GB_Amateur

You went from single frequency to several selectable frequencies and a full warranty. Presumably with the ~$200 net you can get a coil or two to complement the X-Terra Pro stock coil. "Screwed up" doesn't sound right to me and frankly I find some of the replies unnecessarily harsh.

The Manticore currently doesn't have a small coil option, just the stock 11". Minelab has indicated a 5"x8" is coming.... Meanwhile the detectors Jeff has recommended all currently have small coil options. If you're going to do other detecting besides for native gold, such as for coins, relics, and/or jewelry then the two above *might* be a better choice although the Minelab Equinoxes and Nokta Legend are all-purpose detectors, too, and at lower prices. As of now, AFAIK, no one has reported better, or even as good of performance for small, natural gold with the Manticore w/11" or Deus 2 with any of its available coils, 9" being the smallest.

Always a good starting point is Steve's detector database. Here is the entry for the TDI/BH. Comparing with the TDI/SL, the non-changeable coil has already been mentioned. Note the weight (5.2 lb for the BH vs. 3.5 lb for the SL). Although most of the controls seem to be the same, I don't see the conductivity switch on the BH. I have the TDI/SPP model (an SL missing the conductivity switch and missing the adjustable delay -- locked at its minimum value of ~10 microseconds). According to the SL manual, putting the conductivity switch in either hi or lo makes the detector slightly less noisy than in the 'all' position, but if your brain can tell between hi and lo (pretty easy) and can deal with the more signals (think hear all just like an IB/VLF without any discrimination threshold or notching), a lack of the conductivity switch shouldn't be too big of a deal for coin and jewerly detecting, IMO. It seems the waterproof capability is the big difference, leading to the heavier weight, non-changeable coil, and missing(?) condictivity switch. Although in general covering a detector control box in a plastic bag risks overheating, assuiming there is no special heat transfer path on the BH then hermetically sealing the TDI/SL control box is likely no different -- apparently making that OK to do.

I won't be surprised if that turns out to be the case. I'm getting ready for my annual trip West and thus don't know how much time I'll have to 'play' with the Manticore before I leave. But I'll be aware of what you have hypothesized when I get a chance to get back at the Manticore testing (and field use). BTW, the manual says something about where mineralized ground grunt will show up on the 2-d screen. That's another thing to look at -- the info on that screen. That was the biggest reason I went with the Manticore, to get that 2-d screen. And although I have been looking at it I expect quite a long learning curve -- pattern recognition training if you get my drift -- so it will be a while before I trust what I see enough to reject a target based upon the 2-d screen image.

In my test garden I have three coins buried -- 5" deep 95% copper cent, 6" deep 'nickel' 5 cent, 8.5" deep clad quarter. I'm still in the infancy of (thorough) testing but for the quarter, in All Terrain Lo and All Terrain General I do get some iron grunt ("red line") mixed with good tones when running both sensitivities of 21 and 23, Recovery Speed =4 and Iron mask 8/3. My soil is moderately mineralized (2-3 bars on Fisher F75). I did not notice red-lining in All Terrain Hi mode (otherwise same settings as above). Both AT/Lo and AT/general were at about their detection limits for that 8.5" deep quarter with the above settings, meaning strong enough signals to indicate digable. A bit deeper and they sound off, but not at the level that would cause me to stop and investigate.

Dave Crisp, 76, Wiltshire, Finder of the Frome Hoard I split the money that I was given with the landowner of the field, so we got about £180,000 each. I always say if I’m talking about it: “Well, 180 grand, that’s not bad for three days’ work.” I bought my council house, which I’m still in. My family did well out of it, too. When I pop my clogs, they’ll do better out of it again. It changed my life. (emphasis mine) When I think I know the English language I see an expression like that and it brings me back to earth. Maybe some here know these people or at least know of them. Typical but still interesting article.

Not in general. (There are many forms of EMI.) That's typical of every IB/VLF detector I've owned, including the ones without any kind of EMI mitigation other than the user manually turning down the sensitvity. I thinks it's a signal-to-noise issue. If EMI is bad enough even swinging the coil doesn't help. But for less intense EMI, when swinging along the ground's surface, the natural mineralization 'signal' can overpower the EMI. And a strong target overpowers both the EMI and the ground noise. If you remember tuning a radio, a weak radio station will be deciperable but at the same time you'll hear scratchy noise. And away from any detectable channel you just hear the noise. OTOH a strong station will come in loud and clear with no noticeable background noise. I suspect a detector engineer can give info on the electronics properties of the various internal components and how they are configured to take the max advantage of the strongest signal. Maybe one of them will comment.

Mass produced copper large cents vs. rare -S and -CC minted silver (and gold). Yeh, we sure got one over you Westerners. 🤔

From strictly a beauty standpoint, the Buffalo Nickel (also known as 'Indian Head Nickel') is clearly the top of that heap IMO. Common dates and even possibly those with dates worn off can still be display pieces from that viewpoint.

Yes, dates can give some indication of when things were dropped, but that's a statistical measurement so the more the merrier. The thing about Jeffies is that there was never hording of any kind occurring, unlike silver and even Wheaties. No one except a collector would bother looking at the dates+mintmarks so if it had a Jefferson head and a Jefferson Memorial, every one looked like every other one. The last 20 years saw some changes, but even then what was the incentive -- bullion value (like silver coins) -- nope. Collector value (what Wheatie horders were hoping for) -- not without effort. Whenever there is effort involved (knowing which date+mm carry value over face and then taking the time to look), people tend to take the easy way out. So there are the 1964's (plain and -D) that you bring up.. They minted a ton and even with eventual dilution and atrition they are still pretty easy to find in circulation today (as you note), let alone while detecting. You didn't mention the 30's (1938 & 1939). Of the six issues, only the 1939 was common and still found occasionally today. The other five are anywhere from unusual (1938 plain) to fairly scarce (1938-D and 1939-S) to semi-keys (1938-S and 1939-D). I've found one 1938 plain detecting and a few 1939 plains but none of the other four. I would get excited finding either of the last two mentioned as even when searching bank rolls in the 60's and pocket change ever since I've not found either one.

You got that right and I wonder why you've been hiding it from us. I'd have been bragging on the forum a day or two after getting home. As I mentioned fairly recently where someone found a 1923-S, pre-1925 SLQ's with date showing at all are tough finds. Yours is a (relatively speaking) common date+mintmark but the condition is superb for a circulated coin. I'm not going to attempt a (likely) innaccurate grade, but look at those stars on the shield, detail in the chain mail vest and rest of the clothing. How about the beading around the rim? Probably not a 3 digit valued coin (on an open market like Ebay -- worth looking though) but easily 10x bullion value. And then there's the display value.

Nice finds for both of you. Tom, although I get the 'dig' about 'pesky' Philadelphia minted coins, it kinda backfired in this case as for some reason (posslbly Civil War related), half dimes (and dimes) of 1863-67 with no mintmark and associated low mintages are way more valuable than their San Francisco (-S) brethren. In general, though, as far as 2nd half of 19th Century through first 1/3 of 20th Century coins, if I had my choice of hunting Western USA or Eastern USA (but not both) I'd take the Western half. Well, at least if you guys showed me your garden spots....🙏

Does it (link) have to be programmed to be able to communicate with the Manticore control unit's BT/LE transmitter and if so is that just a trial-and-error process which is practicable? Otherwise??

I found quite a spread in 95% copper IHC's when first doing some air testing with the Manticore. I probably need to redo those as I get more experience. But I saw some in the low 50's and up into the low 60's. As such I have a tone set for the range 51-64 -- broad for this reason. (And, no, it's not VDI variations on a single coin but tight VDI's for individual coins.) This VDI tone setting range also opens things up for some trash targets, including Zincolns, but that's the price one pays to give yourself the best chance of finding all the copper IHC's within the detector's capabilities. BTW, I use 'all metal' and let the tones tell me what I've got. 65 and above are my high tones ("high conductors") so if an IHC happens to VDI up there (as your tests indicate is possible) I won't miss it.

Which is just the non-waterproof version of the MXSport? @KD8GIS should look for threads that discuss this detector experiences, etc.

Size matters. I doubt your result has much to do with tweaking the composition. Steve H. has written about this (VDI vs. size) more than once. BTW, I think the Manticore's All Terrain Low Conductors (what people are already abbreviating 'AT-LC') shows good evidence for this. In my test garden AT-LC does slightly worse than All Terrain High Conductors (AT-HC) on a buried Jefferson nickel (ID 26-27 on the Manticore or 12-13 on the Equinox) in my moderately mineralized soil when settings (e.g. sensitivity, recovery speed) are set the same. Is AT-LC intended for small targets like small jewelry?? Quite a nice find!

I would think the DIV CW crazies (oops, bad choice of words) who go to Culpeper and are rabid (there I go again) about finding as much good stuff as possible in a short amount of time would be knowledgeable on relic PI detecting. Even if they haven't used every model they see others swinging all varieties of PI's. I suspect some here can already tell you what the Garrett Axiom is capable of in that trying environment. @Chase Goldman and @abenson are two here I bet can give you some indication. You didn't mention cost limitations but did say weight is a concern. Keep in mind that some gold detectorists are willing to swing a 7+ lb GPZ7000 so 'lightweight' to them has a different meaning than for most of us.

How many hours with the Manticore? Always enjoy your finds & trash photos. Do you ever look through date+mm on the Jefferson nickels? I assume the amount of finds is indirectly proportional to the amount of clothing worn....

Am I the only one who did a double-take when first seeing that image? Lawyers are already toasting their upcoming cases.

I have the 12" Oz mono coil because it came stock with all TDI SPP's. It's easy for that size coil to tell if it's dual field or simply mono -- just bring a hand-held pinpointer tip close to the inner round ring and see if it squeals. (Mine is silent.) I don't know if that's a telltale sign for the 7 1/2" size but you could try that. I really like the 12" OZ mono as it's quite lightweight for its size (512 g = 18 oz or 1 lb 2 oz w/skidplate) but sorry to have to tell you it's staying with me. (As I think, is this the one I loaned you for a short time?) I doubt many were sold individually here in the USA and pretty sure the other White's TDI models here were outfitted with the dual field 12" (if they shipped with 12" coils at all, that is). Might be easier to find one in Australia but then have to pay through the nose for shipping. I assume you checked with Centerville Electronics (official repair site for White's). They have a 12" TDI coil listed there but it doesn't say which variety so likely the dual field. Might know of one salted away though?

I agree with Zincoln. That 1886 is pretty rare and although the photo doesn't show its detail (and no reverse) I'm going to say it grades at least VG and quite possibly F. Could be a 3 figure coin assuming the discoloration doesn't detract too much.... As was typical back then, except for the first year of issue very few of the early years escaped circulation and subsequently a lot of wear. I think that is true of the 1886 adding to its 3.33 million (fairly low) mintage to its value today. My mom had an 1886 in her collection that was really trashed. I recall in a book I read (don't remember which) the author said to look for ghost towns that were present during a particular time period that had scarce-to-rare coins. His example was a mountain ghost town (I think maybe also in Colorado) that only existed a few years but bracketted 1877 and thus the key date Indian Head Cent. The other thing going along with that is the condition of the coins, with not many years get worn down. If the ghost town you were in fits that concept could there be the even rarer (and 2-3x valued) 1885 just waiting for your detector to beep? Fun to contemplate!

Any legislation like this looks kind of ridiculous if it doesn't at least propose getting rid of the one cent coin completely. Even with that, though, consider that according to the video even the USA 5 cent coin costs about $0.06 each over face value to produce. Assuming 1.5 billion minted per year that's around $90 million per year. "Save taxpayers money?" The USA federal budget is ~$1 trillion annually, so they are talking about saving 0.01% (a part in 10,000) of it to get the cost down to break-even on that coin's production. Sounds like window-dressing / vote generating legislation to me. And this doesn't even address the fact that 'paper' (plastic?, digital??) transactions are taking over the commerce of the world. Even USA metal detectorists would be thrilled if they'd stop producing Zincolns altogether. I'd rather find a beaver tail than a Zincoln -- I'm not exaggerating.

Welcome, Admiral! Sounds like you have the tools and the shipmates to handle them. Locate some good spots (I bet you have a lot there in the Scandanavian old country) and go have a blast.

Yes, but that's about the only change since 1965. (Half dollars were clad starting in 1965 but those early years still had 90% silver outer layers. Starting in 1971 their composition was changed to be identical to dimes and quarters. Dollars -- always unpopular -- have changed from cupro-nickel clad to brass.) But other denominations (5,10,25 cents) should degrade similarly in the 1965-1989 era as the 1990-present. The above mentioned zinc pennies (aka 'Zincolns') have an especially bad problem due to the galvanic process that causes the copper coating (only ~2% of the entire coin) to chemically react with the zinc interior somewhat like what goes on in a common battery.

I can confirm that. I think I just read something about it again yesterday. I wonder if Nokta found the sweet-spot number of conductive VDI channels with the Legend, which is in-between the Equinox 800/600 and the Manticore, Equinox 900/700, and XP Deus 2. Then again, no matter the VDI scale distribution there are going to be complaints.