oneguy

Thanks guys on the info and tips...!!!!

thanks Wes....  I'll dig a few more of those low tones to keep me honest!!!

First off... Really liking my SDC so far and have only about 18-20hrs on it so far.  Most places I hunt are pretty trashy so the Goldmonster is usually my weapon of choice. My question regarding the SDC is about threshold change over targets.  I've been finding myself usually only digging targets when the threshold goes from a steady tone to a higher in pitch and softer tone?  When I get a lower in pitch signal tone from the steady threshold I find myself passing on these lower than threshold pitch signal tones?  In your opinion am I on to something as far as trash or gold?  I'm basically lazy and try to manage my time more efficient so I try and avoid digging every signal if the odds are junk?  What I've been doing lately with success is taking the SDC and finding a target, do a shallow scrape, then check with the Monster to determine whether to dig or not. Then again...packing 2 machines also takes extra time and effort (lazy me)?  What are your opinions on signal pitch tones as semi reliable clues?  Thanks.....

10 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

The problem you heard of does actually go hand in hand with a $4000 metal detector. The loose battery issue has existed since the SDC came out and is well known to most people. Any knowledgeable dealer I would certainly expect should know about it. The issue has been addressed in the latest SDC model via a new rechargeable battery set that supplies a better fit. Apparently you have the older model without the new battery setup?

I'm sorry I completely forgot about the battery issue and didn't have the mind to associate that with your possible problem Not Happy Jan?  I also had the battery issue and like you, I thought I had a bad machine until these folks here set me straight on the loose battery issues with the sdc.  Rob A. mentioned a tip to fix this... take a peice of cardboard and slip it in between the top 2 batteries and it will wedge them tighter and problem solved!!!!  That trick has been working fine for me ever since I first tried it.....Got another 5-6 nuggies today with the sdc....!!!!!

1 hour ago, Not happy jan said:

.Buyer beware.

On the flip side....  I love my SDC with NO problems whatsoever!  Only real problem is finding cleaner locations with minimal trash where I can use my valuable time efficiently by not digging too much deeper trash with a PI machine...but trashy locations and small gold is what my Goldmonster takes care of......JMO.

Sorry you had issues with yours....

Dummy me....!!!!   I see NOW from the pics above the notation of "NW" at bottom of pics and that's all I needed to know.  I'll find it tonight!  Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!

3 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

Chris and I went out and saw it last night...spectacular! It was about 10:30 MDT. I'm surprised there isn't more about it in the news.

Jim

Jim....  I went out last night at about 10:30- 11:30 MT and couldn't find it?  My property is heavily timbered so it's possible that blocked it?  Clear skies, I looked N,S,E and West, peeked through trees, etc...no luck.  Which direction did you look..N,S,E or W..???  I'd be north of you ....

Thanks

I did go out on the 4th for a different kind of gold...firewood!!!!!  Nice gold you saved from the grave!!!!

best scoop out there is the one that comes with the Goldmonster.....nice and pointed with a flat spot and does as good as any on bedrock cracks.  I've heard, but don't know myself, that Minelab does NOT sell the scoop seperately?  JMHO.....

I belong to a club that has 10-12 claims open to members.  Pretty well beat to death on the 3 I've been to but have found a couple nuggies.  Only $20/yr and worth it to always have a "plan B" or backup location if all else fails....imo

Gonna take me awhile longer before I catch up with Gold Hound.  Todays hunt was 6 bits for .9 gram....lmao!

Sa-weet…!!!!   My only seated half was also an 1853 in a little better shape.  Great find and you'll enjoy the memory, as I do mine, for many years....!!!!

PS...I usually ding my good finds too....lmao!   😉

sure am liking mine so far....it has it's place along with the Monster and both have my needs pretty well covered imo…..

Robs cardboard battery fix has worked well for me also...Thanks Rob for the fix and the great transaction!!!!

2 hours ago, kac said:

Going to try that, I have some super fine xxxx steel wool I use on pewter. Thanks!

I use S.O.S. pads.....  let us know how it works for you?

just take a small container (plastic vitamin jar is what I use)….put the nickels and Dawn dish soap/water in and shake em up....rinse them off good then just add enough vinegar to cover coins and add a little salt (doesn't take much) and shake em all up then rinse.  Cleans em up pretty good and they'll go thru the coinstar or spend em….

One thing I didn't mention above is I separate my copper pennies from the zinc pennies also....Usually just use Dawn on the coppers and the zinc ones I do the vinegar/salt thing...…  

Not gonna go into the chemical stuff as I rarely use it and each coin is different in condition(s) so it's too hard to try and explain with any accuracy????  Steel wool should take care of 95% of your needs on nickels.....sorry

take your rake along......good luck!

11 hours ago, Happa54 said:

Great looking Niks. You are taking turd brown niks and making them look like this?

Can you share your cleaning process? I have a few V's and Buffs that I'd like to clean up other than using lemon juice.

Thank you!!!

 

 

DO NOT USE lemon juice, catsup, vinegar, etc. on OLD nickels... it REALLY brings out the pitting!!!!!  First off, your DUG nickels will have envirenmental damage as they just don't holdup well in the ground like silver and chances are they have no real numismatic value because of that unless a major key date so don't worry about cleaning dug nickels. Chances are they ain't worth squat over 5 cents.  On NICKELS ONLY take some steel wool and scrub the piss outta them.  Usually the steel wool is all you need but sometimes I'll take it a little further and also use an abrasive like Comet or Bon Ami on a nickel depending on condition.  Lots of nickels are almost too far gone and heavily pitted to justify any further attempts to clean...they're shot, period.  The steel wool scrub will allow you to see actually how bad, pitted wise, the nickel is.  The 1892 above was only cleaned with steel wool....the 1910 was NOT cleaned with steel wool because I saw no damage, pitting wise, and I didn't want to chance damaging a good condition coin so I just rubbed it by hand with Bon Ami to clean off the brown....but this is the ONLY nickel I've cleaned that WASN"T scrubbed with steel wool first.  DO NOT use the wool on war nickels or any silver coin or penny.  I use other methods for silver and copper coins.  If you have a bunch of modern nickels then you can use the vinegar/salt method and throw then all together and shake em up.  Always clean coin types separately....pennies with only pennies, clad with clad, nickels with nickels...never mix em up.  Certain coins I use chemicals on if the above doesn't work but rarely and I won't go into that now.  Always remember that once you start to clean a coin you can't unclean...so be careful not to take it too far.  Here's my last season of cleaned "keeper" nickels from my coin shooting days 5 years ago.  You can see a lot of pitting on many of those but some cleaned up nicely...imo????

1 hour ago, kac said:

Best looking v-nickel so far. Congrats and welcome to the v-nickel club!

Thanks for the words guys.....!!!!!

I had to post this V after your "best looking so far"....  The 1892 is about average or a little better looking after cleanup than the usual dug, turd brown, highly pitted, V's or Buff's...imo.  But this V is by far the BEST looking dug V that I've ever popped and it was another turd brown V before I cleaned it up....but talk about good condition and cleaned up well.  it was found in a pile of needles under a Spruce tree and somehow avoided all the usual pitting when dug from the dirt.

PS.... been a member of the V club for many yrs and dug a few

Popped a V-nickel out while detecting tailings pile for gold.  It cleaned up pretty good for a dug V.  When I used to coin-shoot V's were my favorite to dig for some reason?  This is my 2nd V from this area while looking for nuggs…..  I'll take it...lol

Yeah, they are out!  Been out detecting tailings 5 times now in open areas instead of beating the brush because of the ticks and still picked 4 ticks off me so far....lol. No gold yet but did pop an 1892 V nickel I'll clean up and post later.  For some reason V nickels are my favorite coin to dig even though V's and Buffies usually come out of the ground in ruff shape...….

gotta get up pretty early in the morning to trick the ol' cougar.....!!!!!

2 thumbs up on the book Reese...……..👍

Thanks guys....I appreciate the info and will tape em up!!!!!!

First time out with my new SDC and the damn thing shorts out every time I set it down or bump it?  Then it starts it's warm up all over again and I continue to hunt until I gently bump it or set it down again?  Seems to have got better towards end of 4 hr hunt where I only dug about 35 targets (no gold).  It might be the batteries not making good connection but I did have the trap door completely shut.  Anyone else ever have this issue before with the SDC????  Hate to have to send it in...…   

On 4/20/2020 at 9:36 PM, Reg Wilson said:

Some folks are sure easy to entertain. 

Well not all of us can detect yr round.  I'm still snowed out here so it's forums and tv for entertainment...….