F350Platinum

I do too, and good thing you did ? that head is interesting. It's a 1900s Shiva head from India I think, and that little girl pendant is worth about $350, there's one for sale on eBay right now. Weirdest thing I've dug at the beach was a small jeweler's anvil that someone threw in the surf in Savannah.

Bizarre but very cool finds. Almost seems like detectorists found them before but were unnerved by them and threw them back ? just kidding, but here we are. I second your shout to SteveG. Are the ring and watchband silver? I'm thinking tungsten on the ring. Cool patina on the buffalo too!

I'd cut a walnut tree down before I parked anywhere near it. ? I know someone who did just that.

Ha, I had to read this post a couple of times before I stopped thinking it was spam. ? Valid question, and you'd best use the washers. I doubt there are many sources of information better anywhere. Trunkmonkey, you're really missing out if you don't at least lurk this forum after this experience. These people have helped me immensely with my Equinox, and have whacked me a time or two when my posts weren't clear - it's a rite of passage. It's a learned talent to use such a great detector and to post questions. Happy hunting!

It could well be. I see a lot of lime where I'm digging too, I also imagine other chemicals like oil and grease. They work on the farm vehicles in this spot, I've dug lots of grease gun pull tabs and the discs they pull out with them here. They hit exactly the penny IDs. I will send you 20% of the silver I find if what you write is true. ? Maybe I'll find another 20% of that Trime...

Wow, aside from the silver that looks like a couple hours at a campground for me ? the Etrac is still a contender huh? Must be fun to switch up.

Didn't you download the plugin for the Equinox that allows it to take selfies? ?

Got a great link about the Dr. Scholl's metal plate. It was called the "Foot-Eazer": https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/dr-scholls/ Apparently it was a metal plate attached to a piece of leather that provided arch support. ? It dates back to 1911.

Yeah sorry I just updated the post. It's aluminum. ? Probably a grommet of some kind.

Finished the spot I was hunting yesterday, great day again, a fitting end(?) To Indian Summer. After digging a Buffalo nickel, I really didn't find anything else in that area. Guess I did a good job even when the grass was high. Switched over to the grass area near the cemetery, I mowed that too. No sense in difficulty if you have permission to make it easy! ? There were 3 barns in this spot, at least one of them burned. They are gone now. At the far end there are a lot of molten metal clumps that ID in the 30s. There were a lot of cat food cans buried here as well, I have no idea why. Most of that has been removed. ? Finds were scant but interesting, I have fully half the field done. Going back Monday to do the rest, it's going to rain tonight, and I like weekdays because no one will be shooting at me. ? First the odd stuff, a big brass "D" ring, it had a large chunk of iron in the center that fell out. Next piece is interesting, a metal plate that has two rivets and "Dr. Scholls" stamped on it. Caused me to wonder who would put a riveted metal plate in their shoe? A personal torture device? ? Bottom row has two more of those brass "bosses" that I think are some sort of horse tack, I've found 5 of these and the big one here is stamped #4 on the back. Guess they are sized. The last object is a solid brass hook with a plate for 3 rivets or screws it had some sort of rubber attached to it. No clue. On to the smaller finds, two of the nastiest, crud caked pieces of clad I've found since the beach, a 2000 Maryland state quarter, and a 1996 nickel. At the end is my Buffalo nickel, sadly no date. An '82 penny and a '63 penny, both copper memorials. I have found a lot of clad in this area, the farmers have been parking their vehicles and working on them in this spot since the 1940s. The ring is probably a fine grommet, it was a 25 ID and under a brick. I though it might be silver but appears to be aluminum. Two .22 caliber live rounds, I dug so many shells (7-10 ID) that I stopped digging them. Hope I didn't miss any gold. ?

I'm very interested in the upcoming NM machine myself, I wish I could be interested in the Deus 2. Garrett has the interesting Apex, which was advertised but not available when I bought my first detector over a year ago, an Ace 400. Didn't take me long to move up. Looks like we're on the same page, and I'm only 1 year older. I did get the luxury of early retirement, and my wife supports my hobby. On that subject I am blessed ? I've found her some nice jewelry, and even cool stuff for the grandkids. Read up, ask questions - this is the right place to be. We also like descriptions of hunts and pictures of finds. ? Looking forward to hearing more from ya!

Thank you Dave! Much appreciated post. I often wonder if I post too much, but I have the luxury of getting out almost every day, all I have to do some days is walk out my front door. I always hope people find the stuff I dig interesting, and if there's any history on it I try to find it. I'm trying to expand my sites, but some say I have enough for a lifetime already.

That would depend on what else could be there. ? And reciprocity. ?

Unless one of our more experienced detectorists jumps in about the Fisher, sounds like you would want to get an all purpose detector like the Equinox. I can tell you I've used it on farms, at the beach, around old sites dating to the 1600s, you name it. I'm also probably the most prolific (annoying?) finds poster. ? 2022 looks like a year when a whole slew of "do it all" detectors are going to hit the market, it's a tough call. However, the Equinox has been a safe bet for quite some time. It's gonna be expensive, $650 for the 600 (which I use) to around $1000 for the 800. They may come out with a newer one next year. I presume you have other detecting gear, like a pinpointer and good plug shovel?

Welcome! What areas are you going to be hunting, and what are you hoping to find in Kansas? There are a lot of choices out there for a new detector. You're signing in at the start of the multifrequency boom, apparently it's going to be exciting. If it's gold you're after you are also in the right place.

Ah, sorry GB. On closer inspection it is a 1925. The 1941 is an "S" though, may be the second one I've found here. ? I've dug lots of rein guides, this one is the most unique. Usually they are just circles with a bolt. This one seems to give the rider an option - whether or not to use it. I'm pleased to be finding old relics again, but yes I'd love to find some more silver coins.

Last night It was warm so I took my off road mower out across the fields to the racetrack farmhouse. It's about a mile and a half from my house, and I don't have to drive on public roads to get there. Headed up there this morning, it was a beautiful day. Got up to 74 today, Indian summer in the mid Atlantic. This is the place that had the long grass from two posts ago. Because the grass was so high I knew that if I cut it down I would find more, and as usual I was not disappointed. I cut it to 4.75 in. because I feared there would be obstacles for the mower, luckily there weren't except for the well. It was easy to get the coil close to the ground. Today I went low and slow, only got through half of it. The finds were pretty interesting, I wonder how I missed them. Most were pretty deep, about 6". Dug a brass skeleton key stamped 48, a piece of shoe buckle, a lead ox knob, an interesting rein guide in great shape. 4 wheats, oldest 1932, newest 1950. A copper button with no shank, the back is pretty corroded but there is a maker mark, I'll have to clean it more. A really interesting button that was shot with a .22, the bullet is still in it. It is very ornate, appears to be two piece, and has an indistinguishable backmark. The last coin is an 1895 IHP. Here is a closer look at the button with the bullet in it: And the back: Pretty good shot. ? Shame though, it's one unique button. Anyone recognize it?

That's what I bought my Ace 400 for! ? It was right after a roof replacement. It found them all and I've never had a flat. It's a good detector but not a great one. No ground balance, and discrimination is good but knowing about and having an Equinox sends the Ace to gathering dust. I tried the Simplex and had exactly the same reaction to it. It's good for what it does and is well made. I'm looking forward to its successor in the SMF category. Funny post! ?

You should see what they're pulling out of the ground in Thailand. ? But the people I saw were using a GPX. Thailand has temples that predate the pyramids. I'm sure they are off limits but metal detecting is mostly legal there (or not illegal anyway). Jewelry, pottery 5-800 years old, you name it. The detectorist was saying most of the really good stuff is 10-20" plus down tho. ? Sounds right to me in a country that probably gets more rain in a week than we get all year. It's not on my bucket list, but it is fascinating. Well I'm out, thanks heavy hitters for jumping in. ? I'm not up for the deeper stuff yet. ? just testing what I know so far.

Gotta say first it's kinda moot to get in a deep or high level discussion about an inexpensive detector, but I understand what you're getting at here. The faster you sweep, the more inaccurate the results would be. I can always tell I'm swinging too fast with my Equinox, because I will often hear a high tone when passing iron. The Equinox has an extremely fast ability to identify a target but there is a limit. A lot of people turn down this "recovery speed" in order to maximize depth. That's great when you can do it, but in my case most of the areas I search are so iron-laden that I have to slow the swing down and use the highest recovery speed. When I hear a high tone I stop and check again. I use a sweep at an angle (~45-90 degrees) to the target to see if the result is consistent. If it is I dig. Now to get straight to the point. I knew early on by reading this forum that if I wanted to be more successful I would have to get a better detector than the Ace, particularly one that would "ground balance". My budget constrained me to the following: Ace Apex - advertised and hyped but not available multi-frequency with ground balance Nokta Makro Simplex+ - inexpensive but feature packed waterproof Single frequency and ground balance Minelab Vanquish series - multi frequency with relatively low prices and better features but no ground balance Minelab Equinox, multi frequency with ground balance and "waterproofing" I went to a local detector shop (local is an hour and a half drive one way), and the shop owner asked me where I am going to detect most. He knows my area, and immediately told me to "bite the bullet" and get the Equinox 600. It was about $200 more than what I was willing to spend, but I am glad I did because of what I find on almost a daily basis. It was great starting out last December with the machine, and has only improved. You are entering this hobby at a time of a shift, almost all manufacturers are about to release an SMF (simultaneous multi frequency) detector, from the sublime to the ridiculous price. Depending on where you will be most (and why I suggested you introduce yourself) you will have a choice of new machines next year, and some this year. Here are the companies (the most common, not necessarily in the order) you want to pay attention to, and read up on here: Garrett for the Apex or its successor Minelab for the Equinox or its successor Nokta Makro for the successor of the Simplex+ XP of France for the Deus 2 if you have a big budget. Or, you can go out right now and get an Apex, Simplex+, or an Equinox. The used market is insane, so forget about it. ? Just for the fun of it I watched some videos about metal detecting in Thailand, a country with massive and fascinating but not popular history. I gleaned that pulse induction detectors work better in places there, as targets sink deep due to the conditions. That sort of detector is very expensive. HTH

Hey Strick, Copy the text, go to Google and type Translate in the search box. You get the automatic translator, it can figure out what you copied. What the person wrote was: I often go to the swamp! There are many treasures in there! It is recommended that you use 800 15-inch discs! very useful!

I'm very much looking forward to that. ? I was thinking that it might be a slug punch out from an electric box, though who knows why it would be on a beach. ?

Always cool to see your posts in this thread. You got a whole $1.89! The GPX will pay for itself in no time. ? Seriously, I'm sure you'll come across a great spot. This southern nor'Easter probably won't do you much good, it tore the beaches up from VA to Miami. I'd like to get to the beach but driving there is a nightmare. They have "no" signs as long as your arm too. ? It's November. Something will happen. You have a round thing in your iron/stainless, is that interesting? Dug a live Mauser round recently myself. ?

Way to go Dan! Nice coins. Seems odd that the shovel would break on the billet, but your friend really fixed it up. From the photos it looks like things are a bit dry. ?

Welcome to the forum! Aside from the obvious jokes about the ad (I prefer MD2020 myself ?), it looks like you do have a metal detector. It's 6khz according to Amazon, and I'm pretty sure that is a concentric coil. While I am sure it will detect metal, it probably won't make your life easy. My first detector was a Garrett Ace 400, for sure a contender in the low end, but it wasn't 5 months with it before I got an Equinox. I quickly became tired of not really knowing what I was finding. Luckily for me I live in an area of the US that is loaded with history, and found some great stuff on my first go in my yard. Yours is a simple machine, really. Others can weigh in about the differences in coils and such but I can tell you you are limited to 5 Discrimination settings which will, for the most part, cause you to miss interesting finds. Sensitivity is another fairly deep subject but it doesn't really relate to threshold. I would just set it so that the detector doesn't go nuts when you swing it over the ground. Try to find a silent spot at first, and then turn it up until it starts to make noise, them turn it back to the edge of silence. You will find metal, lots of it - and the bar along the top will help you somewhat to decide whether to dig or not. The Ace I have has the ability to notch out or "not hear" more parts of the ID spectrum, but I never used it much. I don't notch anything even now after a year with my Equinox. You best bet at first is to "dig it all", you get a sort of reflexive skill after a while. "Practice makes perfect". Even the most experienced detectorists on this forum dig junk. There appear to be some videos regarding the machine, and here is a link to a review which may be of help: https://www.techmetalsresearch.com/metal-detector/amysports-md3030-review/ I found it by simply googling "MD3030". I wish you luck and success with the machine, we all start somewhere and please let us know how you do. I think if you find any good stuff you will be hooked. Do familiarize yourself with local and national law regarding metal detecting, you don't want to end up in jail or getting a fine. Remember everywhere but your yard in most places requires some sort of permission! We may be able to help you more if you put a post in Meet and Greet - general descriptions of where you are in the world and what you hope to find. That goes a long way on this forum! ? Luckily I went to a local detector store and got great advice for my second detector. By the way our Asian friend above is saying he/she can't find the manual. ?