12/08......good or bad?

[Roland58]

Would you dig a 12/08 signal, steady both ways? How about a 12/17, same steady signal?

I have found a 12/13 to be a nickel....most of the time. The 12/08, although often a gold ring for an eTrac, has been nothing but foil for me. The 12/17 is usually an aluminum sherd or pop top. A 12/43 has been a penny, a dime and a couple of times a quarter or even some iron trash. Now, a 12/47 is almost always a quarter, although there have been a few exceptions.

Just curious.....so far I have been unable to recognize a "rule" to go by when it comes to dig or not to dig. I know, I know.........if you want to know what it is, you have to dig it up.

 

[TheGeorgiaCanuck]

If the signal is solid, yep. Scratchy? No....I *might* miss gold chains, but eh....gotta make a decision.

 

[hershey1]

To me it all depends where I am hunting. Can slaw don't show up in the woods and I have found very little gold jewelery in pastures. Good repeating signals deserve a look in my opinion regardless where I am hunting. Maybe that is why we hunt. Old homesites is always a dig anything site for me but the frowns out weigh the smiles. LMHO HH

 

[msviking]

In the areas I coin hunt, I would be passing those signals up. I realize I might be overlooking jewelry but in my parks it would most likely be trash.

 

[RoyW]

I agree that it's all about location. I hunt an old community park nearby that literally will have 3 or 4 pieces of aluminum trash on each swing throughout the park. Depending on size, those pieces could ring up at any of the values you mentioned. I only know that because I have spent time digging everything. At some point, I decided that my hunting time was too valuable to be spent filling trash bags full of pull tabs, beaver tails and can slaw with my only good finds being a few cents of modern clad. This park is attached to a community beach, meaning that the soil is sandy and objects tend to sink quicker and deeper than in firmer soil. I noticed at this park that below 5" there is very little trash and no clad. So now I just ignore every signal at less than 5". And yes, that means I am ignoring clad and jewelry lost in the past 30 years. And that's fine with me for this particular site because by digging only the "good" signals below 5", I'm walking away with a finds bag full of Indians, wheaties, silver, old tokens and the occasional ring or earring, with very little trash. The ability "see" multiple targets in one space is what makes the CTX so perfect for this site. When I was hunting this site with an AT Pro, it was an effort in frustration.

Conversely, I hunt another site that is an old school yard. I live in a place that has history going back to colonial times. At this site there is surprisingly little modern trash. I hunt this site using a modified relic program with an open screen. The modification is simply a change to combined mode with low grunts for iron and high squeals for coins. I put the 12/11-12/15 range in high squeal as well for the nickels. And here I ignore the first 3" because that's all modern clad. Now I don't always ignore clad, though this post would suggest I do, but again at this site there is just too much good stuff underneath to spend my time on modern change. At this site I'm pulling out coins in the 1890-1950 range as well as some cool relics. Last week I got a two tine iron fork that dates back to the mid 1700's. I definitely dig iron here.

The bottom line is that what I dig and what I ignore are based upon the site and my experience at that site more than anything else. And here's hoping that that some future upgrade to the CTX we can disc out based on depth. That would be a great bonus for my ears.

 

[GKMan]

the nicest ring I have ever recovered came in at 12:18 not 1217 but pretty close. So whenever I see that I dig it up. Of course we all know that gold is going to come in everywhere.

 

[DaytonaGold]

BEACH: 12:01 usually foil. Found a ring at 12:08 but haven't found much in the 12:09-14 range...12:15 is usually always a nickel or pull tab so I have no choice but to dig both, 12:32-39 is the penny zone, 12:43 always a dime, 12-45-47 a quarter. I get excited when I hit the 12:20-30 range but that doesn't happen often enough.

 

[thE-TRACker]

I don't dig everything and do discriminate with the ultimate filter...my brain .Reminds me of a time years ago ,a buddy and I were searching an old stage coach stop that was now a mom and pop store. We started searching the front devil strip when my buddy proclaimed" I'm going to dig every signal , no discrimination". Within 15 minutes he had dug probably 10 targets within a 3foot radius ! All trash and small pieces of foil . We still laugh to this day how ridiculous it was. Now we did find some nice coins and relics but it was over the course of a couple months.By starting at a "silver" discriminating setting and working it backwards after we had located targets at that setting , we were able to retrieve most of the desirable targets . I'm sure there could be a fine gold chain or small ring still there but I don't have the patience to dig it all . BUT if I'm at the beach at low tide I drool over a 12-08 and will dig everything ( along the 12 line ). 12-02 to 12-10 are usually small gold of some sort.So, there are times I laugh at a 12-08 and times I drool over a 12-08 !

 

[Vez]

My platinum wedding band come in 12-8/9. That being said any time i have dug those numbers it has been foil when shallow or when i am cherry picking deep signals in a park it is usually a small piece of slag. Location and perceived depth are biggest factors in whether or not i will recover a target with those numbers.

 

[TheGeorgiaCanuck]

BEACH: 12:01 usually foil. Found a ring at 12:08 but haven't found much in the 12:09-14 range...12:15 is usually always a nickel or pull tab so I have no choice but to dig both, 12:32-39 is the penny zone, 12:43 always a dime, 12-45-47 a quarter. I get excited when I hit the 12:20-30 range but that doesn't happen often enough.

Your lucky, most Canadian silver dimes ring up at 12-43, but so do our dreaded modern 60-90's pennies. Ignore the pennies, you leave silver dimes here. The newest pennies though ring up 12-36 to 12-39, unfortunately "fishscale" 5 cents ring up around 12-36 and older pennies ring up near 12-38.

 

[doninbrewster]

As others have said, a lot depends on the location you're hunting. When I'm working lean areas I work with an open screen and dig just about everything that registers above10-12:08. If I find I'm digging a lot of shotgun shells I just stop digging the 12:25-26. If I'm finding a lot of pull tabs (rare compared to the early 80's) than I may not dig the 12:17's. Screw caps usually read 12:35-37 for me, but so do deep Indians so a lot depends on where I'm hunting. Unless there is an incredible amount of trash, dig it.

 

[Doctorcoinz]

99% 0f signals that are buried in the ground any where in the world are trash/ iron. fact. I dig tons of trash and when i dig i know 99% of the time it will indeed be a rubbish target.

 

[Roland58]

All of you have been a terrific help and I appreciate each and every one of you....a LOT. The CTX has been quite a challenge for me, so far, but, I am slowly learning to understand what it is telling me. You "translators" are a huge help!!

Thank You!!!!

 

[Digger]

You are correct......there are a great group of folks who are very helpful, on this forum. In addition to what has already been said......the US 3-cent nickel can come in around 12/06, and the US $1.00 Type 2 gold coin can come in as low as 12/09. If I'm in an area that might produce either, I'm digging everything in that TID range that produces a solid audio hit. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Depends on the area. Around an park pavilion... No. On a beach? ABSOLUTELY! !!

 

[UncleTom]

My last 18K ring was a 12/12, but you know how gold can be.