Dig inconsistency, there I increased your good finds 20%.
Rusty nails are consistent, even rusty nails falsing are consistent in how they false. Co-located targets are inconsistent by nature, nail/coin, trash/coin, nail/trash/coin your brain will pick up on this inconsistency and odd behavior/tones. When that happens I circle the target area sweeping from multiple angles not just 90 degrees. I'll pick at the target area with the front of my coil, taking bites out of the parameter to home in on the target. I'll check a coil size area around the target to make sure there's not something outside my target area trying to interfere.
Some examples...
1. I sweep a rusty bottle cap but it sounded a bit off tone wise. I looked down and the screen said textbook rusty bottle cap. Fine I took three steps forward but my brain registered inconsistency, it was bugging me, no bottle cap sounds that good. I backed up swept it again, still sounded a bit off tone wise but still ID'd as textbook rusty bottle cap. I was running wide open all metal so I notched out rusty bottle caps...whoa the ID rose several points and outside my notch area, that's weird. Went back to all metal target returned to textbook rusty bottle cap, that's weird. I dig a plug and stuck to the bottom of the 6 inch plug dead center was a rusty bottle cap...went in with the probe to check the hole and whammo screaming silver. There was a Barber half dollar directly under the bottle cap. That would be the first of several halfs dug from under rusty bottle caps.
2. Walking along I hear a few high squeaks mixed in with 95% low iron tones, inconsistency alert. I look down, screen ID says iron but it was a few points off textbook iron, consistently so, that's weird. It wasn't iron falsing high, it stayed over there in the iron zone.Target was a deep near paper thin silver half reale with lots of rotted iron rust in the soil. I dug it because while everything was saying it was iron, it was inconsistent weird iron. I have dug a few buttons that also pulled this trick on me, pulling the ID a few points away from textbook iron.
3. Screaming silver then nothing, I stop and look down, sweep nothing but iron. Turn 90 degrees iron, 180 degrees, 270 degrees iron, original 0 degrees iron. Sweep a coil size area around the center again screaming silver. Backed up a few inches, used just the front few inches of my coil, screaming silver from just that one angle. Target was a silver coin spill, 2 barber dimes and a barber quarter with a rusty nail at 3, 9, and 12 o-clock.
4. Lets take inconsistency to a whole new level with this last example. I'm walking along sweeping and I get a null, only I'm in all metal mode THAT's weird. Seriously a null, that's uh not possible. Check a coil size area around the target area, nail at 3 o-clock, nail at 9 o-clock, circling I see the two nails are pointing at each other about 15 inches apart. From 0 degrees null, from 90 and 270 degrees iron, from 180 degrees opposite 0 degrees, null. Fine I dig a plug, target was 2 silver Washington quarters. This target orientation of the coins, the nails pointing at each other but just far enough apart but not too far apart I guess so confused my detector it didn't know what to do so it sat there silent, no threshold, no tone, silence. lol
