Fisher's Gold Bug

[Joel-Winnipeg]

I have a possibility of picking up an original Gold Bug.
I know its a Gold nugget detector .
Would it be good for coins and jewelry ?
Does it go by sound for the good and junky signals.
This would be a new one for me. Any info would be welcomed.

 

[sgoss66]

Joel --

I don't know much about the original Gold Bug, but it is indeed a gold nugget machine, and while it will of course "see" other metals, it is not designed for coin hunting and such. I do not think it has any discrimination ability, so you would basically have to dig all metal objects. It is also probably not the easiest machine to use -- as I imagine it has manual, dial-adjusted ground balance versus auto -- designed for use by prospectors. I think you would be MUCH happier with a Gold Bug Pro/G2, if your desire is for a more "multi-purpose" unit.

My two cents worth...

Steve

 

[Furious T]

Joel, I think Dave Johnson answered this question on another thread, and, from memory, he did not endorse the original
Gold Bug as a coin machine.

 

[Hobbyist]

There s book titled Advanced Nugget Hunting With the Fisher Gold Bug Metal Detector by Pieter Heydelaar and David Johnson. Attached are photos of the book cover and the portion where David Johnson writes about Man-Made Metals. Hope it helps.

 

[Dave J.]

Strictly all metals, air test in the 11 to 14 inch range on nickels & 10 inch elliptical searchcoil, about the same for the larger high conductive coins and a little less on dimes and copper pennies.

Strictly all metals. Dig everything or dang near everything depending on your ear.

Was never intended for coinshooting and I still don't recommend it for that. For that purpose a $200 or so the Fisher F2 would do the overwhelming majority of folks a lot better.

In all fairness to the original analog Gold Bug, it's better for coinshooting than the GB2, which was even more extreme aimed at gold prospecting.

If you don't do gold prospecting, I would recommend picking up an original analog Gold Bug only on the following conditions:

1. You know the thing works right.

2. You're paying less than $150.

3. You understand that if it turns out you enjoy fishing in dirt rather than in water, you'll be buying another detector better suited to non gold prospecting use than the orig GB is.

--Dave J.

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

Thank you guys and Dave J for the info on the Gold Bug detector.
Likely will leave it as this part of the country lacks the gold.
Mostly in coins and jewelry

 

[Hobbyist]

Dave J has spoken! Wanna take this opportunity to thank you for this great machine (Gold Bug Pro). It's paid for itself faster than my other detectors and is a joy to use!

 

[amberjack]

yep keeps pickin those coins out of the junk

 

[sactobob]

n/t

 

[pasttom]

There is a reason the original Goldbug has needed to be improved with the GB 2 and then all the new style Goldbugs. It is the least desirable of the series. IMHO

 

[Ant]

It took me 7 months to learn the language, it goes by sound and iron ID. That's what you need to learn in able to dig coins and if you do learn the sounds you will dig gold too.

Here's some video that demonstrate how I do it:

http://youtu.be/CBVrUy7Tmb8

http://youtu.be/8MrpQBddEM8

http://youtu.be/Ns3Y8U0AxOY

http://youtu.be/OnLQG5lpIwo

I just found my first gold nugget this past weekend, I've found over a pound of gold jewelry with it and $1,000.00 in coins...

 

[Ant]

Here's a link with some more pics of the nugget:

Nugget Pics

 

[Ant]

Here's a video that I recorded this past weekend, it was recorded just after I found the gold nugget, please excuse my coughing and throat clearing during the video, the video is just over 2 minutes:

http://youtu.be/N8wE9H7POvM

 

[atomicscott]

OOPS! Did not realize this was such an old thread! I agree with everything Dave J. says, but I just purchased an original Gold Bug with 10" elliptical for $175 & I would not give it up! At the price, it is a great way to try nugget shooting and it will pay for itself quicker, lol. I believe many have used them for meteorites, etc... I took mine out to an abandon hard rock mine Monday with highly mineralized ground to practice. Wow! I'm finding bb's, lead shot, some less than 1 grain, between 2-4" depth! I noticed right away, it is very easy to get a good neutral GB. I noticed the ground changes very quickly here, so I do have to pay close attention to ground balance & adjust as needed. Smooth, stable threshold and a very hot machine. If you get this thing over the gold it will find it! HH, Scott

 

[Jackpine Savage]

What frequency does the original operate at?