Why am I Not finding DEEP coins?

[boneyfingers]

Been Etracing about 7 weeks now. Have found LOTS of clad and memorials, Jefferson nickels, Buffalos, a couple of rings (one silver, one gold plated copper), buttons etc. Of all these (250 to 300 items) NONE have been very DEEP. Most coins I am finding are averaging 2 to 3 inches deep, with a very few being 5 to 6 inches deep.

I have tried lots of different settings and patterns and seem to have best luck in 2 Tone Ferrous. I am in an area with lots of TRASHY PARKS and most yards here are full of pull tabs. The weather here has been DRY for most of this year and the holes I'm digging are not making good plugs but are turning to powdered dirt when the dirt is removed from the hole. The lack of moisture is surely having a great effect on detection depth.

Does anyone have advise on the BEST SETTINGS or BEST METHODS (swing speeds, weak signals sounds, etc) for such conditions to enable finding DEEP TARGETS? Are deep signal more faint when volumn gain is at 30?

I know the ETRAC IS CAPABLE of finding deep targets but I have covered lots of ground in the past 7 weeks and should be finding coins in the 7 to 10 inch range.

What sound should I listen for on deep targets? I usually run volumn gain at 30 to enhance week signals and varibility at 30, sensitivity at Auto +1, with 2-Tone Ferrous and Noise Cancel at each site I hunt.

Thanks for help
Kenneth

I'm really looking forward to finding a deep coin and ANY ADVISE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

 

[Ray-Mo.]

First thing I would do for more depth is run in manual sensitivity set as high as I could and still not be to unstable/noisy.Also would run in auto +3 when using auto sens.,Ray.

 

[boneyfingers]

Thanks Ray,
I'll try manual. Do you prefer ferrous or conduct and how many tones do you use? Will the deeper signal REPEAT the same as shallow signal repeat or are they more faint and broken up?

 

[NebTrac]

Kenneth,

Are you finding any wheats? I don't know your area. Personally my 3 oldest coins (two IH's 1885, 1887, and an 1883 V nickel) were all 3" or less. I have dug a handfull of coins that were at the 8 and 9" range. For my area 4-7 is more the norm.

Let us know how/what you've found out for sure.

NebTrac

 

[Ray-Mo.]

I prefer conductive multi tones in normal public sites but go to ferrous 2 tones in the heavy trash with amazing results.
The very deep coins will be weaker and kinda hollow sounding with volume and gain at max or close to it.Not so much faint or quieter but less full and robust.And the numbers will drop way down on Indians in my soil at extreme depths but they make a distinct sound once you learn it.I am referring to conductive multi tones by the way.I have had Indians to read as low as 1 ferrous and 26 conductive in very mineralized soil at depth.Deep silver ID,s more stable at depth but have dug a few 10" dimes and 12" quarters that read 1 or 2 ferrous and 44-46 conductive but the silver warble was easily identified.
Your best bet is to bury a few coins at depth and do some experimenting.Not as good as 100 year old targets but will still tune your ears to the deeper stuff and will help on ID numbers though they are not to be trusted 100% at extreme depths like the tones nearly are.
You also need to realize a lot of sites do not have that many coins past 8" deep.I have hunted 2 or 3 days at older sites without digging a coin over 7" and then maybe the next site would have several.Also if you are hunting 100 + year old sites you should be finding at least a few older silver,wheat's and Indians at 4-6 inches depth very close to trash as the E-Trac is at the top of the list for unmasking goodies,Ray.
PS One other thing that could be a problem is extensive fill dirt added in resent years covering the old coins well beyond the 10" range.

 

[rc2125]

If you haven't found any, they probably aren't there.

 

[Goes4ever]

how slow are you swinging the coil? maybe where your hunting there is no DEEP coins. Most oldies here are in the 4-7 inch range as well.
Are u waiting on perfect coin signals, or are you digging the deep iffy signals that a lot of times are deep coins?

 

[boneyfingers]

Thanks Y'all ( that' Texan for "You guys") for all the interest and comments.

Neb, yes I'm finding wheats, memorials, a couple of Mercuries, 2 Rosies, several Jeffersons, 3 cheap rings, etc. This morning (Sunday) I was lucky to find a 1883 V Nickel 4 to 5 inches under some sidewalk construction in the downtown area. The contractors are removing the concrete ONLY and very little dirt below it. I wish they would remove a foot of dirt as these sidewalks have been in place since 1916 and will not be replaced again for about 100 years. I'll be 163 years by then and I'm not sure if I'll be able to bend over by then.

Goes, I'm swing the coil fairly slow and probably waiting for "perfect coin signals" although, I'm digging quite a few "iffy signals" and some one-way signals still with most finds being 3 to 4 inch finds.

rc2125, as much ground as swung the coil over in the past 7 weeks surely I have passed over ONE deep coin.

Ray, I'm going to start listening for the "weaker and kinda hollow sounding" signals and see if that helps. As for buring some coins please check this out.
I posted a thread on Etrac Forum on June 10, 2010 at 02:34PM describing a TEST GARDEN that I planted 17 years ago in my front yard. The garden is still there, undug since then, but I have added dirt and St. Augustine squares twice making the coins about 12 inches deep. I can't hear them, even in Manual with sensitivity all the way up (manual or auto?). There are 40 coins buried there, all clad, 10 pennies, 10 nickels, 10 dimes, 10 quarters, placed on 24 inch centers at 6 inch depth (originally). I have kicked my rearend a thousand times for not buring some silver at the time but I don't want to start over and wait another 17 years. The thread was titled NEW GUY LEARNING TO DRIVE THIS FORUM, if you want to search for it.

If I am ever able to hear these coins again with the Etrac or any other detector I will be VERY IMPRESSED with that machine. Anyone wanting to come to Texas and try my garden is welcome, just let me know when you are ready.

Thanks Y'all
Kenneth

 

[utahshovelhead]

I might add one thing to this thread...water. Hunt the park after they water it. It does make a difference. You can find coins in the dry dirt but H2o makes for better detection. I am sure you know this.

good luck
utahshovelhead

 

[in the woods]

Try buring a few coins in you're yard, and experiment.
Tin Pan Man

 

[NH Bob]

Everyone is having the same problem with all machines. We have been chatting about this also. It's so dry in most areas that you not only don't get much for deep coins but the audio and readout are really weird. Some broken, squeaky and lots of lost signals when turning the plug. I've lost signals in this dry powder and kept searching until I finally recovered some coins.
Just my opinion.

 

[NebTrac]

Kenneth.

I remember you telling about your coin garden. 17 years is very impressive. I only buried mine about 3 months ago. I put in 1 wheat, 1 Indian Head and 1 worn Merc.. All were put in about 6-7 inches. Running in Auto +3, swing speed is critical. I probably learned more about swing speed than sound from doing this. For me if I go too slow it won't even hit on it. No trash in the hole helps. But sure is a good way to develop some swinging habits.

Let us know what comes out of this.

NebTrac

 

[moseng]

Hi,

I am sure you heard this but just because it's deep doesn't mean it's good! Some of my best finds have been < 4" deep!


Some reasons why no deepies...

1. Maybe no deepies where you are hunting?
2. Maybe you aren't swinging over the deepies?
3. Maybe ground is mineralized and/or too dry to get the deepies.
4. Maybe it's not your time yet! In which case you must wait!

Some things to try...

• You are right that gain set to 30 will make the deepies sound out more.
• As others have suggested, you may want to give manual a try. A little caution is in order to not set it too high or it may defeat the purpose.
• Maybe try multi / conductive. 2-Tone Ferrous has it's place I suppose, but If you are looking for old coins and it's not too trashy (by trashy I mean LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of IRON) then multi / conductive cannot be beat IMO!

None of which I'm sure you want to hear but keep at it and when you least expect it, you'll dig down to your elbow for a shiny!!

 

[boneyfingers]

Neb,
I agree with you on too slow swing speed not producing. I like a moderate swing speed like I was familiar with on my Fisher Quicksilver CZ-6A that I used for years and still occasionaly use with success.

I try to swing in an arc that is equal distance on both left and right sides. Considering that a full circle is 360 degrees and 180 degrees is that part of the circle that is in front of one's shoulders I try to swing about 60 degrees left and 60 degrees right to make an arc of 120 degrees. That 120 degree arc is approximately 6 to 8 feet long depending on one's arm length. I try to use a 3 to 4 second swing speed to cover that 120 degrees. That speed seems to work well for me and gives a sudden responce in 2-tone ferrous. In good areas I try to swing a full 180 degrees in order to cover more ground but one tires out a lot sooner.

 

[boneyfingers]

Moseng,
I'm sure you are correct and SOONER OR LATER I will find a DEEP one, but, I BOUGHT the Etrac to CONSISTENTLY find deep coins, or " the ones missed by other detectors". If all of my swings were put into a straight line I must have covered 20 miles by now. At the rate I'm going it will be time to change the oil in it by the time I find a DEEP ONE. I can STILL find 6 to 8 inch deep coins with my CZ-6A but after investing $2000.00 in my Etrac and accessories I want to become proficient with IT. I love the Etrac so far and by fall (when the rains come) I want to have lots of hours of experience with it so I will leave the CZ in the closet until I master the Etrac.

Thanks,
Kenneth

 

[EladSwerdna]

First of all, hello! I am also a new E-Trac'r. I love it! My success has gone up so much! I hunt in all metal, max manual sens, deep on, fast off, trash high, ground diff. I swing slow, and carefully investigate everything that is not obviously iron.

I found a KGII and a LC this year, and they were both at 9-10". Interestingly enough, I most likely would have never known the LC was there if I was in Auto. (I have a video to prove it too) http://youtu.be/EuIf-e45lbc The LC was on it's edge, hence the whispering signal. The KGII however, was not on it's edge, and came in clear and strong.

The deeper small coin(s) I have found were only at the most, 7-8 inches.

One thing I have learned, is that when a coin you are swinging over is on the edge of your detectors max depth, the sound will not be as solid as you would expect. It whispers to you on every other swing, and the sound jumps up and down, and will try and decieve you into thinking it's iron. I just dug a button yesterday in VERY dry soil @ 7" that was behaving the same way!

Never skip over an iffy target!! When in doubt, dig dig dig!!!

A tip : If you come across an iffy deep signal, one way to gain an advantage is to clear away some of the topsoil (I use my boot). Gaining even the smallest amount of depth this way will help you with your target investigation. Of course, if you hunt lawn, this may not be possible....

Anyways, I am pretty sure that with the stock coil, no combination of settings will ever change the max coin detecting depth of 10". If you are still not seeing desired results after doing everything right, then I think it's safe to say to try different locations.

HH

 

[grumpyolman]

You are finding quality coins. Why do they have to be deep? Others have obviously walked past them and you haven't. Maybe you are just setting the bar unreasoanbly high. If I may...stop digging plugs when it's so dry. You'll leave a trail that everyone can see. Next thing it'll be." those dang gone metal detector folks are ruining the grass. Lets contact the city council and get it banned here." If you are not going deeper than 3-4" most of the time, you can use a bunch of different tools to go beneath the coin and pry it up through a tiny slit cut in the grass. Doesn't show and doesn't kill the grass even when it's dry.

Nothing personal... just trying to preserve what's left to preserve for we 'sinners' in this wonderful hobby. jim

 

[boneyfingers]

Elad,
I see you are doing well with your Etrac in such a short time. I liked your video and after watching it I think I see what my problem is in finding deepies. You are swinging the detector LEFT HANDED and I,m swinging RIGHT HANDED. Maybe if I switch hands I will find those deep ones. I also think I'll run in manual for a while.

Thanks for the reply,
Kenneth