F350Platinum

True, for sure I've heard other parts of VA are iron rich, but you can go in fields here and not even hear a peep. Seriously, nothing! The only time I find lots of iron is where a house stood, they don't clean them up well. 🙂 The rest of the time it's horseshoes and plow parts. Going to hit the beach some time this week, probably when it warms up a bit more.

Wow that GPX is incredible. Even your "junk" is cool. Nice shootout!

Welcome, Ben. I retired, bought an Equinox as an upgrade to my Ace 400, and have dug hundreds of interesting artifacts and coins in a very short time. We look forward to your exploits and photos! I hope you live in or near history like I do, it's much easier on a retiree. My health has much improved due to this hobby. There is a lot less lead in the farms around my house 😀

Welcome! We look forward to your exploits and photos.

Yikes, most of that stone looks like the gravel in my driveway. Maybe you could revise it a bit with only the most interesting specimens? You should also post in meet and greet to tell us a bit about yourself first. 🙂 That is general forum protocol.

Hey Glenn, Just to put my money where my mouth is 😀 I just put this together today. 1mm Snake chain, bezel for a Mercury Dime, and of course the only other American silver coin I've found so far in my area than a Trime which they don't make a bezel for. This will be for good luck at the beach. I wish the coin wasn't stained but here we are. 🙄 Didn't want to get too aggressive on it.

Nice stuff! Takes me back. Those are some great bottles, I can feel the elation with every find. Hard work!

Here ya go on the railroad spike: https://www.sizes.com/tools/spikes_railroad.htm It's a 3 1/2 inch. Not sure about the knife, could have been repaired.

That is interesting! I wonder now how much I have been missing in the farms because of the deep negative numbers. 🤔 Probably a good thing, there will be more for me this fall. Rest assured I will dig everything where I'm going. High potential for historic items in one place. Just not sure about large holes... I don't think there will be black sand. I've never had a problem with EMI. The only time I have ever heard it here is when I am over a buried power line, that is common here. Kind of a good thing! I keep my cellphone in my back pocket and only hear it when I am taking a photo of my find. Thanks for your replies! You have a great toolbox there.

I'll be testing these at the beach very soon: https://www.amazon.com/Headphones-AUKEY-Bluetooth-Water-Resistance-Commuting/dp/B07GBVCZZX/ref=mp_s_a_1_3? Initial test was good, just not as good as full headphones. They are a bit tinnier but last for a long time. They will stay on your ears with the strong loops, and you do have the option of leaving them loose to hear ambient sounds but the sound is better the deeper they are inserted. They are IPX-6 water resistant. They pair fairly easily. Beware of any ear phones/buds that are not Aptx-LL. If you do not see the B+ connection on your Equinox when they are connected you are going to have issues with only hearing half the tones on locating a target, and/or your target location could be way off due to latency. If it wasn't for this forum I would not know this! I bought them to avoid "white ear syndrome" when I get a tan. 😀 Otherwise I would use my BT-80s.

Wow. That needs to be put on a chain, not in a pocket, you'll lose it. 😀 What size is the token? You can get coin holders for just about any size and put 'em on a snake chain. They're called coin bezels. https://www.amazon.com/Sterling-Silver-Dollar-Bezel-Screw/dp/B0018AWKZO/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=coin+bezel&qid=1616932876&sr=8-10

Thanks! That's going to be interesting to me my first time on the beach. Part of the area I'll be hunting may contain some history as well as coins/jewelry but I have a 600, so no gold modes. 🤔 The negative numbers are intriguing. When you say random hole, do you just stop and dig or does something give you a clue, like multiple ID's on a sweep? I've done that before when the Equinox throws a symphony at me, and as I recall I haven't regretted doing it. How different are the gold modes? I am sure I'll dig it all but some finesse may help.

Man that GPX is a monster! Great haul. Any idea what you found with the Equinox vs. the GPX?

Nice finds. I wonder if Pilgrim Lanes still exists 😀 Barber dime is definitely above average!

I've had solid IDs on lots of aluminum but that was a great call. Cool stuff!

Went to Brimfield every year for a long time. Only lived about 10 miles away when I went rural. Made a lot of money dealing in old cameras for fun. I took my wife there a few years back, she got a $15,000 mink coat for $75. At least that was the appraisal. When I find silver and it's been rare, I get really happy. Buttons have always made my day. I also have that inner voice that has paid off quite a few times! In any new place I will dig it all until I memorize the tone patterns. Probably should dig it all even then. Don't much dig iron but anything above 1. 😀 Good tip again! I look forward to what you post. I'm healthy enough to need MORE exercise.🙄 Right now I'm outside and a couple of F16s are having a mock dogfight. The sky ain't rural. 🤪

What Kac said! 😎 I called before I dug. The Equinox picks up my underground power lines quite well, bit it helps to have them come out and paint.

Yes I'm geting some info for myself, but I hope this will become a sort of reference, so I won't talk much about my buddies from Austria that have my back. 😀 It was a pleasure and an honor to have met and hunted with Chase. I was kinda sad at first because no one responded but it's really great to have y'all weighing in.

I think I may have stumbled on this thread a while back. Thanks so much for the refresh, and your advice is comprehensive and solid. 🙂 Parking lots and weather are other great considerations, this island has beaches to the north, south, and east. Huge parking lot at two of them. There are a couple of places I'm deliberately not mentioning and I hope to learn of more. 😈

I lived in the Northeast (New England) most of my life, in cities and suburbs. No stranger to the danger! 😀 Guess it's worse now 🤔 I went rural in the 90s, never regretted it or looked back. I'm still in a rural area, the only thing I have to watch out for here is wildlife and loose dogs. Most of the dogs are friendly. Our county laws are specific, your life is the most important. It's a great place to live so far. My takeaway from New England was 'eyes in the back of my head'. 😀 I do miss Brimfield Flea market tho.

Let's say "Reciprocity" is a good thing. 😉 Georgia is a great state to visit. I'd be more worried in places I used to live than I do now. I only go to shores from VA south. Sorry you have to deal with that. 😵

Brilliant! If you need more weight and have a beat up socket you could fill it with lead. I second your great backyard and lawn. 🙂

Thanks Joe! Again spot on. First thing I'm going to do is visit the island Sheriff's department. They are close by, and I've found in the past that they are very nice people. They may even know of a few places I haven't considered! I imagine it would be a good idea to get the ground rules from the enforcers. If I can even get "near" one of the forts... 🤔 I am an avid beach fisherman so I know what to watch for but you bring up a very good point. I got some water shoes. 😀 I've seen some pretty nasty jellyfish, anemones, small sharks and rays in my time, even water snakes. Something spiked my foot once in OBX that caused a nasty infection.

Thanks Chase. Great stuff! I set up this query because I noticed a few people have been looking for advice in random posts. Couldn't find another where someone asked specifically, so if I could get some of the heavy hitters involved it would be beneficial to inexperienced "detector users" 😀 like me. Going to the shore a lot this year, and will be river hunting when I get back. @KellycoDetectors has a great article on their site, hope they don't mind me linking to it here: https://www.kellycodetectors.com/pages/metal-detecting-on-the-beach/ Your tip on nickels is just the 'gold' I'm looking for, and I hope it spurs others to chime in. 🙂 My limitation for beach detecting will be time. I can only spend early morning hours due to family activity unless I can herd all the cats to the beach! Planning on bringing a backup detector and gear (Ace400) if anyone else in the family is interested. It's easy enough to get the feel for digging from videos, but not the approach and tweaks that might ensure better hunting.

Nice coin! First American silver I found was a 1917 Mercury dime. 😀 It's still the only American silver coin I've found. My backyard produced some colonial buttons, and the front gave me some clad from when my house was built. It was a great place to practice. Edit: Oops, forgot the Trime I dug. 😀