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The attached pdf file is a brief side by side comparison of the Minelab Equinox 800 eight (8) search modes/profiles to the Nokta Makro Legend four (4) search modes per their respective "User Manuals". Hopefully you will be able to open & preview the file by just "clicking" on the attached file below. Nox Manual vs Legend Manual.pdf

So, my beach season hunting has officially started. I was going to shoot for two days hunting but a wash out on Thursday made me change some plans. I had reserved Thursday for the GPX 6000 and the 14” DD coil, but had to settle for trying the 6000, 5000 and Equinox on Friday. I changed beach locations too and ended up at the less EMI beach for the day. Started out using the GPX 5000 for clearing out some of the recently deposited junk in an area that has produced silver before. I thought the storms that ripped through the previous day would remove some sand, but it was just the opposite…. sand deposited along 3/4 of the beach (top to bottom). Also, high tide reach to the highest point of the beach, so I could only hunt where the waves did not constantly reach up top. The 5000 did well considering the beach was really sanded in and gave me my first silver of the season – a 1955 Washington quarter. The rest was clad, but for 2 copper pennies. Some junk jewelry, and maybe some iron shot or just a ball bearing, - it measured .75 caliber. The big spoon was found at 20” and I thought I was going to get a beer can or some big iron, so that was a nice surprise. Hunted with the 5000 for 6 hours and decided I cleared enough to try the 6000 in that spot. The EMI was a bit more than usual but not really bad. I’m still not sold on that 14” coil. I tried both ground settings, as well as both Salt mode and EMI mode. I tried auto, auto +, manual (full) and manual (setting 1) and some in between. I just could not get the 6000 to not false on the sand. It was partially damp, as high tide receded a while ago, but with a sensitivity of 1, I would have expected a smooth clean machine. IDK maybe the coil is not good. I did not bring the 11” mono as I really wanted to see if the salt mode would work on the 14” DD. Being a bit disappointed, and after trying all combinations of settings, I called it after around 10 minutes. So, the tide was getting as low as it was going to be, so I hunted for 3 hours with the Equinox and traded my spade for my scoop. I didn’t use the Nox much last season as the 5000 was killing the silver, so the Nox sat idle. But I wanted to see if the heavy waves dropped anything on the beach along with all that sand. There weren’t many targets, so I dug everything to get a feel for all the numbers. The hairpins and tiny wire all read a steady -2, -3. The Nox did well for the short time I used it and if I wasn’t beat from the hunt, I would have stayed in the area that was producing some coins. It was the best machine for the day to give me a chance at some gold. It felt really, really good to get out and just walk the beach. Next week all 3 machines will be at the crazy EMI beach. I will have the mono coin and the DD to see if this beach (dry sand) will be ok for the 14” coil. Can’t wait!!!

Nuggets found using Gold Mode, MF (multifrequency). Largest 9.8 grains, two smaller 0.6 grains each. Full report here. OK, there has been a lot of speculation on Gold Mode, and with Equinox shipping out in the next couple weeks I can now offer the basics. Gold Mode is designed to help optimise the finding of very small items. That normally means small gold to most people, so it has been called Gold Mode. A question that has been asked a lot. Is Gold Mode a true threshold based all metal mode? Not as I would define it. On many VLF detectors a true, raw, unfiltered response can be seen via some pinpoint modes. All metal non-motion response. Next would be a motion based "first derivative" all metal mode, that basically adds motion filtering to the raw pinpoint signal in an attempt to keep an even threshold while in motion. This mode has no discrimination capability at all and just signals targets. This is the classic "true" all metal mode used on early induction balance prospecting detectors. Next would be "second derivative" filtering that is the classic motion based discrimination we see on most detectors today. Then along came dual channel processing. Many detectors started layering a visual discrimination channel onto the all metal channel, creating detectors like the that have a visual target id while in audio all metal mode. The X-Terra also has what is called "Iron Mask" while in Prospect Mode, which apparently incorporates a ferrous reject into the channel or employs a layered parallel channel. I don't know the technicalities, just that the feature is there. Are these "true" all metal modes? Not by old school definitions. And so to me at least Gold Mode does not fit that particular definition. The threshold, while it exists, responds more to items that are nulling on masked items (which may include ground and some hot rocks) than to ground variations in the classic sense as would be expected of a pure all metal mode. However, the extra capability offered sure does not have me pining for a true threshold based all metal mode. Gold Mode can run at MF (multifrequency), or 20 kHz or 40 khz. It does fit the definition of being an all metal mode by not being able to employ target tone identifications as is available in all other modes. You have a single tone, but it is adjustable for pitch. You do however have full time on screen target id numbers displayed at all times so you do have visual discrimination ability, but Gold Mode goes one more step, and you can also block/mask/notch just like you can in other modes. This is particularly important for the very low numbers down around -9 and -8 as some ground and hot rock responses roll in around there. Blocking low end ground responses causes the threshold to null (assuming you have it set loud enough to hear it) and so the nulling effects can alert you to ground changes and a possible need to tweak the ground balance if you are running in manual. However, what makes Gold Mode different in my mind is the processing, and in particular the audio, which employs a VCO based boosted audio that conveys the target in a way that gives a fuller picture of target intensity. The other modes have the standard Minelab modulated "beep" that simply gets weaker or stronger depending on the size and depth of target. The Gold Mode VCO based "rising/falling" response is more akin to what is seen in machines that produce that "zippy" response on tiny targets. The bottom line is Gold Mode can provide stronger audio responses on tiny targets. The large coil is fighting this a bit as a smaller coil or an elliptical will provide even tighter, zippier responses. The Gold Mode is not an automatic magical solution; it is simply a mode processed in a different way that can be advantageous in some situations and not in others. I expect given how some of us are very particular about how machines sound and act that this will be a mode some people really love and others might hate. VCO tends to have that effect on people. To sum up, Gold Mode is optimized for tiny targets, the most obvious way being with a boosted VCO type response on tiny targets, but there may be more to it than that I am unaware of. It does have both volume and threshold controls and while it is monotone the pitch can be varied. There is full time on screen (LCD) target id information as will as the ability to individually mask responses, mostly intended for hot ground/hot rock/ferrous responses but it may be used on non-ferrous targets also. Anyway, for those who think this is a key issue for them between Equinox 600 and Equinox 800 I wanted to try and clarify this a bit while people are still in pre-order mode in case people want to rethink things. To me the Equinox 800 is something I have to have based on the audio and other advanced tuning options, and Gold Mode is just an excellent bonus. in other words, I would still get the Equinox 800 even if Gold Mode did not exist. That's just me however and for others that lean differently hopefully this helps you out. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/7468-my-tips-on-nugget-detecting-with-the-minelab-equinox/

I had so many incredible responses to my first post that it made perfect sense togo back to the well and run this by you all. With my DMX in it's later years another detector is will be in my future. I've been researching a number of sources including YouTube hoping to narrow down my choices. Considering finances.... to date I have settled on 2 detectors. The Gold Monster 1000 and the Equinox 800. Both are in the same price range....both get good reviews and I see them producing nice finds. The operation of both seem relatively learnable and so far I am finding no negative reviews. I do question some of the YouTube posters for one reason......it seems the reputable posters have allegiance and financial deals with manufacturers. Again it's my goal to keep the cost down for now while I learn as much as possible about the art of proficient detecting using my Gold Bug 2. Once I'm comfortable with where I am I will consider a higher end detector. I can manufacture a few more AR's and sell those to fund my next purchase. That's where users of these units come in to play. Will someone detail your real world reviews of these detectors? I trust this forum won't steer me wrong. Thanks in advance!

I want To know that for the multi IQ . I suspect park 1 ,field 1 , beach 1 and 2 . To no run in 40khz in his multi. So i dont understand why minelab tell the 5 frequency run in multi ? I wonder what are the combination? 2? 3 ? 4 ? Frequency? And wich frequency? Now i think some people must know that. It can be helpful for choosing the good mode. Anyone have an idea ?

in this video we can see that the main transmitted signal is the same - Multi signal Equinox Park/Field/Gold = Deus-2 pr.1/2/3/4/8/12 - Equinox Beach and Deus-2 pr.5/9/11 signals are slightly different, but the upper frequencies are the same 24кГц - Equinox does not have a low-frequency signal, like deus-2 Deep and Diving program (Pr. 6/10)

What profile is typically better for wading or diving in freshwater? I am assuming no presence of black sand or other strong mineralization in soil or the water. I venture to say, the same settings that works on surrounding land! However I haven’t spent enough detector time to form a strong opinion. What have other Equinox users found to work well? Billy

5F×8 (used in EQUINOX 800*) 5F×8 (Five Frequency Times Eight) provides five individual transmit frequencies in the one metal detector, selectable at the push of a button. Each transmit frequency optimises the detector for different size targets and conditions. EQUINOX 800 offers 5 single frequencies of 5, 10,15, 20, and 40 kHz, giving an 8 times range or ratio from 5 to 40, hence the 5F×8 technology designation. The individual selectable frequencies in EQUINOX 800 are: 5 kHz - Great for large silver coins 10 kHz - Good for small Roman hammered coins 15 kHz - A good general treasure detecting mode 20 kHz - Ideal for general treasure detecting and gold prospecting 40 kHz - Optimum sensitivity to very small gold nuggets Having five selectable frequencies gives the versatility that is equivalent to five conventional single frequency detectors. Note that EQUINOX Series detectors also feature Multi-IQ technology which allows you to operate all available single frequencies plus more, simultaneously. The option to operate your detector in a single frequency can be helpful if you are experiencing excessive ground noise when using the Multi-Frequency setting. *The Equinox 600 3F×3 (Three Frequency Times Three) offers three single frequencies of 5, 10, and 15 kHz, giving a 3 times range or ratio from 5 to 15, hence the 3F×3 technology designation. However, both the Equinox 600 and Equinox 800 offer identical Multi-IQ modes covering the full frequency range. The Equinox 600 simply disallows direct access to the 20 khz and 40 kHz single frequency modes. More on selectable frequency and frequency spread here.

It did not happen to me but to a friend of mine, he searches a lot in the sea, lately it has turned off in the water, he tried to turn on but nothing happened, he put it in the car and on the way home the nox suddenly turned on alone. I had him check the battery, it measured 4.1 volts, there is no humidity in the battery compartment, when he tries to turn it on you hear a click but it does not start, I made him change the coil but nothing happened, I think the only solution is to send it in for repair. What do you think about it? Has such a thing ever happened?

Here's a few pics of last years finds. All were found in public places, mainly parks in Texas. I did hunt 1 school and 1 baseball field. My specialty is, hard hit, given up on places. I love the challenge of finding what was left behind. I use the Nox 800 and have it set up to cherry pick copper and silver 90% of the time. If I get into a really old place or around water, I'll open it up a bit. I use my tones as a discrimination , I run wide open . Total silver coin take was 117 and a 287 wheaties, total silver finds 144. Not sure how much clad I found, I cashed it in 3 different times during the year. I'm going on my 4th year with the Nox and have done very well relic, coin and water hunting during that time. Here's my settings. Park 1 Iron Bias F2-0 Ground balance 0 Recovery speed 3 2 tones... pitch on -9 to 17 at 3 from 18 and up at 25 Tone break at 18, unless in older places or around water. No discrimination Sensitivity as high as the site allows. Coil scrubbing the ground and a slow sweep. I know what a lot of people are thinking, just think of all the stuff you left behind. I was having to drive 1 to 2 hours one way to get to some of these places. I have to maximize my time because of the time factor.

Refer to page 48 in Minelab Equinox Manual: Am I missing something or is the instruction wrong or a type-o? Manual states: "The non-ferrous setting can not be a higher number than the ferrous setting." Should it not read: "The non-ferrous setting can not be a lower number than the ferrous setting." Of course it may have 'flew over my head' . . . I've spend some time attempting to clarify the statement but it still appears like a type-o. What's the verdict? While on this subject: Are t1(50Hz) and (t2)500Hz fixed in terms of pitch or frequency? I would think they are permeably set. Just curious. Thanks, Billy

Han anybody else encountered the bug where cycling in and out of pinpoint mode causes the detector to no longer display VDI numbers? I am on the latest software, but a few times each hunt, the VDI numbers simply stop displaying after having been in the pinpoint mode. The machine will still produce tones and seemingly function as normal, but it just shows "- -" on the screen. Switching back in and out of pinpoint mode again seems to fix the machine, so does rebooting it. Sometimes I have to switch in and out of pinpoint a few times to get it to work again. It's hardly a detector breaking issue, but it definitely is a bit of a nuisance. Is this a known problem? or maybe specific to my detector?

Fourth one I have had problems with...

Here are my thoughts on the Deus II in a long winded, rambling, stream of consciousness format. I will be comparing it to the Equinox 800. Unboxing experience Nothing special at all. It is clear essentially no effort has been put into this aspect of the experience and its value isn’t recognized. While not a big deal to me personally, the unboxing experience shouldn’t be ignored as it relates to content creators and selling detectors through those channels. (Trust me, I know nobody here cares about this, but ignoring this shows just how dated their overall marketing strategy is.) The Equinox 800 unboxing experience was equally lackluster. Both get a D+. Both are well packaged, but that is about it. Startup Experience I first started by taking out the contents that needed to be charged. The coil charging clip worked perfectly and I had no issues figuring out how to attach the clip. The headphones were equally easy to charge, but opening the cap covering the port took some effort and at first I was afraid I might be breaking something. I had a similar experience trying to remove the protective plastic insert on the shaft where the main unit mounts. It took significant effort to get it off, and when I did, it went shooting across the room. Mounting the main unit on the shaft wasn’t great. When mounted, the unit doesn’t feel particularly secure (it even kind of feels wobbly), but I will have to wait to see if it proves problematic in the field. The experience could be improved by adding a loud and distinctive click sound when inserted to provide audio feedback indicating it is secured. As of the moment, it just slides on and only occasionally produces a subtle click that is more on the haptic side of things and it isn’t immediately clear when it is fully inserted and secured. This could lead to confusion and an incomplete mounting resulting in a dropped unit (luckily it claims to be shockproof, though I haven’t personally tested that claim). Inserting the XP charging connector into the main unit was rather cumbersome. The connector takes significant effort to screw in. It is not smooth at all and is very difficult to do by hand since it’s kind of small and slippery. The first few times I was afraid I was cross threading the connector, but turns out it’s just exceptionally stiff. I am guessing this could be related to maintaining a watertight seal for the bone conduction headphones, but it also gives a feeling that it is of slightly incorrect manufacturing tolerances and therefore of low quality. Either way it’s a pain to screw in. In my experience, the Equinox 800 connector is much easier to get on and off, even though it does sometimes attract magnetic sand. Updating the main detector unit and headphones was mostly easy and straightforward. It’s a bit awkward that the WS6 headphones require a separate USB cable just for the updates and the primary charging cable can’t be used, but that is mostly a non-issue (I am guessing they saved money by not making the primary charging cable also into a USB Hub for multiple data streams). Turning the device on, everything was paired right out of the box. Having all components already paired and then power on simultaneously when just powering on the main unit is awesome. This is a massive advantage in terms of experience over the Equinox 800. However, I did encounter a bug related to this behavior. When I took the main unit to a different room of my house and turned it off (out of range of the WS6), I came back to the WS6 headphones to find it was softlocked (Meaning the unit was functioning, but the volume setting had popped up and it was impossible to exit the volume setting and it was impossible to power off the device, leaving me permanently stuck on the volume adjustment setting.) It was only remedied by rebooting the main unit and then shutting it off within range so the WS6’s would turn off automatically as well. It should be noted that this occurred before I performed the updates and I haven’t since tried to recreate this bug. Learning to navigate the menus was easy and within a few minutes I felt like I could perform any setting adjustment necessary. I think both the Equinox and the Deus II have a very well designed, and easy to learn user interface paradigm. I give the slight edge to the Equinox in this category, as I do have some gripes about the button assignments. Ergonomic Experience I will be comparing the fully loaded XP Deus II with the 11’’ coil to the Equinox 800 with the 11’’ coil and stock shaft. I have both the shafts adjusted to the same length (distance between grip and coil). The XP Deus II weighs in at 1,100 grams with the 11’’ coil, main unit, and velcro strap. The Equinox 800 weighs in at 1,370 grams (with a slight coating of mud, but nothing significant). Just standing there with the detector in my hand holding the coil elevated slightly off the ground, I can’t immediately feel a huge difference in terms of weight or stress put upon my shoulder. Both feel comfortable to hold and the grip positions feel natural. Swinging each detector is where the ergonomic and weight differences really begin to show. Mid swing there is almost no difference between the detectors. But at the peak of each swing when it comes time to change direction, the Equinox 800 produces a noticeable and fatiguing torque upon my wrist, elbow and shoulder. At the peak of a swing with the Deus II, there is a tendency for the detector to want to roll to counter that torque, likely the result of the rifle frame geometry, which makes it dissipate the torque over a longer period of time. This feels much less fatiguing and stressful upon the body, but this longer dissipation also makes the swing feel like it takes slightly longer to change direction and is somewhat more wobbly when doing so. To me, this gives the impression that the swing is more responsive to forces on the Equinox 800 at the expense of comfort, while the Deus II is more comfortable at a very slight expense to coil control and precision. Personally, I feel the tradeoff is much more in favor of the Deus II, as the coil is still easy to control, despite feeling a bit less abrupt and responsive in it’s tendency to change directions. I somewhat dislike how “twisty” the shaft is on the Deus II (or it’s inability to resist torsion), but there is definitely an ergonomic advantage to that behavior. A large portion of the twisty behavior seems to come from the lower plastic shaft that attaches to the coil. One area where this difference in swing behavior is especially noticeable is when performing short, fast wiggles over a target. The Equinox 800 is sturdy and precise on these wiggles at the expense of torque upon your body, whereas the Deus II feels like the nose angle wants to pitch around (the vertical line on the DoubleD configuration twists around). This is obviously the result of the frame geometry of the Deus II and it’s tendency to want to counter-roll when a torque is applied. I don’t know yet whether this will be an issue in the field, but to me the Equinox 800 wiggles better. I haven’t had the chance to do a multi hour session yet (weather is bad here), but it would definitely seem the Deus II has the clear advantage in terms of ergonomics. Random thoughts I find it slightly easier to access the buttons on the Equinox 800. The main unit on the Deus II sits slightly forward of the grip, making it less comfortable for my thumb to access buttons ( everybody’s hands are different shapes and sizes so your experience may differ). I dislike how the button to enter pinpoint mode on the Deus II isn’t the same button used to exit the pinpoint mode. The screen on the Equinox 800 is bigger and brighter and in general much easier to see than the Deus II. I feel like some of the display space on the Deus II is wasted / not optimized and I rather dislike how a portion of the screen changes what it displays every few seconds. Changing over and over is a bit distracting to me. I also really dislike how the display cycles between the target ID and the program name. In my opinion it significantly harms readability. I don’t really need a constant reminder of what program I am in. I just feel the screen is constantly changing and keeps drawing my attention, when only a meaningful change in information should draw your attention. But I am the sort of person who can’t drive a car if there is crap hanging from the rear view mirror swinging around. In my opinion the Equinox 800 primary display configuration is much better designed, while the Deus II is a bit of a mess. However, the Deus II does deliver more information in total, but does so on a much smaller, more crowded screen that has to cycle between what it displays. Equinox wins in the category of readability. That being said, the Deus II does have the XY screen, which is probably where I will spend my time detecting anyway. Though I am already anticipating some inadequacies there as well, specifically as it relates to the zoom. Adjusting the zoom on the XY screen requires THREE whole button presses just to access the zoom. This is simply unacceptable. It should be one button press by disabling the ability to cycle programs while in XY (I mean, really 2 whole buttons dedicated to changing programs? I change programs frequently when doing testing so I can see it’s value there, but not usually while doing actual detecting. I think they would also be better used to change sensitivity). Or better yet, make a single button press enable / disable a normalization algorithm that autozooms the signal to fit the screen. That way with a single press you can cycle between seeing the amplitude / size of the target and seeing the overall quality of the target while losing depth / size data, which would make changing the zoom mostly unnecessary to begin with. The button presses on the Equinox 800 feel better and give better feedback. I understand the Deus II's buttons are designed with that 20 meters worth of pressure in mind, but they lack both audio and haptic feedback. I have more confidence delivering rapid inputs on the Equinox 800 as a result of it's superior button press feedback. Overall I am very excited for the ground to unfreeze so I can use it in the wild. I did some air testing to learn target IDs and fiddle around with features, but I will reserve my judgement on it's performance until I try it on some real targets.

I am a frequent beach hunter of S. CA beaches and have found over the last couple of years that almost all hunters are using Equinox 800's. Not like the old days where you would see Fishers, Whites, a random Garrett and even a Tesoro on occasion. Which leads me to the reason for my post. My go to machine on the beach is an Equinox 800 with a 15" coil. It is rock solid, gets great depth and has rewarded me with a lot of nice3 finds. However, I also have a TDI Beach Hunter. Now before I stir up all of the PI guys who will insist that a PI will go deeper than an Equinox, I'm not going in that direction. What I am curious about is the deeper targets vs. more trash targets aspect of using one machine vs. the other. My own personal experience has been that when I have used my TDI Beach Hunter, and the competition is using Equinox 800's, I am always low man when it comes to good finds. While I may be getting better depth, the amount of junk I have to dig (rusty hairpins in particular) slows me down in terms of coverage while the Equinox guys are covering a lot more area and finding more good stuff. Have any of you had a similar experience and if so, when can you justify using the TDI Beach Hunter (or a different PI for that matter) instead of the Equinox 800? Bill (S. CA)

Hello. I've been doing lots of research but I think it's about time that I consulted some experts in this field. What is the difference between Minelab multi IQ and Ace Apex multiflex technologies

Best I could see what you guys take away from this

I just weighed my nox. It has an Anderson carbon fiber shaft and their metal armrest, home made counterweight, deanos control box cover, and a coil ear stiffener. Guess how much it weighs? Check pic below for the answer. The counterweight makes it more comfortable for me to swing but it’s still heavy, especially after 4 or 5 hours. Now the deus II can be set up in several configurations, but if we go with the heaviest setup with the nine inch coil which is what I have on pre order, I believe it’s around 1 kilogram which is 35.27 ozs. That’s a 22.83 oz savings!For those of you using a counterweight, have you ever weighed the entire rig? If so, please post up some weights.

A roman iron slag from smelting. Very highly mineralized! Some information about these bad things: https://glevumdetecting.com/history/roman_iron_making.htm Back here we have some good areas full of these things!

For the 3rd time in the last four years Southern Indiana had a mild December and I was able to detect 14 days. Here are the highlights of my last 6 hunts -- bracketing Christmas -- 20-->27 Dec.: I'll start with the coins (but not in the order shown). 1929-plain Merc (never been disappointed finding a Merc!), 1943-P Warnick, 1936-D Buffalo nickel (very common date+MM), well worn Buffie with a -D mintmark, either a 1916 or 1918 (or, is it too much to ask, 1918/17 overdate?). Correction: I got a better magnification on it and it's a 1915-D (not the D/D overmintmark, just the standard die strike). I'll expound on the 1891 Indian Head Penny a little later. (Note: if you don't want to read my long-winded details of the relics, please go to the last couple paragraphs which describe the large token. I need help with that one.) The token with the hole (before I put mineral oil on it) appears to be copper due to its green color, but maybe brass on bronze. I recall its dTID on the ML Equinox was low 20's (between zinc penny and aluminum screwcap), so probably brass. One side says "THIS TOKEN HAS NO CASH OR TRADE VALUE". I've yet to figure out what is printed on the reverse but that is hopefully more revealing of its origin. At this point I think it could have been made anywhere from the 1920's all the way up to the 1960's based both its looks, patina, and depth (~7"). The tiny buckle may be from a child's shoe. It dTID'ed in the USA 5 cent 'Nickel' zone of 12-13. The two pieces of junk jewelry -- ultracheap earring and crushed gold plated copper(?) ring came it 20-21. (I was hoping for IHP's....) The item at the bottom is non-magnetic. On one side it says 'DUCKBILL' and the other side has a patent number. You can see a rusty steel pin near the junk gold-plated ring -- some kind of pivot point I think. It has an opening on the left end but nowhere else. It appears to be a crude piercing or puncturing tool. If I really want to dig into it I will need to clean up the other side so I can read the patent number and then do a patent lookup -- I've done those before. Not sure I care enough to go to that trouble, but it would give me a better idea of its age (and thus more info of the site). On one of my hunts I hit a part of the park I hadn't done any searching, thinking it was barren of old coins. In the first 10 minutes I got a Buffalo nickel (don't remember which one). 3+ hours later with little more to show (maybe a Wheat Cent or two) I was getting ready to wrap up, hoping for one more goodie. About 10 m. from where I found the Buffie I got a signal which just barely gave a 20 dTID (my first high tone bin) but mostly 18 and some 19. It was a weak enough signal that I thought it might be fairly deep and thus not a recent drop. I don't remember the depth but somewhere in the 5-7 inch range and out popped the 1891 IHP. I know others (e.g. F350Platinum) have gotten IHP's with low dTID's but mine are almost always 20-22 (as are most of my oldest Wheat pennies). Since ring tabs (missing the beavertail) tend to show 18 in my experience, I've avoided 14-18 (14 being modern 'racetrack' shape pulltabs). Whenever I get an anomalous dTID like this I wonder how many keepers I've left in the ground.... After that day I lowered my lowest high tone bin to 19 but have yet to dig another IHP (quite of the hated corroded Zincolns, though). The biggest surprise is the large token at the upper left. In the middle it says "ONE PENNY" and the rest of the printing: FRANKLIN CHAPTER NO. 20, R.A.M. CHAPTERED MAY 7TH 1858 OROVILLE, CALIF. (I didn't photo the reverse but here is what it looks like -- this photo from Google Images): A bit of internet searching revealed that 'R.A.M.' stands for 'Royal Arch Masonry' which I think is part of the well known Freemasonry, but a subgroup that has its own meetings, lodges, etc. Here's a Wikipedia writeup. From what I can tell (again from the internet), lots of chapters had these so-called 'pennies' issued with their chapter location and number printed on them as far back as the 2nd half of the 19th Century. There was (and probably still is) a fairly widespread practice of collecting them. So how, why, and when did this one travel 2000+ miles from the heart of the California Motherload to a muni park in Indiana? That I will never know. It dTID'ed in the mid-30's, consistent with a USA large cent or large USA 90% silver coin (half or dollar). Based upon that I think it's pure copper. Given its condition and where it was located -- about 6" deep and maybe 18" from a sidewalk (probably poured in the 60's or 70's, with associated nearby backfill -- I assume it's been in the ground somewhere very roughly around 30 years. I found an obituary of an Oroville R.A.M. chapter member who died recently (2019) at the age of ~90 so it was still in existence after WWII, and is maybe still in existence. Anyone know any more than that? Has anyone of you ever find a Masonic Penny while detecting?

For my end-of-the-year rush I'm concentrating on my (by far) best current site, what I've been calling "The Wheatfield" because of how many Wheat Cents it's produced (relative to my other sites). Equinox w/11" coil in Park 1, Recovery Speed = 4; Iron Bias F2 = 0, gain = 24. I start with a photo and go into detail from there: The cruddy looking 35% silver 'Warnick' was a surprise when I got home and cleaned up my 'modern' coins. Around here Warnicks tend to reveal themselves immediately because the chemicals in the ground clean them up to look more/less like other silver coins (well, not quite as pretty as the quarter shown). Even after gently washing in water this one is butt ugly. 1943-P (most common of all the Warnicks) and fairly well warn, too. Still, almost 80% as much silver as a 90% silver dime. The 1952 plain (= Philadelphia minted) Washington quarter is only my second quarter this year (other one also from the Wheatfield, but it was an 1895-S Barber) was about 6" deep and showed jumpy dTID with high value (centroid ~31 which is where air tests would put it, but plenty of high 20's and low 30's as well when in the ground). Although I hoped for a silver coin, no way did I count on it being even a good find as I've probably hit many 10's of targets with dTID's in this range that turned out to be worthless. (Thumbtacks are the cleanest and most promising signals!). The ring is marked 'sterling' and looks to be either a child's size or maybe for a woman's pinkie. I don't know what that is right below it but I'm thinking it might be made of aluminum alloy. It is brittle, bent, and broken but quite decorative. The remaining two items are my 'whatzits?' that I hope someone here will recognize/identify. The small item with a bird is anodized aluminum alloy (dyed to look like gold). I did an Archimedes method specific gravity determination. It has a central post and a flat disk back similar in size to the front. It must be made to fit into a buttonhole type of opening, but looks too small to be a cufflink. Possibly a lapel pin. Could it be for display in either a cap or a over-the-breastpocket ribbon sash (e.g. military)? Anyone recognize the emblem? Could it be something worn by an airplane pilot? It has no printing whatsoever. Most surprising was its signal. I got a 19-20 (zinc penny dTID and still only 20 in an air test), moderately weak but clear. It was a full 7" deep. Maybe the double disk combined with the connecting shaft led to its decent strength signal and high dTID as I wouldn't expect a single disk of Al this size to even sound off in my soil at this depth. Lastly is the device on the right. Its base metal is a copper alloy and it's been thickly plated (chromium or nickel alloy?). There is the fraction '3/4' embossed in the central shaft. The two arms hold iron or iron alloy pins with what appears to be ceramic or hard plastic upper caps (one is missing). The lower, flared part is hollow and threaded to be screwed onto something. I wonder if its use involved some kind of magnetic attraction, explaining the two iron pieces. If anyone can help identify those, I'll be greatly appreciative.

What is the differences between the “range of simultaneous multi frequencies” utilized in both the Equinox 800 detecting modes and the Nokta Makro Legend modes? Here is my attempt to explain my concern: Per the ML Equinox 800 user manual the Equinox provides four (4) detecting modes: Park, Field, Beach, Gold; plus eight (8) profiles divided in two (2) pairs per mode: such as Park 1, Park 2, Field 1, Field 2, etc; and one (1) custom user profile side button. Park 1, Field 1, Beach 1 & Beach 2 are “weighted” on the “lower simultaneous multi frequency range”. Park 2, Field 2, Gold 1 & Gold 2 are “weighted” on “ higher simultaneous multi frequency range. The NM Legend has four (4) detecting modes: Park, Field, Beach (dry & wet) & Goldfield; zero (0) profiles such as Park 1, Park 2, etc; and four (4) user custom modes. All the detecting modes, per NM all modes are optimized for depth. Currently NM has not addressed nor is there a specification “weighing” the range of simultaneous multi frequencies (low, mid, high) utilized in any of the NM Legend’s detecting modes. The YouTube video “Pasture 1” find of a thin coin indicates the “Field mode” may be utilizing a higher SMF range. When the Legend’s user manual is available online perhaps Nokta Makro will explain how simultaneous multi frequencies are utilized or weighed specific to each of the NM Legend four (4) detecting modes. Do the math 4x2 =8; 4x1=4; 4-8= -4. Certainly an answer I will be looking for prior to placing a pre-order or purchase.