the pointer (at this point set back to 3). Finally, I got pointer signal, and spent some more time clearing dirt. The pic below is hard to tell, but my hand is well above the end of my pointer, and probably about an inch above the Lesche... trying to indicate ground level. I estimate this was 11" to 12" deep. Wheat (I believe 1910, but need to soak it in olive oil to see if I can get some of the crust off the date area). About 3 more steps, and I had another almost identical situation, with a 1920 wheat... this one at 10"-11". So based on my small sample size (too small to make it an expectation... but a start) based on these three targets... clad is at 7", pre-clad is 10+". BTW, I was running manual sens 22 on the Explorer. I hope to head back over there today after work with the Equinox. Thanks for reading and all your suggestions everyone. ~Tim.

I hope you are able to get there DwD, that is some incredible history. I am sorry to hear about your uncle. Thank you for sharing his memory with us. ~Tim

I love that chart KAC!, I am getting a lot of data, and probably a bad idea trying to keep it in my memory banks... they aren't what they used to be. Haha. Pen and paper next time out! Yes, the Vaquero is going to get a work out on this site. If nothing else, it is great on eliminating iron falling, good thought on the pin point trick for co-located targets. This area has definitely been picked... I looking for the squeaker someone left behind. Thanks Kac!, Tim

Thanks Stu! Hmmmm, I haven't noticed this around the area, but it is a great thought, I will see what may be around the area. Also, I appreciate your confirming the lower sens with the 6"... definitely giving that a go next time out there. ~Tim

Thanks Dog, I did go to Historic Aerials, great info there.. that is how I found out the estimate age. Unfortunately, in this area, while topos go back to 1915, the aerials only go back to the 50's... which is ok, plenty to gleen from the 50's too. Great idea about flags, I will try that. ~Tim

Thanks CPT! I'll give that a try. Tim.

Thanks Tom, very interesting. I have been in the market for a EXP XS or II - just waiting for the right one to come available.... I have the SE Pro, and it was really the first machine I "learned" to listen to... I have had the Equinox since its release and spend all or most of my time with that... just something about those Explorer tones... I went out with my SE Pro yesterday which really reminded me of how much I loved it... and then I saw your post this morning. Thanks again for taking the time to respond. ~Tim.

Just for reference on what I'm dealing with.. Just a day or two after the cold weather that devastated Texas... including the Houston area - the sun came out yesterday... so I decided to go to old school ground I referenced above while I waited for my water to be turned back on. I spent 2 hours doing some "exploration" using my old Explorer SE Pro, and then some with the Tesoro Silver Sabre disc'd to allow nickels. I was digging coin tones - as iffy as they may have been... As I mentioned, I have been over this same area countless times with my Equinox... and as much as I would love this to be a Quest Goal Target success story, I do find it promising that I was able to pull some high conductors that I didn't see before (many hours of swing time previous to my quest) - even if they were just copper memorials. Anyway, the pic below gives you an idea of the ground I'm picking through.... all the more reason finding one or more of the items on my goal list will be a very happy day for me. The large coin shaped item is a batting cage token. 14 Lincolns (mostly copper, a few zinc). One clad dime. Trash. The trash is mostly deep... I did clear some surface junk... but really, most of these were 5+" A few of the tin and aluminum shards were deeper than the end of my Lesche handle. I'm sure this is somewhat normal for areas you all have hunted.... I will be heading back out there today with the EQX 800/11" and the EQX 600/6" (waiting for it to get above freezing temps). I won't bore you all with non-Quest goal targets in the future (which means it may be a while before I post on this thread again... if ever - haha!), just thought I would share the joy of my first run. ~Tim

Over the Explorer II or the Explorer SE (Pro)? Not arguing... XS is a GREAT machine... just interested in your thoughts Tom. ~Tim

Hi Dan, sounds like you are in my old stomping grounds... that token is from the Oregon Treasure Trail Society metal detecting club in Portland. I used to be a member until I moved to Texas. They changed their web address to www.OTTSCLUB.org a few years back. https://ottsclub.org/ They use game tokens during weekly club hunts in the various parks around the area... usually finding one would get you a silver dime at the count out. You were most likely at one of the parks they have held a hunt in the past.. The hunts were fun, live wild hunts (except for a few token plants) at parks and schools, usually old (by Portland standards). Great group of guys that really work to support the hobby by working with the local parks and rec and others to create awareness that we aren't just digging up the landscape and leaving messes. We actually counted trash collected at the count out too.. and shared that information with the Parks and Rec. Rick Page is the president of the club. If you reach out to the website, tell them (him) Tim Root sent you their way. Happy Hunting. ~Tim

I should also mention that Steve Herschbach... the owner of this site, has an amazing detector review area on this site... check it out, all the specs and technical info you will ever need, and his honest opinion on most detectors. https://www.detectorprospector.com/metal-detector-database/

Welcome Bob! Metal detecting is a little different speed than extreme sports like rock climbing, but if it hooks you, it hooks you hard. 🙂 You will get lot's of great suggestions I'm sure on detector options. A lot of really knowledgeable and skilled people on this site that are always happy to answer questions too. Don't be shy asking, we will all do what we can to help. I, for one, am a fan of the Minelab line of detectors, and my suggestion in your price range would be the Equinox 800. In my honest opinion, the hype is proved to be pretty accurate. But there are great detectors by other brands as well, and I have owned and used (and in some cases still do) many of them. Good luck and reach out if I can help answer any questions. ~Tim

Thanks Hermit. I will pass your comments along. ~tim.

Welcome Paul... looking forward to your input in the forums! ~Tim.

Thanks for following up GBA!. You know, I seem to recall that you carried a pan with you for detecting... great idea!

Thank you for the information Monte, I will definitely be reaching out to you for more information. Not sure you recall, I'm sure you correspond with thousands of users, but you really helped me better understand my new (to me) Vaq Black through a series of detailed Q&A a few years back.... but I sure remember you! Thanks again ~Tim.

My buddy, and member of this forum FlySAR has been providing ring finding service for years in the Portland Metro Area. As I learned many ropes from him, I became the RingFinder rep for the Olympia WA area before my move to Houston. Below is the link to a video posted by the Oregonian On-line newspaper on one of his ring finds. I hope you enjoy the ending as much as I did... Congrats Del, I'm humbled and honored to call you my friend.

350P - Well, in Virginia your front yard may be a destination for many! :). Interesting about Turkey, I wasn't aware of the strict rules there... I agree, that would be an incredible trip! Thanks for your thoughts!

Nice GBA! - I really missed an opportunity when I visited Alaska 2 years ago... I should have planned an extended trip to hunt. So are you wanting to pan in Alaska? I have never really prospected, but I really would love to do that, either with my detector, or panning, or both. I have also looked into the Gerry training... maybe when travel restrictions loosen I will add the Rye Patch to my destination list... you participated in that at one point didn't you? Tell me more about Monte's trek... I may add that to my "wish list" - provided he welcomes me. I have had many great conversations with Monte re: my Tesoro units in the past... he has so much knowledge! Just to breathe the same rarified air would be something. Old Colonial sites are always intriguing... I will most likely find my way to that area in my "normal" travels as well. I have also wondered about New Zealand, Valens... Maybe after I find my way (if I am lucky enough) to England for a hunt, that will be next on the list! ~Tim.

My biggest competitor is myself. I will never beat that guy... but I keep trying. I do love hearing the stories of the gold coin finds... I hope to join the "club" someday. Great thread Tom.

Though... hearing about someone finding a jar filled with gold coins would be awe-inspiring... so please whomever has that experience... start a post so I can live vicariously through you 😄.

That is pretty cool Dew!!!

I own an 800 and two 600's. I have not found any discernable difference if I am running the same settings between them (I have tested all combinations of two at a time, but not all three at the same time). What I have noticed is that even with just a slight difference in attack angle, the Equinox reaction could be different, or even non-existent - especially on the deeper/iffier targets. It is easier to re-create your own swing pattern, but two people swinging (speed, attack angle, distance off the ground... etc, etc, etc) is even more difficult to exactly re-create. In my opinion this is one of the reasons why locations are "never hunted out". So many variables... also what makes this so fun! ~Tim.

Just wondering what metal detecting destination might be on everyone's wish list (Either where you have always wanted to go, or where you would love to go again... or maybe both). For coins and relics, my bucket list destination would be England.. exact location to be determined by more research. I would love to return to Alaska... only this time armed with my detector... I was on business last time and didn't have the opportunity to detect. How about yours? ~Tim