Badger-NH

Thanks for the photos Simon. New Zealand is awesome. If I had a choice, that's where I would want to live.

The 8 Reales is still on my list as well. Awesome find!

Were you invited back for another hunt?

Aluminum would be very light. 

The ice cube test results sound promising. Next, you could try bleach or the acid test. You could also look for an appraiser or pawn shop that might have an electronic tester.  https://bullionexchanges.com/learn/how-do-you-know-if-your-silver-is-real

On 4/5/2023 at 8:22 AM, Mark Gillespie said:

Exactly, but I wanted to state my machine does well regardless of the DST settings.  One has less chatter than the other.  Of course I'm using the stock 11" DD coil.  High minerals in the ground will cause many different kinds of target anomalies.  For me, high minerals will pull down the target ID and audio and yes times all the way into the iron range. 

Same with my F75. I saw very little difference between DST on and DST off. I don't know why they even bothered adding an off option. DST solved the EMI problem but the loss of performance compared to my T2 SE which had no DST was disappointing. 

23 hours ago, Mark Gillespie said:

Years ago, when I learned how EMI affects a detectors performance I did a simple study. I took my detector to many different locations to determine the maximum air distance of a US dime from the coil, using the most stable settings at the time. I used the greatest distance as a starting point to near zero EMI affect on my detector (my opinion). I then marked the maximum distance I could obtain on the lower shaft (12" for the Equinox). So now, when I go hunting, I can get a good guess by air testing the machine (machine health check), if something is wrong with either the machine or maybe even silent EMI (not audible chatter).
Looking at the picture, I have a mark at about 12" which is the maximum distance I can get using a US dime and the Equinox after the best settings and noise cancel. It is surprising, just how many times I can't get a repeatable audio at 12" regardless of my settings (effects of EMI). But moving only 20', things might change, better or worse. This works good on all the detectors I've ever used. The F75 tends to be affected a little more by EMI but the maximum air test is quite a bit more than the Equinox. Both machines have places where they outperform the other.

Have you compared multi-frequency with single-frequency when dealing with EMI? I have sites near powerlines where I can't run Multi without lowering the Sensitivity way down but 15 kHz is unaffected.

I generally run single frequency most of the time anyway since my ground is very mild. I only use multi in mineralized ground or around iron.

2 hours ago, relicmeister said:

My first really old find was 1804 large cent. Everything I did to it did more damage to the point it was an unrecognizable slug. I now use the hippocratic method - first do no harm. 

Often the soft copper oxidation will hold the detail while the metal below it has been destroyed. It might be worth it to not clean the coin to save the detail but this can be messy when you have a lot of coppers.

I clean all my coppers. I think they look better cleaned and my hands don't get dirty when handling them.

I wash off the dirt but leave them white if possible.

9 hours ago, Mark Gillespie said:

I have the Pro Arc which is the F75 LTD with a different face plate.  I get a consistent 15" air test on a US nickel with both the DST settings.   All metal is absolutely awesome in the boost mode.  I have a few civil war bullets I might try tomorrow. 

There is a big difference between air testing and ground testing. Try burying some targets at precise depths and see how it does. Make sure the ground is free of metal and hot rocks.

My non-DST T2 SE easily went an inch deeper on a silver dime and two inches deeper on a silver quarter than my F75 DST in mild soil. Both using the 15" x 10" SEF coil.

11 hours ago, kac said:

Old clad, 100+ years from now zincolns might be sought after 🙂

Heres a few from today. Small button, cap and top to old tube maybe some lotion or paint. has a lead or pewter with brass screw cap, large cent (no readable date), another possible kg half penny but also in tough shape, 43 war nickel (first find of the day) and a nie 1773 seated dime.

Used the Tejon with 8x9 concentric, handled the small iron like a champ, good targets had nice tones and easy to pick out even the dime that was 9" down.

No such thing as "old clad". Clad coins generally didn't come about until the 1960s.

I'm curious. Why does the title of your post say clad? I was expecting something completely different.  🙂

1 hour ago, TampaBayBrad said:

 

Not familiar with this. What is the Amazon Certificate you guys are talking about?

eGift Cards - No fee.  https://www.coinstar.com/giftcards

Musket balls are so common in New England that there would be no way of knowing if it was from a battle.  Hunters used muskets for over two centuries.

Saying that the things we find are historical can be bad for the hobby as it adds to our bad reputation among archeologists and the general public.

It has been a while since I've found much clad but back 15 or 20 years ago, I used to tumble or just wash it in a strainer in the sink, then take it to the nearest Coinstar. I discovered that if you keep putting the rejected coins back through the machine, it eventually takes all but the severely damaged ones. The Amazon certificate is the way to go.

I rarely find clad these days even at the beach. Nobody carries coins anymore.

Acquiring permission is one key to success that I never felt comfortable with. You are lucky to have that gift.

On 3/20/2023 at 6:34 PM, Rattlehead said:

Too much. I'm somewhat lazy about asking for new permissions so I tend to pound the crap out of older sites until there's literally not even a single repeating signal. Not very productive I know, but it helps me learn my detectors.

Same here. It can pay off though. I've scored some fantastic finds at sites most people consider to be hunted out.

13 hours ago, TedinVT said:

I used a coil ear stiffener and my 11” ears broke in a week or two. If the ear stiffener bolt holes aren't perfectly aligned with the coil ear bolt holes the coil ears will be stressed as the coil moves. That's what happened to me. I'd never use one again. I did the Gigmaster fix of glueing 1/8” ABS plastic to the ears which doubled the thickness / strength of the ears. Rock solid fix if done right.

Was it a Detecting Adventure coil support? They have a very snug fit and the holes should line up perfectly. As long as the zip ties are tight, it shouldn't move at all.

It's also possible that your ears were already on the verge of breaking and not necessarily the fault of the support. Either way, I would rather risk having the ears break during a hunt before messing up the coil with epoxy.

13 hours ago, midalake said:

I disagree. If you do not want your Equinox ears to break, then epoxy the coil stiffener to the coil ears and do not skimp on product! 

True, the support will definitely be stronger if epoxied, but that will lower the resale value when/if you go to sell the detector.

The vast majority of coil ears out there never break. The only risk to not epoxying is that it will end your hunt if they do.

57 minutes ago, Sinclair said:

Did your coil ears break?

I'd only glue something to the coil, if really necessary..
I have the feeling, that sometimes those stiffeners even are the reason why some ears broke.
Still got my first coil (5 years), well beyond 1000h of use, no issues so far 🤞
 

 

I don't see how using the coil support could cause the ears to break. I'm positive that if I had added the support in the beginning, my ears never would have broken in the first place.

You only need to glue it if the ears are broken. You are better off getting the coil support before they break.

You might want to check your ears for cracks. They may be on the verge of breaking. I also went for many years with no problems. Then one day it happened.

How old is that one? I'd love to hear the story of how you found it.

A beautiful collection of brass there 'Scrape. That old weed/hash pipe from the 1970s takes me back as well. 😵 😄

I used to clean and polish some of my brass relics but haven't in a while. A buffing wheel takes it to the next level. A coating of Renaissance wax as the final step will help retain the shine but some older items do look better with a dull tone.

The difference between NEL and SEF is more noticeable on the bigger coils. The NEL Thunder and Attack feel way heavier and/or unbalanced compared to the SEF 15" x 12". 

When both my ears broke off, I used JB ClearWeld with a little West System 406 colloidal silica added for extra adhesive quality and a Detecting Adventure coil support. It came out great.

Page 46 under "Selecting the Number of Target Tones."

My mistake. It is the Superfly. I thought it was the Ultimate. The shapes look similar from a distance. The NELs are good but somewhat heavy and unbalanced compared to the SEFs IMO.

That takes me back to when I had my T2. Your video showing how deep it would go in all metal was very inspiring. I never cared for that 13" Ultimate coil though. The 15" x 12" SEF  was my favorite.