TexHunter

Beautiful coin. I wonder what anguish the looser went through after loosing that...

185 years of being beautiful. That's a lot of patience, but well paid off...

And ground cactus...

Excellent choice to go ahead and dig it up. Even if it was another of those square tabs, at least you wouldn't have to deal with it again next time. Have you given any thought to try to find the owner, or heirs? I bet someone would be mighty excited to see that after all those years...

Start with Park 1, and leave the settings alone until you understand the detector better, and what it's telling you. Lower the sensitivity to around 18 to settle the machine down a little, and listen for solid targets that don't sound "scratchy", or "clipped". Dig a lot of targets. You will dig trash, but you will also learn what the trash sounds like. Keep your coil close to the ground, and don't lift it at the end of the sweep. Keep it "flat". Overlap your sweeps by about half the length of the coil. When you get a target you want to investigate further, circle around it and listen to the tone. If it stays pretty much the same, dig it out. If it "breaks up", or only sounds off from a couple of angles, it's most likely junk, or a masked target. Don't worry about masked targets when starting out. You need to learn the good sounding targets. Once you get more experience, then start investigating more of the "iffy" signals. Keep your coil moving at a constant speed, but not too fast. Around 2 - 3 seconds for a complete sweep left to right, or right to left, should be about right. Did I mention to not "lift" the coil at the ends of the sweep? Hope this helps. You've chosen a great detector that will find you many great things, but you have to learn it's language first. I only wish I would have had such a capable instrument when I started in 1972. Good luck, and keep at it. It will come... One more thing. Make sure you fill your holes, take the trash with you, try to leave the site looking like you were never there...

Hey Tony, I know you meant the V8X and the V10X, and not 7x. I can't wait ether. Sure hope they do happen soon...

Hey Mark, unfortunately, I haven't seen the V8X, or the V10X, coils listed anywhere. Very disappointing...

Same here. A deal that can't be beat...

I don't care what they call the wireless module as long as they offer one. They did offer multiple coils on the Vanquish 540 Pro Pack with the V8 and the V12. Having used Minelab for over 30 years, I know they probably wouldn't offer what I want, but I'm sure a lot of people, like myself, are holding off buying the Xterra Pro because of the lack of coil, or headphone, selection. I think we're still allowed to hope, can't we?

I would love to see Minelab come out with a 3 coil "Pro Pack" for the Xterra Pro. The V8X, V10X and the V12X, along with a module similar to the WM 08 from the Equinox 800, so we can run any LL wireless, or wired, headphones of our choice. That is all...

Don't know if this is the right place to ask, but how about a Minelab Xterra Pro forum along with, or in place of, the Excalibur forum? There hasn't been a post there since April.

Tesoro didn't exist 50 years ago. They didn't start until 1980. Also, Metrotech was founded about 1962, and they still exist to this day. They are strictly for utility/commercial purposes, not hobbyist metal detectors now...

I would say, to me, yours is much nicer than that one. I would have probably had a heart attack if I found one that beautiful. What an incredible find...

Definitely couldn't use it in my parks and school yards. I wonder how many of those they will sell compared to a 9.5" x 5" elliptical coil?

If so, I wouldn't guess there would be a large percentage of Deus II owners that would be interested...

I'm thinking of doing the same...

Patience is a virtue...

Sirius, it looks like there may have been something, that is now missing, mounted in the rectangular opening. Great find...

Yes, I believe that is correct. I don't have the 340, or 440, to verify, but I don't know why they would be different... Here's a table of some common U.S. targets that should come up the same on all 3 of the Vanquish models, and the 600/800...

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That's right, their segments are larger with more numbers per segment while the 540 is identical to the 600/800 at 2 numbers per segment...

Just the 540, not the 340, or 440 as they have a different segmented scale...

Here's a link to a book I co-authored 26 years ago that might shed some light on the gold ring target ID's. It's not a great book by today's standards, but it was all that was available at the time. Pay special attention to the final results tables as they might be helpful... http://www.70falcon.com/Books/RingBook2015.pdf You might right click and open in a new tab. There will be a message saying it might be a potential security risk, but I can tell you it's not. It's safe to open it. The .pdf was created back in 2015 so that might be why the message comes up. I just opened it with no problem...

I appreciate all the replies, and the conversation. I'm leaning on sticking with the D2, and selling the 900. Between the two, and the Manticore, it's a great time to be in the hobby with the excellent instruments available that I wish I had when I started back in '72. My problem now is that I have severe back/neck issues that limit any hunting i get to do. I think I was out 3 times all last year due to the suffering I experienced afterward. This hobby is like being addicted to drugs, and almost impossible to quit. My main hunting was frontier military artifacts on the eastern plains of Colorado and New Mexico. Hunted in Colorado for the 37 years we lived there before moving to Texas 10 years ago. Now i pretty much hunt parks and vacant lots, when I can. That's the reason for the question for this type of hunting. I doubt I'll ever be relic hunting again. I'm lucky to hunt for 2 hours when I do get out. The more I think about it, i probably should just sell both the D2 and the 900, which neither has been even turned on, and just keep the little Vanquish 540 with the 3 coils for those times I can get out. Never thought it would come to this, but now at 79, my mind says yes, but my body says no. Thanks again for all of your responses, i really do appreciate them. I think they have helped me come to the realization that my hunting days are coming to a close, which is a hard pill to swallow. I'll continue to lurk in the background as my interest hasn't faded. Thanks again guys, and good hunting...

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to say that I appreciate everyone's comments, and I will reply to all. I've been in severe pain all day and will get back to you all, hopefully later tonight. I just can't relax or concentrate right now. Again, thanks, I really appreciate you...