Wheat penny readings???

[robertj298]

I was hunting a very old yard today and there was one spot by an old tree that I dug probably 20 wheat pennies. I was trying to figure out if there was a way to distinguish a dime from a wheat Penney but I don't believe there is. The wheat pennies would range 11-40 all the way to 11-45. Never did find any silver but sure got tired of digging those wheat pennies lol

 

[AgIA]

Maybe some more experienced members have more insight but I can't tell the difference. I find wheat pennies all through the range you describe and sometimes out even further depending on how corroded or worn they are I guess. I dig anything in that range especially if it has decent depth. Also as the depth increases, the numbers are less reliable. As everyone says, alot of it is really the sound and if it sounds in the right ballpark, I go for it. I have often been surprised. Got to be some silver in with those wheats...HH.

 

[BHNugget]

Me too, I've had them come in bouncing around 9-30 all the way up to a solid 11-46. The 11-46 was very solid and read the same on my brother's CTX. He didn't want to fight the tree roots to recover the target, but I like a good work out. Thought for sure he was giving me a silver dime or quarter and even after I got the wheat out of the roots, I thought for sure there would still be some silver in the hole......no such luck. In the end he thanked me for letting him know he didn't pass up a silver coin

 

[Goes4ever]

you CANNOT SKIP WHEAT SIGNALS..........way too many good things come in like wheats

seated dimes
barber dimes
2 cent piece
King George coppers from 1700's
half dimes
some large cents

do I need to go on???? Look I hate wheat pennies as well but they are an indicator that silver is near. and a lot of awesome stuff comes in exactly as they do, so if you hunt anywhere in Ohio, please skip them, I will dig em!..lol

But seriously, just dig em!

 

[AJ in PA]

I totally agree with G4E. I've found 9 or10 Half Dimes over the years and EVERY one of those signals was a wheaty signal.
You won't be disappointed on the day you think you're digging just another wheat penny and you see silver in the hole !!
The beautiful Half Reale that I found in February that read 12-40 on the E-Trac convinces even more that those signals should always be dug.
Happy hunting and best of luck to you.

 

[cahil_2]

Just last night I found a Merc that was reading 10/41, 10/42. and last week, a barber that was reading 12/44. Cannot ignore penny signals unless they are on the surface and that may not be good advice.

 

[Tenspeed]

If you are hunting in conductive you can usually tell the difference in the tone. In TTF you just have to dig it.

As infrequently as I am getting silver lately I am happy with wheaties.

 

[Goes4ever]

These were ALL wheat penny signals

1. 1773 Virginia Half Penny, came in at 12-40
2. 1746 KG copper was 4" deep on a curb, came in at 12-41
3. 1865 2 cent piece, was at a 1910 farm came in at 12-40
4. 1870 Large copper from spain, came in at 12-42
5. 1854 seated half dime came in at 12-40

so this is 5 BIG reasons NOT to skip wheats!!!!!!!! I have plenty more examples, but these 5 alone should convince you......and before you go and say my area isn't old enough for these, well both 1700's coins were in front of 1910-20's homes, the half dime was at a home built in 1920's

 

[Jason in ID]

In my area, I can usually tell when I'm digging after a wheat penny and can tell approximately what year it will be. Pre-1940 wheats ring up at 40-41 and post-1940 wheats ring up at 42-43. Granted there are some odd balls that come in differently, but I can usually tell when I'm digging a wheat.

The seated dime that I found a couple of weeks ago bounced between 42-43.

 

[Johnnyanglo]

It is a good idea not to skip any target that falls along the 12Fe line +/- 04Fe. You have no way of knowing if it is non-ferrous junk or a ladies gold ring with a large diamond attached until it is dug up.

The 12Fe line, give or take a bit, is your bread and butter. That "oh, not another clad penny" signal might just be a sweet silver ring. Could also be a screw cap. But if you skip digging it because you assume it is just another penny, then the ring will be someone else's big find.

The people who find the "good stuff" do it by digging everything that isn't clearly iron. I'm sure we've all gotten tired of digging that 12-12 pull-tab signal. But one day you'll dig out an 1866 shield nickel or 1913 Buffalo, or maybe you will be surprised by digging up a heavy men's gold ring at that same 12-12, and all the pull-tab effort will pay off. That's how it works - persistence wins.

 

[Ohio Digger]

Isn't Fe11 a good idea to dig as well? I'll dig wheat pennies all day long if I can't get silver. I dig almost everything that comes in Fe11 or 12.

 

[Goes4ever]

I read this and just laugh out loud.....seriously people QUIT paying so much attention to numbers.....do you really think all good targets ONLY come in at the 12 or even the 11 FE line????

Signals on wheats and any coin for that matter come in all over the place, I have dug countless wheats that came in at 01 FE line, such as 01-41

And also I have dug just as many coins on the 19 to 24 FE line.....those were either very deep, on edge or had iron in the same hole

You NEED to really pay attention to the TONE of the signal, when you learn to hunt with your ears, you will dig much, much more good stuff.

90% of indians are Never on the 12 FE line, they almost always are 08-36 area, I honestly do not remember the last indian I dug that was 12-36

Now zinc pennies register 12-36 all day long

I have had silver dimes come in at 01-49 would you dig that or just pass it up assuming it is junk or iron? The tone was sweet, smooth from two ways. Again trust your ears more than the numbers.

So quit focusing on numbers and stop passing up on good targets because the signal isnt perfect like the charts you read tell you. You may think I am blowing smoke but I have used the etrac for over 3 yrs with an average of 20 hours per week, And have experienced thousands of signals. Trust me on this one, and learn to let your ears tell you when to dig not the numbers on your etrac screen

 

[moonshine]

I dug a wheat penny yesterday that read a solid 12-35, thought for sure it would be an indian but it was a wheat.

 

[moonshine]

I think we all go through a learning curve on numbers. the emulator is a great tool but also misleading. as the user gains experience, numbers matter less and less, and feel and experience matter more and more.

 

[utahshovelhead]

I tried to explain to my good friend that silver sounds cleaner and sharper than the penny on my E trac. He laughed me to scorn. But I think that I can identify silver from a penny or wheat cent or copper coin most of the time. I have been wrong sometimes but most the time BY SOUND my brain Say's "hey that sure is a sharp good tone, bet it's silver" I look at the numbers and I know I'm in the right range but the sound is key for me even if the numbers are way off I check anyway. I have been disappointed a few times and every spring I have to kind of relearn this sound difference again cause it's slight. Now if I add depth, moisture, trash, iron these also effect my reading and tone so If I'm where wheat's are I pretty much dig any number that can be a penny...for that matter I pretty much dig a lot of targets and use a more open screen on any old site.

best of luck,
shov

 

[MHirschmann]

I agree with what everyone has said above. I also would not know why anyone would purposely not dig wheats. I love digging them because I know I am hot on the trail of what I am looking for (and because I have a penny book that I am trying to complete of course).

I also agree with what Shov said in that I can usually tell the difference between silver/copper by the tone. Now, this is not always the case, but the tone tends to just sound different on silver. I can't explain it, you will just have to keep digging wheats and silvers and hope that it "clicks" for you.

Sorry, there is no magic answer here. As is often the answer in this hobby, if in doubt, dig it...

HH -Marc

 

[Johnnyanglo]

This is the way I look at it ... it's a matter of percentage chance of a good recovery. There are always non-ferrous junk that occupies the same zones as good targets, but they just come with the territory.

If you pass up anything along the 12Fe line +/- 4Fe, it is the high percentage good non-ferrous, so why would anyone do that (which was my point)

As your Fe values dive further south, then your chances of striking iron rise. The probability of finding good non-ferrous targets decrease.

But at the same time the probability increases that a deeper target buried amongst ferrous is an old higher value target. The negatives assocated with a high Fe value is somewhat offset by the increased payout if it's valuable.

So, if you aren't going to dig absolutely everything (which is unlikely) you'll have to decide how much effort you are going to exert. The less digging the more likely something worthwhile will remain in the ground.

As a general rule: If it doesn't sound like iron, then it's probably worth digging up, no matter where it is on the TID. When they come out with a detector that "sees" through the dirt, then you can stop digging trash and iron. But until then....

 

[ot1138]

In air tests, I could not tell any difference between clad and silver dimes either by TID or sound.

As for wheaties, I think the soil may play a factor. I found a lot of them at 12-32 through 13-38. On the beach and in a different lot, I get them up to 12-43. Never had one come in higher than that.

That said, I've been trying to hunt by sound lately and that seems to be a lot more reliable overall.

 

[Digging w gus]

I read this and just laugh out loud.....seriously people QUIT paying so much attention to numbers.....do you really think all good targets ONLY come in at the 12 or even the 11 FE line????

Signals on wheats and any coin for that matter come in all over the place, I have dug countless wheats that came in at 01 FE line, such as 01-41

And also I have dug just as many coins on the 19 to 24 FE line.....those were either very deep, on edge or had iron in the same hole

You NEED to really pay attention to the TONE of the signal, when you learn to hunt with your ears, you will dig much, much more good stuff.

90% of indians are Never on the 12 FE line, they almost always are 08-36 area, I honestly do not remember the last indian I dug that was 12-36

Now zinc pennies register 12-36 all day long

I have had silver dimes come in at 01-49 would you dig that or just pass it up assuming it is junk or iron? The tone was sweet, smooth from two ways. Again trust your ears more than the numbers.

So quit focusing on numbers and stop passing up on good targets because the signal isnt perfect like the charts you read tell you. You may think I am blowing smoke but I have used the etrac for over 3 yrs with an average of 20 hours per week, And have experienced thousands of signals. Trust me on this one, and learn to let your ears tell you when to dig not the numbers on your etrac screen

if you really read this and laughed out load, you have issues, just saying

 

[Ohio Digger]

Haha I don't think he meant anything by it. His advice has a helped many, including myself, on this forum and others. He also has a website that is a wealth of knowledge for new Etrac users. The problem a lot of us new users have is going by numbers since that is what we have been trained to do with other machines. Everytime I force myself to ignore numbers and just listen I do better. But I still watch the screen too much. I'm probably one of the worst culprits of doing it. He's just making a point - we need to listen more than watch.