Hey CT friends and metal detectors, including @paddyman98, 25 years ago I had a cheap detector, found a few coins and odds & ends; I did help a fellow find his ring that ended up in bags of leaves when he was cleaning up a lawn in the fall. I heard a story from an elderly man about the time he and some friends buried coins in a glass jar in their country school yard. I went to the former school yard (now a farmer's field) and conducted what I believed was a fairly thorough search. Nothing. Overall, my CDing was a disappointing experience and I sold the detector to a friend. Is there a detector that would reliably find something buried a couple of feet deep? I would like to go back to that former school yard and try again. If there is such a detector, would it be better to rent it? I've had some desire to "get in the game again" and might feel I have to if I spend a lot on a detector. Thanks, in advance, for your advice. Steve
Unbeknownst to the old man is one of his friends back then needed ice cream money and dug up the jar and spent the money.
Most modern metal detectors detect deep but only 12 to 14 inches.. There are Deep detecting machines that can go much deeper but are extremely expensive. This is the cheapest at $2,600.00
@paddyman98 just curious here, I have a vintage detector that was purchased used in the mid-1970s. It has a discriminator but I don’t usually use it because it doesn’t detect as deep as the machine does when it is turned off. My question is how difficult is it to learn how to use a new detector like yours?
Not difficult at all. I once took silver coins of all sizes and other different coins to a park and buried them in different depths. I learned my numbers and what they stood for. I really love my Vanquish
For now, let it be a Treasure tale . The money spent to find a small amount of coins would outweigh the cost of renting the machine @paddyman98 speaks of . I wish you the best in your quest to find the "Holy Grail" .
LOL, just now my wife, suffering from bronchitis was looking for something to watch and happened upon “Oak Island.” It was fun to watch the episode, but I’m sure if anything was ever found the whole world would know. I guess whether it is Oak Island or that country school yard, the hope for finding buried treasure seems to be deeply embedded in us humans. Steve
Treasure finds like droves of Coin hoards are rare and when it happens , it's usually in Somewhere like England , .
Oh, but @SensibleSal66, I'm still hoping to find the treasure left by the Swedes & Norwegians who came to Minnesota in the 14th C. via Hudson Bay, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River of the North...the ones who left the Kensington Runestone near Alexandria, MN. Steve
Stevarino…. If that works out for you, come down south in about a month. I am going to be detecting several lots on an island in South Carolina where I know the confederate army buried a hoard of gold they were hiding from the Union army. I know it is on one of those two lots and I’ll be working them the end of August. I’ll split the hoard with you.
IF money no object Ground penetrating radar. Minelab GPX 6000. Will scream at you down 18" Especially with a jar of coins as a target. See if someone in your area has one you can test drive.
@rte, whoa, great idea! I'm going to check with some local engineering firms. @Randy Abercrombie, if your offer was serious normally I'd find a way to get down there by hook or crook; but I'm waiting for a knee replacement, delayed twice and now scheduled for August 12. If you're REALLY going I and others would expect progress reports. DANG...and I'm a Civil War buff!!! Steve
There are several types of Metal detectors but in general, a pulse induction will go the deepest. Minelab makes some of the best of the PI detectors. However Whites made one number of years back. I had one and made myself a one meter coil that worked very well and would go very deep with using the whites PI. I am fairly sure if one were searching for a Mason Jar size object 3 Ft would be possible with a one meter coil. You need a little electronic skills to build one and a digital meter that can read inductance. I used PVC to put the wire in and made it rectangular. Most serious gold detectorists use PI detectors and most use Minelabs. I haven't been keeping up with gold prospecting for a while but the downside to PI detectors is lack of discrimination. As to coil building it isn't completely necessary to do as there are pretty large coils out there if you are willing to pay the price. One reason I mentioned the whites however is that not everyone has the money to get a top of the line Minelab but a person could pick up one of those old Whites PI detectors at a much more reasonable cost and they will go deep. their downside was that they couldn't beat the Minelabs at sensitivity and 90% of the nuggets folks find are tiny so sensitivity is very important. This is an edit -- I'm sure the Vanquish is a great detector but it's not a PI it's most likely a VLF. Minelab don't make a bad detector and a VLF detector in general is much less expensive and better at coin hunting (unless you love digging up every thing in the ground). It can get pretty weary pretty quick as 95 % of what's in the ground is trash. Pretty much the same in the sand. PI's do however in general work better in mineralized ground than a VLF detector.
Yes Steve, if you plan to buy a detector Knowledge will save you a lot of time and money. A great place to start is the Detectorprospector website. The head honcho of the site is also a Steve. Steve probably knows more about detectors than anyone else on earth. I have used them off and on since probably the late 70's or early 80's. I have owned some of the best there was at the time but I tend to try to find a great deal on a slightly used one and sell it within a year or so. I don't loose much money that way. I have used both VLF and PI detectors. But hands down a Pulse induction (PI) detector will always beat a VLF detector at depth. Once you feel you have a little knowledge check out their classifieds too. Best of luck. Terry in NC.
@Roughwater, thank you for the hint, but I have a question: when you buy a slightly used detector and sell it within a year: is it because they wear out, or you are trading up, or for some other reason? Steve
Steve, It's for a couple reasons. The main one is because after just a year of use I can normally sell it for almost if not as much as I paid for it. It's kinda like having a near free one year rental. I gotta say that in General, Minelab PI detectors though very expensive hold up well and are well sought after. If it's kept in good shape it's never a question of weather you can sell it, it's just a question of how much. Newer models of Minelab PI detectors always cost more so there is still a lot of value and interest in your used older model. Often newer models are just subtle improvements to the last model even though there usually a fairly large price increase. But it keeps the older models well sought after. The minelab GP series is great for that as the coils they made 20 years ago will still work for Today's GP series detector. Coil selection allows the user to go deeper (big coil) go for more sensitivity (small coil) or go for all around use (medium coil). The second reason is that some detectors like a PI are best for gold, relic and cache hunters. I live in the South and not a lot of gold to be found here and I don't often relic hunt. I never know for sure how often I can go west to hunt gold and my interests are many and my finances limited, so a high end PI serves me best as a short term investment. Also due to the fact that I'm aging and 71 now. It also allows you to better keep a more recent model detector. A VLF coin detector is usually the best option for most users. Minelab makes some of the best of those as well. Where I live a Beach/coin detector is a good option and Minelab makes some of the best of those as well. There are other options than Minlab of course but overall they seem to be the ones that have come out with the most innovations for serious metal detector users.
