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Over the last Month I have been doing quite a lot of detecting on my local beaches . I found not as much coinage as I used to as cashless society has well and truly kicked in . But the Gold and Silver less society is way off. My total for the last Month other than a few Euro's and other coins was £384.76p , 1 Platinum ring which I found for someone and returned to him . The picture of a ring on its own is the Platinum . 3 Gold rings 15 Silver rings 2 Tungsten rings 1 other that looks like a Tungsten but doesn't say so and a Gold looking Stainless Still ring and a junk ring . I searched for 13 times for around 5 hours . The last picture is of the finds I had today.3 August. That search was during Pride. It shows how the cashless society has ruined coin hunting . There were a lot of people about but in the gaps where people had been it was quiet mostly apart from lots of rubbish. I had £13.57p and 2 Silver rings and a 9.3g 9k Gold Signet ring . The 2 notes , the £10 note I found on the way back to the Bus stop and the £20 was from a man that paid me that for trying to find his Gold Wedding ring that I failed to find that day and still haven't found. But will try again when the beaches open up . Machines used were the "ET" E.Trac or the "EQ" or Nox.

I went out detecting this morning at a couple of local beaches I had not been at for a few months. I ended up with just a few coins and a couple of silver rings which I have not pictured yet. It was an enjoyable hunt for 3 hours or so. It was a leisurely hunt and not an aerobic one for several reasons. One reason was lack of targets. You can hunt fast and cover lots of area to a shallow depth or you can slow down and let the coil speed catch some deeper targets. During the swinging I was remembering my research for the day about the high tide and the low tide and the wave size and the time of these waves relative to the tides. I also looked at the black sand line and tried to imagine what stage of the tide/time had produced that and the thought occurred to me that my metal detector was going back in time a few hours. When you start to think about a few hours then you have to think back longer. (Maybe even to the last time I hunted that beach.) On a beach maybe you can think back to the last big energy event, let's say a storm or big surfing conditions. When you are a relic hunter on a beach then you look at old pictures to see where there may have been an old bath house. If you live in that town you start to look for old stores and gathering places like parks and you do research (look back in time) at what may have been lost or deposited there. When and how something got there becomes the story. Sometimes you can slow down and look farther back in time on these sites or locations and that will produce more. Other times on the beach you have to walk quickly to capture a time before it is washed away. Stick with me here ... haha When it comes to gold detecting time is still a key factor. An active wash will have recent gold. All placers are affected by the recent and distant past. A placer that has been worked or pushed 100 years ago will have other 'time of deposit' factors involved. Research and finds will determine how far back and which geological occurrences need to be targeted. Glacial deposits and all other types of gold deposits are related to time and energy. You get the idea. How far back we look in time depends on how slow we go as one great factor. It is not the only one but in many places a greater depth can mean a more distant time. Slowing down may also make smaller targets visible if that is what you want. (As Jasong has pointed out, small gold and going slow is not always beneficial in paying the bills.) Looking back at this it all seems rather 'obvious' and I feel like deleting all of it but maybe this will trigger something in someone out there and allow you to relate to the 'time machine' concept of metal detecting. Now it is time to take my son to the beach. I can see time when I look at him. Mitchel

No gold for me and it's not because I've not been trying...Been hitting some parks around my area and a couple beaches on the river. The ocean is only 1.5 hours away but still I find it hard to get to for some reason. It's nice to get into the water during the Summer...I was at a beach yesterday and dug about 20 sinkers with my excal.. low tide was around noon and Kids were following me around asking lots of questions...different type of detecting then nugget hunting but you got to work with what you have close to home sometimes. The crucifix is 925 the two rings are fake but look nice anyways

Hi all, I've been doing a bit of reading on strategies for detecting at the beach and some general advice I've found is to go where there are areas of erosion or where the sand is lower. At a local beach I go to, there is no tide. Does that mean the rings sink to the bottom only to remain inaccessible? Do you think its better to skip water detecting at these beaches in favor of ocean beaches with more current?

Hello all, as some of you may know, I’m a very keen water detectorist and the Equinox is my go to water hunting machine BUT, last year after about 40-50 hours of water detecting my Equinox did end up flooding from normal (not exceeding 3m) use. From what I have read, this doesn’t appear to be entirely unusual. My suggestion is a waterproof case for the machine that can still let you to do all the normal things with your Equinox whilst adding little weight. I understand this isn’t for everyone but can I get a show of hands for who would like something like this and what it would take for you to consider it? At this point the idea is purely just an idea but if there is enough perceived interest I may just make a handful ? Cheers, Ed

I am an avid metal detector user and I like always being at it. Just because there is no gold prospecting for me in a given time frame is no reason to not go metal detecting for gold. There are a lot more ways to find gold than prospecting, and so jewelry detecting is very high on my list. If you like finding a gold nugget, I do not see how you could not also be excited about digging up a gold ring. Jewelry detecting and nugget detecting share many common traits, not least being the hunt for gold. Both also require a high tolerance for digging trash items, and both are best done with detectors made for the purpose. It just so happens that the detectors best used for nugget detecting are often the best to use for jewelry detecting. In other words, a lot of you guys are already outfitted for this! There are two general ways to hunt for jewelry - on dry land, or in and around water. Let's leave the dry land for another article and focus on the water detecting for now, since I am gearing up for a water hunt myself right now. Almost any detector, with the remarkable exception of the most expensive one you can buy, comes with waterproof coils and can be submerged to the control box. Minelab PI stock coils are not warranted waterproof but only water resistant so it takes aftermarket coils to get them up to speed. But they are a poor choice for wading as there is probably no machine I would like dropping in the water less than a Minelab GPX 5000 with high amp battery attached. Detectors that can be hip or chest mounted offer even more flexibility for wading applications. Few nugget detectors are fully submersible, but there are some, most notably the Garrett AT Gold, Infinium and ATX, all waterproof models. Jan 2019 note: see also Makro Gold Kruzer and Equinox 800. Water detecting can be broken down into fresh water and salt water detecting. Fresh water detecting is pretty straight forward since fresh water is invisible to your detector. The tuning and operation of the detector is similar to what you do on dry land. All you have to worry about is keeping the electronics dry, and recovering targets underwater. Fresh water swimming holes are great for jewelry detecting, and there are many fresh water stream and river opportunities for gold prospectors. Any good gold prospecting detector also works well for freshwater beach hunting. The Garrett AT Gold has an obvious edge for being waterproof. The Tesoro Lobo gets special mention for being convertible to hip or chest mount. In fresh water VLF detectors usually have an edge due to large amounts of trash often being present but PI detectors do have their place in fresh water detecting. The only way to know is to just give it a go and see how much trash there is. The nice thing about beaches though is the digging is easy compared to what nugget hunters often face. Salt water adds a whole new dimension. Salt water is conductive, and therefore a hot metal detector can actually get a signal from salt water or wet salt sand. Many prospectors already know the issues surrounding salt and alkali flats. Detectors that are used in salt water need some way to tune out the salt signal. The problem is even worse on beaches that have mineral content, classic black sand beaches. A white beach composed of broken down coral and shells is no problem at all, but add volcanic material and the issues compound. Most prospectors would not be surprised to hear that pulse induction (PI) detectors have an edge in dealing with salt water scenarios. There is an unsolvable conundrum however. The signal for salt water and small gold items, like post earrings or thin gold chains, actually overlaps. When you tune out the salt water, you tune out these items also. There is no solution to this problem with existing metal detectors because of the way they work. It is possible to find these items at the beach using a hot detector, like a White’s Goldmaster or Fisher Gold Bug 2, but you must be on bone dry sand. Any attempt to get near wet salt sand with these units will result in the sand acting like one giant target. Most mid-frequency gold machines handle salt water beaches to varying degrees. They will generally have no problem until you get on sand currently seeing wave action or actually in the water. The higher the frequency, the less able to handle wet salt sand. The Fisher Gold Bug Pro at 19 kHz and Garrett AT Gold at 18 kHz are not happy on wet salt sand. They can be made to function but only by losing a lot of depth. The Tesoro Lobo has an alkali setting and White’s MX Sport a salt setting specifically designed to handle wet salt sand. In general though these detectors will all work better higher on the beach and have an edge on small rings, earrings, and chains that other beach hunting machines tend to miss. The Minelab Eureka Gold and X-Terra 705 have low frequency options that make them well suited for beach hunting. The Eureka can be hip or chest mounted, but be aware the stock coil is another that Minelab does not warranty as waterproof. The PI detectors fare better, the Garrett Infinium and new ATX having an edge again for being waterproof designs. The White’s TDI and Minelab series do well but must be kept dry. The TDI models except the TDI SL have an advantage in being convertible to hip or chest mount. Be aware that turning off or not using a ground balance system can often add extra depth with a PI on white sand beaches. The TDI and GPX 5000 can turn off the ground balance setting, and the factory default on the ATX before ground balancing offer possibilities on low mineral beaches. For 2019 see the new White's TDI BeachHunter. For serious salt water beach detecting hunters turn to detectors not normally used for prospecting. Ironically, this is because the general lack of sensitivity that makes prospectors eschew these models makes them ideal for salt water. Multi-frequency VLF detectors are not very good prospecting machines but they excel in salt water. Two detectors that vie neck and neck in the salt water VLF market are the Fisher CZ-21 and Minelab Excalibur. On the PI side the Garrett Sea Hunter, Tesoro Sand Shark and White’s Surf PI are the three popular models. Minelab Excalibur II waterproof metal detector There are lots of options but if you ever want a specialized waterproof detector for both fresh and salt water and want to make a safe choice, get a Minelab Excalibur. It is probably the most popular water detector made and for good reason. It gets the job done with minimum fuss and will work well anywhere. I am a PI guy myself however. I have used the Garrett Infinium extensively trying to deal with salt water and volcanic sand and hot rock conditions in Hawaii. I have had success with the model but it is difficult to deal with, suffering from an inability to ground balance into the salt range and susceptibility to EMI interference. Huge numbers of posts exist on how to try and get an Infinium to behave in salt water. The new ATX has taken steps to address these issues but the jury is out there yet. I will be giving the ATX a good go in Hawaii soon. My latest water detector is a White's Surf PI Dual Field to back up the ATX. I have had good luck in the past with the White's Surf PI models and recommend them for people interested in a waterproof beach PI. Again, a simple unit that gets the job done, and at a bargain price. Where to hunt can fill a book, but really boils down to two things. The first is that the best finds will be made where people who wear quality jewelry congregate and engage in some kind of physical activity. On fresh water beaches where items get dropped is generally where they stay. The second item comes into play more often on salt water beaches. The waves and seasons concentrate items on layers, much like placer deposits. They sometimes bury the items too deep to find, and at other times expose them for easy recovery. Beach watching can teach you a lot. There is the towel line, where people set up shop for the day. Lots of items get lost here. Then there are the places where people tend to play beach sports, like Frisbee or volleyball. Best of all, are areas in the water where people congregate, with areas where people can actually stand on the bottom being best. Items dropped in sand obviously sink over time, but hard sand will resist this longest and keep the targets close to the surface longer. Extremely soft sand swallows items quickly and is not a good place to hunt. Areas where the sand tapers into a hard rock or coral bottom can be very good when the overlying sand is shallow enough to reach that hard layer with a detector. Beach detecting is very popular, but beach hunters have on tremendous advantage over prospectors. The finds are being constantly replenished. There is no beach, no matter how heavily hunted, that does not have the potential for finds. The more activity there is the more items are lost in a given period of time. The finds made by beach hunters can rival the best made by prospectors, as not many gold nuggets come with diamonds attached. I know for many prospectors it is about getting out into the middle of nowhere and away from the crowds. Beach hunting is not for everyone. But you can hunt early in the morning or even on rainy days, when people are few and far between. As more and more areas accessible to prospectors get hunted out, it is possible other places are near to you where gold may be easier to find. If you have a detector already you certainly have nothing to lose by giving it a go. Hopefully this post has at least made you consider the possibility. As always, volumes more information can be found just by Googling “beach detecting forum”. Here is an example of a hunt at White's Surf PI Pro and Platinum Rings in Hawaii I got four platinum and three gold rings over a couple week period. One of the gold rings is white gold so it looks like only two gold. All fairly plain men's bands reflecting the rough surf area I was hunting. There is a picture of everything I dug at the link including the junk. All the platinum I have ever found was rings, and when platinum peaked at over $2000 an ounce I cashed in over two ounces of platinum. Another very successful hunt was Detecting Gold in Hawaii with the Garrett Infinium Please note that unlike my prospecting outings I do not spend every hour of every day in Hawaii detecting. These finds are being made hunting on an average of two or three hours a day. I am not one to just sit around so detecting keeps me busy. And a good vacation can be paid for in finds or at least subsidized with some hard work and a little bit of luck. Waterproof VLF Detector Comparison Guide Some gold and platinum finds made by Steve in Hawaii

Well my Sand Shark is about finished so time to shop for a new dedicated (salt water ) beach detector. This machine will be dedicated to wet sand and/or surf only environment. Currently considering the ATX and TDIBH,, any suggestions / input would be appreciated.............Thanks! Rob

Hit a small local beach this morning around low tide. Had heavy thunder storms and decided to see what might have been deposited. Using an Equinox800. This side of the beach typically for the last year has been encumbered by seaweed. So not many bathers. But it being NE, I figured maybe something had been made detectable. All I found were a couple of rusted metal spots, which funny, did not sound like iron with no discrimination. In the pools, using Beach 2 had several targets that showed 12-11. but couldn't recover Also showed with handpointer. Weird day! For those that have had more experience beach hunting, I noticed that the beach a striations in the sand and a few pools of water which I attempted. Sand was some what firm, not black . I will try to attach a couple of photos to get your opinions I usually have been a ground type detectorist and started beach hunting last year. Not good yet at reading the beach

I know areas where rings have been lost and, to my knowledge, not found. I understand a strong storm will relocate a ring. I also wonder if a ring is lost in 3 foot of water during the low tide, will it eventually work it's way up the beach? I believe that a man's gold ring will sink in the sand to a harder layer of shells or clay (hard pan layer). It will remain there until a force of water pushes it either up or down. I also realize there are small lower pockets of these hard pan layers that cause lead weights and rings to gather as if they were in a concave bowl. My friend says that through time the rings will be moved higher up with the seasonal sand movements and eventually make it to the wet sand of the b I wish there was a way to test items in the surf for verification. Your thoughts?

I was having a relatively slow morning detecting at La Jolla Shores Beach in San Diego today, about $1 in clad and a euro coin when a young woman came up asking for help finding a ring. She was frantic and her husband was second guessing, saying it must be at home and asking when was the last time she saw it? She kept insisting it was here right here, next to the seawall. With just a couple swipes of my Equinox 800/15" coil I had it in the scoop. She was ecstatic and gave me a big hug. I've always dreamt of finding a big expensive engagement ring whilst detecting. I've gotten a few gold bands but nothing like this! I obviously didn't get to keep it, but it seemed to bring some good karma to the day and I found two large silver rings shortly afterward. She insisted on getting my info and address so I might be getting a reward or thank you letter later. Here's a couple pics of the expensive ring, the happy owner and the two silvers I got afterward.

Haven’t had a lot of free time to detect but did take yesterday off to hit a beach. I had to try out the new aluminum handle on the GPX. Works excellent and does not snap like the stock one does with a heavy coil on it. I found the usual junk, but surprisingly not too much. There were quite a few brass targets to get the heart pumping that looked like gold at first glance. The normal junk jewelry was there along with a spoon handle that may be nickel or silver. No sign of brass/copper. Not magnetic. I’m a little surprised at the number of nickels still to be found. A little bit of clad with some great toning on some of the copper pennies. For the good stuff: A Walking Liberty half, War nickel, silver Roosevelt, and a dated Buffalo. In the good jewelry category, I was again surprised to get a small signet ring that is unmarked gold, also having a nice toning. Must be 9k with the base metal toning. It buffs right out to look a solid gold color. Old lettering I’m only guessing early 1900’s to about 30’s?? Also got a class ring that hopefully makes the return a breeze, considering it has the person’s full name in cursive inside the band. Definitely before we considered identity theft LOL. And the final surprise of the day came from this gorgeous crucifix. Gold marked 10KN. The N part is new to me. Wondering if it means plum gold? Anyone know? Just a great day to be out and enjoy the good weather.

I couldn’t resist the good weather and one final beach hunt. First beach I hit was invaded by 3 bus loads of teenagers and a small pack of little kids. I think it’s one of those religious outings. One minute it’s quiet, the next minute it’s total chaos . So, I left to another beach and finished the hunt. This one is all GPX, as my metallic cuff for the Equinox was not in yet. I found a little bit of clad, with a decent amount of copper Wheats/Memorials and some nicely toned nickels. The good finds were limited to a Mercury, silver Roosevelt, silver wave ring, and a silver earring. No gold this time. Not a spectacular hunt, but a good way to end the season. Next week starts the archaeology detecting season that should go right into November. The last two pictures are from 2 seasons of CTX, Equinox and GPX hunting of beaches. I know a lot of people dread pull tabs, (especially park hunters) but on the beach Bobby pins and tent/canopy stakes kill me. Nothing like digging 16” looking for a stake that is really on the side of the hole at about 10” But I guess we all do our share of cleaning the trash from the beach.

Well, it's with a certain wistfulness that I am about to spend my last night in Indian Harbour Beach, FL. This little island has been the closest thing to a "home" that I've had for the past 5 years. We towed our "big house" to Georgia a few days ago and got it all tucked in and safe from the Florida hurricanes. The "little house", our 27 ft toy hauler, is parked in our spot and all ready to go exploring for the season. There was a minor glitch with the Polaris as it wouldn't start when we took it in for new tires Thursday. Route 1 Motorsports says it's just the battery and I'm sure they will get it all straightened out for us before we leave Florida in a couple of weeks. I hunted "my" beach for probably the last time yesterday and had an awesome time with some old friends and some new ones. None of us found much except clad and lead sinkers, but Terry Shannon did say he found a 10K ring the day before....which Mrs. Shannon promptly confiscated. We'll be in New Smyrna Beach next winter, if we can get a spot reserved, so it will be fun learning to "read" a whole new set of beautiful Florida beaches. I've heard that they're not as sand-truck happy up there as they are here, so that will be a big plus. I do wish I'd had more time on my new Equinox before we left here, but at least I'll get in a couple more weeks of beach hunting at St. Lucie and Daytona before we leave Florida. Tomorrow I face the "downside" of this RV lifestyle, saying goodbye to some dear friends and knowing it will probably be the last time I'll ever see most of them. Those of you who also live this nomad life know how it is. You always say "we'll meet somewhere halfway in between for lunch next winter" and then you never do. At least with Facebook you can still stay in touch. So we're off to St Lucie in the morning, so ya'll please say a little prayer for safe travels, if you're so inclined. It is always greatly appreciated. On to the next big adventure! Ammie

My beach detecting season is coming to a close, so I took the opportunity to get in another hunt. I am still recovering from a cold, but decided I wanted to get in a hunt anyways. Besides, I got a couple of new coils to try out and couldn’t resist. First was the Equinox with the 15” coil. I wanted to return to a spot that I found those rings last week. Unfortunately, the area was mostly sanded in and the tide was relentless. First off, the arm cuff finally completed it breakage. The stand part broke off weeks earlier and now the arm cuff snapped. Why anyone would use PC instead of ABS for their material is beyond me. But I did get a chance to try it out for a while before it snapped. First impression is that coil did not like the sand at this beach. Reminded me of the CTX in that purple/black sand. I got a very iffy target that jumped to the 30’s every other sweep. So, I did a lot of iron bias/recovery speed adjustments as well as adjusting the sensitivity down as well as up. Tried beach 1 and 2. Quarter was 4” down and I couldn’t believe how poorly the signal was received. This was dry sand area. So, I will test it another day at another beach. I’m sure it’s a great coil, so I’m still looking forward to hitting the fields with it. Now, the 8x16” coil for the GPX was just what I expected it to be. Solid, deep and a tad bit heavy, but a perfect size for deep beach hunting. Not a lot of coins found, probably the lowest coin total for this year. A did stumble onto a planted beach hunt V nickel that looks like it has been there for a couple of years. Nicer finds included a couple of probable silver earrings, a stainless steel (unfortunately) ring and a nice gold hoop. It has extremely tiny hallmarks and an off-center stamp which probably reads 500 (12K). I can see the 00, so I’m assuming it says 500. Not the best hunt in the world considering the drive down. Always nice to see the sun out and do what I love to do best.

Hi there, I have about 100 hours on my new Nox and it rocks! Big time! It is my first "modern" high gain detector and I love it. Now that the swimming and sunshine season is about to arrive here in Germany soon, my plan is to hunt the shallow waters of some lakes highly frequented by people for years. I doubt that many detectors have been IN the water yet. Which program would be a good start? My suggestion goes towards Field or maybe the Park progs? My general hunting I do in Field 1. I would love to hear your experiences in Freshwater. The ground is not mineralized at all.

I had a chance for a beach hunt this afternoon. Conditions are not ideal but a bit of energy did move the sand a bit. I didn't see many clues so I just hunted the expected and unexpected spots. The quantity of targets was low but they turned out to be very interesting. The first ring (16g) has a hand on it and an opal?/plastic stone. It has no markings but appears to be stainless. The second ring sounded like a quarter and a little higher 31-32 and it is 9 grams of silver and stone. It is uncleaned. The final good target was barely audible even tho it was more shallow than the rings. It was a garbled sound that was a chain I thought. Its a dagger with some rust on it. The top is broken off but the detail and the feel of the plastic is above average. It almost looks like carved ivory but it is not. The good finds had all been in the water at high tide.

If y'all would like to see one kind of a beach renourishment project taking place as it happens, click: https://www.surfguru.com/ Scroll pointer to cams > Florida > Central Florida then click on either Cocoa Beach Pier or Cocoa Beach Pier North.. Click triangle in middle of vid screen to start the live feed.. Go to outside bottom left and click on get camera control.. A dropdown will appear on outside bottom right.. Go to it and click on Beach North.. It's just coming into view on the Cocoa Beach Pier cam.. If you're on the Cocoa Beach Pier North cam the 'line' or 'hump' you see N-S in the middle of the beach is where they're burying an approx 4' diameter pipe, main purpose of which is to divert runout downward to hinder outflow erosion.. Detecting behind the work area is near impossible -- hot rocks and other false "hit" and chatter-producing anomolies become the rule rather than the exception.. Swamp

Is it possible for saltwater, or any water, or beach sand to get between the screen protector and the display when the Equinox is used submerged?

A couple of weeks ago during an extreme high tide, I put aside 2 days to hit two different beaches to see what I could get at low tide. Those visits are a good example of how not to plan your hunt rigidly. Both days I focused on the wrong thing and at the end of each hunt I found a patch that helped save the day. One of those days was an area that I re hit yesterday, some 2 weeks later. It produced 2 silver rings, silver earring an pendant all in the last hour of the hunt. Yesterday it was sanded in a bit more, so the targets were deeper, but focusing on a productive area rather than having a master plan, payed off. What I wasn't counting on was that every hole I dug was in an area that was packed with a sand and cobble stone mix! Solid as concrete. I use a pointed spade and the only way to dig was on your knees with raking the rocks out of the hole. I slept well that night I dug 134 holes trying to focus between the silver signals and possible gold signals. I abandoned the small gold which reads #1 on the Equinox because this beach has a lot of black rocks that also read a solid #1. Since digging was extremely hard, I opted to ignore most of them. So here are the results of an all day hunt. I remember a post about nickel ratios in parks vs gold, so I'm including my ratio. It is way off of what a park gets and what some other beaches get, but if you hit the right area, you can get these results. 20 nickels dug (including 1 silver war nickel) vs 3 pieces of gold. Most of those nickels dated early 60's and older. This is why beaches can not give you the expected ratio as this will not be repeatable every time out. It's beena little while since I hit gold and I was starting to give the equinox the old "stink eye" look. But it's back on my favorite list now The chain hit at #2, the ring at #8 and I think the stud at #3 or 4.

I had actually commented/pics some photos of finds on anothers post that was similar, but realized I did not want to steal his thunder. In my part of the country our lakes draw down each Winter/Spring to make room for the up and coming Spring/Summer runoff. This allows for some detectable areas though maybe not as perfect as beaches. Well when you live 500+ miles from the Coast you learn to adapt and find opportunities some others don't think of. Here is a quick story of a trip to a well known high country lake thousands visit each year. I was heading to NV to do our 1st of the year 3 days Field Training Trip on Gold Detectors. Sometimes I like heading down 3 days to a week early to get some time alone. Not that I do not enjoy detecting with others, as those who know me, will fess.. I actually prefer enjoying a swing with other like minded seekers. (hints the 3 days training we offer) This allows me a variety of accomplishments if desired. Sometimes testing a new model of detector, or coil. Other occasions I could be actually Prospecting for new areas and greener pastures for future hunts. Or I usually end up seeking an early coin/trinket from the trashy rustic RR stops along my course there, even though I have hunted them many times over. Getting down to Rye Patch and not feeling it (got to have the gut feeling it is the right site), I drove on past and kept the truck/trailer heading West on I-80. Lake Tahoe was on my mind as was a nice gold ring or two and always a silver coin as consolation. Pulling my camp trailer all the way up (Boise 2730' - Lake Tahoe 6225') found me in snow and not just a dusting. Not thinking all the way through my last minute change (I should have called 1st) left a lump in my throat as I drove around trying to find an open area for my 50' combo to settle for the night. Now is not a good time to find out most of the camp sites on the CA side were still snowed in and closed. I spoke with a Forest Service lady the 2nd day as I ended up sleeping over night at a school parking lot in Kings Beach and she told me of 2 camping sites they just plowed. She was certainly a trip saver for me. Finding my way that afternoon to said site and paying the daily fees to camp (nothing is free in CA), I was eager to get out in the water. Mistake #2 (no wet suite as I had not planned a dip in the snow banks of the chilling Tahoe waters. Heck, I'm USMC...just do it!! was my thought and desire. Shorts and tennis shoes is all I needed, lasted about 45 minutes and 15 targets, which none were gold or silver of choice and the day was shot. Certainly was one of my cold/numbest & dumbest water/beach hunts I have dipped. 2nd day I came back with a new plan and hunted gravels/rocks along the banks (out of the water) and after many scratches, digs and picking...YES.. scored a nice heavy yellow metal ring. Interesting how they stack the rocks on the shoreline, so I took a few picks of my stacked 3030 next someones artwork, heck why not? On a side note: If ever around there and you enjoy smooth dark ale beer, a World Beer Cup Gold Medal Winner is by far my favorite. Double Nut Brown Ale made by Mammoth Brewing Company is serious winner. A couple days later as I was picking more signals in the rocks along the shoreline, this nice black disc appears. Did not even realize it was a coin at 1st, but when I turned it over I could read "ONE DIME". Ended up being my oldest coin to date from Lake Tahoe, an 1856 US Seated Liberty Dime. So if you know of an old high country lake or swimming hole...or just want to try something different, maybe this short story will inspire? At least the dark ale lovers get a tip of beer greatness. And be sure to plan appropriately...and let others know where you'll be.

I’m considering buying an Anfibio multi and am wondering about it’s abilities in and around saltwater, I know it has a beach mode but do you have to lower the sensitivity much to get it stable? I have an Equinox 600 and it’s a great machine except I live in Canada and find it frustrating on our clad coins, I’ve heard the Anfibio does well on it, the 600 is great in many ways but my buddy finds way more clad with his AT gold but can’t go near the salt, I have used the 600 snorkeling and would also dive with the Anfibio, the fact that it is rated deeper is a bonus along with the collapsible shaft. Anybody have experience with one.

As some of you know, I head south each winter with a few clients and have some sun in the fun, with a few stiff drinks to kill any bacteria on my ice. I always take a detector and sometimes even test a few for manufactures (like I did last year with the TDI Beach Hunter). Anyway, I seem to find interesting metal objects in my scoop and on occasion they are still moving (that is for another story). So here are a few photos of finds and laughs. 1st pic of at least 10 different countries and some of their coins. Some of them I know others I'll need to look up in a book some day. 2nd is a waterproof Fugi camera. I took the card out and guess what was on it? Now here is a weird twist. There was video footage of me metal detecting. They actually filmed me. 3rd is a gold plated miniature brass shovel. Now I know there are some serious gold diggers walking those beaches, but now they seem to wear a shovel? I guess that should make it easy for the old guy to figure out their intent? 4th is an interesting piece. I thought it was an aluminum dog whistle but blowing on it numerous times has not produced a peep yet? Maybe one of those secret silent ones? My other thought was some kind of mini magnifier, but each time I look through I can't see anything. Sure does have an odd smell though. 5th. Is a Samsung phone. I've found a few throughout the years and you better have a serious scoop to reach them as sometimes the detector will go near 2 feet deep. I realize it is not a ring, but I also know a Rolex watch could be down there too. I'll be posting some of the jewelry later on as I am still getting caught up with customer emails and phone calls to get them detectors. Until next post, enjoy and if you know any info of my finds, please chime in.

Finally had a chance to get out to one of my better silver beaches. With the extreme cold about a week ago, and along with the high winds, I missed some of the record low tides in my area. Wednesday was the first time out and I was hoping the now normal tides didn't wash too much sand back on the beach. Lucky the sand was not frozen, so I was good to go. I had the GPX set up the best I could with all the train interference, and took breaks when the EMI was just too much to handle. Managed these goodies. No gold, but enough of silver to make the trip worth while. 2 quarters, (SLQ and Washington), 9 dimes, (Mercury and Roosevelt), 19 Wheats and 6 copper Memorials, and a '29 Buffalo. The layer I was able to get into was around the early 50's to 60's. I was itching to get out and hunt, so I really didn't care what I found. I did dig a lot of other targets as well, including 3 silver plated spoons (a common beach find) that were 18+ inches deep. They were a reminder that I have to get back to my other duties, as I had just picked up 2 full pickup loads of spoons, forks, and knives for my small recycling business and I needed to work on them. Weather was great, and coin size targets were at reasonable depths of 8-12". Finally nice to see the waves and breathe that (cold) shore air

Are you planning to hunt the beach? Have you ever traveled a long distance and have been disappointed by the accumulation of sand? Search for the beach you want to visit in Instagram. Recent posts can help you understand the state of the beach without having to go directly. You can see almost real-time beach images with uploaded photos by Instagram users. Only popular beaches can see your recent photos. I choose the beach in this way. Sometimes you may find yourself in another person's instagram.

Late this afternoon after the rain had stopped and the tide was coming in I was able to get out for a 2 hour hunt on the beach. We've had a storm but the wave effect was not as great as it could have been. When I started detecting I noticed some dig holes both old and new. I found a few quarters missed by those and I jumped over to a beach I know well. It had very few targets. Too bad because when things are right I've found some nice rings there. I went back to where I had found the quarters and started gridding getting a few of the pennies and a couple of the micro-jewelry pieces. Some of them were difficult to pinpoint and they went through my wire scoop and they were hard to see with my old eyes. (I still have really good long range but reading ...) On one of the targets I had to get down on my knees and find the target. I thought it looked like a little pearl stud. It was very small against the sand and all the trash from the rains. When I got home and looked at it with a couple of reading glasses it says .925 silver and it only weighs .15g! I think that is the smallest piece of silver I've ever found. That piece and a couple of other targets today made me learn a better pinpointing method. I now back my coil below the target until I can't hear it. I then move it up until I can hear the fringe sounds (this is the 11 inch coil). When I hear it I believe it to be at the edge of the round of the coil at 12 o'clock. If it doesn't lock on the target then I go at a 90 degree angle and try it again. It has greatly reduced my 'random' scooping I was doing when the target was in the center of the coil. I gridded this little unworked area a bit longer and then I had to strike out for more know beaches. I was thinking about the other thread on how to know a ring from trash when I got a different sound. It was not a coin sound or at least a normal coin sounding target. I dug it and indeed it was different. It was a clue! (Please guess at what my 'clue' was. It is in the picture.) This made me circle near that target. If that was there then ?? Sure enough I got a 15 (beach 1, 22) and I had HOPE! I dug down a couple of scoops and then the signal started jumping a bit. This seems to happen to me often when there is black sand and I'm within 30 feet of the water. Water did not fill the hole but I had to widen it to get down to 8 inches and get the target out. I saw the edge ... YES ... hope answered. A few people are around taking pictures so I carefully put it in my pouch. (When I got this one home it says .585 and it weighs 7.2 grams!) Of course I circled and gridded without any other targets. It wasn't a 'patch.' Darn. My reason for heading this direction on the beach was because the waves were focused ahead of me because of the wind. I wanted to get to the spot on the beach with the most energy but that would be a mile or so up the beach. There was not enough time so I circled back in the direction of the ring find and I stayed on the same 'line' until I decided to dig yet another penny. It was in the water's edge and down about 10 inches and instead of a penny it was my second ring of the day. It is a fun find but not of value. It was corroded before I removed it with vinegar. That was pretty much the hunt. I'm very impressed the Equinox 800 could find such small silver on a wet salt beach but hey, it finds tiny lead pellets all over the desert too! Mitchel