Steve's Nugget Detector Guide Update May 2020

[Steve Herschbach]

I've been updating this guide for almost twenty years now. It started back when there was little to offer in way of objective opinions on gold nugget detectors. That's not so much this case these days, but this is still the most comprehensive roundup available, along with some admittedly personal opinions about the models. These days we honestly have almost too many options, which can be confusing for beginners. So a few years ago I added my own short list of three models I recommend as safe picks for anyone around the world.

The list was updated mainly to change my notes on the various Fisher 19 kHz models, where oddities in the First Texas marketing have now left the Gold Bug models high and dry as other FT 19 kHz models are available with better prices. I added warnings that the Minelab X-Terra 705 and GPX 4500 are in the process of being closed out and discontinued. Also added a big warning up front about counterfeit detectors - very common now in the nugget detector world.

See the full guide here

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Updated with note that White’s Electronics may be done.   I’ll give it a little more time though before pulling the White’s models from the list for good.

[YubaJ]

Phrunt, There are many genuine dealers selling on eBay--just gotta know who they are. And it looks to me like they do pretty well. Gerry in Boise, Idaho is one of many.

Steve,  When you posted the good price on the Nokta AU Goldfinder I bought one because many people agreed that the Gold Racer coils would work on it. So I bought a small elliptical Gold Racer coil for it, and it didn't work, even though both detectors run at 56 Khz. I couldn't believe it, but it was verified by Serious Detecting and the Nok-Mak Service Center in Georgia that the G Racer coils won't work on the AU. That was a Nok-Mak blunder in my opinion. Since I like to have coil choices, I sent the AU back for a refund--did like the detector and found that the high frequency with the 5" coil unmasked 3 times the amount of non-ferrous relics as my 13 Khz "relic killers" did in a local ghost town site. Learned something.  So maybe you could delete the coil sharing ability between the two.