Minelab Explorer Forum

I've been working hard to learn to dig nickels with my SE Pro, and getting the hang of it. Most often, a nickel on my machine is a solid 10-06 on the digital side. Has anyone here dug what they were SURE was a nickel, which then turned out to be a gold ring -- i.e. a 10-06 or thereabouts on the digital screen (if you looked at the digital numbers before digging)?

Just curious. I keep thinking one of these days that sure-fire nickel hit is going to be GOLD, but hasn't been, so far...

Steve

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Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Fisher Gold Bug Pro (DP)
Garrett ProPointer
Lesche 38D "King of Spades"

Norman, OK

None with my Explorer SE which I've been using for over 3 yrs. and 1 with the Explorer 2 I owned for a couple of years and that was a small one that rang up in the zinc penny range . I do lousy on the low conductors with the Explorers so I just mainly use them for deep silver seeking .

Steve, I haven't dug a gold ring yet, but my wedding band is a solid 10-06 when I air test it. I seldom dig nickel signals, but will occasionally dig one, and usually find an old ring pull tab.

Steve, I've never used the numbers so I have no idea what numbers gold or nickels are. A few years ago when I was learning to dig nickels I put a small paper sticker attached directly to my screen where nickels visually hit perfectly. I have since memorized the exact sound of nickels but still check the smart screen to see if the cursor visually lands perfectly around the sticker. The sound is consistent at all depths and cursor placement is usually very close. My wedding band reads exactly like a nickel, and most of the gold rings I have found ID'd close to a nickel. I don't dig very many targets that stray too far from that reading. That's my 2 cents, JJ

Four Times

I have the ET and the sounds were right and the numbers were 12-17/18

found a 10 kt. white gold mens ring last yr. just put the 8x6 sef on and went to a school area. swore it was a nickel as it came up low on the screen. classic nickel. bounced a little on the bottom. dug up a ring instead. only gold one so far with the ml se pro. one week earlier did the same with my whites xlt. numbers were low in the nickel range. dug up a white gold 14kt. man's ring. both had crosses on them. both were nickels on the machines.
you're correct in that most folks go with the odds and dig it all hoping for the gold.goes to show ya can't pin it down to numbers or sounds. just dumb luck.
of course you increase your odds by hunting where the odds are better suited to finding gold.

HH

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Garrett AT Pr o
Garrett Pro pin pointer.x2
V3i on the way

AIN'T THIS HOBBY GREAT?

THE ONLY DUMB QUESTION IS THE ONE YOU DON'T ASK.
Kelso, Wa.
where the sun don't shine most of the time.

I do dig nickels, but am a smart screen guy, so not sure about the numbers. Nickels signals can be greatly influenced by surrounding junk, and don't often read rock solid unless very shallow or miles away from other trash.

So.... Can't say for sure they were "dead nuts" locked on at nickel, but must have been pretty close for me to dig.

Chris

The only gold ring I found I thought was a DEEP nickel. Was pushing 10 inches, nice surprise to see gold instead of a rusty nickel

Thanks for sharing, everyone. Sounds like a good number of gold rings do read at least CLOSE to nickel.

I asked, because like I say, I'm trying to learn to dig nickels, and I think I've found the key to doing it. I am to the point that if I am confident it's a nickel, it is -- a fairly high percentage of the time (I can "call" a nickel now, with almost as much confidence as I can "call" any other coin, which is a huge improvement for me). Anyway, I keep thinking one of these days I may get lucky and dig a gold ring that reads "nickel," but my wedding band is 14K -- and air tests at 08-19 on the digital screen (whereas a nickel air tests at 10-06) -- not even CLOSE to a nickel. I was just curious if some gold bands DO hit like nickels.

The trouble is, part of becoming good at digging ONLY nickels (and NOT the trash that reads very similarly) involves being VERY precise with the pitch and nuances of the tone, as well as the CO numbers (otherwise, less "precision" results in a rapid, massive increase in the "tab" digs!) And, while this "precision" helps, when trying to dig nickels, it would HURT for digging any gold rings -- except for whatever small percentage of rings happen to be PERFECT nickel hits. (I also know I am "missing" many nickels that are near a piece of trash, and thus don't read "perfectly" as a nickel, but for now, this is the only way I know to dig the nickels and NOT the similarly-reading pull tabs/square tabs).

Doug -- sounds like your ring is a perfect nickel hit (air test). Mind if I ask what size it is, and what karat? Just curious...as I'm trying to figure out what the chances are that at some point I'm going to have a gold ring surprise me. I have had silver rings pop up at times that I was sure were silver dimes or silver quarters; just wondering if there are enough gold rings out there that air test as a perfect nickel, that I am going to be surprised by one of THOSE some day!

Anyone else dig, or air test, a gold ring that hits as a solid "06" on the CO number?

Steve

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Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Fisher Gold Bug Pro (DP)
Garrett ProPointer
Lesche 38D "King of Spades"

Norman, OK

Well now let me add a beach aspect to this. Gold rings from 1.8 grams up to 11 G .... that are 14 K yellow and 18K can hit dead on 10-06. Odd, but white 14K gold and 10K gold seems to want to hit say 08-12 or 13. Thin ones... about any K hit like 12-01, 13-01 or 16-01. FAT gold..08-13 and 09-09.... 14 or 18k. This being in Fl... there isnt much mineralization in the sand so its as close to air test as you get. 14 and 18K regardless of weight as long as its not a thin band seems to hit in that nickel range. Thats why on a beach i dig everything thats not a bottle cap. I have found some tiny 14k rings .... i mean tiny ring at 11-01 to 11-02 so even foil can hold a ring.

Dew

Quote
sgoss66
Doug -- sounds like your ring is a perfect nickel hit (air test). Mind if I ask what size it is, and what karat? Steve

Steve - 14K and size 11.

Great thread Steve. I too, recently started to get the hang of nickels and the deeper ones start to bounce around on the ferrous side but stay pretty steady at 05 - 06 on the conductive. I've been keeping all my nickels aside since the start of the year and it's probably a few bucks worth but still no gold. I've also dug a pile of can slaw and modern era beaver tails that hit just like nickels. I usually pass on the 01 hits because they always turn out to be slaw but I'm aware that I could be passing on the gold I so desperately want to find in the park. With so many variables in composition, size and shape it's pretty much a turkey shoot but I still dig every nickel hit I come across and hopefully one of them will be gold. The only gold I've found with my SE was a 10K on the beach and it hit steady at 11-02.

HH, Steve in PA

Wow, great info!

Dew -- thanks for the details. Sounds like quite a few hit at nickel...the ones that hit at "01" on the conductive side, wow. Every time I dig that, it's a tiny piece of can slaw or a little piece of foil. You said a FAT ring -- assuming by that you mean fat, like a class ring or something? Also -- with the SunRay X-5, my band hits 08-19...isn't that strange? It's a 14 K men's band, like this:



born2hunt -- like you, I now dig every nickel signal I hit. You are exactly right about the deep nickels...I have dug several deep "V" nickels this year, and the FE number bounces high (just like the FE number bounces high on deep silver). The V's at 6-8" deep seem to bounce from maybe 08 up into the high teens -- 16 or 18, on the FE side, but stay right at 05 and occasional 06 on the CO side. Shallower ones are most often 10-06, sometimes 11-06; I dig a VERY RARE shallower nickel at 05 conductive; only the deep ones seem to hit down at 05. I also dig an OCCASIONAL nickel at 10-07, but it's rare; 10-07 is generally one specific type of square tab. It's strange -- one day recently, EVERY nickel I dug that day was a 10-07! I even took one I had dug and laid it on the ground to see if it air-tested that way, and it did. SOLID 10-07! I don't know if my noise cancel number was different that day, skewing the nickels a bit -- but it's worth noting, for those who would like to dig nickels, you might check the numbers "in the field" each day, to be sure where they are hitting.

This is great everyone. Sounds like we will hit a gold ring eventually, digging nickels.

Steve

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Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Fisher Gold Bug Pro (DP)
Garrett ProPointer
Lesche 38D "King of Spades"

Norman, OK

Steve.... no FAT is a wide wide band not heavy like a class ring. I get a lot of the thin band hitting like i said and in a park you wouldnt even consider digging those kind of targets.... serious time waster. BUT.... there are far more thin rings that heavy one because a larger majority of them are worn by women.

Dew

Yep, I hear you, Dew. Time waster in a park, for sure -- with all the little bits of foil, etc. But, I have heard from others like yourself that many of the small-band womens' rings (often with the BIG STONES on them ) hit as "foil" at 01 on the conductive.

Thanks for the info on the FAT rings...I think I know what you are talking about.

Thanks also for the info regarding "numbers" on all different types of rings...it's much appreciated! It helps alot...

Steve

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Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Fisher Gold Bug Pro (DP)
Garrett ProPointer
Lesche 38D "King of Spades"

Norman, OK